Motion
Iwoke up to the sound of my phone ringing, knocked out on the couch in my basement. I sat up and looked at the time on the TV and saw it was around five in the morning.
By the time I picked up my phone and saw it was Keith calling me, the call ended, and he was calling back.
“Yo,” I said, answering his call, still half asleep.
“I got some news.”
That shit woke me all the way up.
“What you got? Where do I need to go?”
I heard Keith exhale. “You are not gonna like this, but you need to go holla at Jade.”
I cleared my throat. “My ho ass BM? Why the fuck I need to talk to her?”
Keith paused for a second. “Some of the YNs were around East. She was out there talking about how she was getting her baby daddy back, how she just needed a few more days to make sure the coast was clear.”
I was speechless for a second, listening to what Keith had to say.
“You still there, Lo?” he asked.
“Yeah…yeah, I was just listening. Did they hear her say anything about Islah?”
“Nah, but remember we said the nigga might be working with somebody?”
“It might be her bitter ass,” I fired back.
“I think you need to holla at her,” Keith added.
I stood up and walked up the steps.
“My nigga, I promise you on everything I love, that is not the only thing I’ma do.”
I hung up on Keith and checked on Amir. He was asleep with a slight smile on his face.
I then walked into my room and looked at Islah’s side of the bed. I haven’t slept in that shit since she been gone, but I felt like I was having withdrawals. I lay on her side of the bed, smelling the Fendi perfume I bought her all through it.
I was picturing Islah lying in my arms, with her legs against mine, the way she talked softly in the morning before we got up, and that smile on her face after I kissed her.
I needed her back, and if Jada had the answers or had something to do with that nigga taking my girl…
I didn’t know what the end result would be for her.
I let my mind wander for hours, not even realizing that time really passed until I saw the sun coming up.
I got up, took my shower, lined my beard up a lil’ bit, and came out of my room to see Amir sitting on my bed.
“Morning, Dad.”
I walked over and hugged him. “Good morning, son. Are you ready for school?”
He shrugged. “Not really. I had a bad dream that Islah wasn’t coming home, that something happened to her.”
I pulled away from him and looked in his eyes. He looked tired, like me. I hated that this shit wasn’t just affecting me, but my lil’ man too.
“Go ahead back to your room and try to rest. I’ll have Katie come over and stay with you.”
He nodded and headed back to his room before stopping in the hallway.
“What are you doing today?” he asked.
“I need to handle some business regarding Islah. Somebody might know where she is.”
Amir cracked a light smile. “I hope they do, and I hope you handle them.”
I chuckled under my breath. I might have let that lil’ nigga know a lil’ too much about me.
“Don’t worry, son, ya dad got this.”
Amir went off, and I was about to call Katie to see what she was on for the day when Kenya called me.
“Hello?” I said, answering the phone.
“Hey, Love, it’s me, Deja, and Renee. Have you heard anything?”
“At first, nah, I was looking for them alone, but I wasn’t coming up with anything. I put my YNs on it, and somebody gave me a lead. I’m finna follow up on it once I see if my cousin can come over and watch Amir. He had a bad dream about Islah, and I told him he could stay home today.”
“Damn, he sounds like us,” Deja said. “We’ve been having dreams about her like crazy.”
“Well, we can come watch him. We weren’t working today. All of our sleep has been off.”
I nodded. “I feel that. If you want to slide through, that will help, then I can hit the streets.”
“Let us grab some breakfast, and we will be there.”
“Say less, I’ll see y’all in a few.”
After telling Amir what the plan was for him, I got dressed and hit Keith back up while I smoked.
“Wussup?”
“Kenya and them are going to come over and watch Amir while I holla at Jada.”
“You want to do this alone?” he asked.
“Of course, if she says the wrong thing, I don’t want any witnesses.”
I heard Keith start to say something, then he paused.
“Are you sure, nigga? it’s your son’s mother,” he continued.
“I know it is, and I got him.”
I hung up with Keith and finished smoking, my mind running a million miles a minute, thinking about everything I had going on in my life. I was trying to turn over a new leaf, in a way, and be a better man for my wife-to-be, my son, and my baby on the way.
The issue was somebody fucked with the peace I was creating for my family. And if that bitch had anything to do with it, mother of my child or not…she was gonna see a side of me she hadn’t seen in years.
While I was in my thoughts about how I was gonna handle shit, I heard a knock at the door. Before I could get to the door, Amir jumped down the steps to get it.
“I thought you was tired?” I said to him.
“Yeah, but I like them.”
I laughed, and we opened the door together. Kenya, Deja, and Renee walked in, giving us a hug.
“I know we don’t cook like Islah, but we brought y’all some food for dinner,” Renee added.
Amir looked at the food. “I will take this off your hands.”
We laughed as he took the food to the kitchen, but that gave us a minute to talk without him.
“You said you had a lead this morning?” Kenya asked.
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing my Glock off my entryway table and making sure it was loaded. “My fuckin’ baby mama.”
They all looked at me, shocked, but didn’t ask any questions.
“I’ll be back in a few,” I said to them. “Amir,” I yelled to the kitchen. “Hold it down, I’ll be back in a while.”
I walked outta the house and over to the garage, staring at Islah’s car that hadn’t moved in days before I hopped in mine.
The more I thought about Islah and the fact that a part of my past might have something to do with her not being home, the more it was pissing me off.
I took my time getting to the eastside, blending in with traffic, listening to music, and rolling up again as I moved through the morning mess Atlanta had on the interstate.
I kept taking deep breaths, not only thinking about Islah, but thinking about Amir too. I never wanted anything to affect him. Trying to pick what route I wanted to take in the situation I was in was something my mind was fighting with.
After some time, I made it to Jada’s house and pulled up in front.
I watched my surroundings for a bit. It wasn’t too much noise out yet; a few YNs that I knew, some old ladies that were sitting on their porch gossiping.
Then I looked at her house. I haven’t been there in a minute, but it still looked the same.
The grass was half green, half brown, looking like it ain’t been cut in weeks, and her flowers were dead. I hopped out, and the YNs yelled my name. I hoped that she didn’t hear it. I waved at them and then the old ladies as I walked up the sidewalk.
As I adjusted my Glock in my pants, I knocked on her door, looking through the top of it around her living room.
Her living room was clean, which surprised me cause she never liked to clean. The TV was on, and she had a candle lit, but I still ain’t see her.
I kept knocking, waiting, somewhat patiently, when I saw her come around the corner. We locked eyes, and she started to back up.
“Open the door, Jada. We need to talk.”
Jada shook her head at me.
“NO!” she yelled out.
I nodded with a smirk.
“Last time asking. Open. The. Door. Jada.”
I looked at her through the lil’ window again.
“NO, LOVE! FUCK YOU.”
I stepped away from the door and looked around. The old ladies turned the other way. The niggas were still on the corner minding their business. I gave Jada a few seconds to think I was leaving, but when I turned around, I kicked her door in.
She screamed when I stepped into her house, then she ran up the hallway to her room. She tried to get the door shut, but I was right there pushing it open and making her stumble back, and I snatched her up by her arm.
“I got some shit going on in my life, and word around the 6 is that you might have something to do with it.”
Jada shook her head.
“I don’t know shit about what you got goin’ on in your life.”
“Oh, you don’t?” I fired back. “You not telling your bitches that you are getting your baby daddy back?”
Her eyes got big, and I knew.
What was said about her was true.
My hand moved from her arm to around her neck as I lifted her in the air, making her look at me.
“What the fuck did you do, Jada?”
I loosened my grip so she could speak.
“I didn’t do shit. Fuck you and that bitch.”
I smiled and tossed her down the hallway; that bitch flew like she was Superman.
Once she crashed to the ground, I walked up to her.
She tried to back up, to get on her feet, but she couldn’t.
I grabbed her by her hair, pulled my Glock out, and pushed it under her chin.
“Where the fuck is my wife at?!” I yelled at her.
Jada looked at me, laughing, her face all red from rug burn.
“Nigga, fuck you and her!”
I slapped her across the face with my Glock, and blood went flying out of her mouth.
She pulled away from me and took her time to stand on her feet.
“You would kill me over that bitch?” she asked.
I cocked my Glock and looked at her.
“If you don’t tell me where she is, you will find out.”
For some reason, Jada looked at me, shocked.
“Are you fuckin’ serious? Love, I gave you a child, we had years together, and you want to throw that all away.”