7. Gemini Black #3
“She started messing with him. Shit moved fast between them. She told me that she gave her virginity to him because she loved him and thought that they would be together. She got pregnant, and the nigga switched up on her. All that shit that he promised her about a future together, and getting married had gone out the window, once she told him that she was pregnant. He pretty much left her on her own. See, the kind of grandma that I have, when you do your dirt, she make you lay in that shit, and face it head on. She could have very well made my mama get an abortion, but she didn’t.
She made her see that pregnancy through,” I went on.
“Damn. So, like did he ever come around? Did you ever meet him?” she wanted to know.
“Two is the magic number. I say that because according to my grandma, and my mama, he only came to my grandma’s house to see me twice.
The first time was when I was brought home from the hospital, and the second time was my 4th birthday.
Not long after my 4th birthday, all that drug dealing, and killing that he was out here doing caught up with him.
He’s in prison, serving multiple life sentences.
That nigga never getting out,” I let her know.
“Wow. So, like did he ever try to reach out from prison? Send letters? Anything?” she asked.
“Nah. That nigga never reached out from prison. I don’t know him. I know he’s still alive though. Occasionally, I’ll go online and look him up,” I shared.
“What’s his name?” she wanted to know.
“Rome Black. I don’t know why my mama did that goofy ass shit, and gave me that nigga’s last name,” I said it in a joking way, but I was dead serious.
The only reason why I never tripped too hard over it is because I fucked with the last name Black. It was fitting. The way I loved everything that came with being black, it made sense that that would have been my last name.
“The last name Black is so fitting for you though, but I understand what you mean. So, your step- dad was the father figure in your life, right?” Amina asked, changing the subject.
“Hell yeah. Without a doubt. The role that he played in my life is the sole reason why I never cared about my dad’s absence.
He never treated me differently. Anything that he did for Gianna, he did it for me in return.
He was so locked in with me that it never really felt like we weren’t blood.
He taught me so many things. I learned how to tie a tie from him, how to look a man in his eyes and firmly shake his hand.
All the manly shit I know like grilling, changing a tire, shit even balancing a fuckin checkbook, he taught me that,” I shared with her, and as I was sharing it, you could see the smile on her face.
“He had the weird conversations with me about sex. Getting in my ear at an early age, telling me that he would put his foot in my ass if I made him, and my mama a grandparent too early. I personally feel like half the shit he did for me, he didn’t have to do it.
He could have saw that my mama came to the table with a son and let that be the reason why he ran off.
He didn’t. He stayed and he did what my bitch ass daddy never had the balls to do.
For that, I got nothing but love, and respect for him.
That’s my guy right there,” I went on to share with her.
We talked about it for a little while longer and then we were finally pulling up into the community in which my grandmother stayed.
Pulling into this community, it’s almost like you could smell the money that the residents had.
Amina knew it too, which is why she was turned in her seat, looking out of the window, taking in the views.
No matter how many times I’ve been in this neighborhood, even I get that feeling where I have to drive slow, taking in all the beautiful houses.
The homes were huge, and it was so much space that separated the houses, having it where you weren’t close on your neighbors at all.
Each house had long driveways, and everybody’s grass was perfect.
Pulling up to my grandmother’s house, you could see the perfect oak trees that she had out front.
My grandmother’s house, along with every house on the block was made of brick.
It didn’t have all that modern shit going on like you see back home in Miami.
These houses were homes. The kind of home that you pulled up to, and you could feel the love.
I’m telling you, just being outside of this brick home, I knew that I had love waiting for me on the inside.
“Gemini, this is nice. This is her house right here on the right?” Amina wanted to know. When she asked that, I chuckled.
“Yeah. You don’t see that Delta hat sitting on the dashboard of that Mercedes? I told you she takes that shit serious. Wait till we get out and you see her license plate frame. That’s decked out too,” I let her know.
I went ahead and parked the truck, leaving it right here onto the street in the front of the house. I shut it off, stepped out, making sure to grab my phone, wallet, and keys.
I walked out, so that I could assist Amina in getting out.
I held her hand, as she walked down the two steps, and once she was standing on the concrete with me, I let her hand go.
She was in a cute set this afternoon. I fucked with the Alo brand that she had on today.
Usually, she would be in her chill attire, mostly wearing sweats, leggings or shorts, but since she knew that we were going to pull up on my grandma this afternoon, she went a little different today.
She had on a navy-blue two-piece set. The bottoms were trousers, and they had sort of a tight fit to them.
She paired it with a quarter zip, that sat just above her waist. I fucked with the navy-blue Alo headband that she had on top of her braids, as her braids were hanging loosely.
Like always, her edges were laid down, styled to perfection.
Simple Puma sneakers were on her feet, and the only thing that she carried in her hand was her phone.
I didn’t want to come off like a creep for staring, so I eventually closed the door, and led the way.
As we were walking up the big driveway, I pointed at my grandma’s license plate, so that Amina could see the frame for herself.
She laughed when she saw it, seeing that I had been telling the truth, and wasn’t exaggerating.
We made it over to the large, dark mahogany doors, and I was the one to knock.
From where we were standing, you could hear loud, old-school music that was coming from the backyard.
Being as though the music was so loud, I didn’t think that they would be able to hear me knocking, so I went ahead and knocked again.
I knocked harder this time, and in about ten seconds, I could see the doorknob turning.
The door opened, and it wasn’t my grandma standing on the other side.
Instead, it was her best friend Gail standing there.
She stood there with her hand on her wide hip, and a red cup in her other hand.
I knew that red cup was full of liquor. Her and my grandma got down on that liquor and wine. The two of them didn’t play.
When Gail saw me, she smiled big. Her messy ass smiled even bigger when she saw Amina. She didn’t know Amina though. She probably only smiled because she thought that this was me coming over, bringing a girl to meet my grandma.
“Look at you, boy, with your handsome self! You get more handsome every time that I see you,” Gail said, walking closer to me, wrapping her arms around me.
It wasn’t shit friendly about this hug on her end. Her nasty ass was trying to cop a feel. It was the way she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tight. During the hug, I looked over at Amina, and she had a smirk on her face.
“Gail, what’s up. What you got in that cup?” I asked her once we pulled apart. She laughed, raising the cup to her lips, and took a sip.
“It’s nothing crazy. Just a little margarita. Who is this that you got with you?” she asked, focusing her attention on Amina. Gail was smiling at Amina, while talking to me.
“This Gianna best friend. Her name is Amina. She on the road with me,” I said.
When I said that to her, she took another sip from her cup and gave me a look like I was full of shit. If she was doing this, I could only imagine the timing that my grandma was going to be on once she saw me with Amina.
“Hmm. Okay Gianna’s best friend, Amina. How are you doing? I’m Gail. It’s nice to meet you,” her shady ass said, walking over to Amina and the two of them exchanged in a quick hug. They spoke for just a little, and then we made our way inside the house.
You could smell the food the second that we stepped inside. The music that was coming from outside was even louder. We walked through my grandma’s house, and the party wasn’t going on in here. The party was outside, so that’s where Gail led the way to.
We reached the back of the house, and instead of having Gail slide the patio door back, I was the one to reach over her to do it. I let her step out first, Amina, and then myself.
The second I was out here in this big ass backyard, it felt like home. The music. The people sitting around at the tables. The food that was lined up on the rectangular shaped tables. The DJ that was out here.
My grandma’s backyard was huge. Really just full of land. The kind of backyard that was meant for gatherings like this.