Chapter 6
Gut Feelin’
The streets fucked with my work, so much that it took me no time to need to re-up again. I cut off my alarm and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my forehead. I had a lot on my plate. Planning a special way to tell Islah about the house, I still needed to buy a ring, and now I had to re-up again.
I looked behind me, and Islah was still asleep, just rollin’ over.
I picked my phone up off the nightstand and sent Loc a message.
Before I could put my phone down, the nigga was texting me, telling me to come through in an hour.
I got outta bed, hopped in the shower, and got dressed.
By the time I was walking back into the room, Islah was waking up.
Before she could speak, I kissed her forehead. “I need to go re-up. I will be back in a few.”
She nodded and rolled back over.
Before I walked outside, I checked the windows and the peephole. The coast was clear, so I headed to Bully’s crib.
I banged on his door, and he opened it, already clenching his waistline.
“Nigga, you good?” he asked.
“Yeah, watch my crib, I gotta go re-up.”
Bully dapped me up. “I got you.”
I turned and walked down the steps, but then I thought about somethin’.
“Aye,” I turned around and yelled. Bully stuck his head out the door. “Did that last nigga come around again, looking for anything?”
“Nah, after you spoke yo half, we didn’t see him anymore.”
I nodded and headed to my car. My head was on a swivel. The feelin’ I had of somethin’ happenin’ was getting harder and harder to ignore. I got in my car and sat there for a minute, breathing, watching.
Nothing moved funny; no car came into the complex, no silhouette in a car. Everything was calm, my gut didn’t unclench tho.
I pulled off anyway and headed across town, checking all mirrors as I drove. The traffic was still light, and the dark sky was starting to lighten. I pulled up to the back of OG’s lounge, and Loc was already out there leaning against his Charger, smokin’ with his homeboy.
I pulled up beside them and rolled my window down.
“You movin’ fast, my nigga!” Loc said, walkin’ up to my window for a dap.
“Demand is high around my way.”
The exchange was smooth. No weird energy, no extra eyes. His boy stayed relaxed. I handed over the money, it got counted quick, and the bricks were put in my trunk.
“Stay sharp out here, nigga,” Loc said.
“Always do,” I responded before pulling off.
Stay sharp.
Those two words stuck with me for a second. But I had to keep shit movin’.
When I got back on the block, Bully was out holdin’ shit down.
“My girl been out of the house?” I asked as I bent the corner.
“Nah,” he yelled back.
I nodded, parked my car next to Islah, and went up the steps. Once I opened the door, Islah was sittin’ in the living room.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I walked through.
“Touching up my toes. What are you doing?”
I put the bricks in the closet, took out what I needed, and walked back out to her.
“’Bout to hit this block.” I walked over to her and got a kiss. “I’ll be back later.”
She nodded and walked out. Bully was leaning against my whip with a duffel bag in his hand.
“You ready to catch these plays, nigga?”
I nodded. “Let’s get this money!”
I threw him my keys, and he tossed me his duffel bag. I hopped in the back and started breaking my brick down before he could even back out.
He hit the streets, and it was like the open sign just came on. Both of our phones started chirpin’.
Our delivery calls were moving faster than standing and waitin’ for niggas to come to us. I was breakin’ down work from each duffel bag, weighing it out right and slangin’ it to Bully to hand it off. No hesitation, no drama.
Every now and then, depending on the hood we went to, I still felt eyes on me and summed it up to niggas hatin’ from a distance.
By late afternoon, we were running low and were just riding around smoking. Bully stopped at a red light. I looked to my right and saw a jewelry store.
“Pull over there, nigga.”
Bully nodded and pulled outta traffic. Without sayin’ a word, I grabbed my duffel bag, and we hopped out of the car.
I walked around the lil’ store, looking at all the diamonds, seeing some things I might have to come back and cop for myself. After a few minutes, a lady came around.
“Hello, what can I help you with?”
I exhaled. I can’t lie, my palms were a lil’ sweaty as I said, “I need to see your engagement rings.”
She smiled. “Right this way.”
I followed her while Bully followed me.
“My nigga taking a big step, ‘bout fuckin’ time!”
The lady and I laughed.
She walked us over to the display case full of engagement rings.
“What do you think?” I asked Bully.
“Nigga, that’s your girl. What does she like?”
I started trying to find something that I thought would suit Islah, but I wasn’t sure.
“How about this?” the salesclerk started. “How about, what do you want to see on her finger?”
I nodded and looked over the case again, thinking about what I wanted to see on my girl’s hand, how I wanted her to show off that she was taken by a real one, and then I found it. I pointed to the big diamond with a gold band that was sitting right in the middle of all the rings.
“Let me see that one.”
The lady smiled, unlocked the case, pulled the ring out, and handed it to me.
“This oval-shaped diamond is beautiful,” she stated. “You have the big oval diamond in the center, and then around the band is adorned with small diamonds going around the finger.”
I held the ring in my hand for a minute, rotating it back and forth. Picturing it on Islah’s finger, and then I could picture her in the dress.
I shook my head, jumping outta my thoughts.
“I’ll take it.”
“That is great! Walk over here with me, and I can get you all rung up.”
“Nigga, I see you smiling,” Bully said.
And I was, I couldn’t hide it.
“I know when I was holding the ring, I could picture Islah in a dress.”
“When you can picture them on that special day, you know you picked the right one,” the sales clerk added.
I dropped 18K and left with my girl’s engagement ring, marking another thing off her list.
“You gonna give it to her tonight?” Bully asked.
I shook my head. “Nah, I still don’t know how I’ma make all this special for her. I want to do it big, you feel me?”
“Damn, nigga, a house and ring is not doing it big?”
“It’s time, my nigga, it’s time. Islah has done her part, but I was bullshittin’. I want to do this right.”
“I feel you, nigga, you will figure it out.”
We got back to Crenshaw, and I was ready to get into the house. I dapped Bully up and handed him the ring for Islah.
“Put this with the house key for me.”
He took it and nodded. “I got you.”
He walked off, and I walked up the steps. As soon as I opened the front door, I was smacked in the face with the smell of food.
Garlic, butter, shorty had something baking.
I was locking the door behind me when I saw Islah coming around the corner in this lil’ satin set that made me want to go get that damn ring from Bully.
Her hair was down, her skin was glowing, and that smile on her face? Was something I could stare at all day.
“You home early,” she said as she walked up on me to get some lovin’.
“Yeah, shit was dry today.”
She pulled away from me and saw the smirk on my face.
“You lying like hell.”
We laughed, and Islah took my hand, leading me to the table.
Dinner was already sitting on the table, candles were lit, a blunt was rolled, and wine was already poured.
I wrapped her in my arms and stared at everything. With all the chaos I had goin’ on outside, she built peace inside our walls.
We talked about nothing important. She told me about something she saw online. I barely caught half of it because I was watching how her lips moved when she talked.
After dinner, I helped her clean up, while touching and kissing all over what was mine.
When we were finally done, I settled in the living room while she hopped in the shower. It was quiet, only the sound of the shower running filled the apartment.
My phone buzzed, and when I looked at it, it was a play. That’s when I thought about the bricks in the closet and went and grabbed them.
I heard the water cutting off while I was setting up our workstation for the night: bricks, baggies, and scales.
I grabbed my henny and some smoke. I had a lot to get through.
When Islah came back out of the living room, she was in my briefs and a beater, lookin’ even better than before.
She walked over and looked at my setup, shaking her head.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
Islah shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing really, I just wanted you to relax tonight…”