Page 45 of Exit: Us
She laughed when I said that. She paused from kneading the dough that was in front of her, so that she could cock her head to the side.
“Please send me a video or something of her when she walks in the laundromat. I know for a fact that Amina has never stepped foot inside of a laundromat. Gemini, you are turning my friend out,” she joked, and then laughed. I smiled, sitting back, thinking about all the shit that I had this girl doing. I still couldn’t believe that I had her showering at truck stops and sleeping in a bunk bed.
“She’s at a point where she just goes with the flow. I got her miles away from home, and she knows that it’s too much work that I have left to even complain about it. This shit was no easy fix though. She crashed out the first time that she had to shower at the truck stop. We way passed that though,” I confirmed.
Gianna knew about the crash out. I told her because I knew Amina wouldn’t. I wanted Gianna to know what she had me on the road dealing with. Even when I told her, she was the one to tell me to take it easy on her and give her grace. That’s another reason I took her to the carnival that night. I was doing what Gianna said… giving her grace.
“That’s good to hear. As long as it’s gotten better. I’m not going to lie, I was scared at first. I started questioning if I was a bad friend for damn near forcing her to get on the road with you. I’m glad that it all worked out,” she said.
I thought about what she said, and how I wanted to respond. I knew that Amina was going to be in the bathroom for a little while longer. She took long ass showers, and then she had to do all her skin care shit.
I wanted to get into my sisters head a little bit. Have a talk with her and see how she felt about what I was getting ready to ask her.
“I want to ask you something. Hypothetically, if I started liking one of your friends, how would you feel about that?” I just flat out asked it.
I could tell that she was caught off guard a little bit by the question. She stared at me intensely, as if she was trying to read me. For a while, she didn’t say anything. I don’t know if she was waiting for me to yell out that I was just playing with her, or what.
“I have a lot of associates. It’s not too many women that I can call a friend. Amina is my only true friend. My best friend at that. That’s the only friend that you have access to right now to hypothetically start liking. Are you talking about Amina?” she wanted to know.
From her tone, I couldn’t tell you if she was upset, or happy. Her tone was right there in the middle. Growing up, I know that I used to tell Gianna to stay the fuck away from any of my homeboys. I did it because I was overprotective of her, but I also did it because I knew that at that age, one of my home boys would break her heart. She never told me to stay away from Amina though. I guess it’s because Amina was younger than me, and back then, she knew that I was attracted to girls that were my age, or older.
“Yeah. I’m talking about Amina,” I said. Again, she did that dramatic ass pause.
I knew she was caught off guard. The last time she was around Amina and I, we carried on like we hated each other. Now, here I was, asking her how she would feel if I started liking Amina.
Gianna cleared her throat, and when she looked at me with that seriousness in her eyes, I couldn’t help but notice how much she looked like our mom. Her look was stern. It meant business.
“I kind of just want to know what your intentions are with her, Gemini. I know being on that road can get real lonely. I don’t want you looking at Amina as just something to do. Someone to fuck for the time being. Don’t do it out of convenience. Do it because it’s what your heart is leading you to do. You weren’t there to witness all the aftermath between her and Jacob. I still hear her cries in my ear when she called me screaming and crying about him calling the wedding off. I never want to see my best friend endure some shit like that again. You’re my brother, and I love you to pieces. Even with that, Amina is my best friend, and the sister that I never had. I will literally fall out with you if you break her heart. Gemini, I mean that,” she was honest. I sucked my teeth at that, while waving her off, knowing that it wouldn’t even come to that.
“Man, you already know that I’m not going to break her heart. I had to endure listening to her cry over that nigga too. I’ll be fucked up to come around and break her heart some more. Give me an answer though. How you feel about it? You want me to leave her alone? What you want me to do?” I asked. My question caused her to smile and roll her eyes at me.
“What have ya’ll done already? I feel like you’re leaving parts out,” she said. I flashed that cocky smile, while pulling down on my beard.
“We haven’t done shit. We just kissed,” I was honest. The kiss was so good that it damn near felt like we fucked. It wasn’t just a simple peck on the lips. Our kisses were dangerous. The kind that you had to do in the comfort of your own home.
“Wow. I talk to this girl every day and she didn’t say anything to me about that,” she went on.
“Gianna, tell me how you feel about the situation bruh. She about to come out of the bathroom soon, and I don’t want her to walk over while we’re talking about it,” I pushed.
“I won’t feel any kind of way about it, Gemini. I think it makes sense. Just treat her right, please. If not, me, mommy, and Amina are going to beat your ass,” she threatened, and I laughed at that.
“Yeah okay. I ain’t going to fuck it up. I promise. Get back to work, sis. Call me before you call it a night. I love you,” I let her know.
“Okay. I love you more. Take care of my friend,” she threatened.
“I got you,” and like that, we ended the call.
Amina didn’t come out of the bathroom until about ten minutes later. This was the longest she’s ever taken. When she came out, she was holding her shower bag in her hand, and she threw on sweats with a tank top. She walked over to me, and instead of sitting next to me, she chose to stand directly in front of me. She had a look in her eyes as if she was getting ready to complain about something. Being on this truck with her every day, I was beginning to learn her.
“What happened?” I asked.
“My period came on. I’m starting to cramp. I have medicine on the truck, so I’ll take it once we get back on,” she shared with me.
Even when she decided to get on the truck with me, I wondered what that would be like for her when her period cameon. I just remember growing up, hearing my mama and Gianna talk about how bad their cramps were. Gianna could turn into a mini devil when it was that time of the month for her. God, I pray that Amina wasn’t the same way. I didn’t need another loop for us to get through. We just started vibing and getting to a place where we could be around each other without going at it.
“Oh Lord. Let me get the fuck out of your way right now,” I joked. You could tell that she didn’t want to laugh, but she did it anyways. She laughed, and then playfully pushed me.
“I won’t be any worse than anything that you’ve already dealt with from me,” she said.
