At Last (31 page)

             
When we got back to Brooklyn, Carmen sat on the couch with Chanel. I didn’t want anything to do with Carmen; so I headed for his room.  Before I could enter, Cliff put his hand on my shoulder and turned me around gently.

             
“I gotta holla at my sister for a minute,” He told me before walking in the living room, “Carm, come here.”

             
To mine and Chanel’s surprise, she followed with no objection.  She looked at Cliff, sighed, and went into his room. I looked at Chanel and I’m sure our faces looked exactly the same. We were taken way off guard. As the door closed behind them, Chanel and I eased towards the door and tried to listen.

             
“You okay?” Cliff asked.

             
“I’m fine, C.J.” Carmen replied quickly.

             
“
We leavin’
soon.”

             
“I know.”

             
“Why you actin’ like that?”

             
“Actin’ like what, C.J?”

             
“Like this. You do this thing where you act like you ain’t tryna talk, but you obviously do. What is yo problem?”

             
“You act like I’m not your fuckin’ sister no more. Ever since you left I ain’t ever heard from you. You act
like I don’t mean nothin’ to you
.”

             
“Who fault is that,” Cliff asked angrily. Carmen didn’t answer, “Carm, you did this shit to yourself. You made a nigga act like this towards you. Fuck was you thinkin’?”

             
“I don’t know.”

             
“I’m your big brother.”

             
“I know, C.J. I’m sorry, but now you closer to some random b-“

             
“Cut it out.”

             
“I’m on the outside now. You were the only man I had in my life that really loved me. Then I fucked up and now I don’t
got
nobody.”

             
“Come here.”

             
I could hear whimpering behind the door for a second before the sound became muffled. They were obviously embracing.

             
“I still love you.
You my little sister.
You’ll always be my little sister. You need to stop takin’ that shit out on my girl though. You might not like Keisha, but she’s going to be my wife, you understand?”

             
Carmen was silent for a while, “Yeah.”

             
“I forgive you for everything. It’s over. Let that go.”

             
Chanel and I heard footsteps and shuffled over to the couch acting as if we were there the entire time.

             
“Congratulations on your engagement, Keisha.” Carmen said as she entered the room.

             
I didn’t know if she meant it or not, but I figured it took a lot for her to fix her mouth to say such.  I decided to appease her, “Thank you, Carmen.”

             
We had a nice evening for our last night.  Mr. Andrews kept his promise and took the whole family out to dinner.  It was actually a good experience. I could tell Cliff enjoyed himself. There were no arguments, no bitterness, nothing. His family was whole again, even if it was just for one night.

             
Once we got back to the house, we packed our things and set the alarm clock. It was actually the first time it had been like this. Cliff wasn’t out all night; there wasn’t any drama, no one questioning our relationship-nothing. Just us holding each other as the quiet storm radio station played in the background. I focused my eyes on my future husband as he did the same.

             
“What’s on your mind, Ma?”

             
“Nothing.”

             
“You
lying.”
He said smiling showing off his infectious smile.

             
“You think you know me so well.”

             
“What I don’t? Let me get that ring back.” He said laughing going for my ring.

             
“Shut up.” I replied laughing with him slapping his hand away.

             
“So what’s up?” He probed.

             
Before I could answer him, Aretha came on the radio and made it plain.

“Looking out on the morning rain, I used to feel so uninspired; and when I knew I had to face another day, Lord it made me feel so tired, Before the day I met you, life was so unkind, But you’re the key to my peace of
mind.  Cause you make me feel, you make me feel, you make me feel like a Natural Woman”

             
“I used to listen to this song and think about how I want a man to love me enough to make me feel like this. I’ve spent all these years wanting somebody to love me and for the longest I didn’t think I deserved to be cherished. I didn’t think that it was possible to love a man and having a love so strong between us that it could make me a better person. But that’s what you did for me. Your love makes me a better me.”

             
He didn’t say much at first.  He just looked at me with his quiet strength and nodded his head.

             
“I feel the same way.  That’s why I wanted you to be my wife.” He said before lightly kissing me on the lips.

             
“I can’t wait to be your wife.”

             
We made love until the sun came up.

             
The next morning Ms. Wilma made us breakfast before we hit the road.  I was going to miss her and Chanel. They had been so nice to me. They helped us carry our bags out to the truck and load up for our journey back home.

             
“Alright now, call me as soon as you’ll make it back to Detroit.” Wilma said somberly. I could tell she was going to miss her son.

             
“I know Momma. We will.” Cliff said as he kissed his mother on the cheek and hugged her.

             
“I love you. Be careful. Come here and give me a hug, Miss Keisha. You take good care of my son.”  She said to me before hugging me.

             
“I will.”

             
“You’ll take care of each other,” She said while holding both of our hands, “And hurry up and set that
date. 
Me
and Chanel will be on the first thing smoking to Detroit.”

             
“We will.”  Cliff and I said at the same time.

             
“Give me my hug, C.J.” Chanel said approaching Cliff.

             
“Aiight, sis.”
He said laughing.

             
“I’ma
miss
you.” She said holding him tightly.

             
“I know. I’ma
miss
you too.” He said before letting go and grinning, “And don’t think I don’t know what’s going on between you and Jay.”

             
“C.J!”
She yelled with a smile.

             
“It’s all good though. Just don’t let me have to fuck that nigga up.” He said still grinning. We all knew he was dead serious.

             
“Yeah, okay.”  She replied with a smirk before turning to me and giving me a hug, “I had so much fun, Keish. I’m glad I have another sister.”

             
I almost shed a tear for her sincerity, “Me too. Thank you for everything. When you come to the D, we gonna party.”

             
After we said all our goodbyes and were ready to hit the road, Carmen came running down the stoop.

             
“Hold on,” She said running up to my window, “I just wanted to tell y’all to have a safe trip back.”

             
“Thanks, Carm.” Cliff replied.

             
There was a brief silence. Carmen looked in the opposite direction down the street.

             
“Alright Carm, we bout to blow.”
Cliff said starting up the truck.

             
“Okay,” Carmen said before looking me in the eyes, “I just wanted to say that if C.J loves you then you must be a special person.”

             
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”  I replied.

             
Cliff got out of the truck and gave Carmen a hug, “I love you.”

             
“I know. I love you too.” She said wiping her tears away. Cliff walked back to the truck and we were off. He blew the horn and we waved to the Andrews as they disappeared in the rearview mirror.

             
The entire ride home I was nauseous as hell.  Cliff had to pull over nearly every hour either for me to pee or me thinking I had to vomit.

             
Fortunately, I never did lose my cookies, but I knew he was getting annoyed with me having him stop. By the time we got to Ohio he wasn’t having it.

             
“When the last time you got your period?” He finally asked.

             
“What?”

             
“You heard me. When was the last time you got your period?”

             
“Whatever, Clifford.
I’m probably just carsick. I ain’t pregnant.”

             
“You didn’t answer my question. When was the last time?” He asked pulling into a gas station.

             
The truth was I hadn’t remembered even getting my period for the past month. I didn’t have to say anything, he could tell from the look on
e
face that I couldn’t recall.

             
“That’s what I thought. I can’t even remember the last time you had it. You’re pregnant.”  He declared.

             
“I’m not pregnant, Clifford.” I replied.

             
“Get a test.” He said with a smile.

             
I smacked my teeth, “Whatever. I’ll get one, but I ain’t pregnant.”

Epilogue

             
Missy put the final touches on my makeup and I could hardly keep still.

             
“Alright Keish, you gotta chill. You don’t want to look like a clown. Stop trying to look in the mirror and let me do my magic.”

             
“I’m sorry, I’m just so anxious.”  I said with a gigantic smile.

             
“I understand, but you got to relax and let me work.”

             
“Alright.
I’ll be good.”

             
She laughed at me, “Alright crazy, all done.”

             
She moved back from me so I could get a full view of myself in the mirror.  I looked amazing.

             
She used the right colors to bring out my natural beauty and my hair was breathtaking. It was nothing fancy.  My hair had grown so much over the past few months all I did was trim my ends. I wore it in wispy soft curls and pinned it back slightly on the left side. Missy pinned a Diamante Swarovski crystal comb in my hair.

             
I wore drop diamond earrings and a simple diamond cross pendant around my neck that belonged to my mother for the something old.  A blue garter underneath my dress in lieu of something blue and for my something new, Cliff bought me a simple diamond tennis bracelet. And I selected not to wear a veil.

             
My dress was gorgeous.  Missy made it for me as a wedding gift.  It was ivory, not white. After all I wasn’t a virgin. It was the most beautiful dress I’d ever seen.  I cried for almost an hour when she first showed it to me.

             
It was a halter trumpet style dress.  It had beautiful metallic beading and was made of lace and silk.  It was form fitting, but classic.  It was everything I wanted and more.

             
The day I’d been dreaming of had finally arrived.  I was the happiest I’d ever been in my life.  I couldn’t stop looking in the mirror.  I was getting ready to marry the man I love.  Life couldn’t have been any sweeter.

             
When we got back home I took a pregnancy test I bought from the gas station and it came back positive. I didn’t believe it, so I made Cliff go to the store and buy every pregnancy test he saw.

             
He came back home with four different tests but it didn’t matter. I took each one and each one came back positive.