Page 45 of Only a Gemini Will Do
I nodded. “I want you to live, Kareem, not just survive. So, if leaving is what we have to do, then so be it.”
Without responding, Kareem took the globe from me and gave it a hard spin before closing his eyes and placing his fingeron a country. Wherever it landed, we’d be starting our new lives there, together.
“Well? What does it say?” I quizzed, eager to find out.
He looked up at me and smiled.
Epilogue
Kareem
Six months later.
Location—Christ Church, Barbados.
Sawyerand I had done precisely what we’d said we’d do: start overtogether. We’d been living in Barbados, renting out a furnished townhouse in Christ Church, about twenty miles from the capital of Bridgetown. It was spacious enough for the three of us and the dog, and full of windows that let the natural light spill in. The city had just the slow enough pace and was a reasonable distance from my past to let us both feel like we could breathe again.
Like the go-getter she was, Sawyer didn’t let the grass grow under her feet when we got here. After taking the first two months to focus on bonding with our daughter, shawty enrolled in a six-month program at a Caribbean law school to get a certificate to practice law in Barbados. She was smart and quickly grasped the island’s legal system, although it was much different from the U.S. system. It was sexy watching her studywhile she breastfed. Within no time, I knew she’d land a job to put her legal skills to good use across the island.
Kareena was the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen. Some days, I still couldn’t believe I had a part in creating something so perfect and innocent. But I did, and I couldn’t have been prouder. She was thriving in every way—rolling over, waving, and putting everything she touched in her mouth as if it were a mango—her favorite fruit. Together, we were raising a beautiful daughter who knew nothing but joy, love, and the fresh fruits of Barbados.
As for me, clothes weren’t the only thing Kadeem left me in that car. In the trunk was a duffel bag full of clean money and I.D.s—a real chance to start over. Kadeem had done what he said he’d do: go back to Georgia to see his kids. Not too long after that, he relocated to Houston, where he continued to grow out his locs for a new look and stayed low while figuring out a way to tap back into the business.
We conducted monthly check-ins via burner phones to discuss business updates. I’d elected to take a more hands-off approach than ever before, focusing on raising Kareena and building a relationship with her. We were doing it. Not perfectly. But doing it, nonetheless. Most importantly, I had my shawty. And I wanted to make sure we stayed that way, forever.
From the moment I met her, Sawyer had become mine in every way. As much as we fought our feelings and as much as life tried to keep us apart, we always made our way back to each other like only true soulmates could. She’d waited for me. She’d carried my seed. And she had a pussy that made a nigga feel like he could touch the sky. Not to mention she’d already given me two of the best gifts a man could ever ask for—her heart and my daughter. Now that the dust had settled, there was only one thing left to do: give her my last name.
A gentle breeze sifted through the palm trees, carrying the scent of sea salt and fresh rainwater across the beach. Kareena sat barefoot on a blanket laid over the sand, eating fresh mango slices. Sawyer sat with her, watching the sunset with her long hair pulled into a high, loose bun. Her caramel skin was sun-kissed to perfection under the Barbadian sunlight. She’d slimmed back down to her natural shape and size a couple of months after giving birth, leaving behind some thickness in her hips and ass—two of my favorite places on her body.
The sun was setting, painting the sky shades of burnt orange, lavender, and pink as the waves brushed against the shore, gently kissing the edges of the blanket. I stood back, watching them from a few feet away before approaching them. I took my seat beside them, clutching something in my left hand. Kareena squealed with delight as Sawyer handed her another mango slice, but the two of us remained silent for a few seconds, just watching the sunset.
“I swear she’s going to turn into a mango,” I confirmed with a soft chuckle.
“She’s sweet like me.”
I scoffed. “You mean stubborn like you, right?”
We shared a small, intimate laugh before she leaned into my shoulder. Her delicate hand brushed against mine.
“I love this . . .you,” she whispered without looking up at me.
“Me too,” I agreed, no longer able to fight the urge to open my left palm and ask the question I’d been thinking about asking her for months. “And I want it forever . . . with you, shawty.”
I opened my hand, revealing the ring—a yellow gold band with small, round diamonds surrounding the round-cut amethyst in the center. Not only was the purple amethyst her birthstone, but it was also a symbol of my love—something I’d never experienced before.
Sawyer gasped, her hands trembling as she slowly lifted them to her mouth. “Kareem . . .”
“It’s funny how one chapter can change a whole story. I used to be afraid to love because I was too scared to know what heartbreak felt like . . . what failing looked like. But then I met you. Of all the things I’ve been through in my life, meeting you stopped the storm, even when we met in the midst of one. Prison isn’t my story, shawty. You are. You’re my home. Wherever you are, that’s where I’ll always be. All the days we spent apart, you didn’t have to be patient. You didn’t have to love me through it. But you did. You’re the only woman on this Earth worthy of my adoration. And now, we don’t have to run anymore, shawty. I wanna make you my wife. All you gotta do is say yes.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded. She pulled me into a kiss that tasted like mangoes, passion, and every hurdle we’d ever faced and survived.
“Yes, baby. Yes.”
Kareena clapped her hands together, unaware of what had just unfolded in front of her, but sensing the happiness surrounding her. And somewhere between the sun dipping beneath the horizon and Sawyer saying yes to becoming my wife, we started to write our next chapter.
THE END