Page 6

. . .

The stadium was already alive when Aku pulled up—music blasting, flags waving, vendors yelling over each other about hot links and churros. She double-parked just long enough to text Siasia.

Tell Esmeray to humble herself. I’m outside.

Aku laughed to herself knowing her little cousin was ready to talk shit.

Esmeray was just like her daddy—always down to get in your business and crack a few jokes along the way.

It was amazing to Aku how much everyone’s kids had grown up and so fast. With her and Qamar only being eight years apart, they had a different bond compared to her other uncles.

A minute later, Siasia’s text came through.

Siasia: She said you fake, but she’ll let it slide if your outfit clears.

Aku slid on her sunglasses and stepped out the Jeep.

Her cropped jersey had Qamar’s number airbrushed across the back in silver glitter, paired with camo cargos and her clean white designer sneakers.

Her hair was bone straight under a branded scarf and hat giving her that New Yorker look.

When it came to dressing, Aku was pinned on all the girl’s Pinterest Boards.

Qamar had left her name at the gate, so she was let in through the private entrance.

Aku spotted them a few rows ahead. Siasia waved with one hand, camera hanging around her neck, Belinay was deep in her phone while Qamar Jr held a snack tray way too big for him.

Esmeray stood off to the side in a cropped hoodie and biker shorts, arms crossed and judging like she ran the stadium.

Her deep brown skin was beyond beautiful and Aku always admired it.

“Oh, okay outfit,” Esmeray said the second Aku got close. “You ain’t look dusty today.”

Aku sucked her teeth and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I never look dusty. That’s you projecting.”

“I’m just saying, your ‘outside’ outfits been giving…errands lately,” she replied, flipping her braids.

Esmeray was tall like both her parents. Siasia loved Qamar’s kids like her own, but only QJ had come from her. Esmeray’s real mother, Malaysia had long legs and deep skin—very model-like just like Esmeray.

Belinay was already hugging Aku’s waist. “I missed you!”

Belinay’s wasn’t tall like her siblings, but she wasn’t as short as Siasia either. Belinay was up to Aku’s chest which seemed taller than she last remembered.

“I missed you too, baby.” Aku kissed Belinay’s forehead before giving QJ her attention. “Who you taller than now?”

“Everybody,” QJ said, his voice deep as he struggled with the tray. “Yo, help me before I drop this.”

Aku took the tray. “You look like a lil lunch lady tryna balance this.”

QJ snorted. “Whatever. You just mad ‘cause you short.”

Aku was nowhere near short, but he stood taller than her at only sixteen. “I’m grown. Y’all don’t get to roast me no more till you start paying taxes.”

Siasia laughed, pulling Aku into a real hug. “I’m glad you came. Qamar gon’ be hyped seeing you.”

“I wasn’t about to miss this,” Aku said, adjusting her purse strap.

They climbed into their section, halfway up from the field. Everything shook with excitement. Horns and chants filled the air, as people held signs that said, Q THE BEAST and BORN FROM THE MOON . A little boy even had Qamar’s number shaved into the side of his head.

Aku knew her uncle was the real deal, but seeing people show out for him the way they did always left her in amazement.

The teams started jogging out, and the stadium erupted.

“There he go,” Belinay pointed, bouncing in her seat.

Aku smiled as Qamar hit the field, rocking his signature blue headband and a grin like he already knew the final score. “You can’t tell him shit,” she muttered.

Siasia clicked her camera. “He been locked in all week. My man barely slept.”

“Legacy don’t rest,” Esmeray said, eyes still on the field, sounding like her Uncle Javen.

Aku looked at her niece, surprised. “Okay, poet…tell me you been ‘round Javen without telling me you been round Javen.”

“I be listening to y’all grown folks sometimes.” Esmeray pursed her lips, locking her eyes back onto the field, blowing her daddy a kiss because she’d always be his baby girl even though she was eighteen now.

The game kicked off fast. Elbows thrown, cleats clashing, players jawing at each other like it was a fight, not a match. Qamar took a hit early, but bounced back, controlling the midfield like he had magnets in his cleats. Every time the ball touched his feet, the stadium leaned forward.

“C’mon Daddy!” Belinay shouted.

“Do ’em dirty!” QJ added, eyes locked on the field.

Aku leaned over to Siasia, who was still snapping pictures. “You ever get tired of shooting him?”

“Nope. Every game looks different through the lens,” she said. “And this new setup I’m testing? Fire! I’m tryna send these to Nike and get them to rebrand his visuals.”

“You gon’ direct the whole rollout?”

“That’s the goal,” Siasia said. “Get these campaigns tighter, expand my studio, maybe do a short doc.”

“Look at you, mogul wife energy.”

“I’m tryna leave my kids ownership, not just memories.”

That made Aku pause. “Yea - that part.”

She couldn’t wait to have kids. To move different, build different, so they could dream louder. She’d watched her parents hustle from dust and doubt, crafting something out of what the world swore they’d never have. She wasn’t just working for now, she was planting seeds for whoever came after.

Siasia adjusted her focus. “But you been up, too. Don’t play.”

Aku gave a little smile. “It’s been moving, for sure. Ever since Little Lunar made me Noodle’s official stylist when he was pulling her outta that child-star box… I ain’t had a slow season.”

“Oh, that red carpet look?”

“Yup. She was in that sculpted black gown with the chrome lids…changed everything. People kept asking who styled her, and Lunar was like, ‘It’s Aku - my family.’ After that, I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.”

“You haven’t modeled since then?”

Aku shook her head. She’d never been a true model, just an ‘it’ girl with a decent following who clothing lines like to put in their clothes.

It started when she was the brand ambassador for her Mama’s hair line.

“I just decided to stop and transition into full-time styling and brand consulting. Plus, I was already connected—being on the influencer scene early, knowing the right photographers, being loud on social…it all lined up.”

Siasia nodded. “You deserve it. You got the eye.”

“I’m tryna build a showroom…hire a team…do some digital courses. Maybe even branch into design one day.”

“You let your assistant go?” Siasia looked over at her.

“Girl no, I could never do all this alone! Niah is still around but I want her to be a full on stylist soon. I’m only one person and repeat clients, plus new ones are keeping me booked and busy.”

“You gon’ kill it, boo. And when you do, I’m tryna shoot your campaign.”

“Say less,” Aku smiled, warmth blooming in her chest. “It’s gon’ be some shit our kids flex about one day.”

Siasia looked around at her and Qamar’s children then at Aku. “I think y’all got enough to flex about.”

Aku snickered. “Don’t we though.”

It was true. Luna took hardships and gave her family, a home.

Javen stood on what Lunar told him he could be.

The two of them didn’t just only create the foundation for everything the family was, but they took Lunar’s dream and created generational legacy to brag about in their old age.

Shit their kids’ kids’ kids, would eat off of.

Aku just wanted to give her kids those same bragging rights.

“Still chasing love?” Siasia pulled her back to the present.

The crowd roared as a smooth play was made.

Aku rolled her eyes. “Girl, I ain’t chasing no more…if I fall, I fall.”

Qamar’s team won in the last five minutes.

The goal was slick—a mid-air header that curved like magic, shutting the stadium down, making the crowd rise to their feet, cheering.

Belinay threw her popcorn as she jumped up from her seat, QJ lost his damn voice, and Esmeray calmly gave one clean clap, like it was expected.

She always had faith in her daddy…felt he could do any and everything.

They went to their Airbnb after the game.

They could’ve stayed at the Beach house since no one else was there, but Qamar liked his own space. Probably because he jumped from house to house so much growing up, depending on his mood.

The rental was clean and spacious. The neighborhood was quiet and the house looked expensive with floor-to-ceiling windows and a heated pool in the back. The fridge was fully stocked, and there were fluffy-ass towels folded and luxurious looking.

Qamar strolled in fifteen minutes after, still in his warm-up gear, locs pulled back, sweat drying on his forehead. “Damn near broke my back for that goal,” he said, pulling off his shirt. His body was inked up but the moon on his back always gave Siasia butterflies.

“And you still ain’t humble,” Aku said, laying on the couch.

“Never that.” He grinned, grabbing a bottle of cold water. “Com’ere niece,” he reached for her, taking her into his arms. “What you been up to?”

“Nothing,” Aku smiled big. She loved when her family loved on her.

It energized her so she could move through the world with a smile on her face and love in her heart.

Aku treated everyone with respect - ‘cause she believed in treating others the way she wanted to be treated.

“Just working,” she answered, still in his broad arms.

“You still going back and forth with Devin?”

“Hell, no!”

“Good,” Qamar kissed her forehead.

Siasia kissed her teeth. “Y’all gotta let her grow up and move on her own.”

“Shit, we do. But when we realized Noodle wasn’t all that good and we missed the signs, it made me want to step shit up with the rest of the girls in the fam.”

Siasia nodded, carrying a quiet ache of knowing her little sister’s sadness had gone unnoticed.