4. Amina Sinclair #2
I was behind him, and once inside, I locked the door. Gemini walked through the curtains that were pulled back, which led us to the sleeping quarters. He wheeled my luggage to me, while he tended to his.
“You have a shower bag?” he asked me. I shook my head no, letting him know that I didn’t. That’s when he reached into one of the cubbies, and he handed one to me. I thanked him for it.
“What about shower shoes?” he asked, and I shook my head no again.
He had extra, so he handed them to me as well. They looked way too big for my feet, but I would rather have that, than to step on the shower floor of a fuckin truck top.
“Put everything that you need in the shower bag. Toiletries, pajamas, all that shit,” he let me know.
I bent down and opened my luggage. My Louis Vuitton toiletry bag was the first thing that I saw.
Instead of taking everything out of it, I just placed the entire toiletry bag in the shower bag that Gemini handed to me.
I grabbed a two pieced pajama set, which was a long-sleeved black silk set.
I grabbed my house shoes, and my shower cap.
That’s when it hit me that I didn’t have a towel.
Again, I thought that we were going to be sleeping at a hotel.
When I looked up, I noticed that Gemini was staring at me. He had his shower bag already in his hands, fully prepared to head inside, and shower. I knew he was annoyed with me for holding him up.
“I don’t have a towel,” I said to him.
In the cabinets that he had, he pulled one back, and he had neatly stacked towels inside.
He handed me a white towel and wash cloth, in which I thanked him for.
After that, I placed the items inside the shower bag.
Now that I had everything, I was able to walk out, open the door, and I was off the truck.
Gemini stepped off as well, locking the door, and we walked in silence. He walked on the side of me.
Before I knew it, we’d reached the door, where he opened it, allowed me to walk in first, and then he came in afterwards.
I can’t say that I walked inside with any expectations.
At this point, I think I learned to stop expecting things because I obviously didn’t have a good choice of judgement.
I clearly thought that we would be sleeping at a four-star hotel tonight, but I was completely wrong.
Knowing this, I didn’t come in here with any predictions.
I was surprised that we had to walk over to a counter, where Gemini had to ask for two showers. The showers were basically private rooms, and she gave Gemini two, in which she said were going to be right next to each other.
From there, Gemini lead the way. From what I have seen so far, I’ll admit that it was clean. When I think of a truck stop, I kind of think the worst, so I thought that it would look like a prison in here, but it didn’t.
“Alright, this you right here. I’m sure you’ll probably take longer than me, so when I finish, I’ll wait out here for you.
If you do finish before me, which I doubt you will, don’t leave this area.
Just wait for me. Niggas come in and out of this truck stop all day.
Everybody don’t have the best intentions. Aight?” he asked.
“Okay,” was all I said in response to that.
I went ahead and opened the door, stepping into the room that belonged to me.
The door automatically locked behind me once I was inside, but being as though we were at a truck stop, that had other men here, I still tugged on the handle just to make sure that it was really locked. It was, so I was able to move forward.
The space that I was standing in was small, but it was clean.
I was glad that it was clean because if I had stepped into a dirty shower, and bathroom, I can’t say that I would have stayed in here to handle my business.
As much as I didn’t like the constant back and forth between Gemini and I, we would be forced to argue again if this area was dirty because I would have threatened to leave again.
To the left of me, there was a single sink beneath a large mirror.
There were neatly folded towels resting on a shelf beside the sink.
They appeared to be clean, but I would just use the towel that Gemini gave to me.
Straight ahead, there was a private bathroom, and it had its own toilet and trash can.
Next to that, you could see the shower. It really wasn’t that bad.
It had a smell lingering in here of disinfectant spray.
You could even smell just a little bit of the Clorox that was used to mop the floors.
I went over to the counter, where I sat my shower bag.
I dug inside, grabbing my charger, along with my phone.
Seeing the outlet, I plugged the charger up, immediately inserting the charging cable into my dying phone.
I haven’t been on my phone that much today, but my battery was still on 20%.
There were text messages from my mom, and Gianna.
Multiple messages from them. Really just checking on me, wanting to know how everything was going.
My mom had zero understanding as to why I had gotten on the road with Gemini.
You could tell that she didn’t agree with it, but at the same time, she knew that I wasn’t in the right state of mind for her to try to voice that to me.
I think the only thing that gave her a peace of mind with me getting on the truck with him was knowing that he wasn’t a complete stranger.
My mom knew Gemini’s mom, along with his step- father.
If that wasn’t the case, she would have probably left London and flew to Miami to literally ban me from getting on the truck with him.
I was grown, but my mom was very protective over me.
I had messages from Gianna. Gianna knew I was safe because I’m sure she’s been in contact with her brother.
I didn’t have too much to say to them, so I just let them both know that we’d made it to Tallahassee and that we were going to call it a night there.
My mom probably wouldn’t see my message until she woke up.
London was five hours ahead, so I knew that she was sleeping right now.
After sending the messages to them, I tossed my phone on the counter and looked at myself in the mirror.
Looking at myself, all I could think was that the heartbreak that I was feeling was beginning to show.
It was one of those looks where I couldn’t even lie to someone and pretend that I was okay.
Seeing myself, I felt like I didn’t look anything like the woman that I was two months ago.
Tilting my head, getting a better look, I was still beautiful nonetheless, but knowing myself the way that I did, I could easily spot the changes.
My braids had been pulled up into a bun all day, so I quickly pulled them down, allowing the long knotless plaits to frame my face.
I could literally feel the tension leaving my scalp once the braids were no longer in the bun.
Loving the release that the braids gave my scalp, I rolled my neck around a couple of times, allowing the braids to settle down.
From there, I dug into the shower bag, grabbing my microfiber headband.
I was going to need it to keep my braids pushed back, as I washed my face, and tended to my skin care.
While on this trip, I had to make sure that I was on top of my skin care because I already knew how my skin could get when I was stressed out, and I was trying to avoid that from happening.
It took about ten minutes to finish with my skin care. After that, I pulled out my soap, and bodywash. I grabbed the washcloth that Gemini had given me, along with my loofah. I picked up my shower cap as well, and the towel.
I took all those things over to the shower.
Forgetting that I needed the shower shoes as well that Gemini gave to me, I went back for them.
I placed one of the towels down on the floor, using it as a bathmat for when I stepped out.
I started the water, putting it on its hottest setting, and while it warmed up to my liking, I quickly protected my braids with the shower cap, and I started removing my clothes.
I kept my clothes folded, stepped into the shower shoes, and I was in. I really was at this truck stop, taking a damn shower. The water was burning hot though, just like I liked it.
For at least the first five minutes, I chose to just stand up under the water, allowing it to beat against my skin.
I started cleaning my body shortly after.
I was one of those people that could stay inside of a shower all day if you allowed me to.
The only reason why I ended up getting out is because I felt like I had been in here too long, and I’m sure that Gemini was waiting for me to hurry the hell up.
I knew he was tired. His eyes were a little red.
I stepped out, wrapping the towel around me. I went back over to the sink, so that I could brush my teeth, and rinse my mouth. I removed the towel, wiped off the lingering specs of water that were on my body, and then I applied the lotion and oil to my body.
I reached into the shower bag, where I pulled out a pair of lace underwear, along with my silk pajamas.
After putting deodorant on, I slipped into the pajamas and removed the shower cap from my head.
I was going to continue to let my braids hang.
I slid my feet into my slides, straightened up the bathroom, allowing it to look exactly how it did when I arrived.
I placed all my things back into the shower bag, tossed my charger in the bag, grabbed my phone, and once I had everything, I opened the door.
I jumped, getting startled when I saw that Gemini was standing on the other side of the door.
I didn’t expect him to be standing right there.
I thought that he would have waited for me out front, where the little siting area was.