Page 29 of Betrothed To Love

“Did she agree to that?” I ask and Shuga sighs loud as hell.

“Yes, she did. She understands me,” she says before lightly tapping the side of my face. “Like I said, I like her.”

“I’m glad you do.”

“Well, let me fix Asali’s plate so we can eat. Shiro ’bout to drive me to drinking about this food,” she says before walking off. I head toward Hussain and get Niya.

“My stomach hurts ’cause I’m ready to eat, daddy,” Niya says.

“Me too. Let’s go get your food,” I say, then caress her back. “But hey, why won’t you talk to my friend?” I ask and she shrugs. “Well, she’s going to eat dinner with us and I want you to at least say hello.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to her,” she says, then laughs.

After placing her feet on the floor, we walk to the food table and join the line. Shuga already fixed Asali’s plate and he’s eating. Right when I grab the plates, Mireya walks up beside me. My nephew Travon steps back to allow her space. Niya touches her leg and Mireya looks down.

“Hey, pretty girl,” Mireya says.

“Hi, my name is Niya,” she says with a smile.

“I know. You have a very pretty name. I’m Mireya and I love your shirt.”

Niya grabs the bottom of her shirt then looks down at it. “It’s Bluey,” she says. “You don’t know Bluey?”

“No. I don’t.”

“She’s funny,” Niya explains.

“I’m going to have to check Bluey out then.”

“You gon’ like it. I want two chickens, Daddy,” Niya says, looking up at me, referring to the chicken Suya skewers.

When Mireya sees me trying to juggle three plates, she grabs one. “Just tell me what everything is and I’ll fix mine. Just take care of the princess,” she says.

“Both of these pans are Suya, chicken and this is sirloin,” I point out. “And this is croaker fish.”

“The fish looks good but I don’t want a whole one,” she says but I put a whole one on her plate anyway.

“Niya likes the fish too. I’ll cut it at the table,” I tell her. “And this is jollof rice, beans with red stew, fried plantains, and lettuce salad.”

As I fix mine and Niya’s plates, Mireya gets a little of each item then follows me to the table. Shuga waves us over to her and Asali, so we sit with them and my brother Deuce. It’s getting late and he’s about to head to his nightclub, Deuces. Sunday nights are one of his busiest nights.

Once we are seated, Niya says grace and I remove her skewers and cut her chicken. She starts on her beans. I glance at Mireya, and when she smiles after tasting her sirloin, I nod.

“You like the eyes?” Niya asks Mireya.

“Do I like the what?” Mireya asks with questioning eyes.

“These,” Niya says as she points to the fish head.

“Oh no. I don’t. I’m going to cut this head off.”

“That’s the best part,” Shuga interjects. “Especially the eyes. They make your eyes sparkle. Ain’t that right, Nana’s princess?”

“Yes,” Niya says.

“Well, y’all can definitely have that. I cannot eat an eye,” Mireya says with a grin. Then she cuts her fish and I fork the head piece and place it on my plate for Niya.

“You sure you don’t want this?” I ask jokingly.