“The rest of this shit can wait until I come back.”
Ma folded her arms across her chest.
“Are you coming back?”
I rolled my eyes as I walked to the driver’s door. “Of course I’ma be back. LA is my home.”
She nodded slowly. “I’ma hold you to it. Hopefully, next time you come back it’s with a real man and my grandbaby in your stomach.”
I laughed at the thought, but the whole time, I wanted the same thing; it’s just that wanting wasn’t enough anymore.
I slid into the driver’s seat and leaned back, taking a deep breath. The day felt heavy, like the city knew I was leaving. I didn’t say anything as we drove, letting Ma hum along to the radio while the city shrank in my rearview mirror. I felt a mix of grief and relief when I caught my finger sparkling in the sun.
The ring.
I forgot all about it.
I hit a right turn, and my momma looked at me.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“One more stop before home,” I said, not letting her know anything else.
With traffic, it took almost an hour to get to the house, but Ma enjoyed the ride, picking out what she liked about houses in passing. I drove up the driveway and parked in front of the house.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“The house that Gio bought,” I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt.
“Islahhh,” my mom said, staring at the house. “This is beautiful. He bought this for you?”
I laughed. “Yeahh, he did.”
I hopped out of the car, walked up the steps, and unlocked the front door with Mom right behind me to check out the inside.
I looked at Gio's things stacked in the middle of the living room and walked over to them. A lil’ in disbelief that I was actually leaving him.
“Did he get this before you found out everything?”
I nodded. “The key was in the things he had Bully hold for him.”
I leaned against the window, taking a deep breath.
“Why do you feel like you need to walk away from him and all this?”
“Because…I feel like it was all done to cover up what he was doing, or to make up for it. Gio hoped that I never found out about her.” I shook my head, trying not to think too deep. “He did it once behind my back; I don’t want it to be a second time.”
Ma nodded, and I took the ring off and set it on the window seal.
“Come on, let’s go.”
We walked out, and I looked at the house one last time before hopping in the car.
Before going back to my mom’s house, I stopped on Crenshaw and saw Bully standing on the block.
I parked on the side of the street and told Ma I would be back.
She nodded, and I hopped out and headed across the street.