“Oh my God, Amina. Ya’ll had sex?” she asked me.
I giggled again at that. I would tell her the truth, but I wouldn’t dare share the intimate matters. God, I wish in this moment that she was still my best friend, but just wasn’t Gemini’s sister. I wanted to share with her all the private details. I wanted her to know that what Gemini does to me, another man has never in my life done me that way. I wanted to tell her that Gemini and I have sex about four times a day. Every time we have sex, it’s like I continue to fall for him. I couldn’t tell her that though. Gianna wasn’t going to want to hear that.
“We did. I won’t share the details. You’ll probably pass out,” I said, sitting the sponge down on a piece of tissue that I had laid out on the counter.
When I shared this with Gianna, her ass had the nerve to start gagging as if this news was too much for her to the point that it made her stomach turn.
“Yes, please spare me the details. I don’t even want to know them. Can I ask you something though Amina? Don’t get mad at me for what I’m getting ready to ask you. The same way I care about you, so I got on my brother a few days ago, telling him to be cautious with you is the same way that I care about him, so I just want to ask you a few questions. That’s cool?” she wanted to know.
I knew that Gianna and I were going to have to have a deep talk regarding me, and Gemini’s relationship. She was his little sister that loved him deeply, so it was only right. I was prepared for the talk.
“You know that you can ask me anything, and that I wouldn’t get mad. What’s up? We can talk,” I let her know.
“Given everything that just happened between you and Jacob, with you probably still being in this vulnerable position, I guess I just want to know do you genuinely like Gemini? I know your heart is pure, but I just want to make sure that my brother isn’t just filling a space that Jacob left behind. I remember when I got my heart broken for the first time in college. After it happened, I reached for the first thing that felt safe to me, and it was giving my time and attention to another dude. A week into that, I realized that I didn’t like him for real. It was just safe, and an option for me to not have to be alone, you know?” she asked me, and I understood where she was coming from with the question.
I wasn’t offended by it. Gianna and I were best friends. We were going to have to have those uncomfortable conversations from time to time.
“Yeah, I get what you mean. Had I been on the truck with Gemini for one day, and we were already kissing, then yes, I would for sure feel like I was running off a high of vulnerability and going for the first man that made me feel safe. It wasn’t like that with Gemini and I though. Everything happened in phaseswith us. You know we couldn’t stand each other at first. Neither one of us tried to hide the fact that we were annoyed with each other in the beginning. We had to break through that. Gianna, we broke through it on our own too. No one was here on this truck with us to play middleman, and to force us to be nice to each other. I’m around him for 24 hours a day, so we had to learn to be mature adults, and tolerate each other,” I started, pausing from the make-up, so that I could look into the screen, and see her.
“Once we got through that phase, Gemini allowed me to be myself. He never made me feel like I had to stop grieving Jacob overnight. I remember him telling me that I was going to have to sit in what I was going through, and I would find a way to crawl my way out of it. He met me where I was at in my healing process. Very mindful of what he said to me. Very cautious of the things that he allowed me to see. I remember our first night on the truck, there was a bride, and her bridesmaids that walked into the truck stop, all dressed up in their matching pajamas, screaming about the wedding that was getting ready to take place. Your brother made it where we walked out in a total different direction, so I wouldn’t have to see that up close,” I shared, my voice cracking a little bit.
This was my first time even sharing that, and now that I was sharing it, I see for myself that this man has been protecting me and my feelings from the very beginning, even when we didn’t like each other.
When Gianna heard me say that, she smiled.
“It was only a matter of time before I fell for him. I didn’t want to eat in the beginning, and even with him knowing that, he would still purchase food for me, sit it in the back, just in case I got hungry later. We’ve shared some deep talks. I’ve learned so much about Gemini. The feelings that I’m growing for him Gianna, I literally can’t fake this. I wake up in the morning, andI’m happy to be on that truck with him. I get so excited when we’re riding together, and we start having our little debates. I like him. I don’t want to freak you out even more, but Gianna, I just might love him too,” I finished.
My eyes were watery as I said these things to her. Gianna’s eyes were watery too. We both dropped tears simultaneously. We were just two women that were both overly emotional. That’s why we made such the best of friends.
“You do love him. I hear it in your voice that you love him, and that’s why I’m crying. Happy tears though. I can tell that my brother is making you happy. I’ll be honest, when I suggested that you two get on the road together, I never expected for you two to fall in love. I just thought that you and Gemini would finally be able to get along and become good friends. I guess God had other plans though. I was going to end this conversation by telling you to be cautious of his heart, but I don’t even have to. The way you just spoke about him, girl I hear the love,” she voiced, and I was trying to stop myself from shedding tears because I was ruining the makeup that I put on.
“So, you’re sure that you’re cool with us dating, right?” I just had to verify, even though she told me already that she was fine with it.
“Amina, yes. I promise I am. We can officially be sisters now,” she laughed through her tears, and I laughed too.
We talked about it a little longer, and then I shared with her the plans that we had for the night. I stayed on the phone with Gianna the entire time that I did my make-up and got dressed. We didn’t hang up until I was getting ready to walk out of the door. I let her know that I loved her, and that I would call her back tomorrow.
I was excited for the night. Excited to get to The French Quarters with Gemini and have a good time.
Chapter 15
Gemini Black
Amina and I were in the heart of New Orleans. I promised her that I was going to take her to The French Quarter, and I made good on that promise. We’ve been out here for about an hour now. In this hour, we walked on the main street, and any spot that Amina told me she wanted to go inside, we did it. Even if I saw a spot that I never checked out before during the times that I’ve been in the past, we walked in.
We went in about three different restaurants. Different restaurants specialize in different things out here. So far, we’ve tried fresh chargrilled oysters, seafood gumbo, shrimp po’ boy sliders, fried alligator bites, and crawfish. I was one of those people where I would try any kind of food. My parents made me that way. They exposed different foods to my sister and I as kids, so that we wouldn’t be picky eaters. Amina wasn’t a picky eater, either. Half of the food that we had today, it was her first time trying it. I just knew that she was going to turn down a chance at trying the fried alligator bites, but she didn’t. She helped me finish it.
Now, we were back onto the main street, both walking with a drink in our hands from Fat Tuesday. We’ve taken a few shots since we’ve been out here, but Amina was still in herright mind. She wasn’t fucked up. According to her, she wasn’t going to drink anything else after she finished her drink from Fat Tuesday because she wanted to be here for the moment and actually enjoy her time at The French Quarter.
This was a moment that you wanted to be here for and not forget. I was a Florida boy all day, but it was something about New Orleans culture, soul, and community that I’ve always respected. Even right now, there were people everywhere. You could see the street musicians, artists, and even a horse- drawn carriage that I was going to put Amina on before we left. I loved everything about the vibes out here. The fact that you could hear the music coming from the open bars, and just people out having fun, looking like whatever problems that they might have been facing, they put them on hold for tonight.
“Hold on. Wait. Let’s stop here. What’s this?” Amina asked, pulling my arm, and she guided me towards where all the music was coming from. I followed her gaze, so that I could see what she was talking about.
“That’s a second line,” I said it confidently, as if I was born and raised here, and I came from this.
When I had love, and respect for something, I liked to do my research on it. I searched New Orleans life and culture years ago, so I knew a lot about it.
We walked over to the live brass band. As we were approaching it, the music was getting louder and louder. I loved music. I loved instruments, so I could hear the trumpet, the trombone, the tuba, and even the snare drum. A lot of people had respect for this style of music, so tourists all around us were pulling out their phones, so that they could watch.
