TWO
“WHEN A REAL ONE HOLD YOU DOWN, BAE YOU SUPPOSED TO DROWN.” LATTO
In true crackhead fashion, no pun intended, Talia responded, “Send me some money since you so sorry.” Which Nina took as basically, “Fuck everything you said hoe, where the funds at?”
Nina didn’t text her back, instead she cried until she fell asleep.
She’d been avoiding her mother and it hurt a little to know that she hadn’t bothered to reach out to her. Charis said that her mama was in shock and didn’t have a comment. Marcus told her that he was staying out of it, which was nothing new. He avoided the family drama like the plague.
She and Jio were doing better, so Nina didn’t have much to share in that department like she normally did.
“To confirm you haven’t been fired?” Her therapist asked for the third time. When Nina was in an emotional state, it was hard to understand what she was trying to convey.
She nodded, wiping snot from her nose with the back of her hand.
“It’s all business with Daddy. He barely looks at me but will email and tell me whatever he needs to let me know… it’s so weird,” she admitted.
“Are you going to fix all of these problems on your own?”
Nina shrugged.
“I don’t know yet.”
Her main issue was the fact that she thought her sister hated her, which was currently eating her alive.
She could live with Talia hating their parents… because hell, she didn’t care for their asses either. But for Talia to feel like she had no one… not even her baby sister who she’d always adored. It hurt her feelings tremendously.
“What if you go and talk to your sister? Anyone can pick up the phone but sometimes extra effort goes a long way,” she suggested.
“It’s no telling where she is,” Nina mumbled under her breath.
“Well, if the shoe were on the other foot, do you think your sister would try to find you?” She hit her with one of those questions that stayed with her longer than intended.
η
Jio was twenty-six years old but he lived life like a man who’d been here for a long, long time.
He was wiser than most cats twice his age.
He was a great listener, an avid reader, and he appreciated a hand-rolled cigar and a glass of something neat and smooth.
He was one of those niggas that would be remembered long after he took his last breath.
Much like his grandfather. Jio was one of the good guys, and niggas like him could bag ANY bitch he wanted.
You can name a hoe and he’d probably had her, whether it was a few phone calls, a couple of dates, or a lil’ shopping spree because he was in a good mood and she caught him in the giving spirit.
Bad bitches.
Young hoes.
Educated women like teachers, accountants, hedge fund managers, insurance agents, flight attendants, and even librarians fucked with Jio.
Basically, there wasn’t a woman he couldn’t get if he wanted her.
He was a magnet and he was one of the finest niggas to walk the streets of New York.
Aside from his charming ways and good looks, his dick was big, his voice sounded like a news anchor on the phone, and he could dress better than any man who had graced the cover of GQ.
Jio was one of them ones. A lady would never forget any time spent with Jiorgio Gotti III.
Even if she was only lucky enough to have a few encounters with him.
For the girls that were only able to be graced with his presence for a couple of hours after a drunken night, he left stains on their memory banks and in their panties too.
Jio was one of those guys that women openly discussed in conversations with their closest friends years down the line.
“Darla, do you remember that time I fucked Jio Gotti in the bathroom?”
Sucking his dick was like a badge of honor.
Women felt like their caliber went up just because they had his balls down their throat.
And even with all of that, out of all the women that had claimed to love and experience him, his heart only beat for Nina.
He’d been around the block of several neighborhoods plenty of times.
Jio had fucked mamas, sisters, aunties, cousins, twin sisters, and depending on how old the grama was, she may have slept with his granddaddy back in the day.
He knew how to deal with women. He had two sisters and a crazy mama to prove it. He understood the importance of communication and having patience. But no woman in the world grinded his gears more than the one who had captured his heart.
Nina was a pain in his ass. An ass that she didn’t kiss to be exact.
She was the most annoying, overwhelming, flustered, and full of anxiety woman that he’d ever encountered in his life.
She had a question for everything and could catch an attitude faster than a two-year-old who wasn’t able to get their way.
Nina didn’t value a dollar, and it showed in how fast and carelessly she spent all of his.
She seemed to only be motivated when she knew that she was getting something out of the deal, but she was a woman.
He expected that type of behavior from her.
As a man, it was his job to provide and protect her.
Jio did it with honor. It wasn’t nothing that he wouldn’t do for his sunshine, but it certainly ground his gears when he was in the middle of handling big business and he had to stop what he was doing to tend to some bullshit.
In his eyes, bullshit was a situation that could’ve easily been prevented.
The security that had been assigned and paid more than the muscle that secured his club to watch and tail Nina everywhere she went told him a few days ago that Nina was starting to venture into areas that she had no business in.
Jio figured she was trying to find her sister, which he was fine with because she owed that girl an apology for being a bitch.
What he didn’t expect was to hear that Nina’s green ass parked her overly expensive whip in front of a trap and told them to watch her car while she went to look for her sister.
Not only did he ask the security what made them hesitate to stop her or at least go with her, but he told them that if they didn’t lay eyes on her in the next five minutes, it would be a much bigger issue.
Jio had to stop what he was doing and go to a hood that he didn’t even fuck around in. He was a made man, so technically, he was good wherever he went.
“Nina baby, why you gotta be a bad girl,” he murmured under his breath as he stepped out of the car.
Behind him were his soldiers. Trusted men who wouldn’t hesitate to unload the clip if need be. On his hip was a Glock, and he had two more weapons that were concealed but easily accessible in case a nigga thought that shit was sweet.
He hoped that this didn’t take too much out of his day.
He had shit to do and pulling up in the projects to grab his very wealthy, na?ve girlfriend out of a trap house because she was currently riddled with guilt from being a bitch to her crack head sister was not on the agenda.
Life was wild enough as it is. Now that Jio was somewhat growing into his own britches, a lot of the earlier conversations that his Papa had with him were starting to make more sense.
“Your woman’s emergency is your emergency. If she feels like she can’t go to you, trust me kiddo… she will go to someone else.”
Jio took pride in being a woman’s support system. All Nina would ever need was him.
It didn’t take Jio long to locate her. The poor girl was nodding off so bad, she couldn’t communicate with her sister even if she wanted to.
Nina kept pulling her hair from her sweaty face. “You should let me take you home with me…. I will take care of you,” she promised.
“That’s not happening baby love.” Jio thought to himself before he approached the love of his life.
“Nina.” The tone of his voice was firm, she wasn’t used to hearing it from his lips especially being directed to her. Nina got the softest version of him because that’s what she deserved. He didn’t think she could handle his other side anyway.
Made Man and Lover Boy Jio didn’t belong in the same sentence or room.
She peered over her shoulder. “How did you find me?” she asked, although she knew good and damn well that he had eyes and ears everywhere.
“You know you’re in trouble, right?”
“I want my sister to get better. Can you help her?”
“We can figure something out, but right now, we need to go.”
This wasn’t the time or the place for this.
“Can she go with us?” she pleaded.
Jio shook his head. “No, but I’ll have someone come back and get her once she’s awake.” He could make that happen for real so Nina didn’t protest.
“Is she overdosing?”
She was so innocent. He prayed that he could protect her forever.
“No, babe, she’s just high as fuck.” He kept it frank.
“Why do people do drugs?” she questioned.
Jio had a little bit more patience left, but after another round of questions, he was fearful that it might run out sooner than he anticipated.
“Let’s talk in the car, babe.”
He reached for her hand. He wanted her fancy pants off the floor of the dirty house that neither of them belonged in.
“We didn’t protect her,” she whispered to him.
“We live and we learn baby and unfortunately we can’t save everybody.” He gave her the harsh reality of life.
η
A few days had passed and seeing his baby sulk around the house didn’t make him feel good at all.
Jio had no desire to step further into shit that had nothing to do with him.
The sole reason why this happened to begin with was that he cut Talia off from her supply, and in retaliation, her stupid ass acted out and blasted Nina to their parents.
He wouldn’t be surprised if she knew a long time ago that they were dating.
Just because she was addicted to drugs and missing in action didn’t mean that she was completely oblivious to everything that was happening in the streets.
“What are you doing here?” Talia asked after cracking the door a tad.
Jio didn’t bother answering her stupid ass. He made a way for himself to enter, leaving her no choice but to move.