7. Gemini Black #5
“Man, my life still calm and peaceful. Ain’t nothing changed.
Don’t worry about who that is that I got with me.
Worry about getting your thoughts in order with this game because as soon as I finish with my food, Ima beat all ya’ll ass in it.
If ya’ll playing for money, I’m about to take all ya’ll money too,” I went on, making all of them laugh.
These old heads were nosy as hell, still trying to get me to open up about who Amina was to me.
I wasn’t giving out that information to them.
I kept it simple, letting them know that she was my sisters best friend.
Just like Gail, and my grandma, they looked at me as if I was full of shit, and like they weren’t buying it.
I was glad when they decided to drop it though.
I was able to catch a vibe, bobbing my head to the music, while I ate this delicious food, and watched the men play.
Every blue moon, I would look to the right of me, where I could see my grandma and Amina, chilling up under the gazebo.
Neither of them saw me when I looked in their direction because they were so engrossed in their conversation.
I didn’t have to be over there to know how the conversation was going.
Both were strong women that knew how to carry a conversation, so I’m sure that it was flowing.
Before I knew it, hours passed, and the sun had gone down.
It was a little after 8:00 P.M. and I haven’t really got much time to spend with Amina because she talked with my grandma for about an hour, and once I got in on the games, playing spades, and blackjack with the men, it was hard to get me to move from here.
I didn’t even feel bad taking these old heads money.
They talked so much shit that they deserved to have their money taken away from them.
I ate some more. Had plenty of dessert and now I was stuffed.
The games ended, but I was still sitting at the table with the men, listening to the shit that they were talking.
As I was doing that, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.
I turned around to look and see who it was, and it was my grandma standing there.
“Come on. Lets talk,” she said. With a nod of my head, I stood from my chair, grabbing my water bottle, and followed her.
We went over to the same gazebo that her and Amina were once sitting under.
As we were sitting, I had the perfect shot of Amina.
She was with the other women, cleaning off the tables, putting trash in the trash bags, while the men went around, breaking the tables down.
The party was shutting down. Even the DJ was wrapping up all his equipment.
“I like Amina. Really, really like Amina. You said that she’s Gianna’s best friend, but what is she to you? You didn’t say,” she got right to the point. Her question made me laugh. I slouched in the seat a little bit, as I lifted my hands, putting them behind my head.
“It’s nothing with us. She told you how she ended up on the truck with me in the first place?” I wanted to know before I started saying too much. I didn’t like telling other people’s business for them. I felt like it wouldn’t be my place to do that.
“She told me. She told me that she was living in London, how her ex- fiancé called off the wedding just a week before, and how she ended up in Miami. She told me that Gianna set this whole thing up for her to get on the truck with you,” she shared, and I nodded my head at that.
“Aight, so you know then. Grandma, that’s all it is then,” I told her, and she gave me that look again, as if she knew that I was lying.
“That’s not all that it is. You don’t think I know when I’m looking into the eyes of two people who like each other?
Grandson, body language speaks volumes. I saw both of your body language the second that I approached you two.
You can admit to me that you like her,” she kept pressing and I laughed again, while picking my hand up, and rubbing it through my waves.
“She’s cool. I’ll give her that. What we have started off rocky.
This was new for both of us. I’ve never had anyone on the truck with me.
We’ve been confined to this small space, and for the first few days, her emotions were all over the place, still living in what happened between her and her ex.
She’s better now, but I know that she hasn’t fully healed from that.
Knowing that, I know she’s probably in a stage right now where she’s feeling extra vulnerable.
I don’t want to be a come off disingenuous, coming onto her while she’s still dealing with mental stuff.
I feel like I’ll be taking advantage of her in a sense,” I said in all honesty.
“Because I know you, and I know your character, you’ll never take advantage of a woman.
You for sure wouldn’t do it to a woman that’s hurting.
Gemini, you don’t even like to see a woman cry.
She chose to get on the truck with you. Now, she’s opening up, talking with you, laughing with you, sharing stories, and you have her over here meeting me, and getting to know me.
Those were choices that she made. Don’t take other choices away from her because you’re trying to protect her from something that she doesn’t even need protection from.
She didn’t ask you to protect her because you feel that you might be taking advantage.
Those are your own thoughts,” she went on, and then took a quick pause.
“I can see something coming out of what you have with Amina. Just continue doing what you’re already doing with her, but open up, and just see where it goes. Okay?” she said, and I just nodded my head.
“What time do you have to leave tomorrow?” she asked.
“I won’t get on the road until a little after 9,” I said.
“Okay. You two sleep here. As I was talking to her, I could see it in her eyes how tired she was. I see it in your eyes too. Being on that truck is nice and all, but I know you want a night where you can shower in a home, and sleep in a nice comfortable bed,” she said it in a way as if it was final.
As if she wasn’t giving me room to tell her no.
With a charming smile on my face, I looked her in the eyes.
“The beds on my truck are comfortable too,” I said. She waved me off and stood up. With a hand on her hip, she stood over me, looking down at me.
“You heard what I said, Gemini. You two are staying here tonight. Last thing, I don’t care what you and Amina do on that truck.
It’s none of my business. With that being said, you know that I’m old- fashioned.
You two aren’t married yet, so you get a room, and you can show Amina to a guest room as well,” she firmly said, and like she was telling jokes, and talking crazy, I shook my head.
“Man, watch out. Me and her don’t do nasty stuff,” that was the PG version of what I really wanted to say. I wanted to tell her that me, and Amina don’t be fuckin. I knew she would be ready to knock me in the mouth for saying that, so I didn’t.
“And you won’t be doing nasty stuff here,” she finished, and with that, she walked her ass off.
I sat for a little while, and then I went over to Amina to tell her what my grandma planned for us tonight.
She didn’t mind that we wouldn’t have to drive to a truck stop tonight and sleep on the truck.
She was down for it. Once that was established, I helped break down what else needed to be broken down and helped clean up the mess from the party.
Everyone ended up leaving within another hour.
From there, I brought me and Amina’s bags in the house, so we could have everything for our shower. I took a guest room, like my grandma suggested, and I gave Amina a room that was just a few feet away from mine. Both of our bedrooms had their own bathroom, so we didn’t have to worry about sharing.
I didn’t shower right away. I stayed downstairs with my grandma for a little bit, trying to get in as much time with her because I knew that the plan was to get on the road first thing tomorrow morning.
When I felt my eyes getting heavy, and it was damn near painful to keep them open, that’s when I hugged and kissed my grandma goodnight, letting her know that I would see her in the morning.
I headed upstairs so that I could shower. Inside the shower, I washed my hair too. Once out, I wrapped a towel around my waist and handled the other personal hygiene at the sink. I brushed through my waves, added a durag, and then made my way back out into the bedroom.
After dropping the towel, I added lotion to my body, deodorant under my arms, and slipped on a pair of briefs, pajama bottoms, and a wife beater.
I thought if I should go down to Amina’s room, so that I could tell her goodnight.
That had become our thing on the truck. We made it our business to tell each other goodnight every night.
I decided that I would do it, but that I was going to make it quick. I found myself laughing as I walked down the hall, feeling like a child, scared that I was going to get my ass beat for being in the room with a girl.
I made it to Amina’s door, where I knocked.
Her soft voice responded to the knock, letting me know that I could come in.
I walked in, and she was already in bed.
Instead of sleeping under the comforter, she was snuggled up with her blanket.
Bruno was in here with her too. When I brought our bags inside, I made sure to bring Bruno too.
She was lying her head on him, but she lifted it, so that she could turn to see who came in the room. The TV was playing, but the volume was turned down low. When she saw that it was me standing here, she smiled.
“You good? I’m about to call it a night,” I let her know.
“I’m good. I’ll be sleep soon. I set an alarm, so I’ll be ready in the morning. I know you want to get out of here on time,” she responded, catching on quick, knowing how I was when it came to time management.