It was Sunday afternoon. Micki stood outside, next to Vincent, by the sizzling grill. After church, he had invited new friends over; his two neighbors and the South Korean married couple from across the street. Celisha, Aunt Faye, Claudia and Shana were present as well.
"Okay, pour a bit of my secret sauce on the steaks." Vincent nodded toward the grill.
Micki rolled her eyes while adding the sauce to the steaks. "Mixing A-One steak sauce and ketchup isn't a secret sauce, Chef Manor. "
"Don't hate on the chef," Vincent laughed.
Micki looked at their guests. They were all enjoying the pleasant weather and the food. She hoped Vincent's choice of music wasn't offending anyone. At the moment, the sounds of Raheem Divine's, "Woman" , was playing. Walking around the pool was Shana, heading straight for her.
"Um. . .Ms-" Shana started.
"You can call me Micki."
"Okay," Shana smiled. "Um. . .thank you for coming to my church today." She looked toward Vincent. "And you too, Vincent."
Micki looked at Shana, feeling sorry for her. Micki knew how AIDS could kill. Her older sister had died from complications from the deadly disease. It was a family secret she had never shared with Vincent, or any one for that matter. Unlike Shana's unfortunate accident, her sister had contracted the viral syndrome from drug use and prostitution.
"You're welcome, Shana," Micki replied.
"I'm glad you and Vincent got saved today."
"Are you?"
"Yes, ma'am," Shana nodded. "Now I'll have more friends in heaven when I leave."
Micki was speechless.
"I'm not afraid to die," Shana said. "I don't want to, but I'm not afraid."
"You shouldn't be, Shana," Micki finally said. "But for now, I want you to be happy. Just like Vincent, I'm your B.F.F. now too. Let's let the chef do his thing." She reached for Shana's hand as Vincent looked at them both. "Let me show you a few new things we can do with your hair."
As the two walked off, Micki's brother walked up drinking a beer. Sierra was in his late thirties with a regulation military hair cut. "What's up, brother-in-law? I see that my sister is a happy woman."
"Look who she's in love with," Vincent joked. "Hey, Sierra, man, hand me that seasoning salt." "No problem," Sierra obliged. "Hey, on another note, I thought your personal assistant was engaged."
"She is," Vincent replied.
"Well, your news must be out of date, because I just heard different."
"From who?"
"She just told me. Said the engagement was called off." Sierra shrugged. "Wouldn't tell me why though. I know women. . .and she's stressed out. Look at her." Sierra nodded toward the far end of the pool where Celisha was sitting alone, eyes hidden behind her shades.
"Sierra," Vincent said, removing his apron, "take over for me. I need to talk to her."
"Thought you'd never ask." Sierra took the apron and Vincent's spot behind the grill.
Vincent headed straight over to Celisha, on a mission to get the truth about exactly what was going on between her and Aaron.
A few minutes after Vincent finished talking with Celisha, Micki sat at the kitchen table with Shana. It was then Vincent came storming in. Micki immediately noticed the anger written on his face. "Baby, what's wrong?" she asked him with concern.
"I'll be back in a few," he said, snatching up his car keys.
"Vincent-"
"I'll explain everything when I get back."
Vincent was out the door before his fiancee could say another word. He sped directly to Aaron's spacious house in Miramar without calling first. His trip wasn't wasted when he rounded the corner seeing Aaron's two cars in the driveway. Parking behind the silver Audi A8L, he exited his car, making his way toward the front door. The front door was ajar behind the completely closed screen door.
"Yo, Aaron!" Vincent rang the doorbell. No answer. He waited, pressing the doorbell twice more. He looked over his shoulder across the street. Everything was quiet. Coming up the sidewalk was two Asian women speed walking. When he turned back around, Aaron was standing in the doorway.
"What's up, bruh?" Vincent was unable to hide his anger.
"Look, man. . ."Aaron rubbed his face. "I know why you're probably here, and the issue I have with Celisha is my business and not yours. Matter of fact, maybe you should just-"
Vincent exploded by roughly pulling open the screen door and stepping inside, causing Aaron to stumble. They started to tussle. Aaron's body was fit, but nowhere near the prison formed body that Vincent had.
"Have you lost your mind?" Aaron was on his back with a torn shirt and a bloody lip.
Vincent sat on his chest, ready to rain blow after blow toward his face.
Aaron knew he was defeated. He remained on his back even when Vincent got up.
"Celisha is like a sister to me, Aaron. And this lame-"
He halted himself from cursing. "What's up with you?
Why you dissin' her? She told me what you said."
Aaron slowly sat up rubbing his jaw.
"You ain't got nothing to say?" Vincent shouted.
Aaron lowered his head. "What can I say?" he muttered.
Vincent's cell phone rang. By its chime, he knew it was Micki. She'd been calling him repeatedly since he'd left out the house. He didn't answer. He wanted to finish his conversation at hand. "It's not what you can say. It's what you can do. What can you do to fix things between you and Celisha. Do you still love her?"
Aaron looked up with blood lightly flowing from his lip. "I. . .messed up, bruh."
"Answer the question."
Aaron nodded. "I do love her. Of course I do, but it's too late."
"Is that what you think? See, this is what I think. You don't seem to understand how much Celisha loves you. And if you really loved her so much, why have you been dragging out the engagement?"
Aaron moved to his feet. "Because. . .I was jealous of you. I thought you two had something going on when those rumors started."
"Jealous of me?" Vincent exclaimed. He looked at Aaron closely. "Man, this is crazy. Look, Celisha is an attractive woman, but I'm not attracted to her."
"I see that now." Aaron flopped down in his recliner.
"Guess I look real stupid, huh?"
Vincent sat down as well. "Aaron, during all this mess, did you ever once pick up the Bible you've so enjoyed telling me about whenever you got the chance? Celisha is going to have the baby with you or without you, and I hope it's not the latter. For what it's worth, she still loves you. I made her look into my eyes and tell me how she felt before I came over here. She's hurting real bad, man. She is willing to forgive, but you got to take that first step," Vincent explained.
Aaron thought for a minute and then looked at Vincent. "Why did you bring up the Bible?"
"Micki and I got saved today."
Aaron looked at Vincent with deeper respect. For so long, he had been playing the role of a Christian, a witness, always the first to suggest folks read the Bible, and here hadn't even followed his own advice when it came to his situation. He knew he was wrong for what he had said to Celisha, and the fact that she still loved him was powerful.
"Do you think she'll take me back?" Aaron asked Vincent.
Vincent stood up. "Aaron, she has never let you go."