15. Big Islah
Big Islah
When I saw Love outside that window, it lit a match under me. My man didn’t play about me, and the look in his eyes, Gio was gonna pay for everything he did to me.
Once Love pulled off, I did cry. I missed my man. I thought the shit was about to be over, but Gio had the house locked up like the Avengers were after him; that just meant I needed to help Love get me.
I hopped in the shower then did my hair and makeup, looking and feeling better than I had been. As I looked down, I noticed how much my belly was growing, and I rubbed it.
“We are going home tomorrow… I promise.”
After I was done in the bathroom, I sat on the bed and waited while thinking about what I was gonna say to Gio, how I was going to flip shit so he wouldn’t think shit was up.
I had my plan together. I was feeling good. I felt confident, and then I heard the front door open, and my hands started shaking.
I took a deep breath. “It is okay, Islah, you got this. That nigga ain’t shit,” I said to myself.
I got comfortable and cute on the bed, and put a fake smile on my face by the time the door opened.
“Hey, Gio,” I said softly.
He looked as if he had just seen a ghost while he checked the windows.
“Wussup, baby girl?” he said, clearing his throat. “Are you feeling better today?”
I nodded, stood up, and walked over to him to hug him.
“Yes, I am feeling much better. I think you were right. I think I just needed some time to come around.”
Gio stepped back and looked me up and down.
“Are you for real?” he asked. “Did anybody come here?”
I looked at him strangely. “I’m good, and no. Was somebody supposed to come here?”
He shook his head. “Nah, nah, nobody was supposed to come by here,” he said, looking over his shoulder, then smiled big as hell.
“Hell yeah, girl, I would love that.”
We went downstairs, and I cooked dinner while he watched TV in the living room.
I put together a quick dinner: some baked smothered chicken, yellow rice, and green beans.
I fixed our plates, set them on the table, and called him into the kitchen to eat.
When Gio walked in and saw the plates, he rubbed his hands together as he sat down.
“Iight, Islah, I see you feeling yourself tonight.”
I gave a half smile. “Just thought I’d make something you like as an apology for how I have been acting.”
Gio looked up from his food.
“Oh, really?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I did a lot of thinking, and throwing away seven years is crazy work.”
Gio nodded. “I am glad that you are starting to see things the right way.”
I nodded with a smile, but on the inside, I was throwing up.
“I am glad you worked so hard to open my eyes. I appreciate you for not giving up on us.”
His face was telling me I was saying all the right things to get him to drop his guard.
After dinner, Gio helped me clean up, trying to touch me slightly as he did, but I didn’t say anything. Once everything was clean and the dishwasher was going, we went into the living room to watch a movie.
I sat a lil’ way away from him, and he kept moving closer.
I let him.
By the time the movie ended, we were up under a blanket together, and I had my head laying on his shoulder, selling it even more.
When I got up, Gio looked at me with a smile on his face.
“You tryna sleep with me tonight?”
I smiled back. “Not yet, luv, give me a lil’ more time, but I would like to go to the beach early tomorrow and spend the day out there.”
He nodded. “I will take that. As soon as you are up and ready, we can go.”
I nodded and leaned in for a kiss on his cheek.
He didn’t even know that would be the last kiss he would ever have.
I went up to my room, took a shower, laid some clothes out, and went to bed with a smile on my face, dreaming about seeing Love for the first time in weeks. Jumping in his arms and feeling them wrap around me was more than just a dream now.
When I woke up the next morning, Gio had music playing loud. For seven years, that was my telltale sign that he was in a good mood.
I walked over to my doorknob, and it was unlocked. I opened the door to see him dancing in the hallway.
“Good morning, boo,” he said with a blunt in his mouth and clippers in his hand. “Are you ready to hit the beach?”
I smiled and hit a little two-step with him.
“Yeah, let me get myself together.”
I hurried into my room, got dressed, did my hair and makeup, and filled one of the new bags that he bought me with some things that I wanted.
As I walked out of the room, he stopped as he was walking down the steps.
“You look good,” he said.
I smiled. “Why are you trying to hype me up?”
“Baby, you are the hype.”
He grabbed some drinks while I grabbed some snacks, and we walked outta the house. As we did, I looked around, having not been outside for a few days, and a lil’ way away I saw a truck.
The same black truck that Love was in the day before. I smiled to myself. I knew for a fact I wasn’t coming back to that house with Gio. I winked toward the truck and prayed that it was Love like I thought and hoped that he would know what to do next.
As he drove and was singing along to the music, my eyes were looking at the mirror and following the black truck.
Love moved behind us through traffic, not following too close, but not too far behind either.
“You okay?” Gio asked.
I looked over at him quickly.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
He smiled and focused back to driving while I looked back out the window.
After a while, we pulled up to Santa Monica Pier, and it was packed, as expected, but that might just work in my favor.
Gio found a parking spot, and I lost sight of Love. I started to panic a lil’ bit. My heart was beating in my ears. My plan was to run out of the car and run to Love, but that wasn’t going to happen. I quickly calmed myself down; that was just an option that didn’t work, I told myself.
“You ready?” Gio asked.
I made myself smile. “Yup, let’s go.”
We hopped outta the car, and Gio grabbed my hand while walking through the parking lot. I was looking all around, not trying to be noticeable to him, but I needed to find Love’s truck.
As we walked to the beach, I looked at all the stores we were passing and the crowds of people all around. I was a lil’ overwhelmed for what I was going to have to do, but it was time to lock in.
We made it to the beach, and I found a place to sit while Gio went to get an umbrella. I scanned all around me, looking for Love or anybody else that might have been with him, but I wasn’t seeing anyone. I felt a lil’ discouraged.
“It’s okay,” I said to myself. “Think of Plan B, C, and D, Islah.”
As I was trying to think of a new getaway plan, Gio came back with the umbrella in the holder.
“It is packed out here, ain’t it?” Gio asked.
“It is, it’s a pretty day.”
Gio sat beside me and smoked while I stared out at the water then around me.
“What are you looking for?” Gio asked.
I snapped my neck toward him.
“Nothing, just looking around. I haven’t been out here in a minute.”
“Oh yeah, we haven’t. I think it’s some new stores over there.”
I nodded. “Me too.”
After a while of talking about nothing, we went and stuck our feet in the water. He splashed me a lil’ and was taking pictures of me.
I let him; that gave me a chance to move around and give him my angles while looking for my man, and in the distance I saw not only him, but my girl and his niggas.
I tried my hardest to contain my smile while I nodded at them and looked back at Gio.
“Can we go check out the stores?” I asked him in a playful voice.
He smacked his teeth at me. “You like to spend my money, don’t you? But it’s okay, let’s get it.”
I smiled, and we walked up to our spot and picked up our things then headed toward the store. Gio was holding my hand tightly while talking about our future. I didn’t really respond, just nodded along while looking around.
When we got closer to the stores, a group of people stepped in front of us, cutting us off. Gio was ready to cuss them out, and I used that time to snatch my arm away from him and run through the middle of the crowd.
“ISLAH!” he yelled out as he tried to move through the people.
I didn’t look back. I just kept running up the steps, hoping the people wouldn’t let him through.
Once I reached the top of the steps, I had seconds to think of my next move while he was still calling my name. I ran down, passing a bunch of stores, not trying to make it easy for him to find me before Love did, then around the corner and found Pandora.
I ran into the store, and everybody in there looked at me like I was crazy.
“Please, my ex is chasing me! I need a phone.”
The customers looked at me like they didn’t want to get involved. Of course, the ladies that worked there came from behind the counter; one grabbed my hand while the other locked the door.
“Come on,” she said. “Come to the back, and you can use my phone.”
I nodded and went along with her.
“He’s dark-skinned with locs, and my name is Islah. He is yelling my name. Do not let him in!”
She nodded and handed me her phone. As I held it, my hands were shaking. My heart was racing. I was in a state of shock because I actually got away. I took a deep breath and called Love.
That nigga instantly picked up.
“HELLO! HELLO!” he yelled into the phone.
Hearing his voice made me calm down a lot.
“Baby,” I said softly.
“Islah, mamas, where are you at? We are here.”
“I am in Pandora on the second floor. They have the doors locked, and I am in the back.”
“I am coming around. Do not walk outta there until I tell you.”
“Okay, baby.”
Love stayed on the phone with me. I listened as he drove the car around, trying to get close.
“You know I been looking since he took yo’ ass, right! I never fuckin’ stopped!” Love expressed.
I smiled. “I know, baby, I know you were.”
I heard Love step out of the car and was damn near running when he said, “I am at the door.”
I stood up, handed the lady the phone, and thanked her. As I turned the corner from the back room, I saw my man standing there.
He was wearing a white tee, Nike shorts, and Forces. His braids were frizzy, waiting for me to do them, and his lineup was clean, but his eyes? His hazel-green eyes were catching the sun and staring into my soul.
I ran to the door. The other worker unlocked it, Love pulled it open, and I ran into Love’s arms.
That man squeezed me so tight, I felt like I was home.
“You don’t know how good this feels,” he said.
“Yes, I do,” I added. “I needed this, too.”
Love pulled away from me and looked me over.
“You okay?” he asked, then his hand stopped at my belly, and he smiled. “You are growing.”
I smiled. “I am, and I am okay.”
Love grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
As I walked back down, I had no fear anymore. I was with a monster.
We walked down the steps, people staring at us in passing. We heard Gio still calling my name, but I wasn’t worried about it.
We were almost to the truck; my girls were out the window yelling, Sammy and Keith were clapping. I looked at Love, and he smiled.
“They wouldn’t let me come without them.”
I stopped and pulled myself into Love’s arms and kissed him.
I needed it. I didn’t care what was going on. I needed to feel him.
For a second, we were in our own world when we heard a shot go off.
People yelled, and when we turned around, Gio was standing right there.
“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!” he yelled out.
Love smirked. “Get in the truck, mamas, let me handle this.”
I nodded, and Keith opened the door for me. I hopped in, and we watched as Love walked up on Gio, letting one shot go, hitting him in his arm. Gio was trying to shoot back but wasn’t aiming at shit.
Love shot again, and it hit him in his shoulder. Another shot went off, hitting Gio in his legs, making him fall to the ground, and I had a thought.
Love was almost on top of Gio by this point. He took his gun and was talking. I couldn’t hear what he was sayin’, but I knew it was about to be the end of Gio, and I yelled out, “NOOOO!!”
Love turned around and looked at me, and so did everybody else in the truck. I opened the door back up and hopped out.
“Girl, what are you doing?” Kenya asked.
I shrugged. “Settling the score.”
I walked over to Love and looked down at Gio. He was so pissed, mad, and yelling at me, calling me everything but my name.
I looked down at him and smiled while wrapping my arm around Love’s arm.
“Why you stop me, boo?” he asked.
“Because this nigga tortured me; let’s do the same to him.”
Love smiled. “I love the way you think, mamas. You know where he parked?”
I nodded.
Love reached into Gio’s pockets and grabbed his keys, then motioned for Keith and Sammy to come over.
The people around us started to move around and go back to minding their business while others recorded Gio on the ground and laughed.
“Y’all niggas carry him for me,” Love said to Keith and Sammy.
They just did that as I led them to where he was parked. They put Gio in the backseat, then looked at Love.
“Y’all go back to the hotel. We got it from here.”
They dapped Love up and walked off, then Love looked at me.
“You ready for this?” he asked.
I smiled while looking at Gio lying in the back seat. “I’ve been ready.”