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Mellisa 'Lisa' Avery Brown South Side Chicago, Illinois
"Thank you for taking him, Ma." She smiled as she watched Kadeem walk over to his grandmother.
"Ain't no problem, baby. You know I'm always happy to take care my lil' ray of sunshine." Ms Hudson said while she picked up Kadeem.
"Bye baby!" Lisa waved at Kadeem before she walked into her car and drove off.
Lisa didn't have any family that was alive. Her mother had died while giving birth to her and her father was a deadbeat, drug addict. He put a roof over Lisa's head but also introduced her to drugs which was why she had gotten addicted to heroin when she was 11, shit was sad.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she got comfortable as she drove. This was going to be a long journey, the prison was hella far from here but she couldn't wait to see her man.
-XX-
"Hi, I'm here to visit Hakeem Hudson, I'm Mellisa Brown." She spoke to the lady, she'd done this many times before. They knew her so they let her through to the visiting section.
Sitting down on the cold seats, she looked around the room as she saw other people sitting down on different tables waiting for their loved ones. Sighing, she looked at the door and watched as it opened to reveal her first and only love.
Hakeem smiled sadly when he saw Lisa, he brushed his orange slacks off before sitting down in front of her. She was as beautiful as always but it made him sad that she came here every week with no excuses. Lisa sent him letters all the time filled with pictures of Kadeem and more.
She was loyal.
"Hey baby, how you been?" She looked at him sadly, she knew that it was the same old shit and it was driving him crazy but she had to ask.
"A nigga is all good, after all, this my home na." He chuckled dryly, he was stuck here for another 20 years with no chances of getting out earlier.
Lisa stared at her lover with sympathetic eyes. She hated how she couldn't hug him or even touch his face. Every time she saw him, he looked less and less like himself. He looked like he lost a bit of his soul the longer he stayed here.
"How 'bout you? You been okay?" He asked.
"I've finally made a friend, Reneé, she making yo blood change too." She laughed as she thought about how much Cameron talked about Reneé.
"Reneé? Don't tell me that boy fuckin' around with white folks." Hakeem looked at her suspiciously. She just laughed at his reaction.
"Nah she black, she got her own business and she thriving. Ole girl got a beautiful soul and she good for Cameron too." Lisa spoke about her friend with a soft smile, Hakeem could tell that this girl was great. "Kadeem even like her."
Hakeem perked up at the mention of his son, he loved him with all his soul. All he'd seen was his pictures because children weren't allowed here but he loved him to death. His soul ached whenever he thought about how his son would grow up without a father figure. It was unfair of him to expect Cameron to help raise Kadeem when he was starting out his own life.
"Lisa, you not planning to stay with me forever?" Hakeem looked into her brown eyes, he wanted the honest truth.
"I'm gon' hold it down 'till you come out." She replied with some tears in her eyes, she'd just said exactly what he didn't want to hear.
"Don't do that. I want you to live yo life to the fullest. Date, fall in love and get married. Get a father figure for Kadeem cuh I failed my lil' boy and you. Ion want you both suffering cuh of my bad decisions, you feel me?" He confessed, Lisa could tell that this was hard for him to say before he had tears welling up in his eyes.
Taking a deep breath, he continued, "Baby, you and I, we met at a time when we needed each other, but that time is over now, youon need me no mo and I want you to move on." Hakeem continued, his chest was burning as he said all this but he was speaking his truth.
Mellisa and Hakeem had met when Mellisa was 15 years old and she was hooked on heroin. Her daddy had just moved them over to Chicago and Hakeem was the dealer in that area which was how they met. Hakeem fell in love with her and helped her get clean, paid for rehab and became the pillar of her life. He tried to leave his life of crime behind but unfortunately, it caught up to him and the police had built a case against him. Around that same time, Lisa's father died of a drug overdose.
Hakeem was eventually locked up, Lisa found out she was pregnant a week afterwards and she kept the baby. This had happened over four years ago, she saw Hakeem as her saviour, her soulmate.
However, something that Hakeem had learnt while he was in prison was that everyone had multiple soulmates in their life that would come in when they were most needed.
These two were true soulmates but his time with her had run out and if she stayed hung up on him, she'd miss out on her next big love. After all she was only 21 years old.
"So don't visit me no mo, I love you Mellisa."Hakeem said softly before standing up and walking away, leaving Lisa balling her eyes out.
Grabbing her handbag, she rushed out of the prison and sat in the car and cried. Tears ran down her face until she had no more tears to cry. She felt too emotional to drive so she called the only person who was available at this time.
Cash.
"Yo Lisa, you good?" He asked, he got even more worried when he heard her sobbing.
"Where you at, ma?" Cash asked softly, his cold heart broke when he heard her cry, she was his soft spot after all.
"I'm at the prison." She said.
"Aight, stay there." He said rushing out the trap.
-XX-
Cash had picked Lisa up from the prison and driven her home, mind you this was a 3-hour journey too and back so she was extremely grateful. He drove to her place and walked her into her apartment.
Grabbing his phone, he ordered her some Chinese food and made her eat it, he didn't even bother questioning why she was crying. When she was ready, she'd tell him herself.
After eating, he took her to sleep, hugging her until she was passed out. Cash got out of bed and left the apartment at 4am, he was tired as fuck but as long as Lisa was good, he was good.
"Whoever got her cryin' like that gon' understand me for real." He mumbled to himself as he walked back to the projects, clutching his gun tightly.
Although Lisa and Cash were strictly friends, he knew that he wanted more. More than sex or friendship, he wanted a relationship but she was his friend's girl and he respected that.
