Page 5 of Ghetto Heartstrings
“That’s right baby! Yeahhhh!”Perfect hollered over the crowd as he watched Brook’Lynn walk the stage to accept her degree. She’d worked her ass off to get that nursing degree and he was convinced; it wasn’t nobody prouder of her than him, not even her punk ass daddy who didn’t even show up. Perfect couldn’t believe he didn’t show up to his own daughter’s graduation, but that was cool. As long as he was there, he was gonna make sure she remembered this night. He clapped hard again and took her picture when she stopped in the middle of the stage to pose. She was the most beautiful girl in the world in his eyes. “That’s my baby right there!” He yelled, not giving a fuck who didn’t like it.
The fact that her face wore both pain and happiness pissed him off the only thing on her face should’ve been happiness, and Brody fucked that up. Perfect pulled his phone out and quickly called C2. “Handle that shit,” he told his brother, who was already waiting on the call.
“On it now bro,” C2 told him before hanging up. C2 was back in Atlanta handling business before he made his way back to Miami, and Brody was at the top of the list. He knew Perfect didn’t play about his bitch. If anybody did anything to hurt her, they had to die, and he didn’t give a fuck who it was. Brody was intentionally trying to hurt Brook’Lynn, so he had to go; he wouldn’t get the chance to hurt her again. How the fuck did a man pretend as if he’d forgiven his daughter and rebuild a relationship, only to keep hurting her? He had to go, and this was the last straw. As long as Brook’Lynn didn’t find out, it was all good.
Perfect wore a black long-sleeved Hugo Boss buttondown and a pair of black slacks. His feet wore a fresh pair of black Manolo Blahnik dress shoes. He also had a fresh haircut and got his beard trimmed perfectly for her special day. The aroma of his Creed Aventus cologne filled the air, instantly drawing women his way, not that he paid their asses any mind. Since he was a hood nigga at heart, no matter how he dressed up, he didn’t go anywhere without his ice, so he made sure his shit dripped from his neck.
After all the graduates were announced, he made his way to the center to meet up with Brook’Lynn. He didn’t want to be rude, but he didn’t have time to talk; they had a flight to catch, and they needed to go. Picking her up and spinning her around, he kissed her lips gently and congratulated her again, as he gave her the roses he’d been holding for her.
“Aww, thank you, baby,” she blushed, wiping her tears of joy. “Nigga, we made it!” She balled her fist up, lightly pounding it against his.
Perfect chuckled and licked his lips. “That was all you, baby.”
She shook her head and removed her cap from her head, so she could fix her wrap and stroke her hair back into place. “No baby, you let me aggravate you all of those late nights and earlymornings. You dealt with me depriving you of sex because I had to study. You ate hot dogs plenty of nights because I didn’t have time to cook. You let me examine all kind of shit on your body, even when you didn’t want to be fucked with.” She took the time to reminisce. “So, like I said, nigga, we made it.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Perfect couldn’t help but to laugh and agree; he hadn’t looked at it like that, but she was right, and he was glad it was over. Now, maybe he could start getting his dick sucked on the regular while eating hot home-cooked meals again. He looked down at his watch and remembered once again, they had to go. “Baby… we gotta get the fuck out of here. We gotta flight to catch, remember?”
He noticed the shift in her eyes as she scanned the room; he knew she was purposely trying to procrastinate.
“Did he come?” she asked, referring to her daddy. Although they had a rocky life together, it was every girl’s dream to see her daddy in the faces of the crowd on special occasions and this was definitely one.
He hated that he had to answer that, but he did. “No baby, he didn’t show up, but don’t worry about that shit though. I’ma show you the time of your life. You’ll forget about that shit in no time.” He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door.
“Wait!” She stopped and pulled away. “Let me go say goodbye to Marley and let them know we won’t be joining for dinner.” She rushed off, as Perfect stood there watching her interact. He watched her talking to her classmate who’d turned into more of a friend over the years and couldn’t figure out where they connected. Like straight up, Marley was pretty, but she was green as hell, just a straight up good girl and kind of lame in his eyes.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and recognized his nigga, Boom, calling him. “Asalamalakum, my brother,” he answered, stepping out the door.
“Mualaikumsalam, my nigga,” Boom replied. “The fuck is you at man?”
Perfect frowned, knowing that Boom should’ve known better. One thing he didn’t do was tell niggas his every move… he didn’t care who it was. “Handling business,” he told him. “Talk fast, what up?” He said, watching Brook’Lynn on the other side of the glass doors searching for him.
Boom could be heard laughing on the other line. He knew how this nigga, Perfect, was, so he didn’t even trip. “Look, you need to stop bullshitting around and talk to Rasta, like ASAP.”
Perfect sighed and took a deep breath. Whenever he had to go see his and C2’s father, Rasta, it normally didn’t mean shit good. “I’ll go as soon as I handle this little business,” he replied, wiping his hand down his face. He’d been trying to push this shit back as long as possible.
“Did you tell Brook yet?” Boom asked.
“What?” Perfect frowned. “Man, fuck no. I’m not trying to have that talk with her; let me see what Rasta’s talking about first. Look, I gotta catch a flight, so I’ll hit you when I get back. Ya’ll niggas be safe out there.” He rushed Boom off the phone.
“Aiight man, tell Brook I said what up and make sure she call Yaya’s ass when she has time. That crazy bitch and her attitude about to make a nigga kill her ass,” he sighed.
Perfect laughed to himself. Yaya was Brook’Lynn’s bout it ass home girl and Perfect tried to tell Boom that bitch was too much for him, but he just had to sample the pussy and been stuck ever since. “Man, I don’t even have a comment for that, but aiight. One.” He hung up just as Brook’Lynn walked out.
“Perfect! I thought you left me!” She yelled, making her way to him.
“Never,” he replied, leading her to the car service waiting for them.
The Next Night
Las Vegas
“Meet me at the altar in your white dress, we ain’t getting no younger, we might as well do it. Been feeling you all the while girl, I must confess. Girl, let’s get married, I just wanna get married.”
Brook’Lynn turned around in front of the Eiffel Tower at Paris, a spot in Vegas, in pure shock while hearing Perfect singing to her. Placing her trembling hand up to her lips, she tried hard not to cry. No wonder he wanted them to dress alike, as they both wore all-white. Perfect was on one knee, holding a velvet box with a 7-carat engagement ring inside of it that the night lights glistened flawlessly on top of.
“I… I… Perfect, baby… what are you doing?” She cried, still trembling. Her mind was trying to process what was happening; she’d wanted this so bad, for so long. Since they were teens, she knew that she wanted to marry this man, and over the years, he stood up to his name. She had no reason to deny him.
Perfect didn’t look nervous at all. As a matter of fact, he looked at peace and that brought peace upon Brook’Lynn because it showed her that he was one hundred percent comfortable with what he was doing. Smiling and ignoring the ongoing stares, he did what he came to do; he proposed to his girl. “Brook’Lynn Regina Walters, I’ve loved you since the day Imet you and I’ll love you till the day I die. On this night, I want to ask you… will you be my wife, baby girl? Will you marry me?”
