Chapter 11
Tried IT
The movers and cleaners took all day to finish, but once they were done, I was standing in an empty apartment with a heavy heart full of mixed emotions.
I took time and looked through Gio’s phone, really reading the messages, looking at his photo album. I was all over his phone, even in messages to another woman. I laughed to myself to keep from crying. But Gio had me fucked up.
I took one more look around the place and walked out, looking at the door behind me. As I was walking down the steps, I heard my name being called, and it was Bully waving me over. I was going to ignore him, but I decided I would question him, which would help me decide my next move.
“You got it all done?” he asked as I got closer.
I nodded. “Yeah, but I want to ask something… Why was that crackhead at court today?”
Bully paused. “I don’t know, man, that shit was crazy. Has she been by today?”
I shook my head. “Nah, she hasn’t. You sure she’s a crackhead?” I asked, looking him in his eyes, being very direct.
Bully didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah, fosho, she’s a crackhead. She liked Gio’s work and was scared to ask you; I got her right, tho.”
I nodded. “Nigga, you a whole lie.” Bully looked at me, shocked.
“Girl, nobody is lying to you.”
I chuckled. “You know what? I’m actually glad that Gio is locked up and you can’t call him.” I pulled out Gio’s phone and showed him a picture of the girl and him together. “She sent this to the phone today.”
I know if Bully wasn’t so black, you could have seen the blood drain from his body with the look he gave me.
“Now, Bully, I’ma ask you this. Who was that bitch?”
Bully exhaled.
“That’s T, or Trina, we called her T so you would never catch on. Gio was getting his work from her.”
I wanted to swing on him, but my issue wasn’t with him.
“Was Gio fuckin’ her?” I asked. I knew the answer already, I just wanted to see what his right-hand nigga would say to me, but he didn’t answer me. He paused with his mouth wide open, then closed it.
This time, I couldn’t stop the tears. They started streaming down my face as I nodded and walked back down the steps to my car.
I pulled out of the parking lot, wishing I could go to that jail and talk with Gio, but I couldn’t do that.
I was driving around the city, mind lost, and decided to go back to the hotel, when I came to a red light and looked down at my phone.
The message I sent to myself with that girl’s information was sitting in my notifications.
I stared at it for a minute, then tapped it.
My car started reading me the directions just as the light turned green.
I stared at the green light, weighing my options, knowing damn well that whatever I choose, I’m well protected.
I bussed a right and followed the GPS to that bitch’s house and pulled up in her driveway.
I killed the engine but didn’t get out right away.
My hand rested on the steering wheel while I stared at the lil’ house in front of me. It wasn’t special, just a regular lil’ spot on a quiet street where the neighbors sat on the porch, and everybody minded their business.
My chest felt tight.
I looked at myself in the mirror, wiped my tears, and exhaled, hearing something Gio used to tell me in my head.
You are my soft girl, and I want you like that. But when you get mad, when you feel hurt, your anger ain’t shit to play with.
And he was right, I wasn’t to be fucked with.
I hopped outta the car and walked straight up to her door.
I knocked once.
Then again.
A few seconds passed before she came to the door with her head down, looking at the phone. She had some money in her hand, and she stuck it out of the door.
“Bitch, this ain’t no delivery.”
Her head shot up fast, and she stepped back into her house, and I walked inside.
“So… what was the plan showing up at my door?” I asked as I looked around her place.
She stared at me for a second in shock.
“Um, um, I,” she stuttered.
I looked behind me by the door and saw a bat and grabbed it.
“Did you come to my door to tell me that you was fuckin’ my man?”
She shook her head. “No, I didn’t.”
I laughed. “But you showed up to my door twice, you showed up to court, and then you sent a picture of y’all two to his phone. You clearly wanted me to know something.”
“No, I didn’t know you had his phone. I was hoping he saw it when he got out.”
“For fuckin’ what?!” I yelled.
“Because I miss him!” she yelled back.
I felt the blood inside me boiling.
“He damn near dismissed me, but I missed him being around. The nigga helped me with shit.”
I tilted my head.
“What the fuck did he help you with?”
Trina paused.
“He helped me with my rent; well, he used to. He used to do a lot for me, and then he just stopped. I was hoping that I could get him back.”
“Bitch, are you dumb? How you gonna get a nigga back when he’s with somebody?”
“He’s not happy,” she said under her breath.
I paused, and she walked over to me.
“If Gio was truly happy with you, he wouldn’t have been with me, paying my rent, ducking off with me for days. Those trips he paid for, those nights together in hotels were often, and it was done in front of your face the whole time. It is only a matter of time before he realizes where—”
I didn’t let her finish. I took that bat, swung, and hit her in the legs, making her fall to the floor. She screamed out in pain, and I stood over her for a second.
“You crazy bitch!” she screamed out in pain.
I smirked. “Nah, bitch, you tried me.”
I kept swinging and hitting her with the bat over and over in her ribs, her legs.
“Work for my nigga, bitch! Scream out for my nigga to come help you!”
She kept screaming as I hit her once my arms were tired. I stood back and caught my breath as she cried out in pain. I threw the bat at her head, hearing it connect as I walked to the door.
“One thing I know FOR SURE, Gio would never leave me, not for you anyway. But now, you can have him. If a nigga entertains a bird bitch like you, I don’t want him.”
I walked out of her house and hopped in my car just as her food delivery was pulling up and went to the hotel.
Once I got there, I got comfortable, threw the money on the bed, then sat in the middle, counting up all the money I had and making my plans. I loved Gio with all my heart, but I be damned if I be anybody’s fool.
Three years of telling me T was the plug, whole time it was the bitch he was fucking, taking on trips, leaving me at home, telling me he was hitting licks. And on top of everything, paying this bitch rent while we’re in a fuckin’ apartment.
I exhaled and screamed, “THAT NIGGA HELD US BACK!”
I was so pissed. We could have had the house, the marriage, the kids. That nigga was playin’, wanting to have a down bitch at home while he was still running the streets with them bird-ass bitches.
I thought he didn’t play about me; I thought that nigga would never hurt me.
Tears fell down my face as I thought about all we’ve been through, his promises to me, and what I had been doing to keep us together. But I wasn’t gonna go out like that.
I wiped my tears and finished putting together my plan, making my arrangements and whatnot. The love I had for him wasn’t enough for me to look past what he did to me, and even in jail, I wasn’t gonna let him skate by.
I went to sleep with a heavy heart and woke up with my mind on a mission.
I got dressed in one of Gio’s favorite dresses, beat my face, and did my hair. After, I packed up everything that I had in the hotel and had it taken down to my car. I was a lil’ nervous about what I was about to do, but I knew it needed to be done.
After checking out of the hotel, I walked out to my car waiting in front, hopped in, and went straight to the jail. The whole time I was driving, I was thinking about what and how I was gonna say what I needed to him.
When I pulled up to the jail, I parked and stared at the door, watching people go in and leave out. My stomach was in knots; I was nervous as hell, but I wasn’t turning back.
I got out of my car and smoothed out my dress, and I walked up to the door. A few niggas leaving out spoke to me while turning to look at me as I passed by. The guards smiled hard, knowing they couldn’t do too much while in their uniform.
I got checked in and took a seat in the waiting area. My hands were sweaty, my heart beating fast in my ears. After a while, I got called back with a few others, and we were led to a room with tables all around.
I picked a table and took a seat facing the door.
The room was quiet. There were about five of us in the room, and the ones who came with somebody talked quietly to themselves.
I stared out the bare windows, the sun shining on the concrete, while hearing chains in the distance.
I took a deep breath, hearing them get closer and closer.
Finally, the door opened. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath as I turned my head toward the door.
The first nigga walked in and smiled seeing his family, then the second, and then the third, Gio.
I stood up, and he walked over to me, giving me a quick hug before they said anything to us. We took a seat, and he smiled at me while I tried to look everywhere but in his eyes.
“Wussup with you? I didn’t know you were coming to see me today.”
I nodded. “Yeah, well, I needed to talk to you,” I said as I tried to pull myself together.
I exhaled and looked at him. He was looking at me a lil’ worried.
“What’s wrong, Islah?”
I paused. I was getting cold feet, but then that bitch’s face flashed in my head, and I stared at him.
“A girl came to the house.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Who?”