Chapter one
Gianna
Ten months later…
“Hello.”
I was happy to hear her voice even though she sounded a little tired. I missed my grandmother so much. I was happy that school was almost out so I could go home to see her for the summer. No one loved me like Maw Maw so I was really looking forward to seeing her.
“Hey Maw Maw,” I said as I tried to shake back from the nightmare. “How are you feeling?”
“Hey my baby. I’m okay.”
“Really? You sound a little tired.”
“Maw Maw just have a lil headache, but its gon pass.”
“Aww, you took some Tylenol?”
“Not yet. I just woke up not too long ago,” she informed me.
“Really? Maw Maw you’re usually up with the roosters,!” I joked. “You sure you feeling alright?”
“Yes, baby. Don’t you go worrying yourself about Maw Maw. I’m drinking my lil coffee and when I’m done, I’ma take a couple of Tylenol. How about you? You getting ready for your class?”
“I’m doing okay Maw Maw, and not yet. My first class doesn’t start until nine today.”
“Oh, okay. Well, your voice sounds a lil funny, baby. Another one of dem bad dreams wake you up?” she inquired.
My grandmother knew me very well. She was the only one who knew me this well. I could never get nothing past her because she picked up on everything.
“Yea, but I’ll be fine Maw Maw. Nothing for you to worry yourself about.”
“Are you still talking to the counselor?”
“No. I think that counselor did all that she can do for me Maw Maw. I seem to be going in circles with her now, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
“Well, if anything can help you, it’s prayer so make sure you do that. The good Lord will always look out for you baby,” she preached.
“Yes ma’am, I know.”
“How’s your studies going? You still making dem good grades?”
“They’re going good Maw Maw. I’m still making A’s and B’s. You know school is almost done and I’ll be home for the summer real soon.”
“I know. You so smart my lil Gigi. I’m glad you decided to go back to school. Maw Maw wants you to do good and make something of yourself,” she continued.
“Well, I had a good teacher Maw Maw,” I said knowing those words would make her smile.
“Gigi how much longer you said you got left before school is out?” she asked.
“Not long Maw Maw. About a month.”
“Okay. Cuz Maw Maw think she done found you a lil boyfriend,” she said as she giggled.
“What? Maw Maw you tryna play matchmaker,” I said as I giggled with her.
I hadn’t been in a relationship since Logan was killed. It had been almost a year since his passing, but these nightmares made it hard to get over what happened. I had been seeing a counselor but after months of therapy, I still had nightmares. I guess they would go away in their own time.
Maw Maw obviously wanted me to move on if she was out there playing matchmaker. Just the thought of her telling some guy about me made me smile. It was crazy, but it was sweet of her too. Maybe it was time for me to move on. I didn’t know.
“I guess you can say that.”
“Who is he Maw Maw? One of your church friend’s grandsons or nephews?”
“No. He’s one of Jordan’s friends.”
“Jordan’s friends! How do you know Jordan’s friends, Maw Maw?” I asked.
“Cuz him and Jordan be coming by to check on me. They bring me food and pick up my medicine, cut my grass, stuff like dat. They some good boys.”
“Well, that’s good Maw Maw. Anybody who’s a friend of yours can be a friend of mine.”
“You gonna like him, Gigi. He’s smart, respectful and he got a good job. He gon be able to take care of you.”
“And he’s single?” I asked.
“Yea.”
“Soooooo, what’s wrong with him?”
“What you mean baby?” she asked.
“I mean, he sounds like the perfect man, so something must be wrong with him if he’s single,” I said.
“Nothing is wrong with him that I see.”
“Okay, well, you can introduce him to me when I come home in a few weeks.”
“I sure will baby. His name is Dimitri,” she said.
“Dimitri huh?”
“Yea. I told you about him a couple of weeks ago.”
“Yea, I remember, Maw Maw.”
“Yea, you said you wasn’t ready to date nobody yet,” she said.
“I wasn’t.”
“My baby, I know how much you loved your lil boyfriend, but he’s with the good Lord now. You have to live your life and be happy.”
“I am happy Maw Maw,” I stated.
“Are you really? All you do is study and go to class. You be in that room all by yourself all the time. I just want you to find somebody nice and Dimitri is very nice. I think he is perfect for you.”
“Okay. Well, when I come home you can introduce me to him,” I relented.
“Oh, good.” She sounded like she had breathed a sigh of relief. My grandmother was really playing matchmaker. Too funny. “Well, I’m gonna go take that Tylenol. You try to get some rest before you start your day. We gon talk a lil bit later.”
“Okay, Maw Maw. I love you,” I gushed.
“I love you too, Gigi. Maw Maw can’t wait to see you.”
“I can’t wait to see you.”
We ended the call and I smiled. No matter how bad I felt, my grandmother could always put a smile on my face. Talking to her definitely made me feel a lot better than I did before I called her. Then I hit up my cousin Deidre, even though it was just a little after seven. I knew she was awake.
“Hey cuz,” she greeted as if she had been up for hours.
“Hey, why you sound so cheerful?” I asked.
“Cuz I just rolled off my man’s…”
“UHHHHH! TMI!” I yelled as I snickered.
She busted out laughing and said, “Well, that’s the only thing that can have me feeling this good this early in the damn morning! What’s up with you?”
“Nothing much. I couldn’t sleep, so I called Maw Maw.”
“Yea, how is she?”
“She’s okay. She said her head was hurting a little, but other than that she’s fine.”
“I need to go see her. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been by there,” she confessed.
“Well, maybe if you stayed off Tyrus’…”
“Uh, excuse you!”
“Just kidding cuz! Do you!” I laughed. “Anyway, who is Dimitri?”
“Dimitri? How you know his name but don’t know who he is?”
“Cuz Maw Maw just talked to me about him. She tryna play matchmaker,” I said.
“Ooohhh, Maw Maw tryna hook you up, huh?”
“Yea. She said he’s one of Jordan’s friends.”
“Yea, one of his best friends,” she said.
“So, tell me about him,” I encouraged.
“He’s cool. He’s tall, cute, and he works hard.”
“Doing what? I hope not slangin’ because I don’t want to deal with nobody who does that anymore.”
“No cuz! He got a legit job with an oil company!” Deidre said.
“Oh, okay.”
“You want his number? I can give it to you.”
“Uh, no! I ain’t finna call no strange dude like I’m desperate for a nigga!” I declined.
“You want me to give him yours?”
“Nope. Maw Maw said she wanted to play matchmaker, so I’m gonna let her. When I come up there in a few weeks, I’ll let her introduce us since this was her idea,” I said.
“Oh, okay. Well, lemme send you a picture of Dimitri just in case you change your mind,” she said with a giggle.
“Damn! You just happen to have a picture of him in your phone huh? You gon make Tyrus kick yo ass!” I clowned.
“Tyrus ain’t about to do shit! Anyway, it’s not a picture of just him,” she said as I heard the beep. I pulled the phone from my ear and put it on speaker before I checked the picture she sent. “So, I see Tyrus and Jordan. Is that Malcolm?”
“Yea, that’s his ol’ big head self!” she clowned.
“Man, I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“He hasn’t changed.”
“So, I’m assuming the tall, cutie with the sexy lips is Dimitri,” I said.
“Yep, that’s him cuz! Ain’t he cute?!”
“He is. Maw Maw says he’s single. Is he really?”
“As far as I know. I can double check with Jordan, but I think the last chick he was involved with was his baby mama,” she said.
“Oh God! That’s what’s wrong with him!”
“What? Whatchu mean?”
“Maw Maw was describing him all perfect and stuff, so I asked her what was wrong him for him to still be single. She said nothing, but if he got a baby mama, the drama is probably why he ain’t got a woman,” I reasoned.
“Humph! I don’t think so…”
“It’s okay. Never mind. Forget we even had this conversation.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I am not about to get in the middle of no drama between him and his baby mama!” I said.
“Nobody said he had drama,” Deidre said.
“Please! All men with baby mamas got drama! I’m good cuz,” I said.
“Okay. Well, if you change your mind…”
“I won’t. I’ll hit you up later. Go check on Maw Maw,” I encouraged.
“I will,” she promised.
We ended the call, and I checked the time again.
It was only 7:00, so I rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour.
At 8:15, I slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
After I showered and got dressed, I headed to the cafeteria to get breakfast before class.
Once I finished eating, I made my way to my classes.
Thank God, the day passed fast. Before long, I was heading back to my room to get ready for a relaxing weekend. I needed a nap first so that was what I did. When I woke up, it was around six that evening.
My grandmother was right when she said all I did was go to class because that was all.
Well, I did have a secret that I had been keeping from her, but that was because I knew she wouldn’t agree with my choice.
The last thing I wanted was to give my grandmother a reason to be ashamed of me. That would break my heart.
School and my grandmother were the only reasons I pushed through everything that caused me pain. I had made a promise to Maw Maw that I would do the very best that I could here, and I planned on doing just that. I only had one semester left after this one and I would be completely done!
I was looking forward to graduating in December. I knew Maw Maw would have a front row seat!! I just wanted to make her proud.