THE SAME

Chapter thirty-three

-SOMCHAI-

"Three weeks till the big day Chun Li."

This Fabiano guy... an acquired taste. Maybe not for my palate.

"Isn't that racist dude," Daniel asked side eyeing Fabiano.

"Y'all them sensitive, cancel culture dudes? Marcello sai-"

"I ain't said anyone was doing racist jokes over here because if blonde, green eyed Daniel call you Darth Vader, you'll scream Martin Luther Ice Spice," Marcello interjected making us laugh.

"Yooo Somchai," Hamzah called coming into the room with a bag of popcorn, "your girl is really not doing bridesmaids or groomsmen?"

"Nah Nayla only has a few friends and besides Samirah she isn't close to those girls."

"But she's gonna have some shorties there right," Darius asked as he scrolled on Tinder, "I'm tired of messing with hoes man. I'm trying to find a wife."

"At the wedding he paid for, you want to play bachelorette? Be fucking for real," Christian clowned making Darius snack the phone out of his hand.

Marcello, Daniel, Hamzah, Darius, Christian and I. We became friends because we all attended the same MMA class in college. At the time I was determined to make regular friends so on Wednesdays and Fridays I drove all the way to the MMA classes four hours away from my Ivy League college campus.

The more I became friends with the guys the more they found out I was a covert rich boy but, we got over it pretty quickly.

I remember when we'd take road trips to support Marcello's rap career. Every time we went, we all knew we weren't going to make it out of the hood so that is why we stopped him from quitting his chemistry degree to work on his rap career. His talent was in the lab, not the studio.

"The people are really making money with the podcasts," Fabiano started, "I think we should-"

"No," we spoke in unison, not letting him finish.

"Imagine me as a soon to be husband going back and forth about if a relationship is 50/50, who should pay bill-"

"But, I think it should be 50/50 on bills," Darius admitted, "she can't just give pussy and live for free."

"What kind of man are you if you can't provide for your women?"

"No Hamzah, he's got a point," Christian interjected, "in this economy, everyone in the household has to contribute-"

"So you expect the woman to cook, clean, have and raise kids and pay bills? It's just not equal."

"Well Daniel, it'll be equal when we both homeless. The landlord not gone care about none of that."

"So you'd rather go homeless before you pay your girlfriends or wife's side of the rent? That is so weak Marcello."

"Either we both split the bills and act like two people living there or we homeless. I gotta put me first."

"I think this conversation is not directed at me, all Nayla has to do is sleep, wake up and be treated like a princess - if it's money, I got her. From the moment I find out she's pregnant, she's not working."

"So you're going to force her to stop working," Darius asked, "what if you go broke?"

"Come on man," Marcello laughed with Christian, Daniel and Hamzah, "he not Kanye or Diddy with rap and shoe money, his family got deep money, don't disrespect this man."

"The Anurak group researches medicine and invests in medical research bro and that's just on his dad's side," Hamzah stated, "this isn't money that just goes broke."

"As I said," I smiled, "Nayla is not working during her pregnancy at all. Black women have a high maternity death rate too, she needs to be taken care of."

"But what if your wife wants to work? Like she has to give everything up and be a housewife just because you have money," Darius asked.

"Yeah because sis is ambitious. Nayla is the first one of her family to graduate, I don't know if she'd ever want to just be a housewife like she was the one forcing Samirah to study."

"I never said she had to give up on her goals. But I do want my wife to live an easier life because I can provide her with that. When she is pregnant she is not going to be working though. After the child is a certain age, she can continue her career or choose to be a housewife or even join a family business."

"Are you getting Nayla a push present," Fabiano threw out there, "are push presents a must?"

"Nayla doesn't have to push a child to get a present. I can get her whatever, whenever - I think she wants an IONIQ 6 since she hasn't had a car in ages and when we're back from the honeymoon it's gonna be parked in the garage for her."

"But wait," Christian interjected, "the second part was 'are push presents a must' and the answer is no."

"But childbirth is one of the most dangerous things for a woman, she could die."

"But if I said I don't want it and she goes ahead and has it, I'm not gifting her a Mercedes for that," Marcello disagreed, "I'll take care of my child but that's it."

"But then again we acting like push presents is something we can all do," Darius added,"I am honest, I cannot afford the present for the child I wanted, never mind the one I didn't. Because when women say push present they want month long retreats in the Bahamas and cars and houses not a common present."

"Yeah because she literally put her life at risk like why would they want a common gift," I reasoned, "being pregnant and giving birth isn't easy."

"But you have money for postpartum nurses and to fly her out with the baby, what about men who are poor? We don't deserve kids?"

"Unpopular opinion and it might hurt feelings but you have to be at a certain financial threshold before you have kids so hiring a postpartum nurse or giving the wife and newborn a holiday isn't completely crazy," Hamzah blurted out throwing his hands up.

"So we all need Somchai money to have kids," Christian asked incredulously.

"Not Somchai money," Hamzah argued back, "at least once a week private postpartum nurse money though like you want kids but don't have money to make sure the mom is ok? That's crazy!"

"Crazy is-"

"I told y'all we need a podcast," Fabiano laughed, "this is what gon make us money and viral on twitter."

"Until someone says something misogynistic and suddenly I'm unemployed because someone found my job through insta pics. Viral and broke," Marcello commented.

"He's got a point."