TWO #3
“I’ll be in touch.” He tapped the metal table with finality.
“Son…” Big J tried to redial the conversation back since it seemed as if he was about to bring it to an end.
“All good. Take care, Pops.”
When he made it back to his car, he pulled out a wipe from his middle console to cleanse his hands.
He couldn’t wait to shower when he got home.
Prison always made him feel filthy. He took a deep breath.
Visits with his Pops seemed to get heavier and heavier.
Jio wasn’t sure when he would see or hear from him again.
They needed some space and he was gonna give it.
“The more business you handle, the more you come into your own…you’ll develop your own way of doing shit. It’s important to stay true to you.”
“So forget everything you teaching me one day?” Jio was confused.
His grandfather shook his head. “No kiddo, don’t do that but you’ll know what to take and what to let go of. When you have your own kids you’ll probably share some of my advice with them, and a few gems from your daddy, and then some of it will be fresh off the dome.”
“But what if I don’t have anything to teach them?”
“You will. Life will give it to you in so many different ways. The important thing is to not forget it.”
“Is that called wisdom?” Jio wanted clarification.
“Somewhat. Go with your gut always.”
Jio’s gut told him to give this hustling shit all he had right now because his future self was going to look back and be grateful that he pushed all obstacles to the side.
He was motivated more than he’d been in a long got damn time.
“Let’s get this money.”
η
Time heals. Eventually, it does make things better.
Granted, you don’t feel that way in the moment.
Your mind is stuck on shit that you wish it didn’t remember, but that’s the way life goes…
eventually, everything does change. Nina was thankful that she’d made it to the other side of hating the woman who stared back at her in the mirror.
She was being consistent with her therapy sessions, making God a priority again, and seeking community that sought her, which meant she was being intentional with making room for her First Lady.
Sometimes, the love that you wished would come from those that it’s “expected” to come from…
doesn’t. Nina wanted her and her mama to have this perfect relationship, but they weren’t there yet.
She didn’t doubt that it could happen, but she’d reached a place where she was no longer holding her breath for them to draw towards each other like magnets.
She was not a mother. She had never bore a child.
She knew nothing about what it meant to carry a baby in your womb for nine months.
But surely… if she did… she liked to believe that she would treat her baby much better than her mama treated her.
It was almost as if Nina felt like her mama had children because it was the ‘right’ thing to do.
Marry the man. Buy the house. Have his children. Start a family. Make the house perfect. That was her master plan. More like million…billion…dollar plan before taxes were paid to Uncle Sam.
Nina prayed for the day when she got to walk in the shoes of a mother. She was gonna love on her kids so deeply to the point where every generational curse would be broken almost immediately.
But until then, she was finding mentorship and guidance elsewhere.
It wasn’t to say that she didn’t love her mama because she did. But she loved her from a healthy distance and that was that.
Once she climbed out of her feelings of despair and regret, the sun began to shine again and all was made well. Life was good.
Nina spent her days working as CEO with minimum interaction with her father and no mention of Jiorgio Gotti. She prayed it stayed that way.
Everything in her world felt softer and warmer.
This was what she needed to stay focused.
Discord caused her to lose focus and she couldn’t afford that right now.
She was too desperate and determined to plant her feet firmly at the top of the ladder that had a sign over it that read, “Family Business.”
Life felt so normal again that she’d forgotten all about the mishap with Talia until she reached out saying that she wanted to talk.
Nina was so thirsty to have a relationship with anyone who shared her last name.
And without shame. From the outside looking in, it may have given The Cosby’s, but they were the complete opposite.
However, she was going to do her best to reconnect with her sister and the first step was to apologize over dinner.
Nina had been cooking for the last two hours.
She was proudly whipping up all of Talia’s favorites.
The smell of food filled her loft. Garlic, butter, thyme, and curry wafted through the hallways.
Nino was munching on whatever she was gracious enough to spare on the floor.
The sounds of R&B played softly in the background as Nina moved around her kitchen with a big ole smile on her face.
She’d picked up Talia a bouquet of what she remembered to be her favorite flowers and grabbed her a Bible in case she’d misplaced the one her grandmother gave her many years ago.
“Can I stay for dinner?” Her man asked, leaning against the counter rolling a blunt.
“If you want, babe.”
Truth is, she wanted alone time with her sister. Seeing Jio, considering he was why Nina pushed her ass down the steps in the first place, may not be the best way to get on the right foot.