February 19, 2025

INTELLECTUAL INK

A MAGAZINE FOR AVID READERS AND PROLIFIC WRITERS

Storytelling Saturday: Day Dreams

7 min read

By Braheim Gibbs

Ring Shopping

“Shawn, I’m going to ask you one last time. I feel it’s my duty as your soon-to-be best man to make sure you’re totally committed to marrying her and that you’re not under some spell,” Robert said, trying to get through to his friend, who was just staring at the ring in his hand.

“Look at this ring, man. This thing is beautiful,” Shawn said excitedly as he spun to show Robert the ring.

Robert smiled. “The ring is beautiful.”

“And Lisa is amazing,” Shawn said.

“Lisa is amazing,” Robert repeated. “Hey, don’t forget you owe me for playing wingman and removing…” Robert shivered before he finished, “…her from the field.”

“Ta—” But before Shawn could finish, Robert interrupted him.

“Don’t say her name, man. I still got PTSD from messing with… her.”

“I told you to run interference, not get into a two-year relationship with the woman,” Shawn laughed.

“That’s what I’m saying. She had me under some type of spell, draining me of my life force and finances, and I’m just making sure Lisa isn’t doing the same thing to my boy,” Robert said as he grabbed Shawn by his shoulders.

Shawn struggled out of his friend’s grip and turned to the lady behind the jewelry display, who had been listening to their whole conversation.

“I’ll take the ring, thank you,” Shawn said to the young lady. He gave her the ring back, and she flashed him the biggest smile before walking away to wrap it up and finalize the transaction.

“Now for you,” Shawn said as he turned back to his friend, who was staring at the young jeweler as she walked away. “One, Lisa is the only woman I want for the rest of my life to drain me of anything. Two, Tanisha didn’t put you under no damn spell; it was that ass in that sundress. And three, when she says yes tonight, it will be a destination wedding, which you’ll be attending on my dime. I think I’ve repaid you in full.”

Shawn glared at his friend, who was trying to think of a rebuttal but just threw up his hands in submission.

“Mr. Davidson, if you’re ready,” the young lady said.

“I’m ready,” Shawn replied as he pulled out his black card and gave it to her.

“Black man with a black card, what a time to be alive,” Robert shouted as he joined Shawn at the register.

“That will be thirteen thousand eight hundred two dollars and sixty-six cents,” the cashier said as she took the card to run it.

“My nig— I mean, dude, you’re about to drop close to fourteen thousand on an engagement ring. Yeah, you’re definitely under her spell,” Robert said, spinning and throwing his hands high in the air.

The lady finished putting the ring in a beautiful black box that pushed the engagement ring up for display once opened. Then she placed it in a small black bag with a huge shining diamond on the front that read Triple-A Diamonds.

The cashier wrote something on the receipt as she leaned over the counter and whispered, “Just in case it doesn’t work out.”

The two men walked out of the store, and Shawn looked down at the receipt and saw her number.

“Jasmine,” Shawn said, showing Robert.

“I’ll take that,” Robert said as he snatched the piece of paper from Shawn’s hands. “No temptation. As your soon-to-be best man, it is my job to catch all the women you’re throwing away.”

Shawn chuckled. “Catch away, bro.”

***

Day Dreaming

Lisa was warm and gooey inside from the night before with her soon-to-be husband. Everything about their engagement was perfect. Well, almost everything. She wanted to share the moment with her family and friends, so after a little pouting and a lot of twerking, Shawn agreed to a small engagement party to include her loved ones. She sat at her lunch table, fork lazily in her hand, while she flashed back to when she met Shawn for the first time.

“Girl, I told you those bags were fake. I can spot real from a mile away. I can spot fake ones too,” Tanisha said as she and Lisa walked down the street, both of them laughing. Lisa started to take a sip from her iced coffee as she saw two men across the street playing a game of basketball.

“Let’s walk this way,” Lisa said, elbowing Tanisha. Tanisha saw what her friend saw and agreed.

“Yes, girl, and let’s walk real slow so these sundresses can do their magic.”

As the two women walked down the street past the iron fence separating the park from the sidewalk, a shadow loomed over them as one of the men jumped up and slammed the basketball into the hoop. He hung on the rim as the other man fell to the ground.

“You owe me for taking that hit,” Robert said through gritted teeth to his friend as Shawn pulled him off the ground. The ball rolled toward the young ladies.

“Hey, can you pass that back? Unless y’all want to play,” Shawn said with his hands stretched out to receive the ball back.

Tanisha picked it up and started to dribble. Both Shawn and Robert jogged up to the ladies.

“Hi, I’m Shawn,” he said as he stretched his hand out for Lisa’s.

“Umm, what do you do for a living, Shawn?” Tanisha said as she swatted his hand away before it connected.

“Excuse me,” Robert said to Tanisha and pointed at the billboard above the park facing the expressway.

Tanisha and Lisa walked into the billboard’s view and saw Shawn’s handsome face big as day: Philadelphia’s Biggest and Best Sports Reporter – Shawn Davidson.

“Okay, he good, but what about your Mr. Hype Man?” Tanisha said, glaring at Robert.

“That’s my lawyer and older brother,” Shawn said.

“Hi, I’m Lisa. That was what I was about to say before my rude friend interrupted me,” Lisa said, giving Tanisha a dirty look.

Tanisha ignored it and turned her attention to the lawyer. “Come here, Mr. Hype Man, show me how to shoot the rock!” She threw the ball toward the hoop. Robert watched her ass bounce harder than the ball.

Tanisha smirked at Lisa over her shoulder and mouthed the words, Got ’em.

For the next half hour, Shawn and Lisa sat on a nearby bench and talked while Robert gave Tanisha a basketball lesson—so he could stare at her body in the sundress that hugged her in all the correct and incorrect ways.

“Girl, if you don’t snap out of it before I have to slap you,” Tanisha said as she shoved Lisa’s shoulder, making a slapping movement at her face.

Lisa looked at her and chuckled.

“Where were you just now?” Tanisha asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

“I was just thinking of the day I met Shawn,” Lisa grinned from ear to ear. “And tonight, we have our official engagement party.”

“I’m happy for you, girl, but don’t remind me of the day I met that degenerate,” Tanisha snarled.

***

Engagement

“Yeah, we’re at Jollie’s; there’s parking in the back. Yeah, it’s a private room on the second floor,” Shawn said on the phone. He hung up and gave Robert a dry look. “I swear that woman would forget her head if it weren’t attached to her shoulders.”

Robert had no idea what Shawn was going on about; he was too busy scrolling on Instagram. “She’s nice, right?” Robert asked as he tilted his phone Shawn’s way.

“Yeah, big booty women!” Shawn said, not even looking in the phone’s direction.

Robert grabbed a glass of wine and a knife and started to tap the two together. “Okay, everyone, settle down. We all know why we’re here—my bro has an announcement to make.”

“Thank you, sir,” Shawn said as he grabbed two glasses, handed one to Lisa, and then downed the other. He then grabbed Lisa’s hand.

“I already did this, but my baby insisted we do it again for the families. So here I go. Lisa, I don’t know how to put into words the way you consistently make my life better, but I want the rest of our lives to find them.” Shawn dropped to one knee. “Lisa James, will you marry me?”

“Yes, again, yes, for the rest of our lives,” she shouted.

Shawn stood up, wrapped his arms around Lisa, picked her up, and spun her around.

Everyone cheered for the couple.Robert hugged Shawn and Lisa, then grabbed two more champagne glasses as he walked over to Tanisha. She was busy making a man feel small for trying to talk to her. “Damn, you mean woman,” Robert said, handing her a champagne glass as the man walked off.

Tanisha gave him the finger and drowned the champagne. “Do you think now is a good time to announce our engagement as well?” Robert asked. Tanisha smiled at the lovebirds. “No, let them have tonight. We can do it some other time.” She hip-bumped Robert playfully.

Robert laughed. “He probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. He still thinks I’m a whore with a roving eye.” Tanisha smirked. “You’re not a whore, but you do have a roving eye.” Robert clutched his imaginary pearls. “I’m offended.”

Tanisha snorted. “Boy, please, you don’t know the meaning of shame.” She smiled at him. “You lucky I don’t have a problem with you looking. I’ll stab you if you actually cheat on me.” “I love your crazy ass,” Robert said while finishing his champagne. He grabbed another from a server who walked past them.

“I love you too, cheap bastard,” Tanisha said. The two exchanged glances and went back to celebrating Shawn and Lisa on their engagement while daydreaming of their own.


Want to see your short story featured in our pages or on our website? Click HERE to read our submission guidelines!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *