Love Without A Limit

“Hi. My name is Jabari and I wanna tell you a little something about my best friend, her name is Mya. Today is her 30th birthday and we have been best friends for 25 years. As I walk to her doorstep to pick her up for our friend date, I’m reminiscing on when we first met. We were five years old in Ms. Leckie’s kindergarten class. I stole one of her goldfish at snack time and she crushed my gram crackers out of revenge. We both ended up losing recess for the day and Ms. Leckie made us spend the week working together in class until we started getting along. Next thing you know we were the best of friends and were inseparable from that moment on.”

Jabari arrived at Mya’s doorstep and before he could ring the doorbell Mya quickly opened the door. “Sup Blerdy Bari?” Mya said in a cheery tone. “Not much Mya Short-dolph.” Jabari replied. They both were overjoyed with their introductions, as they always were. “So where we headed?” Mya asked. “Well it’s a surprise, shorty.” Jabari continued.

“By the time me and Mya were 17 years old in our senior year in highschool I realized that not only was she my best friend, but she was something more. I would definitely be a liar if I said part of me wasn’t in love with her, because that is definitely the case. When I say only “part of me” is in love with her I swear it comes from a good place. If anyone were to ask I could definitely say I feel like me and Mya are soulmates. Through our best and worst times we always manage to balance each other out. Because we were both always so weird, there were times when all we had was each other.”

“In highschool Mya helped me realize that we were both “Blerds” which means Black nerds. No surprise there, we both love Harry Potter, Star Wars and Marvel to a fault. We even have plenty of nights when we binge watch all franchises with no pauses. My heart was always taken with Mya. I thought it would be amazing if we ever left the friend zone and started dating, but it wasn’t something that I desperately needed to happen. We both have had our relationships over the years. The girls I fell for, the boys she fell for, none of which lasted forever and seemingly always just ended with the two of us comforting each other through bad break ups. You know, many of our other friends wonder why that is.”

As Mya rode shotgun alongside the driving Jabari he would occasionally glance over at her pretty brown skin and her curly hair. “So curly fries.” Jabari started. “How does it feel to be turning dirty thirty?” “Probably the same way it felt when you punched Dexter Spivey in the gut when you found out he was cheating on me.” Mya joked.

“Oh don’t I remember that very well.” Jabari said sarcastically. “A couple nights before prom for me and Mya I found out that her then boyfriend Dexter was cheating on her. The funny thing is me and Mya hadn’t been speaking to each other for a while because I didn’t like the fact that she was dating him. I always thought he was no good because some of my homeboys told me he was a player and Mya thought I was just being jealous, I think I may have been just a little jealous. Nevertheless when we both just happened to catch him kissing Stacy Moore behind the bleachers when we were leaving gym class, Mya broke out in tears and I gave him two solid gut checks to the stomach.”

“After this happened my then girlfriend Angela broke up with me because what do you know? Dexter was her cousin, family, what else can you do? So with me and Mya both being left without prom dates we both decided to become each other’s dates. We rented a limo with our nerdy friends and danced the night away. Fast forward to the present day and we have been through so much together.”

“We both graduated highschool and college together and we live fruitful lives surrounded by each other and the ones we love and through all of our ups and downs we have never abandoned each other.” Jabari and Mya finally arrive at their destination which happens to be a local two-dollar movie theater. “You didn’t?” Mya asked with a gasp. “Yes I did.” Jabari answered. “I rented out the whole theater so we could binge watch the Star Wars prequel trilogy together, just like you said you wanted.” Mya became teary eyed. “You’re the best.” Exclaimed a tearful Mya. “I know.” Jabari replied sarcastically. Jabari and Mya went into the theater and spent hours together enjoying the Star Wars series while eating lots of popcorn and candy and drinking slushies.

“Are me and Mya soulmates? Perhaps, who knows right? One thing for certain is we will always be best friends. I know there may come a day when I get married or more than likely she may get married and the groom to be may not be me, but you know what? I can accept that. I love her with no limit and as much as I wanna be part of her happiness, as long as she is happy, I really am happy. My love for her is not unrequited because I know she loves me, even if it’s not in the same way that I love her, but that’s the beauty of true love. It comes unconditional, baring no desire for anything in return, it just wants to be, just like Mya and me. We both always loved the song “Love No Limit” by Mary J. Blige. Her lyrics sum up our love for each other:

“Baby, there's no need to tell ya

As far as I can clearly recall

My love has been here for you

So you don't have to worry at all

I'll sacrifice my time

I'll make sure you're satisfied

And it's no hard thing to the joy I'll bring

I wanna give you all of my love

Loving you (That's all I wanna do)

Every day (And every hour, baby)

Don't you look no more

Love without a limit (My love is yours)” - Mary J. Blige (Love No Limit)