Chapter 6
Well Played
Istumbled off the ground with nurses and bystanders trying to help me.
I snatched my arms away from them as they asked to get me help.
“Nah, nah, I’m good,” I repeated to them. I moved in a zig-zag, somehow making it to my car, blood dripping from my nose and bottom lip, the taste of iron strong in my mouth as I threw myself into the driver’s seat.
My vision was blurry, my head hurt like a bitch, but I managed to start my car and pull away from the hospital while looking at everybody looking at me.
I pulled off slow at first, trying to get my eyes right. Every damn bump in the road sent a fresh shot through my jaw.
I gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles were hurting. Blood was still sliding down my lip and dropping onto my pants.
I tasted metal every time I swallowed.
The city didn’t stop for me, niggas were telling on me and not defending me, that was pissing me off, and then I remembered that I wasn’t in my city.
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand. That shit hurt like a bitch.
“FUCK!” I yelled out. I knew that shit was broken.
My phone kept ringing in my pocket, but I didn’t even worry about it, not like my niggas was gonna come down and help fight my battle.
I don’t even remember the full drive, just pieces. Stoplights, blurry turns. My head leaning against the window for a second to steady myself before I forced it back up.
Every time I blinked, I saw that nigga walking up on me in a silk shirt. I could still feel his rings on the side of my face.
That nigga meant what he talked about. He had the city under lock, and they had their eyes on me.
That shit pissed me off even more.
I pulled into the motel parking lot fast, tires screeching a lil’ before I slammed the car in park. My chest was rising hard while I sat there, face throbbing, jaw aching.
I looked into the rearview mirror and instantly got pissed all over again.
That nigga beat my ass.
I punched the steering wheel hard as fuck.
The horn blasted loud through the parking lot, making a few people turn and look. I reached for my Glock under the seat then stared at it for a second, realizing what I was doing—I was fucking up…moving sloppy.
I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes, trying to get my shit together before I crashed for real.
But every time I closed my eyes, I kept seeing Islah.
Her smile.
Her laugh.
The way she looked at that nigga in those damn pictures.
Just the way he stepping behind her, I can tell that he loved her for real.
That made me hate him more.
I grabbed the bottle sittin’ in my cup holder and took another pull before finally getting out of the car.
The second my feet hit the pavement, pain shot through my ribs.
“That nigga caught me clean…” I muttered low.
I kept my head low while I walked across the street and up the stairs to my room. As soon as I got inside the room, I locked the door behind me and stumbled to the bathroom.
The bright light fucked me up instantly. Making me lift my head slow, looking into the mirror.
I looked the way I felt.
Fucked up, crooked nose, dried-up blood all over my face. That nigga’s rings left cuts all over my face.
I stared at myself for a long second before laughing bitterly.
“She gonna hate that he did me like this,” I said low.
That thought sat ugly in my chest, thinking if she saw me hurt, she would bring her ass back.
My phone rang in my pocket again. I pulled it out and looked at the screen as I stumbled to the bed, laying back.
“What, Bully,” I snapped.
“Nigga, you good?” Bully paused. “You sound low.”
“I’m straight.”
“Yeah, okay, I been waitin’ on you to hit me back. I’m in the A. Send me your location, I’ll grab an Uber.”
“Nah, fuck that,” I said, sitting up. “No paper trail—”
Bully laughed, cutting me off. “It’s not like you really doin’ shit, cut it out.”
The nigga kept laughing in my ear.
“Nigga, shut the fuck up, I’m coming.”
I hung up the phone and got back up, going into the bathroom. I grabbed a rag and cleaned the blood from around my mouth and nose as best as I could before throwing on a hoodie and pulling the hood over my head to try to hide my swollen face.
I grabbed my bottle out of the fridge and walked out of the room, stumbling down the steps. Once I made it to my car, I inhaled hard and exhaled harder as I poured some Henny in my cup before pulling off.
The drive to the airport was long as fuck. Atlanta traffic was moving but not fast enough for me.
I turned my music up, tried to zone out into the radio, but I couldn’t, I was too mad.
Finally, I made it to the airport, hit Bully, told him where I was, and waited for that nigga to get to me.
While I waited, I leaned back and took a sip from my cup.
The liquor burned worse than usual with my busted lip, but I welcomed the pain as I watched people running with bags, families hugging, and people looking for their Uber.
I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Bully’s big ass walking toward the car.
I drank what was left in my cup, preparing myself for whatever he was going to say.
He opened my back door first, throwing his bags in, then opened the passage door and leaned in as I turned my head toward him.
“Damn nigga, who fucked you up?”
I opened my mouth, and he cut me off as he got in and closed the door.
“Was it Love? Did that nigga catch you?”
I didn’t want to, but I nodded.
“I went to take Islah some flowers, was gonna see if me and her could just talk without you, but that nigga popped up,” I said as I pulled off.
Bully laughed. “Nigga, I told you to leave that girl alone. That nigga is not playin’ bout her.”
I shook my head. “I still have a chance with her.”
Bully shook his head. “You like to find out shit the hard way…think that all you want to.”
I drove back to the motel, while pouring myself another cup, and Bully took it from me.
“You been down here wildin’, nigga, you just need to come home.”
I smirked. “I’ll come home when she’s with me.”
The rest of the ride was silent. I pulled back up to the motel bout twenty minutes later. As we hopped out, Bully had a look on his face.
“You left the hotel that we were at?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I needed a in the cut place.”
Bully followed me across the street and up the stairs to the room. I unlocked the door and walked in, with him standing behind me.
“Oh hell no, nigga, I’m not stayin’ here.”
“What the fuck is wrong with it?”
“Gio, what the fuck is wrong with you? This shit is run down from the outside in.”
“Well, a nigga money is tight, you know this shit.”
“Well, I’m not askin’ you to put in on shit. I be damn if my fat ass don’t lay on somethin’ with a high thread count. Grab your shit and let’s go.”
I didn’t say shit, it’s not like I didn’t want to get out of that piece of shit room after making myself believe I was hiding out.
We walked out, and Bully asked for my keys, seeing the way I was stumbling.
He booked a room while he drove, while I leaned my seat back in drank my pain away.
“Watch Bully,” I said low. “Come tomorrow, I’ma have my girl back!”
He nodded. “I feel you nigga,” he said low.
After a while, we made it to downtown Atlanta. Bully pulled into a parking garage, parked and hopped out carrying his shit, not waiting for me at all.
I finally caught up with him in the lobby, just as he was swiping his card and getting the room key.
“Can you make it to the room?” he asked me as he turned around.
I nodded. “Nigga, don’t play with me, I’m waiting on you.”
We walked around the corner to the elevator, hopped in, and he hit the fifth floor. The ride up was doing my stomach and my balance in. I kept leaning on Bully, and he kept pushing me off.
As soon as the doors opened, he hopped off quick. I took my time, and the doors almost closed on me. Bully walked halfway up the hallway, finally opened the door and shoved me into the room.
“Pick a bed nigga, and go the fuck to sleep,” Bully said as he turned on some light. “Yo’ ass is sorry! You think she gonna see you like that and run back to you.”
I got up in one of the beds and kicked my shoes off.
“Actually, yes, nigga. I think she gonna see how that nigga did me and want me back since I took it like a man.”
Bully looked at me with a blank face.
“Her pussy must be made outta diamonds or some shit, ‘cause nigga you is actin’ a damn fool. What she’s coming to tell you is take yo’ ass back to Cali. That girl is getting married.”
I sucked my teeth, not even wanting to respond to that nigga. He wasn’t listening to me, anyway.
I rolled over in the bed and pulled the hoodie tighter over my head like it could block out everything that Bully said.
“Turn the lights off,” I muttered.
“Gladly,” he shot back.
The room dropped into a dim glow from the city leaking through the curtains. The kind of light that don’t help you sleep, it just reminded me the world was still moving while mine was falling apart.
Bully dropped onto the other bed, and I heard him fumbling with his phone, probably telling the whole hood about me.
My head was pounding, not just from the fight, but from the bottle and everything I was thinking about.
I closed my eyes tighter, but sleep wasn’t coming easy. Every time I drifted, I saw the same thing. Islah walking away from me and living her life with me not being a part of it.
I drifted off to sleep, telling myself that the next day was gonna end all the bullshit.
When I woke up the next morning, Bully was tapping my foot.
“Get your shit together nigga, she wants to meet early. She’s got some shit to do.”
I nodded. To me that didn’t sound like somebody who was leaving with me, but I didn’t speak on it.
I hopped in the shower, putting my face under the water and backing up quick, forgetting it was fucked up.
That water stung the shit outta my face. I hurried up and washed my body with the hotel soap, hopped out, and got dressed.
I didn’t have much with me, and damn sure didn’t have money to shop with, but you could never go wrong with a white tee, jeans, and some Timbs, no matter what the weather was.
While I waited for Bully to get dressed, I looked up Islah’s page and saw her tagging that nigga in pictures with a kid, talking about her stepson.
“Her stepson!” I blurted out.
She was really creating a whole family out here, and in her smile, I didn’t see no cracks in that changing.
But I didn’t give a fuck, I was still gonna try.
It felt like Bully took forever in the bathroom, but once he was done, we walked straight outta the room. Bully was talking to Islah about the place, the time, the parking, and wouldn’t let me say shit to her. I just followed that nigga like he was my damn daddy.
We pulled up to a lil’ café not far from the hotel and walked inside without Bully sayin’ a word to me. We grabbed a table in the back overlooking the whole shop and waited for her to show up.
“Where did she say she was?” I asked Bully.
“She’s coming, she was at something with her girls. She should be walking through the door any minute,” he responded.
Two, five, ten minutes passed, and just when I was about to tell him to call her, the door opened, and she walked through the door.
She looked so damn good, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was wearing a sundress that was flowy and stopped at her ankles. Her heels peeked through it. She brushed her hair outta her face as she walked toward us, and the ring caught the light, shining it directly in my damn eyes.
Once she reached the table, we stood up. Islah hugged Bully with a huge smile, then looked at me and sat down.
Bully tried to hold back his laugh, but couldn’t as we joined her sitting down, and she exhaled.
“Listen,” she said, staring at me harder. “What the fuck happened to you?”
I smirked. “Love…”
She leaned in. “Love did that to you?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I was outside your job bringing—”
“You were outside my job?” she repeated, cutting me off. “See, nah, I don’t need to hear any more. Gio, I came here to tell you to leave me alone. Me and you is over, and I’m not coming back.”
“What the fuck you mean?” I shot back. “Islah, we’re supposed to be together, we’re supposed to fix this shit.”
She shook her head. “No, we’re not, Gio. I moved on, and you are supposed to let me go in peace. Try to be happy for me.”
I shook my head.
“Hell no!”
She looked at me, shocked to hear my response.
“I fucked up one time, that don’t mean you leave like this, not when I been trying to make the shit right.”
Islah leaned back across the table.
“Gio, you don’t tell me what to do. This meeting was to try to talk some sense into you before my fiancé got to you, but it looks like I’m too late for that.”
Islah stood up from the table.
“If you don’t want Love to fuck you up more, go back to Cali, Gio. It’s not safe for you here.”
As she walked off, I stood up and yelled, “The only way I’m going back to Cali is if you are with me, Islah.”
She turned around and looked at me. “Then prepare for my man to get rid of you. I tried to help you.”
And she walked off.
That shit stung me in my heart. She was choosing a nigga that just came into her life over me, when I know her.
“So you ready to catch this flight with me back home?” Bully asked.
I looked down at him, still sitting at the table.
“Hell no, I need some niggas here with me. If she thinks I won’t show out for what’s mine, she bout to find out.”