excuse any mistakes.
𝐊𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐮 𝐘𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐫 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛𝐬
𝙲𝙾𝙻𝚃𝚂 𝙽𝙴𝙲𝙺, 𝙽𝙹.
It was a beautiful afternoon in June, the sun shining brightly overhead and the sky a deep blue. 18 year old Keanu stood in his bedroom, his attention drawn to the Christian Louboutin box that was on his bed. Today was his prom day and the excitement he had initially felt for it had faded. He hadn't been able to see his girlfriend outside of school all week as she had been busy with last minute prom preparations and he was annoyed by the whole thing.
Their prom theme was Masquerade Ball, and their school went all out to make the venue resemble an actual masquerade ball and Mieke and Keanu decided to go for black attire.
Keanu picked up the box from his bed and took out the paper, then retrieved his red bottoms. Just as he settled them down, there was a knock at his bedroom door. "It's me. I'm about to come in." Fela's voice was heard from the other side.
"Aight." Keanu replied and the door swung open, and Fela entered the room and smiled at how handsome her oldest son looked.
"Look at youuuu boy you look so handsome, okay son." Fela exclaimed with a grin as she walked towards the bed and sat down, looking at Keanu. "You get the good looks from me."
Keanu jerked his head back, his face scrunched up as he looked at Fela. "I don't look like you."
Fela picked up the remote, and Keanu laughed, instinctively moving away a little as Fela was about to throw it at him. "The fuck you made that face for? I ain't ugly, I am fine as fuck and yes, you do look like me. If you got yo looks from yo Daddy, you would've been ugly as hell."
"Nah." Keanu shook his head and chuckled. "I look like myself. I don't look like Fela."
"Bi- Boy! Keanu I almost called you something, My name is Momma or Ma. Not Fela. I don't care how old you are, Youn call me Fela."
Keanu raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "My fault, Fe—" he started to say, but Fela interrupted by throwing the remote at him and he caught it just in time "Woww now you would've sat there crying if that hit my eye."
"And would." Fela replied, picking up his vest. "You talked to Mieke? She's almost ready?"
Keanu nodded, "Yeah. It's packed over there."
Fela furrowed her eyebrows, "Really? Already?"
"Yeah." Keanu confirmed. "Her family big as shit and the people that's there right now ain't even all the people coming. You know her crib is where we all taking pictures at, so it's packed with everybody else family too. Her momma nem went all out. She got motherfuckers to take videos and pictures over there. They been following her ass around all day recording her."
Fela never cared much about her kids cursing. Sure, she cared when they were little, but stopped once they reached middle school. She believed there was no point in telling your kids not to curse because they were going to do it anyway, just without you knowing about it.
Fela chuckled, "Cyrinna sholl did tell me she was gon' go all out. I'm thinking she was just talking bout Mieke's looks though, She went out out."
"On God." Keanu agreed. "She decorated the front of the house too. Mieke ain't fucking with it though. She ain't fucking with today at all."
Fela frowned, "Why? It's prom. I was happy as hell when it was my prom. Ask yo grandma."
"She ain't wanna go. The only reason she's going is cause Cyrinna kept jumping down her back bout it, telling her how she needa go to prom cause she ain't get to go, and she regrets not going to her prom all the time and shit so Mieke just said she gon go so Cyrinna could shut up."
"Oh, so that's why she's going all out." Fela said, nodding slowly and Keanu nodded in agreement. "I swear I don't know what's up with y'all kids cause baby back in my day? Babyyy everybody looked forward to prom. Now y'all act like prom is just another day. That makes me sad. Y'all kids don't know what y'all missing."
"Y'all only looked forward to it cause y'all knew what was gon happen after. Y'all ain't care bout it forreal. Prom is just a regular ass party, It's parties every week. Aint shit special bout it."
Fela retorted, "Ain't shit was going on after."
"Y'all prom was in May, You had me January 30th." Keanu stated then he tapped his temple, "It's a lot that was going on that night."
Fela waved him off, "Just be grateful you here."
Keanu looked at Fela, his expression turning to one of disgust, "Aight you could leave now."
"Boy, bye. Are you nervous?"
Keanu looked at Fela, a mix of confusion and amusement crossing his face. He chuckled and replied, "Ma, what? What I'ma be nervous for?"
Fela leaned back on the bed, eyeing Keanu with a sly smile. "You ain't nervous to see Mieke?"
Keanu shook his head. "I'm good. It's just prom."
"So you ain't nervous for when she walks out the house looking all fine?" Fela questioned, peering at Keanu with a raised eyebrow. He looked back at her, shaking his head no. "Keanu, Bye. This is one of them times you just gotta take a step back and appreciate how beautiful your girl is. Everybody I know was nervous as hell. Yo daddy was nervous as fuck. You should be too."
Keanu shrugged, "She looks good all the time. This ain't nun new, That's why I ain't nervous."
Fela smiled at his response. "Okay, I like that." she nodded. "You might not be nervous now but babyyy when it's yall wedding day? You gon be nervous as fuck, You already know that though."
Keanu chuckled, grabbing his vest as he responded, "You think we gon' get married?"
Keanu's bedroom door swung open, revealing Rulo standing there. "Aight, nigga, I see you." he said with a smile playing on his lips. Then, his gaze shifted to Fela, and he continued, "Sage outside chasing after Chiara in yo momma wheelchair while tryna hit her with her cane."
Fela rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "And why you ain't out there stopping them?"
"I tried, but that shit is too funny," Rulo laughed. "He's out there wheeling fast while the cane just in the air tryna hit Chiara, That shit's funny."
Keanu chuckled, "Yall ain't shit."
Fela stood up, "Literally." She walked to the window and indeed saw Sage in his grandmother's wheelchair, chasing after Chiara who was running away from him. "I'm so sick of these fucking kids. Keanu, hurry so we could head over there. Where's the melatonin?"
"The room." Rulo answered, still laughing.
"Okay." Fela replied, then turned to Keanu. "And I don't think that's going to happen, I know." she stated confidently before exiting the room.
Keanu's grandpa, Dayvon, then walked in and pointed his thumb towards the door. "Fuck is she talking about? What she know gon happen?"
Rulo shrugged, "Shit, I don't know."
Keanu chimed in, a smile spreading across his face. "Me and Mieke getting married."
Rulo looked away from the window, his eyes widening in surprise. "What?! Married? Ain't no way God thinks I'm this strong of a soldier."
Dayvon placed his hands on his hips shaking his head looking at Keanu. "Y'all so damn dumb."
Keanu kissed his teeth. "We not getting married. She was talking bout me and Mieke getting married. She know we gon get married, Fuck?"
Rulo nodded slowly, his understanding dawning on him. "Ohhhhh, Lol. Got me there."
Dayvon walked to the bed, shaking his head with a smirk, and sat down. "Well, next time say the complete sentence. I almost shit myself."
Rulo looked away from the window again and cast a look of disgust at Dayvon. "You too grown for that. The bathroom ain't that far, dirty ass." he then shifted his gaze back to the window momentarily before turning to Dayvon once more. "You look like the type to do that too."
Dayvon looked at Rulo with a confused expression. "Okay? At least I clean myself after." Before Keanu and Rulo could respond, Dayvon started laughing. "Got y'all there. I'm playing."
Keanu shook his head. "Nah, I ain't believing it."
Dayvon shrugged, "I don't care. Why y'all was talking about you and Mieke getting married? You thinking bout proposing or something?"
"No, I just told you we ain't getting married."
Rulo tapped his temple, "Context clues."
Dayvon replied, "Shut up yo." with a chuckle. Then, he looked at Keanu, "Good. I'm happy you ain't proposing or marrying her right now. Y'all too young. Give it a couple more years, ten."
Keanu looked at Dayvon, a hint of confusion in his expression. "You got married young though."
"I did. And I regret it, I don't regret marrying your grandma though. She cool peoples. We just thought cause we was together for so long we was ready for that commitment but we was not. We was 19, still kids, tryna figure out who we were. There's things I wish I done differently back then, but my woman is my soulmate. I just wish I had waited longer before marrying her though. That's why I'm telling you, don't rush into anything. Take yo time and enjoy being young. Yall got yall whole life ahead of yall."
Rulo nodded. "Just like yo ma, we know yall gon get married. Just enjoy yall time and what yall have. You got condoms?" He digged into his pockets. "Ion need no grandkids right now."
"I already got a kid on the way." Keanu said and Dayvon and Rulo, both in the midst of pulling out condoms, stopped in their tracks and looked at Keanu then Keanu chuckled and said, "I'm fucking with yall." Despite his reassurance, they still sat there frozen, looking at Keanu. Keanu reiterated, "Hell? Ion got no kid on the way."
"Good." Rulo and Dayvon said in unison.
Keanu just ignored them and stood in front of his dresser, looking at himself. There was a comfortable silence in the room and as Keanu looked at himself, he couldn't help but think about what Dayvon, Rulo, and his momma said about how they knew him and Mieke were going to get married. It highkey made him feel good.
It also made him feel good to know that they saw them lasting long-term, especially since he and Mieke had just had a conversation the other day about the possibility of them not working out when he goes to Alabama for College.
He wanted to talk further with Dayvon and Rulo about it, but he was hesitant because those two could never be serious about anything. He only discussed matters like marriage, the future, and love with nobody other than Mieke. After a moment of deliberation, he decided he should go forward and talk to Dayvon and Rulo about it.
Keanu turned around to face them. "Y'all really think we gon last though? How yall know?"
"I ain't been alive that long but I been alive long enough to live through hella loves and losses, ups and downs. I den seen alot of young couples like y'all come and go, but something bout yall just seem different. I know that shit sound cliche as hell, Some shit you hear folks saying in movies but I see the way you and her look at eachother and the way yall act around each other and lemme tell you, I see it in y'all. What yall got don't come around a lot and when it does, you gotta hold onto it as tight as you can. Don't let her go, no matter what happens."
Rulo nodded, agreeing with him. "Hold onto that shit TIGHT. I'm already knowing you gon be up in Alabama, and yo homeboys gon' be all up in yo ear telling you to do this and that, and how Mieke ain't gon ever find out. Don't listen to em. Them girls in Alabama don't want shit from you but to use and trap you cause they know you gon make it far. Don't say I ain't warn you."
Keanu jerked his head back, actually offended that he thinks he would cheat on Mieke. "I ain't gon' cheat on her. You ain't gotta tell me."
Dayvon nodded. "He ain't dumb. I ain't gon lie to you this distance shit ain't gon be easy, but y'all could do it. There's gonna be times where y'all into it just cause y'all miss each other. There's gonna be times when you ain't so sure you made the right decision staying with her cause of the distance and the fighting but if y'all really love each other and really commit to each other, yall gon get through it. Y'all gon find a way to make it work, cause that's what love do.
That shit ain't nothing to be played with though. It's powerful. Love could lift you up higher than anything else in the world then tear you down faster than anything else. Yall gotta care of each other and don't forget to communicate and comprehend. That's the key to any relationship."
Rulo looked at Dayvon, a mixture of surprise and amusement on his face. "Aight then, yo ass should've had the dream instead of Martin."
Dayvon scoffed. "Fuck that nigga."
Keanu and Rulo chuckled then Rulo spoke up, "All jokes aside though, I agree with what he's telling you. Don't let the fact that you far away from her stop you from showing how much you care about her. Send her letters, order her food and flowers, anything to make her happy. Whatever it takes to let her know you thinking bout her and reassure her that yall still good. Girls are the biggest overthinkers there is."
"Man, what?" Keanu agreed with Rulo.
"She probably gon' be overthinking yo every move, every word, so make sure to communicate with her. Don't even think she ain't thinking like that, cause she fasho is. She might be thinking right now she ain't gon be overthinking but trust me, when you leave, all that overthinking gon' start. Just make sure she understands how you feel about her. Let her know that she's yo only priority and that you thinking of her always."
Dayvon glanced at Rulo and nodded. "I should've said that. That's a good one."
"But you ain't. Shit like this don't come to people like you heads as quickly as it did for me."
Dayvon stood up, "I'ma let you talk yo shit cause what I wanna say gon hit below the belt, and I need my phone bill paid." Then he pointed at Keanu, "Telling you that's gon be yo woman."
Keanu glanced over at Skyler, who was busy rummaging through her Auntie Anne's cup. "Sky, what you think bout this one?" he asked and Skyler looked up, her eyebrows shooting up as she caught sight of the diamond ring.
Skyler smiled as she continued to admire the ring. "Daddy, Now this is the one, I like this one. She's gonna love it." she exclaimed, her eyes still fixed on the ring. Keanu chuckled, watching her reaction, pleased with the choice he had made.
The jeweler took the ring off of the display holder and held it out to Skyler who quickly handed Keanu her cup and poured some hand sanitizizer in her hands, rubbing them together before she grabbed the ring from the jeweler. Skyler looked at the ring in awe as she examined it, turning it over in her fingers and admiring the sparkle of the diamond. "Yes she's really gonna love this."
After admiring the ring, Skyler handed it back to the jeweler. The jeweler smiled and said, "Your Dad did a really good job. The band itself has thirteen GI certified oval-cut diamonds in it, so there's 13 diamonds." he touched the band of the ring, "And then you have this big rock right here." he added, placing the ring on his finger.
Skyler smiled as she listened to the jeweler's explanation. "Yeah, he did a really good job."
The jeweler nodded, acknowledging Skyler's comment. "You hear that?" he said, turning to Keanu, who chuckled. The jeweler joined in the laughter and added, "This is 14 engagement rings in one." And Skyler looked at the jeweler, shocked. "Yup, this is a one-of-a-kind ring right here. The diamonds in this size are extremely rare because they're all natural with no treatments at all. Your mom is a lucky lady."
Keanu was about to correct him but before he could, Skyler spoke up, saying, "She's my stepmom." She chuckled "And yes she really is."
Keanu was caught off guard by Skyler's response. She had never referred to Mieke as her stepmom before. However, he couldn't help but feel a surge of happiness. It meant that she saw Mieke as a motherly figure, enough to call her her stepmom.
The jeweler nodded, acknowledging Skyler's correction. "Your stepmom is a very lucky lady indeed." he said with a smile then, turning to Keanu, he asked, "So what do you think?"
Keanu grabbed the ring and gave it a close look, checking out every detail, especially the sparkling diamond at the center. Despite the jaw-dropping price tag , a cool lil $1 million, Keanu didn't even flinch. When it came to Mieke, he never cared about the cost. She was worth every penny, and he'd shell out any amount for her, Literally.
Keanu nodded his head handing the ring back to the jeweler. "This is the one, We taking it."
The jeweler dapped Keanu up. "That's what's up. Congratulations friend. I hope she says yes. You always drop some serious cash whenever you're here, We appreciate it. We'll get the chain and ring ready quick. Take your time browsing around. I'm here if you need help with anything."
Keanu laughed and jokingly responded, "You tryna take all my money, huh?"
That made the jeweler laugh also. He shrugged and replied, "Hey, you're the one with all the money." Then he headed to the back to the other workers to prepare the chain and ring. Keanu glanced at Skyler, who was eating a cinnamon bite while looking at the jewelry on display.
Skyler looked away from the display and met Keanu's gaze,"Are we leaving with my necklace?"
Skyler had misplaced a few diamonds from her name necklace, so alongside their visit for Mieke's ring, they also intended to have those diamonds replaced during their time at the store.
Keanu pulled down Skyler's hoodie playfully, "Yeah, you gon leave with it. Be careful with it this time, youn wanna lose the diamonds again."
"Yeah, I am. So, how are you gonna propose?"
Keanu chuckled, "Nah, I ain't telling you. You can't keep secrets. The only reason you know I'm proposing to her is cause I had to ask you."
Skyler rolled her eyes, "I can keep secrets Dad."
Keanu shook his head, "You can't."
Skyler retorted, "I have secrets I keep from you."
Keanu looked at her skeptically, "What secrets?"
Skyler started off, "Like—" but Keanu cut her off with a laugh. "See, you can't keep secrets. You almost told me yo secret." he teased, amused.
Skyler grinned and truthfully admitted, "Actually Daddy, that was part of my plan to trick you."
Keanu looked at her with an amused expression on his face. "Aw now that was apart of yo plan?"
Skylar nodded her head in agreement, "Yes it was. I'm telling the truth. Word to my dead."
Keanu shook his head laughing at Skyler's reply. "What Sky? You be around Sage too much."
Everyone was doing good honestly. Chiara had entered her second year at the University of Chicago, where she had secured a digital marketing internship and she was enjoying the fuck out of her college experience. Meanwhile, Sage chose a different path, opting out of college, diving into the world of music production and earning a solid income crafting beats for artists.
The jeweler came from the back with two blue boxes in hand, one small and one large. It was obvious which contained the ring and which held the necklace. He approached Skyler and Keanu, placing the boxes down and opening them up. He pointed at Skyler's necklace, "This one had four diamonds missing, and we replaced them."
Skyler grinned, "Thank youuu." She then picked up her necklace, placing it around her neck. Standing up, she smiled at herself in the mirror.
The jeweler glanced away from Skyler and looked at Keanu. "She really likes that necklace."
Keanu nodded as he continued to watch Skyler admiring her necklace. "She does. She don't ever take it off." he remarked, then, shifting his gaze away from Skyler, he reached for his black Goyard travel bag filled with money. "So, how much is this gon' cost me?" he inquired.
The jeweler did the calculations and told Keanu the total cost. Keanu reached into his bag and pulled out the cash necessary to pay for the two pieces. He handed the money to the jeweler, who counted it and placed it into the cash register. Once the transaction was complete, Keanu and Skyler began making their way out of the store with their hired security guards following them.
As he walked out of the jewelry store, Keanu couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness.
After months of careful planning, He was finally about to accomplish a goal he had held so close to his heart for many years. He had gotten Skyler and Mieke's Dad's permission to marry her, which was the most important step in his plan.
And now, he had the perfect ring. With all the pieces in place, there was only just one thing left for him to do: await the day of the proposal.
Despite the many challenges the two had faced, he was more grateful for Mieke than ever before and he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he gets down on one knee and asks her the most significant question of their relationship.
•••
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