Chapter 19 #2
I told him the address real quick, and he gave me a nod.
“We will meet you there,” he said, getting into the truck.
We pulled off at the same time, but I pulled off in a different direction. I grabbed Amir some fast food, knowing his mouth would be open soon about some damn food. After that, we pulled up to the store.
The second I walked through the door, everybody tried to start talking to me at once. I ignored all that shit and went straight to my office.
I grabbed my laptop, my sketchpad, some diamonds, and other shit so I could work from home when Keith walked in carrying a black bag that he sat on my desk.
“Theirs your ninety,” he said low.
I nodded.
His eyes followed me while I packed the rest of my shit up.
“Did you find the nigga?” he asked.
“Nah,” I said, doing one more check around my office. “I wish, but nah.”
Keith looked at me funny.
“Nigga what the fuck are you on right now?”
As I grabbed the black bag off my desk, I looked at him.
“I am handling my business—”
“I hope you are moving with thinking.”
I smirked. “I am thinking clearer than any mission that we ever did.”
I walked out, putting all that shit in my trunk while checking my surroundings before getting in.
Once I pulled off, I moved through traffic while watching everything. My head was on a swivel.
When we pulled up to the house, Omar was already there, ready to start unloading.
I already had some shit inside. What we brought with us just needed to be moved in and put in the rooms.
Amir went off to pick his room while I told Omar where to start putting the other shit.
Them niggas was sweating as they moved and complaining a lil’ bit. I damn near wanted to put them niggas on a timeframe cause of how much shit they were talking.
I sat back on my couch and watched them while looking at all the boxes. I didn’t want to deal with that shit, and I damn sure didn’t want Islah coming home to that shit. I ended up hiring some ladies to come and do it for us.
Once them niggas was done, and I paid them, the ladies was showing up right on time.
I walked them through the house, telling them what I wanted them to do and what to focus on first.
They nodded and got to work.
“Oh,” I said before I left from around them. “Y’all have about four hours.”
One of them laughed.
“We’ll get it done.”
I nodded. “You better.”
I checked on Amir, saw that nigga was getting his game settled, connecting the internet and shit, and I went back downstairs checking my phone.
I had no updates.
No sightings.
No Gio.
That shit should have made me feel better, but it didn’t.
It made me more irritated.
I knew that nigga was somewhere, and I needed to know where.
For the next few hours, I checked in with my people, made calls, answered calls, and walked through the house every now and then, checking on their progress.
But by the time them ladies finished, I was impressed. The house looked completely different.
The beds were made, the closets were organized, and the kitchen looked stocked and ready to be cooked in. Pictures were sitting where they belonged.
I walked them to the door, paid everybody, then watched them pull outta the driveway.
I closed the door behind me and stood there looking at what I got done before Islah’s shift was over.
I felt good. Not only was I crossing something off her list, but I knew they would be safer.
I pulled my phone out and sent Islah a message with the address, telling her to come to it when she got off.
A few seconds later, my phone rang with a message from her asking why.
“Just trust me and do what I asked, mamas.”
She didn’t respond.
I went on with the rest of my day, getting some work done, sending some progress pictures to my clients until Islah texted me telling me that she was on the way.
I smiled and sat work to the side.
Knowing it was gonna take her a minute to get to me, I slid out real quick, picked up dinner for the family, and grabbed her some flowers.
When I got back home, I set everything up, including the money.
Then I went outside with the flowers and my blunt and sat on the steps smoking while waiting for her.
The neighborhood was quiet, peaceful, everything I wanted.
I saw her smiling through the windshield as she was pulling into the driveway, her hands cupping her mouth, trying to hide her smile.
She parked her car, and I stood up as he was getting out.
“LOVE!” she yelled out, laughing.
I smiled. “Come here, mamas.”
She ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“This is our house?!” she asked as she pulled back from me.
I nodded.
“You picked it. I told you I would get on it.”
Tears filled her eyes immediately.
I gave her the flowers and took her hand, leading her inside.
She looked all through the house at everything. I explained how I had gotten everything moved and set up in a short amount of time. Every room she walked into, she stopped and stared.
I wasn’t even paying attention to the house anymore. I was watching Islah. Her smile, her getting emotional, watching her fall in love with something she wanted for a long ass time.
When we finally made it back downstairs, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me.
“Thank you.”
“I got one more surprise for you in the kitchen.”
I started to pull her along with me, but she pulled me back.
“Well…I kind of got a surprise for you, too.”
I turned and looked at her, and she pulled something outta her back pocket.
The second I saw it, I froze.
A test—a pregnancy test.
I looked at her, at the test, then back up at her.
“I knew something was going on!” I said.
She laughed at me through her tears.
“I did, too. When I got to work, I got a confirmation.”
She handed it to me, and I looked at it for the first time since I had my son. Tears fell outta my eyes.
“You’re having my baby mamas?”
She nodded with a huge smile on her face. “It’s still very, very early, but yes, I am.”
I pulled Islah into me, cuffed her face with my hands, and kissed her.
I loved that girl.
“Man, walk with me.”
I wrapped my arms around her and walked her into the kitchen. The food I bought was sitting out, along with a Gucci bag.
I walked her over to the bag.
“Open this…”
She squinted her eyes at me.
“Did you know I was gonna come in with the test?”
I laughed. “Nah, baby, I didn’t. But now, this shit makes that new so much better.”
Islah opened the Gucci bag, and saw money staring back at her.
She backed up from the bag with her mouth wide open.
“Love, what is this for?”
“Quit…”
Her eyebrows pulled together.
“What?”
“Quit your job mamas.”
She looked at the bag, then back at me.
“I don’t understand…”
“It’s ninety thousand in that bag for you to quit and let me take care of you.”
She stared at me for a second, and I stared back.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I have put your name on my bank accounts. You will be getting cards soon, your name is on the deed of the house, and I am just that nigga that can do shit like that, and it’s cool if you want to work for your own money, or you can let your man give you your own money.”
I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. I knew she was in shock.
I took my index finger and lifted her chain so that I could look into her beautiful eyes.
“Are you gonna let me take care of you and our baby?...”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.