Where Would I Be Without My Baby?

Scene 1: Rain On Me ☔️

Dark skies, grayer clouds and somehow the moon still shined bright. Wide chocolate brown eyes gazed on with a child-like innocence and all the excitement of a four year ready for a playmate. Butterflies erupting, lip biting and if she wasn't in her right mind, Gaia might have hit a quick potty dance. But she had some dignity.

As the storm brewed so did her eagerness. Never one to be a part of a crowd, the cinnamon colored girl with high cheekbones and freckles loved the rain like first born child. The smell of fresh rain, the feel of it on her skin, the freedom that build up in her spirit that came second to none while she stood in the rain.
As a kid instead of cursing the rain's name for
ruining the play day, she was the strange child with her rain boots, coat and umbrella by

the door so the minute a raindrop fell she was prepared for it and dashing out the door.

Her mother swore she'd grow out of the stage yet at the age nineteen she was in love with
the rain. The good days were the rainy ones for her although no one else felt the same it

never mattered. Gaia was happy in it and she wouldn't let anyone else make her feel different.

She was the earthy, soulful girl who listened more to music made before she was born than the
latest trap song. She was the woman that stayed tucked in her room with a book and incest lit

than at a club surrounded by smoke. Gaia was the girl none of the boys understood and now the
woman most men were intimidated by.

She was unapologetically Gaia Alena Carter and not a soul could alter her or kill her spirit.

The rain began to pour without hesitance she was headed out the door. She's had a long week and honestly she needed this serenity more than anything. The bills, the looming decisions she'd have to make that she was afraid of, her guilt and the weight of it was killing her. She just needed a little liberation.

As cliche as it was Gaia began to play Rain On Me by Ashanti thru her earbuds, she threw her raincoat on, pulled the hood up and she was gone.

Midnight on a Friday night where everyone else in the hood was downtown on the strip flossing but she was right where she wanted to be. Her mother would legit kill her dead for being outside if she could see her but was gone....

And the tears flowed, she closed her eyes as the hot washed with the hot, teas escaping her kids and lashes falling down her cheeks.
"What's a girl to do Lord?" Gaia whispered to herself  but it was more of a prayer from her lips to God's ears.

She was alone, back against the wall and her faith wavering. Nothing had ever prepared her for her battles and she didn't even know how she'd make it through tomorrow if she made it.
Yet the serenity she earned in this moment felt like destiny. This moment was created for her and only her, she felt it.

She relaxed and let go entirely, completely unaware of her surroundings. Seconds felt like minutes and those felt like hours.

"Yo WHAT THE FUCK!!!!"  The outrage combined with skidding sounds startled Gaia as her eyes popped open. Heart beating in her ears, she snatched her earphones out and looked around her.

A few feet from her was matte gray G-Wagon, head  first into a fire hydrant. The grill looked to be smashed and dented in, looking worse the longer she looked at it.
Gaia was speechless, her hands flew up to her mouth. She cringed but walked toward the truck just as the occupant jumped out to expect the damage.

"Ayo bitch why the fuck yo ass in the road like a dumbass? You tryna die? Fucking up shit like you got money to pay for it." A young dude jumped out into the ground obviously angry. His nostrils were flared, jaw clenched and fists tightened