Passion of the Streets Read online

  Gia: You should bring a friend for my cousin J

  She and Oni both lay still with giddy smiles on their faces, waiting for him to text back. When her phone finally did start vibrating, it wasn’t a text—he was calling. Gia hated when people did that. If she’d texted, more than likely that meant she didn’t feel like talking. Luckily for Jamil she actually did want to talk to him.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “What up, Gee?”

  Gee . . . It sounded so natural. Like it had always been somewhere in the atmosphere just waiting for him to come along and affectionately tag it to her.

  “You got my message?” That was such a dumb question to ask. Why would he not have gotten it? That was the whole reason he’d called. Come on, Gia, get it together, she thought.

  “Yeah, I got it, but I don’t text, so anytime you have to say something to me, just hit my line, okay?”

  That was almost a mood damper for Gia because she loved to text. She wasn’t a big fan of talking on the phone, but Jamil didn’t seem like the type of nigga who budged on how he felt.

  “Okay. I just said that you should bring a friend for my cousin.”

  “I don’t really fuck with niggas like that, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  Gia gave Oni the thumbs-up. “You’re the best, Milli. Thank you.”

  She could hear the smile in his voice when he told her he’d see her later before hanging up. The excitement and happiness that Gia felt was unlike anything she’d felt since being in Georgia. Hopefully Jamil would keep it that way, at least for the rest of the summer.

  “You need to get up and run with me now since I got you a date.”

  Oni pulled the covers back over her head.

  “You make me sick. Bye.” Gia pushed her head playfully before jumping from the bed and heading back to her room.

  It didn’t take her long to change into a black-and-white Reebok sports bra and a pair of jogging shorts to match. She quickly pulled all of her hair up into a ponytail and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. It took a little over ten minutes for Gia to walk out of the house and embark on her morning run.

  She had been running every morning for the past five years, and she didn’t plan on stopping just because she was on vacation. She’d worked hard to be where she was in life, and she wouldn’t allow Oni’s laziness to hinder her. Gia stuck her Beats earbuds in, looked both ways, and decided to head left.

  Oni and her Auntie Ann had shown her around the neighborhood on her first day there, and she’d memorized an easy running route right then. From that night to this morning she had run in that same circle, sometimes two or three times before returning home. Gia breathed in through her nose and out of her mouth as she ran up the hill behind Oni’s house.

  The fresh air brushing against her skin had her feeling refreshed and open-minded as she enjoyed the scenery. No dogs were out, barely any people, and not too many cars. The perfect place. Gia’s mind drifted to Hawaii and her morning runs on the beach behind her house. That was the most peaceful thing she’d ever encountered, and she was counting down the days until she could return.

  Thinking of Hawaii made her think of Kainoa. Gia wondered what he might be doing right then. Though they weren’t together as a couple at the moment, he was still a big piece of her heart. She hadn’t talked to him since she’d been there due to him having an attitude about her leaving in the first place.

  In his mind she was coming down here to hang out with Oni and meet some other man. Gia rolled her eyes as she thought about the horrible argument they’d had the night before she left. He had downright forbidden her to fly to Georgia for the summer. As if they were seriously committed enough for her to just do what he said.

  She didn’t know what kind of world he was living in, but it was most definitely not the same one she was in. Even with him being such a butthole at the moment, she missed him and had actually tried to call him yesterday before going to the fair only for him not to answer. She knew then that he was still in his feelings about her trip and would call when he was able to.

  When Gia reached her cousin’s house for the second time, she decided to stop. She didn’t want to spend her whole day running and miss out on spending time with Jamil. Maybe spending time with him would help her to get over Kainoa and his craziness.

  She was breathing hard with sweat dripping from her body as she rested her hands on the top of her head. Before walking into the house she paced up and down the driveway around the cars, trying to cool off. When she felt she was cool enough, she pulled her earbuds from her ears and entered the house.

  She immediately smelled eggs, bacon, pancakes, and grits. Intoxicated by the smell, Gia almost fell to her knees. She was so hungry and wanted nothing more than to indulge, but she’d already set up a breakfast date, and plainly putting it, she’d rather eat with Jamil.

  “Good morning, Uncle Rick.” Gia sat her iPod on the counter and pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

  “Morning, sunshine.” He smiled at her over his shoulder. “How was your run?” He pulled more bacon from the frying pan.

  “Awesome. You should have come with me.”

  Gia’s uncle Rick was in the Army, like her father. Though her father had retired, Uncle Rick had two more years before he could. She wasn’t sure of his exact age, but he was at least forty-four, if not older, and still in very good shape.

  “Catch me next time. I have to host the officer call this morning, and your lovely cousin offered me her house since her dining room is more spacious.”

  Gia explained her shock over Oni’s generosity before moving on. “An officer call? What’s that?”

  “That’s when all of the officers in my company get together and bullshit mostly. We’re supposed to get to know each other and talk about what we can do to better our work environment, but that rarely happens.”

  Gia finished her water as she listened to him.

  “Ooh, okay. The Colonel has had a few of those too.”

  “Still calling your old man the Colonel, huh?”

  Gia smiled and held her head down. Her uncle Rick had been teasing her about that for years now. “Yes, sir. I can’t help it. It started out as a joke, but it kind of just stuck.”

  “He loves it too, don’t he?”

  Thoughts of her father had Gia smiling even harder. “Yep.”

  Rick poured the grits from the pot over into a large clear bowl. “I have to give that man a call and see how he’s holding up with you gone. I know he’s barely making it.”

  “I’ll tell you now, he’s miserable.” Gia and her uncle shared a laugh. “So how long is the officer call going to be?”

  He turned around and smiled at her. “Probably no more than a couple of hours. I don’t want to abuse Oni’s generosity. You know that’s few and far between.”

  Gia’s smile spread across her face. “You mean to tell me she’s allowing you that long?” She laughed briefly. “You saving us some?”

  Uncle Rick looked at her with an amusing smirk. “It’s a lot of officers coming.” He smiled at her. “May not be enough left over.”

  Gia surveyed the large platters of food that she’d paid no attention to at first. “Oh, I probably could have squeezed a plate or two out.”

  He laughed. “I’m kidding, baby girl. You girls are more than welcome to grab a plate, but everyone is due here in the next ten minutes, so y’all will have to hurry.”

  Gia pushed her chair back in and shook her head. “No, it’s okay, we’ll grab something else. Entertain your officers.”

  “All right. Just be careful.”

  Gia told him that she would before heading upstairs to see if Oni was ready. As soon as she hit the top step she could hear the music from Oni’s stereo system in her room flooding the entire upstairs. It was so funny to Gia how much alike she and Oni really were, both an only child who did whatever she wanted to.

  Whenever she was home, at any given moment she too w
ould have her music blasting without one single thought about it. The light in Oni’s room as well as the hallway and bathroom light was on. Future’s “Freak Hoe” sounded like it was coming from every corner of the house, it was so loud.

  Gia, being who she was, couldn’t stop herself from bending over in front of the door of Oni’s room and bouncing her butt.

  “Ayyyyyye, bounce that ass!” Gia was full-out twerking in the middle of Oni’s room now.

  “Get it!” Oni stood on the top of her bed and started dancing too.

  “Freak hoes.” Gia turned around so that she could see Oni as she continued to shake her butt.

  Future’s voice had both of the girls neglecting everything they were supposed to be doing at the moment. Whereas Oni had been flat-ironing her hair, she was now head down, ass up on her bed with the clip still hanging, holding up the hair on the top of her head.

  “Look, Gia, look. Twerking on the bed, twerking on the bed.”

  Gia held her hands up and started clapping. “Get it, bitch. Get it,” she screamed as she made her way to the dresser and hopped on it.

  “Twerking on the dresser, twerking on the dresser.” Gia put her hands on her knees and began bouncing her booty to the beat.

  The bass from the song had the girls feeling like they were somewhere in a club, smiling and dancing without a care in the world. Gia smiled at Oni as she danced around her bed in a sports bra and loose-fitting boxer shorts. They had been best friends since birth, and not even distance had changed that.

  “Ayyyyye, get it, Oni!” Gia yelled as Oni hopped from her bed onto her nightstand and bent over dancing.

  Every time they linked up, it was like they had never been apart. Lost in their own world dancing, they hadn’t even paid attention to the fact that Ann was now standing at the door of Oni’s room.

  “If y’all don’t get y’all grown asses off that damn furniture like y’all ain’t got no sense. I don’t know where the hell y’all two freak hoes think y’all at, but this ain’t damn Magic City.”

  Gia and Oni looked at Ann standing at the door with her hands on her hips, and then the two fell out laughing.

  “Look, Auntie.” Gia bent over and grabbed her ankles, making her butt shake again.

  “Make your knees touch your elbows, Gia,” Oni yelled across the room as the song changed from Future’s “Freak Hoe” to Speaker Knockerz’s “Freak Hoe.”

  Gia bent a little lower and held her hands out in front of her, making her butt move. “Show her some real quick, Oni.”

  It was Oni’s turn to start dancing. Gia was cracking up as Oni danced like a stripper in such a small spot. The top of her nightstand wasn’t as big as the dresser Gia was on, but she was still getting it.

  “Oh, y’all think I’m playing? I’m about to whup y’all ass.” Ann walked into the room and popped Gia’s butt with her flip-flop before going over to Oni and doing the same thing.

  Both women hopped from the dresser and onto the bed laughing while Ann continued to hit them with her flip-flop.

  “Okay, Ma, stop.” Oni held her stomach as she laughed. “This my house. I can cut up if I want to.”

  “I don’t give a damn about this being your house. Y’all up here acting like y’all crazy.” Ann laughed as she popped them both again before dropping her shoe on the floor and sliding her foot back in it. “All your daddy’s coworkers down there, and y’all got it jumping up here like y’all at some kind of club somewhere.”

  Oni and Gia both made faces of surprise and sat up on the bed. Both knew they were coming but had no idea that they’d gotten there already. Ann looked at them both, smiling.

  “Let me go call my sister and tell her what kind of fast daughter she raising.” Ann walked out of the room as Oni and Gia started laughing again.

  Gia fixed her clothes and headed for the door. “Man, let me go get in the shower before we be late.”

  “And I need to finish my hair. In here playing with you.” Oni got off the bed and went back to the dresser where she’d been standing before.

  “You know how we get when music’s on. Don’t play.”

  Oni smiled at her through the mirror. “You ain’t lying. What you putting on?”

  Gia shrugged. “Probably a dress. Nothing major.”

  “’Kay, well, I’ma put one on too.”

  Gia left Oni’s room and headed for hers. She quickly rumbled through the drawers she’d placed all of her clothes in, snatched a light pink sundress, and tossed it on the bed. The gray towel and washcloth were in her hand as she rushed to the bathroom and showered.

  When she got out she stood wrapped in her towel for a moment, washing her face and brushing her teeth again. When she was done she played with her locs for a minute before going to get dressed. She had just retwisted them after they’d gone swimming with Big Dick Willie and Jarvis, so they were still looking extremely neat and pretty.

  The Aqua Kiss lotion she’d gotten from Victoria’s Secret accented her clean body before she pulled her dress over her head and slid her feet into her all-white Huaraches. She thought about wearing sandals but she needed her toes done, so that was going to have to wait. She was not about to have Jamil looking at the cracked-up purple polish on her toes.

  Gia was spraying her CK perfume on when Oni burst into the room. “Ooh, that’s cute. Where you get that dress from?”

  Gia shrugged because she really didn’t know. Her mother had gotten it for her one day while she was out. It didn’t matter how grown Gia got, her mother still shopped for her clothing.

  “My mama got it for me. You can borrow it, though, while I’m here.” She looked at the dark blue skater dress with white stripes going across it that Oni was wearing. “You cute too, girl. I wish I would have gotten my toes done so I could have worn sandals too.”

  The red flower sandals on Oni’s feet only made Gia wish she’d gotten her toes done even more.

  “Next time you’ll listen to me. Your sneakers are cute, though.” She stood in the mirror next to Gia and ran her fingers through her neck-length brown hair. “You ready?”

  Gia clipped her large gold hoops on and grabbed her purse from the bed. “Yep.”

  Ready, the girls headed down the stairs. The dining room was packed with people as they waved and passed by. Everyone smiled and made jokes with them about the music they’d just been blasting in Oni’s room. The banter continued for a few more seconds before the girls told Rick that they were heading out and would be back later.

  Once they were in Oni’s truck, they turned the music up again and pulled out of the driveway. Gia pulled her phone out and sent Jamil a text that they were on their way to his side of town. It didn’t dawn on Gia what she had done until her phone was ringing. She slapped her thigh in remembrance and answered the phone. Oni turned the music down once she realized that Gia was on the phone.

  “I see you don’t follow instructions well.” Jamil’s bedroom-deep voice gave her chills.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I forgot.”

  “You good. What’s going on?”

  “We’re on the way.”

  “A’ight, bet. I got my nigga Iverson with me. Which one y’all want to go to?”

  Gia moved her phone from her mouth and asked Oni which Waffle House they were going to.

  “Let’s try the new one on Veterans Parkway near the Civic Center,” Oni suggested.

  Once Gia relayed the message and Jamil told her they would be there waiting, they hung up.

  Oni turned her music back up only to turn it right back down, asking about who Jamil had with him. Being that Jamil hadn’t given any information other than his friend’s name, that was all Gia could give her. The rest of the ride was full of music and small talk about their anticipation about seeing the men.

  They pulled up a short while later. Oni parked her truck right in front of the door and they checked their faces before hopping out. Oni hit the locks and they went inside. Upon entry they didn’t see the men, but once Jamil’s
voice carried around the crowd of people standing in front of them, they came into view.

  “Oh my God,” Oni whispered to Gia. “That nigga is fine as all hell, Gia.”

  “Ain’t he, though?” Gia agreed with Oni at Iverson’s appearance.

  The total opposite of Jamil, Iverson was dark skinned, about the same shade as Gia, with a low haircut and full beard. From the way his legs stretched out into the aisle, he had to be as tall as Jamil, if not taller. He was decked out in shiny gold jewelry with a red shirt that looked expensive as hell. They couldn’t see his bottoms, but the red and black Giuseppe Zanotti sneakers he was wearing told it all.

  “Ain’t them Giuseppes?” Oni whispered just as they got to the table.

  “Yep.” Gia smiled at Jamil as he stood to greet her. “Hey, Milli,” she sang into his ear as he grabbed her up in a hug.

  “What’s going on, Gee?” He squeezed a little tighter before releasing her. He looked her up and down as she stood in front of him, smiling. “Damn, you look sexy every time I see you.”

  Gia held her head down and Jamil picked it right back up before stepping to the side so that she could sit down. He then pointed over at Iverson, who was also standing up.

  “This my nigga Iverson. Iverson, this Gia, and this her cousin Oni.”

  Oni smiled and stuck her hand out for him to take. When he did, he kissed the outside of it and flashed her a smile that would get even the gayest bitch’s panties wet.

  “Nice to meet you, Oni.” Iverson took a step back so Oni could sit down. He spoke to Gia as he made himself comfortable in the booth. “Y’all got some pretty-ass names. It ain’t shit like what we hear in the hood every day.”

  Both girls laughed at him.

  “What kind of names y’all normally hear?” Oni looked at Iverson.

  “Shaniqua, Artasia, Shaquanna. Ghetto shit like that.” Iverson smiled at Oni again.

  The two of them clearly liked what they saw in each other because they were all smiles and giggles as they sat in the booth nearly touching. Gia smiled at them both, happy that Jamil had looked out for Oni. Her hands were in her lap as she looked over at Jamil. He was sitting catercorner in the booth with his arms thrown over the back of it.