Page 96 of Exit: Us
Chapter 26
Gemini Black
Three days later, and I just got off the exit in Georgia because I wanted to swing through and visit my grandma before heading back home. Last time I was in Georgia, I wasn’t even a boyfriend yet. Here I am, back in this state, and I came back a whole husband. It still was something that I was getting used to saying, but my wife was in the passenger seat, with the throw blanket thrown over her, and she was knocked out.
We’ve been on the move since we flew out of Mexico, and back into Albuquerque. We were back on the truck that same day, and instead of trying to bring the route straight in, I only drove for a few hours, and before the sun could fully go down, I had us back in Amarillo, Texas. That’s where we slept the first night.
Day two, which was yesterday, we spent most of the day on the road. I’m talking 10 to 11 hours of driving. We ended the night off in Memphis, Tennessee. It took longer than it should have to get from Amarillo to Memphis, and that’s mainly because we had to keep stopping for Amina. My baby had a hard time keeping up yesterday. She would sleep most of the ride, but when she woke up, she would tell me that she was feelingcarsick. Since we’ve been on the truck, she hasn’t been carsick. Her ass gagged each time that I stopped to gas up, saying that the smell was giving her a headache. In a sense, I expected these kinds of reactions from her because although we took a five-day break from the truck life, she’s technically been on a truck with me for two months straight, so this was just her body finally shutting down.
As I was taking the exit, I picked my phone up from the cupholder, so that I could call my grandma. It was Thursday morning, so I knew that she would be home. I just talked to her yesterday, and I subtly asked her what she had been up to, and what her plans were looking like for the rest of the week. I never liked to tell her when I was going to pull up. I liked to pop up on her because I knew that it would make her day.
The plan wasn’t to stay long. I really wanted to be in and out. Lay eyes on her, sit with her for a little bit, and then hop back on the road because I was trying to be back in Miami before midnight.
I dialed her, and she answered the phone for me on the second ring.
“Good morning, grandson,” she picked up.
“What’s up beautiful? What you doing?” I inquired.
“Nothing. In here cooking a pot of oatmeal. How are you?” she asked me.
“I’m good. Open the door for me in five minutes,” I said it with a smile on my face, knowing that I just made her morning by popping up on her.
“You going to give me a heart attack one day doing that, boy. Why can’t you just tell me in advance when you’re going to be coming, so that I can be ready and prepared for you?” she asked me.
“I got to keep you on your toes. Pop up and make sure you don’t got one of those niggas in there from the church,” I talkedshit, and even though I wasn’t standing in front of her, I could see her now, rolling her eyes at what I just said to her.
“Gemini, please! You know damn well that I don’t have no man coming in my house. Is Amina still with you?” she wanted to know.
“Yeah. She coming too,” I said that part with a smile.
My grandma didn’t know that we’d gotten married. I told my sister, and my mama not to tell her. I knew that the plan was to pass through Georgia on the route home, so I wanted to be able to tell her in person. I knew she was going to lose her shit. Probably be in her feelings a little bit like Gianna, since she wasn’t there for the wedding, but ultimately, I knew that she was going to be happy for us.
“Okay. I’m excited to see you both. I’ll be here,” she said.
I let her know I loved her, she told me the same, and then we hung up. I made it to her development in no time. I showed the security at the gate my I.D. and once he verified it, he let me through. Amina slept through all of this. I’m talking, head resting on her arm that was leaning against the window, and everything. She wasn’t snoring, but you could tell that she was in a deep sleep. I almost felt bad that I was going to have to wake her.
I parked the truck on the side of the road, just as I did whenever I would come over. Once I shut it off, that’s when I reached my hand over, so that I could gently nudge Amina. She jumped out of her sleep once I did that, frantically looked around, getting a look at where she was. Her eyes settled on my grandmother’s house that was to the right of her, and then she looked over at me.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m being the worst passenger ever. I keep falling asleep,” she told me, and I laughed.
“Bae, it’s cool. Come on. We not going to be in here long. I just want to sit with her for a little bit. You good?” I asked her.
“Yes. You think she’ll be mad that we got married? Also, do you think that she’s going to get upset with me because I haven’t got you a ring yet? You know that I’m going to get it once we get in Miami. Tell her that so she doesn’t get upset with me,” Amina started rambling like her ass was scared.
“Ay, chill out. You know she’s not like that. My grandma is pro- marriage. She’s not going to be upset that we got married in Mexico. She’s damn sure not going to be upset that you haven’t got my ring yet. I told you that you be looking for problems to give yourself,” I said.
“Okay. Hold on. Let me go to the back and wipe my face,” she said, taking the seatbelt off, and then she stood from the seat.
While she did that, I got out of the truck. I needed to stretch my legs. Once I finished that, I reached inside the truck, so that I could grab my phone, wallet, and keys. I stood out here, waiting for Amina to come out. It took her about a minute, and instead of going out on her side, she came over, stepping out on my side.
I grabbed her hand, assisting her with walking down the steps, and getting onto her feet. I noticed that she put on a new coat of lip gloss, and I could tell that she fluffed her curls a little bit. She had a crossbody bag around her, with her phone in her hands.
I reached in, closing the truck door, and we headed up the driveway. As we were walking up the driveway, the front door opened, and it was my grandmother standing there. I could tell that she was happy to see me because she didn’t even give it time for me to knock on the door.
“If this isn’t the most beautiful couple that I’ve ever seen in my life. Look at this black love,” she announced.
Her ass didn’t even know that we were a couple. The last time we were here, Amina and I were still playing the cat and mouse game, not crossing the line with each other yet, but we knew that feelings were beginning to appear. I knew that my grandma hadbeen able to see through all of that, and that’s why she said what she just said.
