Page 62 of Quasim II: King Inferno

I fought her on the makeup because I didn’t feel like putting any on with this heat. Plus, my skin needed to breathe. “Relax, we can go and check where we were earlier.”

“I’ll finish up here and meet you guys downstairs,” Kiki said and cleaned up the slight mess we made while doing my hair.

I don’t care what anyone said, having short hair was a lot of upkeep at times. Elijah held my hand as we made our way downstairs. “Did you snag it on something earlier?”

“Umm.”

“Elijah, are you thinking?”

“Yep.”

I held his hand as we made our way onto the beach and walked down where we were hanging earlier. Elijah let go of my hand and ran off as I stopped in my tracks at the sight before me.

In the middle of the beach, there was a piano with Quasim sitting behind it. Elijah ran and grabbed a rose from the piano and ran it back over to me as I walked slowly toward the piano. On the right, near the water, were dozens upon dozens of red roses with glass candles in front of a sign in cursive that said ‘walk through fire with me?’

It wasn’t until I stopped walking because the tears were overwhelming that I heard what he was playing. He was playing the song that I played for him in the hospital, staring right at me while his fingers moved across the keys.

Meer was a little right, he did move his head slightly, but it was cute.

As he played, he briefly looked down and continued the melody; when he looked up, I saw the tears in his eyes. My feet were planted in the sand, and I couldn’t move because I was sobbing hard. My chest filled with so much love and pride.

Proud.

Proud to belong to such a man. A man that would love me like I deserved to be loved. Elijah took my hand and pulled me toward the piano, as I swiped away my tears while he sang the words.

I held the rose with one hand, the other hand placed over my heart. Elijah leaned his head on me, and I smiled down at him.

There had been times in my life when I felt like I would never get there. Never reach a place where I would ever feel love or be able to give a child all the love I had to give. I’ve given up on it more times than a few, even settling with the thought that Tyshawn was my future.

He was all I deserved.

As I stood on this beach, as this man played a piano and sang to me with tears in his eyes, I knew that wasn’t true. I knew that every moment God had taken me through the darkness, he was preparing me for the light, and how bright it could get for me. He was showing me that my darkness was temporary, and it was up to me to want the light.

Quasim Inferno was my light.

He finished playing as he took my hand in one of his, Elijah’s hand in the other, and walked us next to the sign. We both allowed him to lead us into the circle of roses, as he turned to look at us. The melody of the song continued to play and that was when I realized a pianist had taken his spot and picked up where he left off.

He wore a taupe two piece knit set that matched the knit in the dress that I wore. I watched, my face continuing to leak, as he got down on his knee and took my hand, and then he took Elijah’s hand.

His head dropped and Elijah lifted it back up. “Gods don’t look down, they look upon.”

Quasim smirked, as he wiped a tear from his eye. “You right, Eli.”

I took a deep breath because I felt like I had been holding my breath since I walked out onto this beach. “There was a time when I never thought I would strike gold again. I lost my family, and I thought I would never have that again. Started to make peace with it because what else was I going to do? Never prayed for it, because why would he bless me with the same thing that he took away from me? Then both of you entered my life, just as broken as I was. Fear stopped me from doing this a lot sooner, so forgive me for that, my love. I’ve always known you were the one, just was too stupid to admit it. I’m never allowing a moment of time slip that you don’t know how much I love and cherish you. How I respect the woman you are, because despite how harsh life had been to you, you never held it against anyone.”

He turned to look at Elijah. “When you came to my garage, I knew you needed love. We both needed love, and we found that in each other, right?”

“Right.” He smiled at Simmy.

“We’re broken apart, but when we’re together, we’re fixed. The cracks are still there because nothing is ever perfect, but we’re whole. I promise to protect, love, and lead this family. I promise that neither of you will ever have to cry yourself to sleep, because I’ll be there. Anjo, I need you more than I ever needed anyone in my life… Will you marry me, baby?”

I held onto his forearm as I got down in the sand with him and held his face. “I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. Baby, becoming your wife is an honor I don’t take for granted. Yes.”

He kissed my lips as I held his face, then pulled away as he looked at Elijah. “I heard that you were worried today.”

“Yeah.”

Quasim pulled him into an embrace. “I promise I’m not going anywhere, Elijah. I wasn’t there in the beginning, but I promise this ends with you never leaving my side, okay?”

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