Giselle
An hour later (11am)
A love letter came through the mail, it said, "I miss you"
I ripped it up and flushed with the tissue, try to forget you
I ain't got nothing against you, we human, we all got issues
But I'm tired of being tired of being tired
That part of me done died
I see it, then I don't, act like I'm blind
I'm confident it won't be one of mine
I know emotions come with lies, so I tell the truth all the time
Ain't got no sympathy for no bitch
I admit that I'm rich and I'm lit
Sitting in my Cousin Tony's car, he blasted his music loudly as he raced through the streets of Jersey. He'd just picked me up from the airport and to say I was nervous at this point was an understatement.
Mila and my other cousins were already waiting on me and I knew there was so much more to come today but I wasn't too sure on how any of this would play out.
That's what was scaring me most.
"How you feelin', lil mama?" My cousin Tone asked, making me smile as he passed familiar houses that I used to walk by on my way to school back in the days.
"I don't know. I'm nervous." I admitted and he nodded.
"How yo' mama?" He went on asking and I shrugged.
"She's fine. Working as usual." I admitted, making him chuckle.
My cousin Tone was much older than me. He was 27 years old but I loved him like a brother. He would always look out for me when I was younger and treated me like a princess. And though I'd been gone for three years, the connection was still there.
It would always be.
"That's good. You talked to your cousin crazy ass?" He asked, gripping the steering wheel and I nodded, already knowing he was talking about Mila
"Yeah. She's been texting me since last week." I laughed, making him shake his head.
"That girl is crazy."
See, Mila and I were closest because we were the closest in age. My other cousins, his siblings, they were all older than me. Mila was the only one of them that was my age, so naturally, we clicked.
The ride became silent after a while as he raced down blocks, passing by people he knew. And that was damn near everyone.
"What's up, nigga?" He spoke loudly, leaning out of the window as we pulled up to a corner with a bunch of guys on it.
"Ain't shit, Tone."
"What's up with you?" One of the guys ended up walking up to the car and they dabbed each other up.
"Shit, bout to drop G off right quick. I'a be back around later though." Tony told him and the guy nodded, looking into the car at me.
When he did, I furrowed my eyebrows, realizing he looked really familiar but honestly, I'd completely forgotten names.
It'd been so long.
"Oh shit. That's G." He spoke in excitement, making Tony laugh.
"Yeah, man. Crazy part is she don't even recognize yo' ass." Tone looked at me in amusement.
"What's up, GG? You probably don't remember me but I'm Abir uncle, Kann."
"Oh." I dragged before gasping in embarrassment. I couldn't help but to smile to myself as they both laughed at me.
He looked so different from the last time I'd seen him.
"Sorry." I pouted and he shrugged it off.
"You seen that nigga yet?" He went on asking and Tony shook his head, answering for me.
"Nah, she just got here. I'm about to take her by the spot right now."
"Oh shit." He shook his head, looking at me with knowing eyes. I stayed silent though as I smiled small, looking down at my hands.
I knew the reason why he'd said it but I decided to ignore it. There was no going back now, I was already here.
"Aight, nigga. I'a hit you in a minute." Tony told him before they said their goodbyes and he pulled off, speeding down the block.
When he did, I looked up and saw that he was now pulling onto my old block. I smiled to myself, instantly remembering all of the fun times and memories I'd made here.
Those three years began to feel like centuries away from this place.
My hood.
"Aight, gon' head, GG. I'm about to go handle some business, everybody in there though." He told me and I nodded, grabbing my stuff before I got out of the car then made my way in.
It took me a while but when I walked in, it seemed as if everybody was in the living room.
"GG!" I heard my cousin Lani scream as she got up from the couch and pulled me in for a hug.
"Oh shit, what's up, G?" My cousin Angel then pulled me in for a hug as well as soon as Lani let me go.
Looking around, I saw small children running around and playing before my eyes fell upon my grandma, who was sitting in her chair with tears in her eyes.
I poked my lip out as I quickly made my way over to her and kneeled down to pulled her in for a hug.
"Hi, mom mom." I spoke softly to her as she continued to cry and I hugged her tight.
My grand mom was a real grand mom. She had 5 kids, 15 grandchildren and knew all of us by name, age and birthdate. She was such a loving person, she even loved people she'd didn't know.
She had an open door policy, if you needed a place to say or food in your stomach, she was the person to come to.
She just loved everybody.
"Mama." I heard somebody say as I looked up, seeing my mama's sister, my auntie Tee.
"Hi, auntie." I smiled to her as she laughed, looking down at her mom.
"Hey, GG."
"You got my mama in here bawling." She chuckled as everybody else did the same, still watching us.
"My grand baby is finally home." My grandma finally spoke as I let her go and she wiped her tears.
I watched as she took the time to analyze my face and I did the same to hers. I'd missed her so much.
"My grand baby." She said again, cupping her hand under my chin and I smiled.
"GG here?!" I heard somebody yell, making everybody look.
Moments later, Mila came running down the staircase and I smiled wide. The biggest smile I'd had since I been here.
"GG!" She yelled as we ran to each other and hugged each other tightly.
"Mila!" I matched her energy as everybody watched us, looking at us like we were crazy.
Not able to contain our emotions, we hugged each other so tight and wildly, we'd both ended up falling to the floor.
"Alright now." My auntie Tee went onto say as everybody laughed.
"Oh my god. Come on, we have to catch up." Mila suggested, grabbing my hand tightly.
"Damn, Mila. She just got here! Let the girl see everybody first." Lani rolled her eyes but Mila flagged her off.
"Come on, GG. Let me show you your room." She pulled me along, ignoring her sister and I followed her closely as I lugged my bags up the staircase.
It felt so good to be home.
*