GIANNA
None of my relatives answered any of my burning questions before leaving, and I was left with Georgia after helping her get Aunt Philly to bed.
So, not only was I left with her killer side eye, but Aunt Georgia's famous hour-long scolding. I was more shocked by how passionate she was rather than the words coming out of her mouth. Maybe that was why I actually made eye contact with her more often than usual. She employed my help in packing away gumbo for my aunts and uncles to take home tomorrow and then sat me down for more talking once again.
Well, she was talking at me more than she was talking to me if were being honest here.
I was sliding on my heels to go back home when she stepped in front of me, "And where are you going?"
I furrowed my brows, "I have to go home and—"
"You're not going anywhere, you know the rules," she said while locking the front door for effect.
I huffed, "That was when I was a kid, Auntie. I'm old enough to carry a gun and protect myself now—legally."
She raised an eyebrow at me and rested her hands on her hips, "It's not safe in this neighborhood the way it used to be, even for self-proclaimed 'adults'."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, though slid off my heels obediently.
"King has his little brothers walking up and down every street at all times at night, and they always switch schedules so no one ever knows when they'll turn a corner and get shot," she informed me. "The point is; go get some of Saul's pajamas, because you're staying here for tonight."
I set my purse down, "Auntie, I—"
"Gianna May, you are not leaving—"
"It's not about that!" I yelled before taking a deep breath, "I just can't wear his pajamas, auntie."
She frowned, "And why not?"
I held back the lump growing in my throat, "I just can't. It's too soon, and they'll smell like him, and—"
She shushed me, bringing me into an embrace, "I know you two had a bond like no other, Gianna. I know it hurts, baby."
Her affection made me uncomfortable, I wasn't used to her being so.. sensitive. I wanted to hold onto it, I really did, but I couldn't be anything other than uncomfortable.
When she finally released me, she guided me back to my old room that hadn't changed a bit. She handed me a pair of plaid pants and a shirt that were too big to be mine, yet too small to be uncle Saul's.
She left me to change before I could ask who the outfit belonged to, and I obeyed, knowing that waiting for her would spell trouble for me. The pajamas were familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint who they'd belonged to.
I laid in my childhood bed and tried to become comfortable before aunt Georgia reappeared. She had my purse on one arm, and a photo album under the other.
"Thank you," I took my bag, "What is the album for?"
"Hush up and look," she said sternly before leaving once and for all, closing my door behind her.
I huffed, her response both normal and calming to me after her earlier attempt at forced comforting. I found myself flipping through the pages of photographs, eventually moving as to better nurse my back, and noticed one in particular.
I was standing between two boys, we all must have been going into middle school, and I immediately recognized Kamari. However. my eyes stuck to the boy on my left, and I sighed deeply in recognition.
I smiled, "Zion."
Zoin James. The good boy gone bad after his drug selling dad and pregnant mom were shot via drive by. Saul didn't hesitate to take him in before the little brothers, desperate for a leader, could.
I guess that plan backfired, he ended up running back to it just like his dad always did.
I rummaged through my purse and didn't find the paper, so then I looked through my pile of discarded clothing. I nearly screamed in accomplishment when I found it, but couldn't even dial the numbers once my trebling hands found my phone.
What if hates me now?
I was a bitch.
I was just curious.
But I got on his nerves.
He could kill me.
He almost did kill me.
But he stopped—
"Fuck it," I huffed before dialing the number. I hadn't realized how long I'd spent weighing my options until he picked up.
The line was quiet other than soft rumbling in the background, which resembled muffled.. music?
"Zion?" I breathed, hesitating slightly.
There was shuffling and a pause of silence before a rough, "Gianna," responded. "You remembered me."
"I feel like an ass for not recognizing you the first time," I revealed, the guilt now settling in.
"I wasn't trying to look like some little brace faced kid anyway," he almost joked. "A lot changed after you left for private school, ma."
There it was.
I peered down at the photograph, "I didn't have much of a choice. Georgia packed my stuff the night before it started, and shipped me off to boarding school in the knick of time. I didn't even have my own phone until junior year."
"You never came back to visit," he argued.
"Georgia is always comparing me to Brielle, you know that," I reasoned. "It suffocates me."
"Nothing was the same for me with you gone," he continued on, "even though Kamari was your little boyfriend."
"He was also my first kiss," I shot back, not in the mood to be blamed for everything turning out this way.
"He shouldn't have been," Zion muttered.
"I can make my own decisions, King," I stressed. "I'm old enough to take care of myself, and I was only twelve when she made me leave!"
"You could've hid until Saul and Philly got home," he said anyway. "You didn't even try—"
"You think you know everything, but you don't," I fought to keep myself from yelling. "Georgia would have beat me black and blue after busting down any door that stood between us."
"You think getting a whoopin' is worse then being shot at everyday and told to suck it up?!" He wasn't afraid to bark. "You left to become Miss Perfect while we were left to fend for ourselves, Gianna!"
"I was a child!" I finally yelled.
"You were a punk!" He shouted back. "Georgia gave you a way out and you took it! You say I don't know anything? You don't know anything!"
"How dare you—"
"Don't call this number unless you're bleeding out," he said curtly before ending the call just as quick.
I called repeatedly, but got the same dial tone every single time. I threw my phone aside and covered myself with the comforter.