Passion of the Streets

by A'zayler

  Gia smiled and shook her head. “Oni told that nigga last night that I was running today.” Gia chuckled to herself. “He’s such a busybody.”

  Jamil smiled as he looked down at her. “Nah, that nigga was exactly what I needed him to be today.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you, Gee.”

  “I love you too, Milli.”

  “Your dad is here?”

  Gia’s eyes widened as if she’d forgotten. She quickly pulled away from him and nodded.

  “Oh my God, yes. He’s going to kill me!” Gia’s eyes were huge as she covered her face momentarily.

  “Why?” Jamil didn’t like the sound of that, daddy or not.

  “I can almost guarantee you he’s somewhere watching us right now.”

  Jamil shrugged because he honestly didn’t give two fucks about her daddy. However, judging by the way Gia was acting, she sure as hell did.

  “What you doing when you leave here?” Jamil asked.

  She was still looking around for her dad. “Don’t know, why?”

  “I want to be with you.”

  Gia’s mind was back onto him that fast. “I’ll come to you. My daddy is staying at my aunt’s house, so once we leave there and head back to Oni’s house, I’ll have her bring me to you.”

  Jamil didn’t know if he liked that plan because it didn’t sound definite, but he agreed anyway. They stood there talking for a few more minutes before parting ways. Though being set up wasn’t something he was too fond of, Jamil was definitely thankful for Shock in this instance.

  * * *

  Jamil lay flat on his back staring at the ceiling in his room. He’d made his last play of the night about an hour ago and had come straight home after that. Lying up with Gia had been the only thing on his mind since leaving her at the track earlier, and he couldn’t wait until she got there.

  She’d called him a little over thirty minutes ago to let him know things were still on and to wait up for her. Of course he said he would, and that was exactly what he had been doing since then. Even while he was out on the block slanging, he had been waiting.

  While he ate his late-night dinner from Krystal, he had been waiting. Even right then while lying in his bed, he was waiting. From the moment she’d told him she was coming, he had been waiting, and he would continue to wait until she got there. He was just that eager.

  It had been too long since he’d been covered deep up in her love, and he had every intention of being just that the moment she entered his house. Zanetta and Owen had long ago gone to bed, so that was one less thing he had to worry about.

  The only thing on his mind right then was sexing Gee. His dick had been hard since he got out of the shower and didn’t look to have any plans of deflating anytime soon. Absentmindedly, Jamil’s hand went to his erection and began to stroke it.

  The sight of Gia in the red running shorts from earlier was fresh in his mind, and it was only making his wait that much longer. Just as the visuals of her mouth around the girth of his dick popped into his head, his phone rang.

  Jamil snatched it from the nightstand and answered it as soon as he saw Gia’s name. “Yeah.”

  “Hey. I’m outside.”

  “Here I come.”

  Jamil hung up and walked toward the door, which was extremely awkward given the fact that his manhood was damn near as hard as it could get. He hadn’t had sex since the last time he’d been with Gia, and it was definitely showing.

  As soon he opened the front door, she was ready to step into the house. Oni waved at him and pulled off once she was sure Gia was in good hands.

  “Took you long enough.” Jamil closed the door behind them once they were inside.

  Gia shrugged. “I’m here now.” She left him in the kitchen and headed down the hallway to his room.

  She was seated on the edge of the bed kicking her shoes from her feet when he joined her. Her hair was all tied up in a multicolored wrap while she was dressed leisurely in a pair of tights and a fitted shirt.

  Her face looked brighter than it had at the track earlier, and he was glad. Maybe that meant she was just as happy to be with him as he was with her. The lime green shoes she had been wearing on the first day he’d ever met her lay on the floor.

  It was crazy how much things between them had changed since that day at the gas station. Never in a million years would Jamil have guessed she would have his heart in such a small amount of time.

  “What you thinking about?” Gia asked him.

  “That day I saw you and Oni in the gas station across the street.” He smiled and lay down on the bed behind her.

  “It don’t even feel like it’s been a month already, does it?”

  “Nah. Not for real, but it has, and now you’re about to dip back to Hawaii.” Jamil rubbed his hand down her back. “What’s going to happen then?”

  Gia lay back and rested her head on his chest. “We’re going to keep being together.”

  “How? Long distance never really works out.”

  Gia was quiet for a minute. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out, though. We have to.” There was a long stretch of silence as Gia played with the hair on his stomach. “I think we’re going to have a baby, Milli. My cycle is late, and it’s never late . . .”

  Silence filled the space between them as he tried to make sense of what she’d said. When he didn’t say anything fast enough, she sat up and looked at him.

  “Jamil, don’t just lie there like that. Say something.”

  Flabbergasted and lost for words, Jamil sat up and pushed himself back against his headboard.

  “My fault, Gee, you just caught me off guard, bae. Come here.” He pulled her to him so that she could straddle his lap. “When did you find out?”

  “While we were broken up. It’s really early, but if I’m right, we made this baby during the time we spent in Atlanta at the hotel.” She held her head down. “I thought about getting an abortion and never telling you anything, but I couldn’t make myself do it. I kept thinking about how you sounded during sex. When you would tell me you love me, and I couldn’t. Our baby was made out of happiness and love, and I don’t want to destroy that.”

  Jamil wrapped his arms around her waist and held her. She looked so innocent and pure as she waited for him to express his thoughts.

  “I was really sad at first because all I want to do is run. Being pregnant will stop that.”

  “Why will it stop it?”

  “Because I’ll get huge.” She held her head down. “The Colonel is going to be so disappointed. He’s always telling me not to let boys trick me and ruin my future.”

  Jamil held her head up so that he could look at her face clearly. “You think I tricked you?”

  Gia shook her head. “No. We did this together. I gave myself to you willingly, knowing I wasn’t on birth control.”

  Even though she tried her hardest to make everything sound all right, he could tell she was really bummed out. It was all in her tone and the way she looked. He hated to have put her in such a fucked-up situation, because her life was about to change drastically.

  His life wasn’t shit. It didn’t matter if he had a kid or not. Hell, having a baby might actually make things better for him. He’d finally have a purpose. Something other than waking up every day supplying the hood with poison.

  Jamil stared at her flat stomach before placing his hand on it. “Everything will be okay, Gee. Just keep running, baby. Run until you can’t anymore, and as soon as you give birth, I’ll be there with you. Every step of the way. Don’t worry.”

  “How, Jamil? How will you be there?”

  Jamil looked away for a moment. “I don’t know yet, but I’ll take these next couple of months to map it out and set some things up for us.” Jamil grabbed Gia’s face so that they were looking at each other. “Don’t give up on your dreams, Gee. And don’t give up on me. I promise I’m going to make something happen.”

  Gia looked like she believed him. That was all he needed for now. As lo
ng as she had faith in him, then he would do whatever he had to do in order to get where she needed him to be.

  “You sure you want to keep it? I understand your position, so I wouldn’t be mad at you if you chose not to.”

  Gia leaned her head to the side and closed her eyes. “I don’t know. Let’s just make love, Milli. That’s all I want to do right now.”

  Nothing further needed to be said. As gently as he could, Jamil laid Gia back on the bed and undressed her. Once she was completely nude, he pulled her head free of her wrap. Anytime he made love to Gee, he liked to see her hair. She reminded him of an African goddess, and he reveled in the thought that she’d chosen him.

  With her legs still thrown across his thighs, Jamil lifted her butt from the bed and dove face first into her love box. It was wet from anticipation and dripping with desire she felt for him.

  As soon as she arched her back and grabbed the back of his head, Jamil went harder. Her moans fell persistently from her lips, getting louder by the second. Before long, Gia was bucking the bottom half of her body into his mouth as he held her up.

  Moments later what he’d been working for came full force. She was shivering and closing her thighs around his head as her orgasm took over her body. Jamil allowed her to ride her orgasmic wave with the help of his tongue until she’d completely stopped shaking.

  “You ready for me?” He scooted her back so that he had room to lie on top of her.

  As soon as Gia nodded, he pushed completely in and just held it there. Her legs and arms wrapped around his body as they always did. Since it had been such a long time since he’d had sex, Jamil literally had to think of something other than what he was doing right then, or else he was going to bust.

  He tried to focus on the clock on his wall for another few minutes before moving his body. With Gia beneath him breathing onto his chest, focusing was becoming extremely difficult. Her breath alone was heightening his awareness of her presence and what they were doing.

  “Gee, I don’t want to nut, baby.”

  “What should I do?”

  He chuckled, and that gave him all the help he needed. Gia could be so innocent when it came to sex sometimes that he had to make himself remember that she wasn’t as experienced as he was.

  “Don’t do nothing, baby. You and that wet pussy are doing enough. This pregnant stuff got me loving my baby already.”

  He could feel Gia’s smile against his chest as he lay a little closer to her. He had to find a comfortable rhythm before he began sliding in and out. Once he found it, and was able to get Gee to stop tightening her muscles around his dick, he was able to make love to her properly.

  “Gee, I’ma take care of you and my baby, okay, bae?”

  Gia didn’t say anything. She just kept looking at him with weary eyes.

  “Daddy got y’all.”

  “I know,” finally found its way out of her mouth. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, girl.”

  Jamil kissed and touched all over Gia’s body that night, making love to her in every position he could think of. He wanted to make sure that just in case his words failed him like they always did, his dick wouldn’t. He wouldn’t be able to rest without knowing that she trusted him to be who she needed.

  Once she finally obliged and gave all of her worries to him fully, they relaxed in each other and made love until the sun came up. By the time their session was over, both of them were drained mentally, physically, and emotionally—but they were there together, as they would always be.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “To have love and to lose it has to be one of the worst things in the history of falling in love. Maybe I was stupid to think that Gee and I were different. That our love was real and that it wasn’t like everybody else’s. Maybe I really was a fool to fall for a girl I knew I could never have permanently. But then again, maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I was just a fool to think I was the type of nigga who deserved a happily-ever-after.”

  —Milli

  Gia sniffled for the thousandth time that morning as she sat at the gate for her flight. Her time with Jamil had finally come to an end, and it was time for her to head back home. She’d done all she could to stay until the very last minute, but with workouts with her Olympic trainer starting in three days, she had to get back home.

  Why had she never dreaded going back to such a beautiful place as Hawaii before? Gia looked out the window, trying to make herself feel better, but she couldn’t. Even with Hawaii being one of the nicest places she’d ever had the privilege of being, it didn’t have Jamil.

  He wouldn’t be there, so she wouldn’t be happy. She had spent the entire day at his house, then the entire night with him at Oni’s, but that still wasn’t enough. Words couldn’t begin to explain how happy she’d been when he told her he was staying the night with her.

  Gia thought she was going to shoot through the roof with happiness when Oni had led him in, but all of that quickly went away again. A few hours passed before it was time for him to head back out, and ever since then Gia had been a basket case. One tear after the other.

  Why hadn’t she chosen a trainer on the mainland? Someone close to her family? That way she could see Jamil as much as she wanted, but with her in Hawaii, that was impossible. Had she known she would meet the love of her life and it wouldn’t be Kainoa, she would have left Hawaii and never looked back. But because she thought the Colonel and Kainoa were her life, now she was doomed. Doomed to sadness until the moment she was back in Jamil’s arms.

  Gia wiped her eyes again with the tattered pieces of tissue she’d gotten from the airport employee. She had been leaning against the coffee shop crying when the lady offered her a small pack of tissues.

  Knowing she would probably be shedding more and more tears, she’d happily taken it. From that moment to Gia’s current one, it had been two hours, and she was on her last tissue. She wiped her face again and was about to stick the tissue in her backpack when her phone began to ring.

  She snatched it from her bag in a hurry, hoping it was Jamil. She smiled when she saw his name.

  “Hey, Milli.” She sniffled.

  “Don’t leave me, Gee.”

  Gia closed her eyes and laid her head back. He’d hinted at it plenty of times in the weeks prior, but that was his first time actually saying it.

  “Milli, please don’t make me feel worse.”

  “I’m not trying to. You can stay and train here. I’ll take care of you.”

  “No, I can’t, Jamil. I’ve already committed to this opportunity. They’re giving me media coverage while I train and everything.”

  “None of that matters, Gee. You told me yourself that some of the trainers here are offering you the same thing. Just pick one here.” He sighed. “Please.”

  Gia rubbed her hand across her forehead, trying to ease the tightening in her eyebrows. “What then, Milli?”

  “I’ll take care of you. I’ll come see you every weekend. We can be together, Gee. Like we’ve been doing. You don’t have to go, baby.”

  Gia was silent for a long time. The things Jamil was saying sounded good, but she couldn’t depend on that. Suppose they broke up and she’d altered her entire life for him—what would she do then? As much as she wished there was a way they could do this, there wasn’t.

  “We’re just going to have to try the long-distance thing, Jamil.”

  “What about the baby? What are we going to do when it comes?”

  Gia’s head began to get tighter as she added more pressure. That was another thing she’d been thinking about all night. What was she going to do when she started showing, or even worse, when it was time to give birth? She was nervous and scared out of her mind, but she didn’t want to think about that right then. She couldn’t or she’d be even more depressed.

  “We’ll figure it out,” she said.

  “Stay here and let me take care of y’all. I know I can do it. I have a lot of money, Gianna. Way more than enough. Just stay. You’ll
be fine.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered.

  “Gianna, I don’t want you to go!” he yelled desperately.

  His tone brought about more tears, and before she knew it, Gia was full-out crying again. She held her phone to her ear, crying to herself, until she heard the announcement that it was time to board. Apparently Jamil had heard it too.

  “So you’re leaving?” he asked.

  Gia sat still in her chair, holding her head in her hands. “Yes.”

  Jamil cleared his throat. “Cool. Just holla at me if you need me.” His voice broke at the end of his sentence.

  Gia wanted to say something else, but she couldn’t. He’d hung up and her line was dead. Tears clouded her eyes again, and this time they stayed. Not falling, just sitting there as a reflection of the pain she was feeling on the inside. Her entire flight home was a painful yet so beautiful recollection of her summer and the love she’d found by chance.

  Two months later

  “Faster, Gianna,” Coach Sims yelled at her.

  Gia had just run past him and a few of his other clients at full speed. Like the fastest girl in the nation that she believed herself to be, she beat everyone. As soon as she passed the mock finish line, she bent over trying to catch her breath.

  It was nearly ninety degrees outside, and she was drenched in sweat. It was Thursday and the last day of workouts for the week, thank God. She was so ready to go to her apartment and stay for the weekend, she didn’t know what to do. She had been training nonstop since returning from Georgia, and it was definitely taking a toll on her. Not to mention the little human she had growing inside her. Three months and not showing at all was a blessing that she wasn’t taking for granted. She was so happy because her secret was still safe. No one other than Jamil and Oni knew, and that was the way she planned to keep it for now.

  “That was amazing, Gianna. You’re going to do great next Saturday.” Coach Sims rested his hand on her back.

  Still sweating and trying to catch her breath, all Gia could offer right then was a smile.