Say You Won't Let Go *EDITING*

Grief & Mourn ✅✔️

Today's the day that Bakari spent last night being restless over. He might have gone to sleep when we first got back but he didn't stay that way. He woke up constantly, drinking tea and milk. Anything he could to get himself back to sleep. He was quiet thinking I was asleep, but I was far too worried about him to sleep.

He would get back into bed and hug on my body for comfort, to which I felt his body tremble. I was finally able to get to sleep close to the morning. I didn't get much sleep but when my eyes opened at the crack of dawn I was ready to get this day over with. I just wanted this day can go smoothly, ever since we got here something went wrong.

The first day when I asked why'd he move to New York, the second day when he heard about his family, and now a funeral.

It was like we had a terrible bad luck streak, it made me wonder why he even brought me here. Why during all these bad events? Especially a funeral, that seemed like something that was a family affair.

They said it was an immediate family, so I was a little nervous to be going when I didn't think I'd be welcomed.

"Oliva, calm down. It's fine, I've confirmed with my mother, you are good to go. Just be dressed appropriately for a funeral. Save the skimpy for me". He winked.

The way his attitude kept shifting made me start to believe that this was some type of prank. I was waiting for someone to pop out of the bushes with a camera. His attitude was more bubbly right now, but I knew that was a facade, his whole persona was a facade. He wasn't feeling bubbly right now, yet he was playing like it.

He was trying to keep me happy when I already knew he was upset about something he just wasn't telling me. The moment any family besides his parents are mentioned he switches up quickly.

The only thing I knew for sure was that there was tension between him and his cousins. Yesterday, he whispered out "cousins" as if something happened. That was all due to common sense.

I got dressed in a black blouse with a pair of black slacks, and a pair of heels, I didn't want to even think about choosing a dress right now.

"Let's get going," he mumbled quickly fixing his suit and tie then walking to the car, with me right behind him.

"Coming". I yelled behind him.

***********

We were one of the last people arriving. I didn't want to be one of those people late to important functions. This was a funeral, we shouldn't have been late but I didn't want to blame Bakari for it. He was going through it. We piled into the back seating, listening in on the sweet and kind words of his family members. By all the words being spoken Bakari's father was a loved man.

Then again you can't really judge by the words spoken at a funeral. This is a very emotional moment where mean words are usually kept to yourself. Except these were all his family, they knew him personally. It gave me quite an insight into what kind of man Bakari's father really was. By the words of his relatives he sounded so much like Bakari, or should I say Bakari sounds so much like him.

Bakari even went up to say a few words about his late father. I didn't know how long he'd been planning it, or if he even planned anything. Maybe he was just winging it, saying things that really came from his heart. It would make the speech much more intimate.

"My father was an amazing man. He was brave, strong, emotional, and just all around the best man in my life". A watched as tears started building up in his eyes. His father meant a great deal to him, anyone with or without eyes can see that. "He was the most amazing father, treated my family with the utmost respect. Always doing whatever he could to give us all he had. We weren't the richest people in the neighborhood but my dad with his laughter and positivity made us feel as if we were rulers of the world".