Page 93 of Invisible Bars
“That’s about as desperate as it gets,” he responded with a dry snort. “But chill. They didn’t know me or you. I also told them if they so much as whispered about what they witnessed name that I would cut their tongues out and hang ’em on the church door.” His tone lacked any amusement.
“Of course you did,” I mumbled.
There was a stretch of silence between us, not tense, but thick.
I shifted on my feet and he rolled his sleeves. And still, we said nothing. We just stood there—married, wrongly paired and moments away from pretending everything was normal.
“S-Sooooo,” I dragged. “Is…. is that it?”
“Yeah. What… you thought Fantasia was gon’ slide in singingWhen I See Youand a flower girl was gon’ throw petals down the damn hallway?”
My throat gave an involuntary growl, sharp and sudden, like a record scratching mid-song. I clenched my fist at my side, trying to ground myself, but another sharp hum escaped my lips before I could stop it.
“Dammmmmmn, right! I mean—no! I don’t k-know what I wanted. But… I thought maybe…”
Imanio stepped closer, voice low. “Naji, I told you I don’t do public… at least not with things that matter.”
“Wait. SoImatter?”
“Let’s go,” was all he said.
Imanio let my question hang in the air, unanswered. But the way he guided me out, steady and sure, was its own confession.
As we walked out, I muttered another tic, "Married by threat, stayed for the chaos."
“Better get used to chaos. You damn sure married it.”
Not by choice, I wanted to say.
“Oh, and don’t think I didn’t catch yo’ lil’faketic inside.”
My eyes widened.
Busted. But how did he even know?
“I’mveryobservant, Naji,” Imanio continued like he’d reached into my brain and yanked the question out. “I’ve learned a few things about your body… yourrealtics… in just this last week. The rhythm, the timing and the way your hands move when it’sreal.”
He took a step closer, tone low but firm. “That stunt you pulled? Don’t do that shit again. Not when we’re in front of people… strangers at that, especially when it could backfire.”
I swallowed hard, but he wasn’t done.
“I let it slide today because I knew you were nervous. But we’re supposed to be building something here—even if it’s messy, even if it’s slow. You want me to trust you?” His eyes bore into mine. “Then don’t lie with something that’s real to you and don’t use it to get out of shit. We ain’t doing that.”
I looked down, my fingers fidgeting at my sides.
A soft tic escaped, “Shut up, system error… reset, reset.” Then louder, I spoke, my voice unsteady, “I’m sorry. I just… p-panicked. I felt cornered… confused. E-Everyone was watching, and I—my brain scrambled. That wasn’t about disrespecting what I r-really go through… it was me… trying to protect myself.” I looked up at him. “I’m not used to people paying this much attention… noticing me that close. Not in a way that’s not mean… or mocking. You n-noticed.”
“Yeah, I did. So that saysa lot.”
As we walked to the car, I glanced over at him, nerves tangled with sarcasm, my voice cautious but teasing.
“This is p-probably the wrong timing to ask this… since you’re probably mad. B-But can I at least have some c-cake… so it feels like a wedding and not… whatever this is? Also, when I cry later, I’ll have the f-frosting to blame.”
I paused—then the outburst hit.
“Wedding cake, courthouse crumble, hostage-tier frosting—hell, I’ll take a Little Debbie at this point!”
I peeked at Imanio again, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing or crying—I wasn’t even sure which one wanted to win.
