by Elbie Dee
“Uhh,” I gasped once I realized what was going on. I've seen this type of stuff in movies! I quickly grabbed the spoon that laid on top of the napkin to the right of the six inch plate. I dug into the center of the dessert, and dropped my spoon before placing my hand to shade my emotional eyes. From underneath my hand, I saw Bradson’s hand reach for the small, plastic bag that was placed inside the Tiramisu. I heard the sealed bag pop open, before Bradson scooted his chair back.
“Will you marry me?” he asked, after I looked over at him kneeling on one knee.
“Yes,” I replied without moving from my seat, before he placed the diamond on my ring finger. It fit perfectly.
* * *
I barely spoke to my father since I only met him a few years ago. When I called a month before to tell him I was getting married, he accepted the offer to walk me down the aisle. It was short notice, but everything was. We were marrying only three months after a proposal. We wanted to make it official as quickly as possible; we needed a happy and healthy, fresh start at the love thing we were doing.
“You ready?” my father looked over to ask me, as we listened to the officiant’s voice on the other side of the wooden door. I nodded my head, and the doors to the sanctuary opened. I was about to become a wife.
15
Bradson
“Stand for the bride!” the Minister announced, before I inhaled a deep breath. I was nervous, but I was more than ready. I had done so much in the past that it was time for me to fully commit myself to one person. Some say a woman can’t change you; you have to change yourself. For me, it’s been different. She’s always been the type of woman who made me change my thinking for the better, no matter what type of difficult times we faced. Reflecting on my large past, she’s the only woman I remember actually loving.
The doors to the sanctuary opened, and I was astonished. The small audience consisting of family members from each side of our families stood, and all were in awe as well. She’s always been beautiful, but she looked pure in that white dress. The laced sleeves and overlay of the long dress made her look elegant. Her hair was curled into a bun, and the makeup she wore brightened her hazel eyes more than I ever imagined. She looked amazing. She compared to the beauty of an Angel.
All my life,
I prayed for someone like you,
And I thank God that I,
That I finally found you
My sixteen year old cousin, Alasia, sang KC & JoJo’s song, All My Life, once Brilese took her first step down the aisle. One of the members of the church we were marrying in agreed to play the beat on the piano at no extra cost. A tear fell down my cheek as my soon to be wife got closer, and closer. I looked toward the front row to the left side of me, and noticed my mother begin to ball. Since she hadn’t witnessed water fall from my eyes since I was eight years old, she knew how strongly my heart felt for Brilese.
“Do you give your blessing to allow this woman and man to marry each other?” the Minister asked Brilese’s biological father. In my opinion, he shouldn’t have even walked her down the aisle. If anything, it should have been Zirko. He was only brought into her life a little less than a year before I walked in, but he was the closest male to her. He is a child who has an IQ of 125 at only six years old. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been a problem for him to understand the concept of giving his mother away to a man in her best interest. Hell, at least it would have been more heartfelt than her halfass dad who hadn’t had an idea about Brilese at all! But since she insisted, I couldn’t turn her away.
“I do,” the tall, slim man replied without an emotion in his soul. Of course you do, mother fucker, I thought to myself as he released her arm from around his, and stepped to the side.
I reached for her hand, and she latched hers with mine. I pulled her up in front of the podium, until she turned to face me with a smile she couldn’t resist if she tried. She passed her bouquet of flowers to Dezire who stood behind her. Her eyes were brighter than normal, and I could tell her heart was full as she reached for my other hand. I chuckled trying to keep the tears from falling, as my heart grew ten times the amount of normal. I was about to create a Mrs. Brilese Lee Jones.
Since we opted out of having groomsmen and bridesmaids, Dezire, Matt and the Minister were the only other people standing with us by the podium. The Minister began to recite a few heartfelt words from each of our sides of the family concerning why we were meant to be. Glossy eyes turned into mutual rain drops flowing down our cheeks, as he continued with passages from The Holy Bible. Our grip grew tighter as the end of the first speech began to come to an end. One last squeeze, and she released from my hands and accepted the piece of notebook paper she had given the Minister, and began to recite her vows.
“Bradson,” she began which instantly made my heart strings pull. “The first time I met you, I didn’t know whether or not I should give it a shot. As my shift ended, I grew more and more anxious to contact you and at the time, I didn’t know why my heart felt so strong. I was probably scared, but that didn’t last long. I couldn’t help but to let you know I got your phone number by sending you a text, the very moment I got into the driver’s seat of my car. The first date we had together explained everything I questioned. After that day, I knew you were the one for me without any doubt. Throughout all of our trials and tribulations, my heart never folded on you as it would on an irrelevant person. I’ve had break ups, but I never could imagine breaking up with you. We needed the time apart since we both were almost six years younger than we are now. But now, we are full. I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life with someone else, who won’t look at me the way you do in the morning,” she concluded.
I never imagined myself marrying at all, let alone, such a strong and heartfelt woman. I drug her through the mud and back and she still had encouraging and kind words to say to me. If I didn’t know the type of relationship she had with God, then I would call her words nothing more than an act. The more she recited her vows is the more I began to think about how she never deserved any bad situation I put her through. Guilt crept upon me, and I had to get rid of the words I placed on paper and speak from the soul.
“Brilese,” I crumpled the paper that was handed to me by the Minister as I began to speak. The words written came from my heart, but they weren’t comparable to what I was about to recite. “I didn’t know why I felt the way I did when I first laid eyes on you, but I knew I had to have you. Sexuality wasn’t on my mind like it normally was with women. This time, I wanted you. I wanted every piece of your soul, and every piece of your heart and mind. You were something special, and now I see why. You uplift everyone around you, and your maternal skills are comparable to my mother who raised three kids on her own. You keep employment, but your ambition and goals are mind blowing to a normal mind. As your protector and provider, I promise never to let you down, as you are destined for greatness even without me,” I finally concluded.
If she never felt it before, she knew right then that my love for her was real. We held each other’s hands tighter than what we gripped before the vows, as the Minister began to conclude our ceremony. I don’t know about her, but his words faded until my ears picked up his sound again right before we could say our, I do’s.
“Do you Brilese, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband so help you God?” he asked my lady.
“I do,” she didn’t hesitate to reply, as her smile grew as wide as it could get with her pearly white teeth shining through.
“And do you, Bra-,” he started.
Boom! But the sound of the church doors distracted him, and everyone else as we all turned our attention in the same direction.
“I’m pregnant with his baby!” Alynn screamed through the church before she adjusted her eyes, and noticed everyone staring her way.
Uhhh! Almost everyone attending the wedding gasped.
“What!” Brilese yelled, and a look of confusion covered her face.
“Please, Brilese,” I pleaded, as I
gripped her hand as tight as I could. Through the sorrowness in my voice, she could feel that I fucked up.
“What!” Everyone directed their attention toward the minister once he shouted.
“Daddy?” Alynn lowered her voice, and directed her attention straight down the aisle once she realized her father was conducting our wedding. I had no idea she was related to him. Matt didn’t even tell me, so I doubt he knew she was his daughter.
“Lord, forgive me but I’m sick of this bitch ruining my life!” Brilese stared up toward the ceiling and said aloud to God, before kicking her heels off of her feet.
“Brilese don’t do this! It’s our wedding day!” I yelled, after I grabbed her wrist and tried to force her to refrain from beating Alynn’s ass.
“Fuck that shit! I’ve had enough!” Brilese was almost in tears as she replied, and twisted her wrist to free herself from my hand before jetting down the aisle toward Alynn.
Just as I was about to chase after her and attempt to stop her actions, I was paused by a squeeze on my shoulder from the minister. Shockingly, after I turned my attention toward him, he put his hand up as a suggestion for me to keep my place. Alynn was his daughter, and I wasn’t sure if he knew about how thorough Brilese was with her hands!
“If this is how she wants to present herself, then she can take whatever comes her way,” he whispered to me. He must have noticed the strong expression of my confusion staring back at him.
“Ahh! Stop!” I was snapped away from him by the sound of Alynn pleading Brilese to stop.
By the time I looked to see what was happening, Alynn’s full body laid on the carpet of the church with blood stains covering the neckline of her white tee. Brilese’s eyes were planted on Alynn, as she threw punch after punch to her face, chest, skull and anywhere else her hands weren’t covering at the moment. Not one family member on either side moved from their seat; I assume they all figured she was getting what she deserved for her actions.
“You weren’t telling my man to stop fucking you!” she screamed, until echoes bounced off of the church ceiling after she calmed her hands, and both of their nose tips touched.
My heart fell to my stomach when the words came out of her mouth. For a moment, I hoped Brilese wouldn’t believe her obsessed ex-friend, but with my past history it was impossible for her not to. As she began to stand up and away from Alynn, I started to notice all of the blood on her pearl white dress. Her scrunched face and glossed eyes were easily seen from almost a half of a mile from where I stood, as the look of death shot directly at me.
“Brilese, wait!” I yelled, after she turned around to stomp out of the ceremony. I took off running behind her, making sure to stop at Alynn who kept her place laying on the floor.
Ptoo! I hawk spit on the bitch before saying a word.
“If you were pregnant, I hope she beat the baby out of you,” I evilly replied. I meant every word, as she stared up at me with swollen black and blue eyes, blood gushing from her enlarged lip, and a golf ball sized knot on her forehead. Although the circumstance wasn’t how I wished it to be, I was delighted that Brilese finally got her hands on the hoe.
Whimpers came from Alynn after I turned to continue my chase for Brilese. She got what she deserved. Not only did she take advantage of me, but she ruined my chance of marrying Brilese that day. I chuckled at the thought of her finally suffering from her actions, as I opened each door I ran past in the church.
“Open the fucking door!” I yelled through the crack of the door I opened. The minute Brilese heard the creaking sound of me entering, she quickly ran across the room and tried forcing it shut again.
“Leave me the fuck alone, you nasty ass bastard!” she screamed back through the crack in reply. Her adrenaline must have been at its highest; she fought with every muscle in her body to get the door to close. I fought against it for a few seconds, but after leaning back and catching enough force to hit it with my shoulder, the door flung open as Brilese stumbled backwards.
“Please, listen!” I said sternly, once I had her cornered in the room with my body towering over her. “I’m fucking sorry! You knew about my problem. It’s not an excuse but the bitch set me up!” I confessed. I was over the days of lying to her.
“How many times, Bradson?” she asked calmly, after inhaling a long gust of air.
“Once, I promise!” I cried as my arms grew weak, and buried her tears into my chest as we both traded emotions. Rivers released from both of our eyes, until our knees mutually weakened. We held each other as we sat in the corner together, and continued to shower out our pain.
* * *
After an hour of confiding in one another, Brilese and I exited the room of the church until we reached the doors of the sanctuary. Unsurprisingly, the room sat empty. I guessed everyone left once they realized there wasn’t going to be a wedding ceremony that day anymore. Honestly, I don’t think I could fall through with it after the shit with Alynn. All eyes turned toward me, with looks of disgust coming from both sides of the family. Not only was the act an embarrassment for me, but also Brilese as we were supposed to intertwine as one. Brilese strode down the aisle once again, but this time was to grab her heels from in front of the podium. She frowned toward the front row after leaning to pick her shoes from the carpet, before heading back to where I stood in the doorway.
With the kids sitting in the front row, they heard what Alynn said the moment she rushed through the door to crash the wedding. Fortunately, Dezire acted quickly and motioned for them to follow her into the door beside the stage to get them out of sight. They complied, and never got a chance to witness everything that happened which allowed Brilese to feel at peace about her children. Dezire searched the church after the scene was over until she found us. She kept the kids along the wall and away from the door so they couldn’t see their mother’s heart broken, and blood all over the dress. She informed us that she was taking the kids to her place. She told Brilese to take a night off, and if she needed more time they’d be welcome to stay with her.
The room at The Marriott was already reserved. The plan was to spend the night at the hotel after the reception, before waking up the next morning and heading off for our two day honeymoon. Since we hadn’t married, the honeymoon wasn’t going to happen, but we decided to keep our reservation at the hotel for the night. Besides, our suitcases were already in the room since she dropped them off before her and Dezire left the hotel earlier in the morning. Even if we didn’t plan on staying, we’d still have to go get our things. After contemplating, we agreed we needed a night away.
Once our plan was set, we took our eyes from the empty sanctuary and walked back toward the room she got dressed in to grab her phone. Neither of us drove to the ceremony. Brilese left her Lexus at the hotel so we’d have car access after the limo was supposed to bring us to the hotel. So as we moped down the hallway depressed, I ordered an Uber since things didn’t go as planned. With five minutes until the driver was set to arrive, Brilese didn’t have too much time to change into her casual clothes. The dress was already ruined, so she wasn’t careful when throwing the dress over her head and onto the floor.
Quickly, she picked her t-shirt and shorts up from the chair where they laid and threw them over her body. Right before I got a notification that the driver was outside, she had forced her feet into her thong sandals. I picked her dress and shoes up from the floor in front of the chair, as she grabbed her phone from the table before glancing at the screen. She sighed, and decided to power her phone off for the night. She didn’t tell me why, but friends and family members were most likely offering her apologies and therapeutic text messages.
We loaded into the car, and reached the hotel room a little after six in the evening. Before she jumped in the shower, she asked me to order a bottle of wine from room service. I did just as she said, and a fresh glass was poured for her after she was finished showering. She stood in front of the bed naked as I handed her the glass, and she grabbed it without saying a word. Wit
h everything that happened, she opted out of speaking; I couldn’t blame her.
Brilese didn’t want to hear my beg for mercy out of guilt from my deceitful actions. All she wished to do was lay on the bed, and drink her wine. So many thoughts were running through both of our heads, and our brains needed to rest. She was angry and depressed. She felt betrayed once again over my infidelities. Sad to say but as she laid in my arms, I knew it would be the last night we would spend together; she wanted to make our last memory a peaceful one. With silency filling the room and a whole bottle of wine down, I watched as she closed her eyes to fall asleep on my shoulder.
* * *
“Bradson!” Brilese woke me up after she sat up on the bed, and nudged my arm.
“What happened?” I asked, as I popped up from laying in the bed.
“Your phone is dinging and it’s only four in the morning! What else do I need to know about?” she asked, as she glared into my eyes. I returned her look of suspicion, and leaned over my side of the bed. The phone went off one more time before I pulled it from my jean pocket, and got a chance to read the messages.
“What the fuck?!” I asked nervously, as I read the text messages from Merrisah.
You might be a single father soon. I’m in danger! Please help!
I confusingly stared at the message trying to put pieces together. Merrisah hadn’t fucked with me or Brilese since we paid her a visit in Charlotte. As a matter of a fact, her and Brilese grew cordial with one another out of sake for my boys.
“Give it to me!” Brilese demanded before reaching over my shoulder, and grabbing my phone from in between my hands as I laid at the edge of the bed.
“You know what that’s about?” I asked, and watched as her eyes widened at the texts.
“Let’s go now!” she threw my phone directly at me, before jumping out of the bed and into the suitcase to find clothes to quickly put on. “What are you waiting for! Your kids could be hurt right now!” she panicked.
