I sat on the line for a few minutes.
The line went silent for a second, and then my heart dropped when I heard, “Nigga, who? It bet not be Kronic bitch ass!”
“Gio?” I responded.
“Islah?” he responded quickly.
“Yeah, I want to meet up so we can talk,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
“And just cause I don’t trust yo’ ass, Gio,” Bully said, cutting in. “I’ma fly in to chaperone, because she don’t want HER NIGGA to kill you.”
“Man, shut up!” he muttered. “When you want to do this, baby girl?”
I sighed. “Bully, when you get in town, hit me. We will do it then.”
“10-4,” Bully responded, and I hung up.
I stared at my phone for a few seconds after the call ended, my stomach twisting hard as reality started to settle in.
I really just set up a meeting with Gio!
In fucking person.
“What the fuck am I doing?” I whispered to myself.
I pushed off the wall and headed to the elevator, walking slower than I should have been, lost in my thoughts once again.
Part of me felt I was doing the right thing.
If I could get Gio to understand what it was, maybe all the bullshit could stop before somebody ended up dead or in jail for life.
But then, the other side of me kept thinking about Love, the way he looked at me, the way he protected me. And now I was hiding something from him.
That shit made me feel sick to my stomach.
The doors to the elevator opened, and as I stepped out, I ran into Deja.
“I’m sorry, girl,” I said softly. “I didn’t see you there.”
“I see…why your head hangin’ low, what did Love do?”
“He didn’t do anything, and I didn’t call him.”
Deja sucked her teeth and shook her head. “I know you didn’t do what I think you did.”
I swallowed hard. “I talked to Gio and set up a meeting.”
“Islah! I know you not dumb, but damn, girl.”
I exhaled. “I don’t want Love to get hurt. Gio is moving a lil’ wild.”
“Girllll…Love is that soft nigga with you, that’s a side of him I never heard anybody speak on. The Love I know—the Love the whole ATL knows—is a fuckin’ menace. Gio can’t hurt him, but Love will kill him.”
Her comment made my skin crawl. “I don’t want it to get that far. I just want him to go in peace.”
Deja shook her head as she cuffed my arms under hers, and we walked up the hall. “That nigga is gonna go in pieces, he keeps fuckin’ with Love.”
I continued the rest of my shift, trying to focus on my patients and not think too hard.
