Chandler and
Inaya had yet to announce
their marriage to anyone outside of select family members and church friends.
Instead they let their wedding rings speak for them. Inaya’s diamond studded
bridal ring fit perfectly. However, both of their diamond encrusted and white
gold wedding bands had to be resized.
Chandler oversaw the resizing task during
the course of the week. He also had the bands engraved with a passage from Mark
10:9 – ‘What therefore God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder.’
Inaya’s
coworkers were surprised by her elopement, but they took the news well.
Although Mel offered his congratulations, he also gave his two weeks’ notice.
He saw her marriage as a sign that it was time for him to stop being afraid to
take more risks in life. Thus he decided to finally open up that barbershop
that he always wanted instead of just cutting hair on weekends.
Chandler’s coworkers reacted well
also. Loretta was extremely happy for him. When she called Blair with the news,
she was cursed out royally for not telling her sooner. Sooner, as in before the elopement occurred so that
she could have tried to stop it.
That argument led to an abrupt end to their
friendship and a few hard-to-swallow revelations, one of which was the fact
that Blair had never been her friend at all. She only pretended to be Loretta’s
friend so that she could get next to Chandler.
Chandler learned about their fake
friendship when he visited Loretta’s office and found her crying hysterically
after that upsetting call with Blair. She spilled the beans about everything
and apologized profusely for spying on him.
After telling Loretta that he forgave
her, he offered to pray with her to receive Christ. She refused that kind offer,
but she did ask him to remember to pray for
her since she wasn’t yet ready to change her whole life.
“At least she was honest,” Inaya said when
Chandler told her what happened at his office this week. “I think God appreciates
honesty. I know I do.”
“I do, too,” he replied, driving them
to another out-of-town location on that humid Friday afternoon.
They were headed to Kali and Neil’s
house for the weekend. Chandler was very excited to finally meet members of her
family in person. They got to know each other better over a delicious pot
roast, creamy mashed potatoes, tasty carrots, and soft yeast rolls that Inaya
showed Kali how to bake.
Neil was very friendly toward him.
Kali was friendly, but more guarded and cautious, as if she was waiting for him
to make a wrong move. Fortunately, Chandler made all the right moves, the same
way he’d done on the basketball court in college. He did it by just being his
usual funny self. By the end of the evening, he had Kali laughing wholeheartedly
with everyone else.
“Before we go to bed, I need to see if
my wonderful brother-in-law borrowed
anything from my jazz collection during his last unsupervised visit to the
townhouse,” Inaya said, heading for the cherry-wood entertainment set in the
den instead of the staircase.
“All I did was retrieve that
bread-maker you said Kali could have. I touched nothing else. Okay, maybe one album, but I was going to return it
on my next visit,” Neil replied, following her to the den.
Kali chuckled. “Those two love their
jazz music,” she told Chandler as they followed their spouses. “Sad to say, but
sometimes my husband forgets to
return what he borrows. Since that’s his only major flaw, I don’t sweat it.”
Chandler laughed, as well. “No man is
perfect. By the way, does he collect sports paraphernalia, too?” He pointed to
the various sports jerseys and hats on the den walls. “I have a similar
collection in my living room.”
“Oh no! All of those are mine. I love sports, all of them,
particularly basketball,” Kali said.
Chandler smiled. “I’m liking you more
and more by the second.”
“Likewise.” Kali returned his smile. “You
know, Chandler, I was all prepared to dislike you when Inaya first told me
about you. I thought you were just another white man trying to sound and act
black on the radio. However, after she told me about some of the charitable
things that you’re involved in and about how well you treat her, I decided to
give you the benefit of the doubt. I even encouraged her to keep dating you
when she was at a crossroads. I’m glad I did, because after spending the last
three hours with you and learning a bit of your history, I see that you’re truly
genuine. That you actually have a heart for black people.”
“I have a heart for all people, particularly those that
can’t seem to get a fair deal in life,” Chandler replied as he continued to
scan Kali’s wood-paneled den wall.
“That’s even better. And I can see for
myself how much you love my sister.”
“Yes, I love Inaya very much.”
Chandler glanced in his wife’s direction, loving just the sight of her in the
olive, tie-dyed sheath dress that hugged each and every one of her gorgeous
curves.
“She clearly loves you a lot, too,”
Kali said. “The fact that she not only married you, but also brought you here
to meet us tells me that. Especially considering our tumultuous childhood.”
Chandler turned back to her just in
time to see her frown. “Yes, so I’ve heard. Thankfully you both turned out so
well.”
“Yes, I thank God for that. Since
becoming an adult, I’ve come to grips with the fact that many things our mother
taught us about men and race relations were wrong. Not only is my husband very
trustworthy, which proves that not all men are dogs, but I’ve found
several really good friends among non-blacks. On top of that, over half of my
exercise clients are white and they’ve always treated me with the utmost
respect.”
“Parents aren’t always right about
everything,” Chandler replied.
“Ain’t that the truth!” Kali chuckled.
“Which is why I wear my sandy locks straighter and longer nowadays. I’ve come
to realize that I’m not any less black because I prefer to relax my hair
instead of wearing it natural like Mama and Inaya’s.”
“Nothing wrong with being the you that you want to be,” Chandler encouraged. Suddenly his attention was
diverted elsewhere – to a black and white Oakland Raiders jersey on the wall that he didn’t have in his
collection. “Oh snap! Now that’s
tight!”
© 2014 by Suprina Frazier
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