Chapter 31
Trill-Land
One week later…
Even after all the shit that went down in Greystone City was handled, I was still locked in with ‘Nelle. I thought I could just go back to doin’ what I was doin’ without talkin’ to her, but that shit ain’t last long at all.
Every time my phone lit up with her name, I answered, and even when it didn’t, I found myself callin’ her anyway just to hear her voice for a minute.
It got to a point that we was talkin’ all day without even thinkin’ about it.
I would be movin’ around, handlin’ my business, checkin’ in on shit, and she’d just be right there on the phone with me. It wasn’t no pressure, wasn’t no weird energy, and it wasn’t forced. It just flowed real easy, and I liked that.
Two weeks had passed since she got shot, and I had bagged them niggas up.
They ain’t even make no real noise after that, and I made sure of it.
It wasn’t no headlines, no big story or nothin’ that would make somebody look too deep into what really happened.
It was like they was here and then they wasn’t and that was the end of it.
One night while I was on the phone with ‘Nelle, I asked her straight up if she felt like anything was off or if she felt like somebody might try to come back behind that shit, ’cause I wasn’t finna leave no loose ends sittin’ around her.
She told me no, and I listened to how she said it more than what she actually said. To me, it sounded true.
She had been stayin’ at her mama’s, layin’ low, not even goin’ to work no more.
I could hear it in her voice that she wasn’t movin’ the same, and I ain’t blame her for that.
What she went through would’ve shook anybody, but at the same time she was still her.
She still joked, still laughed and talked her shit when she felt like it.
I couldn’t even lie to myself no more and act like she ain’t affect me, ’cause she did. I kept thinkin’ about them days I spent out there with her, and how I was the one cleanin’ her wound, makin’ sure she took her meds, sittin’ there with her when she couldn’t sleep and ain’t wanna be alone.
I remembered how she leaned into me, like deep down inside, she knew I had her.
I gave her too much of me in that moment to act like it ain’t mean nothin’. That wasn’t no random shit. That wasn’t me just showin’ up and leavin’ when it was done. I stayed, ’cause I cared. I made sure she was straight, and I ain’t do that for just anybody.
Before all this, I kept my distance from her on purpose.
I had my situation with Reni, and even though me and ‘Nelle always had that vibe, I wasn’t finna cross no lines or put myself in no position where I’d be tempted to do some shit I knew I shouldn’t.
That’s why I stayed out the way as much as I could. But all that changed.
Me and Reni had been done for weeks, and then I got pulled into ‘Nelle’s world at the worst time of her life and somewhere in the middle of all that, shit shifted.
I ain’t force it and she ain’t either. It just happened, and now I was sittin’ here talkin’ to her every day like this was what it was supposed to be from the start.
Tonight,, I was laid up in my bed with nothin’ on but my briefs, and the phone to my ear. I had the lights off, just listenin’ to her talk while my hand rested behind my head.
Her voice was low, softer than usual, and I knew she was laid up too, probably in her room at her mama’s house, tryna wind down but still not ready to get off the phone.
We wasn’t even talkin’ about nothin’ serious. She was tellin’ me about somethin’ her mama said earlier that had her laughin’, and I found myself smilin’ for no reason other than the fact that she sounded good.
“You always laughin’ at somethin’,” I muttered.
“’Cause shit be funny, Renza. That’s why,” she shot back, and I could hear the smile in her voice.
I shook my head, lookin’ up at the ceilin’ even though it was dark.
“You is somethin’,” I said.
There was a short pause after that, but it wasn’t awkward. It was one of them pauses where neither one of us felt the need to rush into sayin’ somethin’ else just to fill the space.
That’s what I liked about ‘Nelle though. She always let shit be what it was.
“I been thinkin’,” I said after a minute, movin’ a lil’ in the bed.
“Uh oh,” she replied, draggin’ it out like she already knew I was about to say somethin’ that was gon’ have her thinkin’ too.
I smirked to myself before I spoke again.
“I booked another Airbnb,” I told her.
She went quiet for a second, and I could picture her sittin’ up, tryna figure out where I was goin’ with it.
“In my city?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I booked it a few days ago. I’m gon’ be out there for a week.”
Another pause hit, and I could tell she was caught off guard, but not in a bad way.
“I want you to come stay with me,” I added, keepin’ my tone calm like I wasn’t just sayin’ some shit I had never said to her before.
She ain’t answer right away, and I let her have that moment instead of pressin’ her for a response.
“For real?” she asked finally, her voice softer now.
“For real,” I said. “Spend the week with me. I got some shit lined up for us while I’m out there.”
I could hear her let out a light breath on the other end, and I knew she was smilin’ even though she ain’t say it.
“You serious?” she asked again, like she needed to hear it one more time.
“I ain’t gon’ just sit up here and say some shit I ain’t serious about,” I replied.
She let out a laugh under her breath.
“A week?” she repeated.
“A whole week,” I confirmed.
There was a longer pause this time, and I could tell she was thinkin’ it through.
“Yeah,” she said finally. “I’ll come spend a week with you.”
I smiled at that, lettin’ it sit for a second before I spoke again.
“Yeah?” I asked, just to hear her say it again.
“Yeah,” she repeated, and this time there wasn’t no hesitation in it.
“I like the sound of that,” I replied.
We went quiet after that, but it wasn’t empty. It was one of them quiet moments when both people got a lot goin’ on in they head but ain’t sayin’ it out loud.
I knew she felt it, and I knew I did too.
“You should get some sleep,” I told her after a while.
“You too,” she replied.
“I’mma text you when I get up in the mornin’,” I added.
“Okay,” she said.
It felt like we both wanted to say more, but neither of us pushed it. We just let it be what it was.
“A’ight,” I muttered.
“A’ight,” she echoed back.
The line went quiet after that, and I pulled the phone away from my ear, lookin’ at her name on the screen for a second before I set it on the charger.
I laid back in the dark with my hands behind my head, starin’ up even though I couldn’t see shit, and my mind kept driftin’ right back to that week I had lined up with her.
It wasn’t even about nothin’ extra either. It was just the fact that for once, it was gon’ be me and her without all that other shit in the way.
The more I lay there thinkin’ about it, the more I realized this was exactly what I wanted, ’cause everything with ‘Nelle had been easy from the start. I was just fightin’ the shit. And for the first time, I ain’t feel like I had to fight that shit or pretend like it wasn’t exactly what I wanted.
Days later…
A nigga was back in Greystone City, but I was strictly out here for Sha’Nelle this time.
Last time I came out here, everything was rushed and heavy, and I wasn’t thinkin’ about nothin’ but makin’ sure she made it through what she was dealin’ with.
At the time, I grabbed whatever spot I could find, and stayed locked with her until I knew she was straight.
This time was different, and I ain’t step on no jet either.
I caught a regular flight like a normal nigga, sittin’ there with my hood up and my mind runnin’ through everything I had lined up for her, ’cause this wasn’t about movin’ fast or gettin’ in and out.
I was comin’ out here to spend real time with her, and I wanted that shit to feel like it.
I had already booked the Airbnb days before I even touched down, and I made sure it wasn’t no regular setup like last time.
This one was bigger, cleaner, and actually felt like somewhere you’d wanna be for a minute. I went through every picture, read everything they had on it, and made sure it had the space and the feel I wanted before I locked it in.
It wasn’t just that either. I had already looked up spots around the city, like places to eat, shit to do, and I made reservations before I even got on the plane.
I wasn’t really the type to be doin’ all this extra shit, but with ‘Nelle, it ain’t feel like extra shit.
It felt like I was finally doin’ somethin’ I should’ve been did.
By the time I landed, my head was already on what I needed to do.
I grabbed the rental. It was somethin’ clean that fit the vibe I was on, and before I went anywhere else, I stopped at this flower spot I had looked up yesterday.
I ain’t just walk in and grab anything either.
I stood there for a minute lookin’ at what they had, tryna picture what this woman would like, and when I finally picked somethin’, I knew it fit her.
Soon as I got back in the whip, I set the flowers on the passenger seat and just looked at ’em for a second before I pulled off.
That’s when her text came through with her mama’s address.
I put it in the GPS and started drivin’, and as I got closer to her side of town, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself a lil’, thinkin’ about how me, Pressure, and ‘Lo always ended up dealin’ with women that was ghetto as hell. I guess it was just somethin’ about ’em that a nigga couldn’t ignore.
It wasn’t even planned. That was just what we liked, I guess.
I pulled up in front of the house and looked around for a second, takin’ in the area before I grabbed my phone and texted Sha’Nelle that I was outside.
Then I reached over, picked up the flowers, and got out the car, lettin’ the door close behind me while I stood here waitin’ on her.