King of Queens (a Nas Story)

NINE

Gia | 4:44pm

"Girl, scoot your ass over!" Stacy poked me with her foot under the cover we shared. She was the first person I called as soon as I got home from Ronjae's ambush.

She packed a bag and boarded the train in the middle of the night and stayed with me. Held me as I cried. Iced and bandaged my wrist. She made sure I was able to eat the food George sent me home with.

She brought over some new horror movies and wanted to have a marathon, just us girls. My anxiety wouldn't let me enjoy the films at all. I was too busy thinking about what would happen if Nasir found out. I didn't want to burden him with this.

He already held Ron at gun point during our date and I didn't want him to pull the trigger, getting him into any more trouble. He has a brother and a mother that depends on him. I would hate to get him jammed up in some shit that doesn't pertain to him.

Our history lies way before our break up. I mean, we were childhood friends. Grew up on the same block, just in different complexes. Went to the same schools all of our lives. Our mothers were apart of the church committee and children's bible studies.

The one person that was there for the entire ride was Tionne. She was my best friend. One third of our trio. To this day, I regret telling her about our personal relationship problems. She used that as an opportunity to get between our love and it worked.

The day she came to me with the paperwork that confirmed her pregnancy, I was happy for her. She talked about how in love she was with the guy she was with. It wasn't until Stacy told me that she saw her leaving the women's clinic with Ronjae. They were holding hands and smiling while she was holding the sonogram film in her hand.

It couldn't have happened at the most convenient time for my mother and I. It was the perfect excuse to disappear after moving out of our Harlem apartment. I didn't have to tell them why I wasn't speaking to either of them anymore. I used the move as a viable reason to go ghost.

Seeing Ronjae brings up all of those harboring emotions. He has never put his hands on me before and swore that he never would. The man that showed up to George's diner last night isn't the man I once knew. He's someone I wish I never knew to begin with.

"Girl, you good?" Stacy tilted her neck and pouted her glossed lips at me. Her hair was sandy blonde and naturally curly. Her dad is white and moved to Harlem from London to start his clothing line. Her mother was a model in her younger years, posing for Playboy once in 1984.

A beautiful black woman with jet black extensions down to her ass. She was always the flyest mom on the playground. Her parents have been married for as long as I can remember.

"Don't look at me, look at the movie!" I playfully hit her leg that was covered by the thick, cotton material of the cover. She kissed her teeth and didn't turn away from me. "I know when you're lying. Talk to me."

I held my wrist and looked at it intently. "I just don't want Nasir to find out." I said with a low head. I finally told Stacy about Nas last night when she got here. She keeps calling him 'Lotion'. I roll my eyes every time she says it.

"I want Lotion to find out! Tell him to go pay that nigga a visit. I'm tired—" Stacy pointed her finger in the air as if she was mimicking the make and model of a hand gun. I cut her off mid sentence.

"He has too much on the line to do that. I mean, he's trying to make it with this music shit." I said, still holding my bandaged wrist. "He's on the radio, Stace. People know him out here. He's got a name for himself. Why would I want him to fuck that up?"

Stacy twisted her lips in deep thought while playfully stroking her imaginary chin hairs. "I mean, shit, Gia. You might be right for real." She said with a sneaky grin. "He might be the next Rakim and I'm over here telling Lotion to shoot this nigga in the knee."