Page 17 of Blake University HBCU Chronicles: Azari & Chozen

A zari had taken her pain pill this morning and told me that she would be able to go to class.

It seemed after meeting my family, her faith was even stronger, and I was thankful to God for that.

The way Raqui, Noah, TAZ, and Noelle sang, I could definitely feel God in the midst. It was like His spirit had settled around them.

All the women were shedding tears, and Reverend Charles wasn’t far from shedding tears as well.

Everyone seemed caught up in the moment except that damned RJ.

He was watching everyone, making sure nothing went left, as he would say.

He was always on guard for bullshit, especially when people he wasn’t as familiar with were present.

I didn’t think he was expecting anything foul to happen.

It was just habit for him to do that. I didn’t know how he didn’t succumb to the spirit in the room like everyone else.

The way Azari cried, I could tell it came from her soul.

They weren’t tears of defeat though. They were tears of victory.

As I headed to the class she and I had together, I silently thanked God for family that had a direct line to Him.

While I was a spiritual person, I was nowhere near the level Noah and his family were on.

They were truly God’s vessels. He once said whenever his wife executed her polyharmony vocals, he could hear God speak in an audible voice.

I hadn’t told a soul about her multiple myeloma progression diagnosis from Friday. It had to be God to reveal that to him.

As I rounded the corner, I saw Azari on her scooter.

She was smiling. God, that was a wonderful feeling.

When I could see her smile, everything was alright in the world.

It seemed like the prophetic word from Noah had her in better spirits, and as soon as I could get her another prosthesis, she would really be doing better.

She didn’t complain of any pain not once after we left Nate’s house.

God had healed her. I could feel it in my soul.

“Hey, baby,” she said when we got close.

“Hey, beautiful. You acting like you hadn’t seen me today.”

I smiled and bit my bottom lip. We rode to school together and stopped at Lyrie’s Everything Café, near campus, for coffee and breakfast. It was my first time actually going there, because I usually ate at home then headed to the gym.

However, I woke up a little late because last night, I chose to cater to her before taking her home.

X had gone with her mother, so I took her to my place, bathed her, and massaged her.

I focused on the places her prosthesis was bothering her, gently soothing the pain with the CBD oil I’d gotten for her.

After all that, we picked X up, and I took them home.

When I got home, my mind was racing with ideas of how I could build our house.

It didn’t help that Uncle Carrington was helping me with plans.

We were up until nearly two o’clock this morning.

Tonight, Azari and X would be staying at my place with Aunt Candace and Uncle Carrington.

We would also be eating dinner with everyone since the rest of the family would be leaving in the morning.

RJ had to get back to Baltimore, Noelle, TAZ, and Noah would be on tour later this week, and Nate had to get to Boston for a preseason game.

“It doesn’t matter how many times I see you. I will always be excited to lay eyes on you.”

“Well, damn. I feel the same way. I’m excited that you let all inhibitions go when it came to being with me, baby.”

“Me too. I found myself judging you through my past experiences. That wasn’t right.

If you had red flags, I feel like they would have presented themselves by now.

I’ve gotten to know the amazing person you are.

If anything came up, at this point, I believe my first reaction would be to seek a resolution that would keep us together.

Your dominant traits are the ones I’ve already seen. I feel that with my heart.”

I smiled at her and said, “Damn, baby. Let’s get in this class so we can get shit done. Then I can love on you for the rest of the evening.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Watching the tears fall from her eyes once again had me softer than cotton.

I took her prosthesis and gave it to the guy who owned this shop.

I wanted to throw that shit in the dumpster, but he said with work, it could possibly be a good fit for someone else.

Azari didn’t understand just how much I meant the things I said.

She stood from her seat and walked around without issue.

“Oh my God, Chozen. This is perfect. How did you do this?”

“It’s beneficial to have connections, baby.

I did all the measurements for your leg while you were napping Saturday.

Noah called in and got things expedited for me.

With my family in our corner, you don’t have to worry about or wait for a thing.

They already consider you family because of how I feel about you.

Uncle Carrington said he could see that you were the one for me.

Noah sees it too. Baby, we are meant. Why would I not take care of this precious gift He’s blessed me with? ”

She walked over to me as one of the workers looked on.

Once she was directly in front of me, she placed her hand on my cheek.

“I’m so overwhelmed and overjoyed to have a man as caring as you, Chozen.

You are one of one. I’ve never met anyone like you, baby.

Thank you so much. This will improve my quality of life so much. ”

She kissed my lips then jokingly said, “Plus, my mama knowing she can have access to Noah is the icing on the cake.”

I chuckled as she continued to walk around comfortably.

The salesman told her to walk around quite a bit to be sure it fit correctly and didn’t become uncomfortable.

If something happened to where it became inadequate, we had up to thirty days to return it.

After that timeframe, we could still bring it in to be altered.

With this prosthetic leg, she could wear any type of shoe she wanted to wear.

We also got decorative covers to go along with it.

She wanted one that would match her caramel-colored skin tone, and they were able to get extremely close to it.

She was so happy. I truly believed she would have been happy just for it to fit right, regardless of how modern it may or may have not been.

I didn’t have to pay a penny for it. Noah covered all the costs associated with the purchase.

I tried to fight him on it, but it was of no use.

If my family had it, I had it. No question.

After we’d been here for a couple of hours without any changes in the way it fit, we headed home.

Uncle Carrington told me he would have the plans finished before I got out of class.

He was a genius at what he did. I was grateful for him.

I was on the fast track to make Azari mine forever.

She deserved the world, and I was going to do my best to make sure she got it.

As we traveled from Cove City back to Atlanta, her phone rang. She frowned slightly, but she answered the phone and put it on speaker. “Hello?”

“Hey, Azari. I know Xavier probably told you about his brother. While it may not mean anything to you right now, I wanted to apologize. My refusal to take care of you had nothing to do with you but everything to do with me and the mess I had created. I wasn’t man enough to tell you the truth, and I’m ashamed you had to hear it from our son first.”

“When he told me, it enlightened me of so much. My first reaction was to be angry. The more I thought about it, I realized that the truth released me in a way. I was so critical of myself, thinking I wasn’t enough because of what I was going through.

I took your rejection personally. After I found out about the baby, I realized the decision you made was because you couldn’t afford to take care of me because you had two families.

While it was still wrong of you to throw us away, it helped me to realize I was being too critical of myself. ”

“I hate that. I really wish I could have been who and what you needed, but maybe it wasn’t meant for me to be. It seems Chozen was the man you needed.”

She closed her eyes and nodded, as if he could see her. “He is. He’s the man I’m supposed to do life with. I can feel that already. Thank you for your apology, Fabian.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I owed you at least that.

I’m going to step up and start taking care of my responsibilities too.

Nothing against Chozen, but the last thing I want as a father is for my son to be more taken care of by another man than by me.

I do feel like Chozen will be a good influence on him, but I need to do my part for him and for you.

I don’t want him to feel unwanted. I’d like to pick him up Friday, if that’s okay. ”

I glanced at her and smiled slightly then grabbed her hand.

I was glad he was handling his business, because I had no issue with being the father X needed.

He had a great time playing with Brooklyn and Luca yesterday, and I planned to teach him everything I knew.

Whether he called me dad or not would depend on Fabian.

I wasn’t setting out to replace him, but if that was what happened, he would only have himself to blame.

“It’s fine. Umm, . . . we will be moving soon. Once that happens, I’ll give you the address.”

“Okay. I’m happy for you, Zari. You deserve all good things that come your way.”

“Thank you, Fabian.”

“Talk to you later in the week.”

“Okay.”

She ended the call and looked over at me with her eyes stretched wide. I chuckled as she slowly shook her head. “He didn’t want X calling you daddy and resenting him.”

“Whatever the reason, I’m glad he’s taking his place in X’s life seriously now.”