John Boyega
John
"I hope you feel better than you look." Freddy said quickly catching my attention. The glass in my hand now empty as the few remaining pieces of ice in it began to melt.
"Hardly." I admitted looking down at the wooden bar before me. Wood stained and marked with cigarette burns from over the years.
"Talk to me." Freddy said drying freshly cleaned glasses as he spoke.
"Man what can I say. I'm married." I said as if that explained all my woes.
Freddy softly laughed before tilting his hat at me. He had to have understood. That man had been married for over thirty years. "So what she on your head about this time?" He asked pulling out his personal stash of Buffalo Trace Bourbon.
"You got all night?" I quizzed leaning over onto the bar as he poured him and myself a glass.
"I got till roughly 3 a.m." Freddy said playfully looking at the gold watch wrapped around the back of his wrist. "Anything later than that and I'm gone be sitting up here looking like your sorry ass. And you know Bertha don't play." He scoffed. "You think your wife's something." He said kissing the back of his teeth. "Well youngin ... You ain't seen nothing yet!" He declared causing us both to whole heartedly laugh.
"She wants me to find some solid work." I admitted leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I was still boiling hot from the disagreement we had earlier in the evening.
"Now what's wrong with that young blood?" Freddy asked. "Didn't you promise to protect, honor and provide. Or have the vows changed since I last took them?" Freddy looked on into my face for a moment for confirmation.
"You right." I mumbled. Shaking my head in agreement. "And Freddy I'm trying." I added leaning into the backrest of the barstool. "But it's like whatever I do ... It's not good enough for her." I hunched my shoulders in defeat.
I knew what I was getting into the day I bended knee. And so did she.
Autumn and I had grown up together. Two peas in a pod since we we're tots. Practically inseparable. I knew I wanted to marry her since the very first day I met her.
And nobody believes me when I say that. But it was true.
I knew it from the very first day I saw her playing down by the river.
Her brother and her all covered in mud. Her sandy red locks danced in the wind. Her caramel skin glistened almost as much as the nearby water as the sun shone on it. The faint freckles across her nose seemed almost strategically placed. Her amber colored eyes enchanting mine the very first moment that our eyes locked. She was beautiful. Just beautiful.
And the kindest girl in all the south I came to realize.
Unlike most of the other kids in the town she had welcomed me with open arms.
She didn't care that I talked funny or so I was made to believe. Being a kid from the south side of London who had just moved to the states.
I was just John to her.
It was almost as if the earth shifted from under me. The first moment her hand was placed in mine. "Hi John. Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn Mae." She said with a voice so sweet my ears perked.
"Autumn Mae." I repeated. "I like that."
"Well I like the way you say it." She said before urging me and my sisters to join her and her brother by the bank.
Over the years Autumn Mae blossomed into a lovely young woman. And although we were close everything about the girl intimidated me.
It wasn't just her looks. No way. She was much more than looks. The girl was smart. Always taking her studies very seriously. I'm almost certain I wouldn't have made it out of high school if it wasn't for her.
