Chapter 30
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Iwoke up to hear Bully and Kronic talking low in the kitchen. I didn’t move, trying to listen to what they were talking about. I couldn’t make out all of it. But I heard somebody talked to Islah.
When I did get up and started to move around, that nigga changed the subject, started to talk louder. I nodded to myself as a reminder to watch them niggas.
I moved out to the living room, and they came in, I guess to check my temperature.
“Wussup, nigga?” Kronic asked. “What’s the move for the day?”
I rolled up and took my time answering them.
“Pull up to the hospital, see if I can catch her.”
They looked at each other.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Bully asked. “Why don’t we hit Magic City?”
I looked up from the table.
“Are y’all with me or not? Y’all supposed to be my niggas, supporting me and Islah, and it seems like y’all are trying to stop everything.”
“Nigga, cause this shit is crazy,” Kronic added.
I shook my head, finished rollin’ my blunt, changed my clothes, and grabbed my Glock.
“Either y’all gonna ride with a nigga, or sit y’all asses here.”
They looked at each other and shook their heads, then got their shit together. I didn’t have time for their bullshit.
Them niggas didn’t say shit to me in the car. I drove, and Kronic looked out the window while Bully rolled up, as I made my way to the hospital.
We parked in the parking garage, near the entrance, and I watched it like a hawk. Every time I saw a car come in, or a nurse walk to the door, I stared hard, seeing if it was her, but none of them was.
“Maybe she don’t work today,” Bully said.
I shook my head. “I ain’t leaving yet.”
Kronic exhaled low, but didn’t say anything else.
Them niggas smoked and talked to each other while my eyes were glued to the door, when I saw something that made me sit up.
A car pulled into the parking garage and stopped in front of the doors. The windows were tinted, and they stayed parked in front of the door for a few minutes. Then the driver’s door opened, and a tall nigga with braids stepped out.
I sucked my teeth, getting pissed. I knew finding her wasn’t gonna be easy, but shit, I was so close.
I grabbed my phone, about to search her friend’s page, seeing if I could find anything else out about Islah, when Bully tapped Kronic.
Thinking I wouldn’t see it, I looked up, and that’s when I saw her…
Islah.
My woman.
Hugging another nigga.
All I saw was red.
“Man, what the fuck!” I yelled out.
Bully shook his head. “Man, calm down, that might just be a friend.”
And then we saw her kiss the nigga, a deep kiss, her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands gripping her ass.
That shit pissed me the fuck off.
I was about to hop out of the car, and Kronic stopped me.
“Man, don’t do that shit out here. You’re at a hospital. The police will be here in no time.”
I paused and stared at them. The nigga pulled away from her. She smiled and blew him a kiss before walking into the building. He stayed parked until she was outta eyesight, then he pulled off.
I started my car.
“Nigga, what the fuck are you doin’?” Bully asked.
“I’ma follow him,” I said bluntly.
Bully leaned forward fast. “Man, hell nah. Don’t do that shit.”
I didn’t even look at him. I pulled smooth off, keeping distance between us and that nigga’s car. My grip was tight on the wheel.
Kronic was watching me closely. “G…Think ‘bout this shit, man.
“I’m thinkin’,” I snapped back. “I’m thinkin’ ‘bout how that nigga had his hands on my girl.”
“That ain’t your girl no more, nigga,” Bully said low.
That shit made me press the gas a lil’ harder.
We followed him through traffic, staying a few cars back.
He drove calmly, never checking his mirrors, which kinda pissed me off.
It’s like he didn’t have a worry.
Kronic leaned forward, tryin’ to look at my face as I drove. “Iight, say you catch up to him… then what?”
I didn’t answer.
“Exactly,” he said. “You tryin’ to crash out in broad fuckin’ daylight, in a city that is not yours, fresh out on bond—the nigga don’t even know you.”
“And that still won’t make her come back if she don’t want to,” Bully added.
That part made me ease up a lil’ bit.
But it didn’t make me stop.
I switched from lane to lane, keeping up with him until he reached a store, a jewelry store. He parked in front, and we parked across the street.
“One of y’all go in there and see what he’s on.”
Kronic shook his head and hopped outta of the car.
Bully and I sat in silence in the car, while our eyes stayed glued to the door. After a few minutes, Kronic walked out with a lil’ bag in his hand. I looked at Bully with my face twisted up.
He hopped in the car.
“That’s a cool lil’ shop,” he said as me and Bully looked at him, “I grabbed myself a gold bracelet. His prices are nice.”
Bully laughed.
“Nigga, what was he doin’? Buyin’ her something?” I asked.
Kronic laughed. “It’s funny that you asked that, and no, he was not… He’s the owner; he owns a few stores.”
“He owns it?” I repeated, eyes cutting back to the store.
Kronic nodded, leaning back like the shit he was talkin’ was nothing. “Yeah, people behind the counter were callin’ him boss. He went into an office, and they talked to him when they needed to.”
Bully let out a low whistle. “Shorty upgraded.”
I didn’t respond. Just took a picture of the store and wrote down the address. She didn’t get some random nigga; she got a nigga with motion.
That made my stomach turn in a way I didn’t like.
“G…” Kronic said low. “I’m tellin’ you right now, this ain’t what you want. It looks like Islah has moved on. You should want the best for her.”
I looked away from the store. “The best for her is me.”
“Man, you think her nigga is gonna let you swoop down and take her?”
“The nigga don’t have to let me do shit,” I stated. Before I could finish my thought, the nigga was walking back out of the store, keys in hand, phone to his ear. People who passed him dapped him up. People in cars honked and yelled at him.
He got in his car and pulled off. This time, I didn’t follow.
Bully sat back in the seat, letting out a deep breath. “You done?”
“Hell nah, nigga, I’m just getting started.”
I kept my eyes on the road where he disappeared, my mind already working. That feeling in my chest wouldn’t settle, not even a lil’ bit.
“So, what are you thinking?” Kronic asked.
I leaned back in the seat, running my tongue across my teeth slow, then started the car.
“Where you going now?” Bully asked.
“Back to the hospital,” I said bluntly, leaving them no room to question me anymore.
When we pulled back into the parking garage and I parked, I didn’t look at them niggas; I didn’t talk to them niggas. My eyes stayed glued on the doors.
Time moved slow as hell. Cars came and went for hours. My niggas tried to get me to leave, tried to talk me into going back to Cali, but I couldn’t—not without her.
I was just about to call it a night, tell them niggas we was gonna run it back the next day, when I heard an engine roar, pulling into the garage, and saw that same red Lambo again.
That nigga.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tight.
He hopped out and leaned on his car with flowers in his hands. After a few seconds, Islah walked out, smiling hard as she looked at him. He met her and took her into his arms, swinging her around in the air.
She pulled him into her for a kiss and stared into his eyes with a look she never gave me.
They hopped in his car and pulled off fast, almost too fast for me to keep up with them, but I did, all the way to an apartment building.
We pulled in behind them and parked close, not too close, but close enough to hear their conversation.
He told her he was going to take care of her when they got inside and asked what she wanted for dinner. She told him how her and her friends had an off day and how they was going to a spa. He held her close as they walked through the parking lot. His hand was grippin’ her ass tight.
I could tell that nigga loved her, just by the way he looked at her, because I looked at her the same way. Once they were inside, I pulled off. My mind was already replaying the way she looked at him.
“See nigga, she’s good, she’s in a good relationship. Leave her alone,” Kronic said.
I gripped the steering wheel tight. “I already told y’all I can’t do that… she’s going to see me.”