"I get to see my man tonight," Mari sang to herself, getting ready in the mirror. She has just finished getting dressed and was now laying her edges down and tying her scarf around her head while she waited for Xavion to come and pick her up.
It had been almost a month since Hawaii, and September was coming to a close in a few weeks. The couple had both been very busy, so a date night was more than needed at this point.
Since November was approaching, the Golden Gloves were also approaching and Emari was excited for Xavi. She was more than ready to be front row at every match he was in. She and his sisters were already in talks of making t-shirts.
But even before then, was Emari's twenty fifth birthday. It was in a week and she was extremely excited. Her twenty fifth was one she was looking forward to, she had no idea what she was going to do yet—which was probably her fault, but she was excited nonetheless.
She wanted to make her own cake, but her family and her boyfriend were threatening her, so she gave up on that idea for now. She didn't know if there was anyone else she trusted to do it for her.
As she continued to think on her birthday and the celebration to follow, she heard a ping on her apple watch, showing her that she had a text from Xavi, telling her he was downstairs, and a grin spread slowly on her face, she nearly ran from the bathroom.
The whole way down, she couldn't wipe the grin off of her face, she knew it was because she missed him. Them being busy meant less time spent together, less falling asleep on the phone and less sleeping over at the others apartment, she missed it all and she missed him.
"Hi baby!" she squealed when she got downstairs, and he was leaning up against his car, holding a bouquet of flowers for her. She immediately rushed into his open arms and allowed him to embrace her.
"I missed you," he mumbled in her ear, rubbing her back. "You look beautiful, baby," he pulled her back to look at her, her smile making him do the same.
"Thank you, Dooda, I missed you more," she pouted, leaning up to kiss him. "I been so excited all day long, nobody couldn't tell me shit today," she chuckled.
"All excited just for lil ol' Xavion?" he smirked, squeezing her tighter, making her stomach flutter. "I was excited to see you too, you gon spend the weekend with me?" he asked, careful not to let his hands roam because they were outside still.
"Yes of course," she smiled. That seemed to be a constant when he was around.
As they drove to the restaurant they were eating at—which was still a surprise to Mari, they talked about their days. Mari's stories from the medical office were always more interesting than his—at least to him, since all he did was work with his headphones in and his hood up.
"And then! This lady came in mad because her daughter's appointment was at 7:30, and it was 7:35...like miss...we are trying our best in here. I completely understand being frustrated because I hate when I have to sit in the waiting room for ever but please do not come in here being loud at the crack of dawn. I have no problem yelling back and nobody wants that," she rolled her eyes.
"Baby...you said that?" he gaped, jaw slightly slack.
"Most of it," she chuckled. "She had me messed up! I'm not finna be talked to like I'm a child when I get paid to be here and do you a service," she rolled her neck while she talked. She was very expressive and Xavion loved that.
"Remind me to never piss yo ass off," he chuckled. "I've never even seen you angry,"
"That's a good thing, right?" she wondered, pulling out her phone to take a selfie at the red light. "Get in the picture with me, babe," she grabbed his face and smiled while he let her squish his cheeks together.
"I mean, yeah, but I wanna know what it's like so when you are angry, I'm not caught off guard," he explained.
"Well to be honest, when I'm very angry, like seeing red, I do the same thing I do when I'm sad. I just don't talk about it, I let that shit consume me—which is very unhealthy and I shouldn't be doing it, but it's a force of habit now," she told him, and his eyebrows raised.
"We gotta work on that," he said, and it was her turn to raise her eyebrows.
"We?"
"Yeah we, me and you. I know it's hard for you, I'm not gon ask you to do something difficult for you alone," he told her, causing a smile to spread on her face. "Plus, we a team and allat, if it's something to fix, or something to change, we gon change it," he shrugged.
"You have a way with words, sir," she said, the smile staying plastered on her face. "Well, I'll be more than willing to try," she nodded, letting him rest his hand on the inside of her thigh.
"That's all I ask, baby," he rubbed his thumb back and forth on her skin.
"This is so nice, Xavi," Mari gasped, looking around at the décor in the nice restaurant. They'd been on plenty of dates, and he always talked about wanting to take her somewhere really nice.
"It is, right? I was googling it before we came," he chuckled, flipping through the menu. "You see anything you like? There's so much shit on here,"
"Yeah, I've decided to stay in the seafood and pasta areas," she giggled. "They have like six pages of wine, this why I just stick to my lil cheap stuff, gets me feeling the same as the expensive stuff," she shook her head.
"You a weird drunk," he chuckled.
"And how is that, sir?" she smirked, sipping on her water.
"You act differently off different drinks. If you drinking, like liquor, straight, you get all emotional and clingy, all you wanna do is lay up. Then we got you off mixed drinks, you know that fruity shit you like, you get real...energetic. Like when we was in Hawaii and you was dancing for thirty minutes straight in heels. Then we got Mari off the wine, that's the one that's gon tease the hell out you, and then fall asleep before anything can happen," he broke down, and Mari was laughing the entire time.
"You think you got the kid all figured out, huh?" she said once she finally caught her breath.
"I know you very well," he nodded.
"Well you wanna know what you're like drunk?" she tilted her head, and he nodded. "Well, off straight liquor—horny. Off mixed drinks—horny, and off wine—horny as fuck, and will wake me up to give me some," she said and he had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing loudly.
"You tryna make me sound like all I wanna do is fuck,"
"Well...when you drink that is all you want," she laughed. "I could simply wanna lay with you, and you tryna feel on me, it's all too much," she spoken dramatically, and he shook his head.
"I mean...you don't say no," he shrugged.
"But this isn't about me, Xavion," she brushed him off and they continued to read through the menu items
Soon, the waitress came back to take their orders and they ordered a bottle and of wine to drink, one they could recognize.
"I hope this calamari good, all this damn money they charging for it," Mari shook her head. "I want pounds of it,"
"Okay greedy," he laughed. "You know how these places be, hella expensive for lil portions. But the reviews was good, hopefully they live up to the hype,"
"They better or Ima have words for the entire kitchen staff," she said seriously. "You excited for the Golden Gloves, baby? They're right around the corner," she clapped her hands excitedly.
"Yeah, I'm nervous, man. I hope even if I'on win I get farther than last year, it's a big opportunity and I'm at the best I been—I think I got a good chance, and if I get signed man...all this hard work and the struggling was fuckin' worth it. All them times I felt like giving up, and I didn't gon feel good," he shook his head with a small smile and Mari couldn't help but smile back.
"I know you can. You have the talent and the drive, you got the skill, you just need someone to see you. Once they see you, it's only a matter of time," she nodded knowingly.
"Thank you baby. I love you, thank you for believing in me," he reached across the table and held her face in his hand, just studying her face. He leaned over and kissed her two times before letting her go.
"Of course, Dooda. I love you" she grinned. "Oop! Here come the calamari," she stuck her tongue out and she laughed at her.
The two ate, Mari glad the calamari lived up to her expectations—in taste and in portion size. Xavion recorded her and took a picture of her as she continued to eat, she looked so genuinely full of happiness when she ate, he found it hilarious. Cute, but hilarious.
"Uh...babe?" Mari called his attention, eyebrows furrowed.
"Wassup?" he answered, looking up at her from the video he was about to post on his story. "What's the matter?" he asked, noticing her expression.
Her eyes shifted back to him, expression remaining confused. "Um...isn't that your dad?" she pointed.
He looked in the direction she was pointing, and sure enough, his father sat in the center of the restaurant, adjusting his tie and checking his watch. He was very confused.
Instead of answering Mari, he watched his father. He tried to come up with a million excuses as to why he'd be here on a Friday night—when he should be home with his mother and his sister.
Maybe he was working late, meeting a client for whatever reason at a fancy restaurant in the middle of downtown Chicago. Maybe he was meeting one of his sisters or brothers for a dinner together, that wasn't uncommon for him.
His common sense snapped back to him in an instant and he pulled his phone out to check his messages with his sister for any indication of what he'd be doing today. Usually Dymond told him all about her weekend plans and wherever she'd be taken by her parents.
"Xavi," she called him again.
"Hold on, Mar," he said quickly, scrolling until he saw a message that said his dad was working late—so she'd have to get an uber to her teammates house this weekend for whatever they were doing. Part of him felt relief when he read that, taking a short breath, and yet another part was still shrouded with doubts.
"X-Xavion," Emari called him again and he finally looked up. "I-I don't know if—you should just—" she pointed her finger back toward his dad and his heart immediately thumped louder in his chest.
He was terrified to turn his head.
But he did it. He followed her finger and his heart dropped to his stomach. He could hear it drumming in his ears, and it felt like it'd beat right through his shirt in a second. He could wrap his mind around what was happening right in front of him. He heard Mari talking to him, and it sounded muffled, he couldn't understand her at the moment.
He was too busy watching his father cheating on his mother.
"Xavion..." she called to him again, and he literally had to tear his eyes away from his father and this random woman, whom he was just kissing to look back at his girlfriend, who's eyes immediately softened upon seeing the tears in his. "Wh-what do you wanna do, baby? I'm right behind you," she said softly.
"I-I-" he stammered, trying to get himself together to respond. All the years of his parents being in a loving and happy marriage, all the dates and the anniversaries, the 'I love you's', it all went down the drain, the image he had of his father as at least a good husband to his mom was shattered, in an instant. Nothing made sense.
"You wanna leave? We can leave, Xavi," she quickly said, seeing him beginning to hyperventilate. She knew he didn't have anxiety, but this was enough to send anyone into a panic attack. "I'm gonna go pay for what we ate, and we're gonna leave okay? Try and breathe for me, baby. Just breathe and I'll be right back,"
He watched her spot become empty in an instant, and all he could think of was his mother. The pain she would feel, the heartbreak she would experience and how he and his sisters would be left to pickup the pieces of her that were left because of his father's cowardice and infidelity.
His heart felt like it was going to explode any second now.
There were far too many emotions to process at once, and his mind quite literally felt like it was spinning in his head when he looked back over at them, laughing, her hand resting on his shoulder and him giving her a look that he'd only ever seen him give to Selena.
The one emotion that began to rise above them was hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred for his father. He felt his temper rising, and his skin physically got hot. He saw red, his nostrils flared and the only thing on his mind now—was violence.
He began to stand up from his seat, eyes locked on to Ibrahim and whoever was at the table with him, and before he could take his first step, he felt hands on his chest. He didn't even bother looking down, he knew it was her.
"Xavi, baby please. We can't don't this here, we gotta go," she tried to reason with him, as she saw that he was angry. Anyone could tell he was angry. His eyes were turning redder by the second, and his fists were balled tightly.
Mari could see why he was angry, but the last thing he needed was for someone to call the police on the angry black man in an affluent neighborhood being violent and this escalate to something she could not fix.
"Xavion. We can not do this right now. Please hear me, I know what you want to do. And I wouldn't be mad at you for doing it—but not here. Please," she pleased with him, using all of her strength to pry his hand open and hold it. "Xavion," she called him again and her voice cracked, catching his attention. He finally looked at her. She simply mouthed 'Please' one last time.
He looked at his dad again, and back to Mari, nodding his head slightly and beginning to pull her toward the exit, purposely going the direction of his dad's table. Mari was right, he couldn't hit him. Not here.
But he had to let Ibrahim know he saw him.
So, as he passed the table, he bumped him hard. If he knew anything about his father's temper, it was like his. He knew he would look back to see who just purposely bumped into him and as soon as he did it, he was greeted with the sinister gaze of the person he least expected to see, and Xavion could see the soul leaving his body.
Once he and Mari made it to his car—he was completely silent, as was she. She didn't know what she could possibly say that would soothe this sting.
"W-what I'm gon tell my mama?" he spoke, lower than usual, if Mari wasn't paying attention she would've missed it. "How-how Ima break her heart like this?" he said, voice cracking significantly, and Mari instantly knew he was about to cry. She scrambled over the console into his lap and held his head against her chest and he immediately let out a choked sob, shattering her heart as his was.
well 😳 hello.
date night took a very bad turn.
y'all tell me your thoughts about it here.
what should xavi do? talk to his dad first? his sisters? his mom? how should he handle this?
leave me some other thoughts on this chapter here! i can feel the drags coming a mile away chile.
(sorry its so short, also. i couldn't really make this too long with the subject matter at hand lol)
till next time ❤️