13. Gemini Black #2
“I’m cool, baby. In this business, mistakes going to happen.
I’m not faulting him for that. I just didn’t like the way he went about it.
He had no remorse when it came to my time being wasted.
It is what it is though. I’m not going to dwell on it.
Let me call these people, let them know what happened, and that I won’t be delivering the cars to them.
Hopefully everything goes well at these next pickups, and drop offs, so the workday could end at a decent time.
I really want to get you out there to The French Quarters.
That, and I need a fuckin drink,” I let her know, and she laughed.
“I’m not drinking this time. All it took was for me to get drunk one time around you for me to learn my lesson,” she went on to say.
“I took great care of you though. Carried you across the street, and I put you in bed. I didn’t let anything happen to you,” I let her know, and she smiled.
“I’ll probably just have one then,” she blurted, and I didn’t even believe that.
Once she got out there, and she saw the good vibes, the food, the bars, and everything else that New Orleans had to offer, she wasn’t going to be able to pass up on the drinks. I was fully prepared to have to carry her ass out of there just like I did last time.
I was able to reach out to the company and let them know that I wouldn’t be coming anymore to deliver the cars.
They wanted to know an updated time, but I told them that they were going to have to take that up with Frank because I no longer had anything to do with that load.
They didn’t hold any malice towards me and let me know that they were going to hit Frank, so that they could see what was going on.
Now, here I was, en route to my next pick up. I already reached out to the company to let them know that I was going to be a little early, and they quickly wrote back, letting me know that the cars were ready, and they didn’t mind that I was coming earlier.
I was on the main road right now. I was sitting at a red light, and Amina was in her chair, back to her word puzzle.
There was a Spanish woman, and man that were walking up and down the lanes, each carrying flowers in their hands, desperately trying to get people to buy them.
Being on this truck with Amina, and learning about the things that she liked, and didn’t like, I learned that she loved flowers.
She told me that back at home, she knew how to properly care for them, and she wasn’t one of those women that just looked at her flowers as decoration.
Knowing that, I rolled the window down on my truck, flagging the couple over, and both of them came rushing down.
They had eager looks on their faces, coming over, lifting the flowers that they were holding up, so that I could see them.
“Beautiful flowers. Beautiful flowers for your wife,” the man said to me.
I laughed, listening to him lay it on thick. He had about five bouquets in his hands, and each bouquet was a different color. The woman was holding an assortment of different color bouquets as hell.
“How much for all of them?” I asked, and when I asked that question, both of them perked up.
They looked at each other, smiling big, and starting speaking Spanish to each other. They were probably plotting to hustle the fuck out of me and charge me more than what the flowers were actually worth.
“Ay, don’t try to hustle me, mami. Give me the same price that you give to everyone else” I said, fucking with the woman, knowing damn well that she couldn’t understand a thing that I was saying. Even after I said it, she looked at me and she laughed. I knew she didn’t understand me.
“75,” the husband said to me again in that thick Spanish accent.
I was cool with paying that amount. Truthfully, I thought that he was going to knock me upside the head and give me something that was much more expensive.
I reached into my pocket, where my wallet was, and I pulled it out.
I grabbed the first hundred-dollar bill that I saw and handed it to the man.
You would have thought that I handed him over multiple hundred dollars bills because of the smile that was on both their faces. I told him to keep the whole thing.
Both of them thanked me multiple times, and because the light had quickly changed from red to green, they reached in, so that they could hand the flowers to me, and on some smooth shit, I handed the flowers to Amina.
“Awwww. Gemini, thank you. What am I going to do with all these damn flowers though,” she gushed, her eyes not on me because she was too busy looking down at about twelve bouquet of roses in her lap.
Even though you could tell that she didn’t have a clue where she would store the flowers, let alone be able to take care of them while she was on the truck with me, there was still this sound of appreciation in her voice for them.
She was happy. That’s all that I was trying to do on this truck is keep her happy.
“Do whatever you want to do with them, love. They yours. I remember you told me that you like roses. I just want you to know that I heard you when you said it. I’ve been hearing you. Everything’s noted,” I said, turning my head for a second, so that I could look at her.
With a smile on her face, she leaned over, and placed kisses on my cheek. Even though I was driving, I was able to keep my left hand on the steering wheel, somehow manage to keep my eyes on the road, as I turned my head just a little, so that her lips could touch mine.
I had a little hiccup within the business, but I was eventually able to calm my ass down and focus my mind on positivity. The rest of the pickups and drop offs that I had were smooth. I was able to get the vehicles and drop them off to where they needed to be.
Now that I was finished working, I would be able to head back to the truck stop, so that Amina and I could shower, get dressed, and head to The French Quarters.
This was our last day in Louisiana. I wanted us to have some good vibes tonight, eat some good food, and just enjoy ourselves. That was the only thing that I wanted.