“I wouldn’t mind that,” Lexi chimed in, always ready to be up under her man.
“I bet you wouldn’t, little nasty self.” We all laughed. Nissa teased her sister, knowing she didn’t have any room to talk. Hell, none of us did. After hanging out with them that first night, I thought Nissa was going to be the one always under her man, buttime proved me wrong. Now, it was all of us. It took acts of God to pry me away from Ramel, but I was happy I could still make time for my girls.
I hadn’t known Lexi and Nissa for long, but they were easily the best friends I ever had. I could literally call either one of them with a problem, and they wouldn’t get off the phone until we figured whatever it was out together. That was why, after Ramel, they were the first people I wanted to share my big news with.
“Seriously, though, Gina, are you sure this is what you want?”
“Of course, this is what she wants, Lexi. The girl has been secretly wanting to sing her whole life. Now it’s finally her time to shine.”
“I get that, but have you thought about how long you will be gone? Things seem really good between you and Ramel. Are you sure you ready to leave him behind for months at a time?”
“He will be here when she gets back.”
“Nissa, not everyone is like you. You’ve been in the military for so long that you think it’s normal to be away from the people you love for so long. You’re just like that.”
“And so is Method. He knows what it is like to have to leave your loved ones behind. At least she’s not going off to war. Gina will go on tour, sing a few songs, and come home to him in one piece. Method will be fine, I promise.”
Hearing the sisters go back and forth kind of made me sad because I hadn’t once thought about how Ramel would feel about my leaving. Of course, I knew he would be happy that I was chasing my dreams, but Lexi was right. Being away from each other wasn’t something I had let sit on my mind. Now that the thought was there, it was starting to bother me.
“And what about your parents? Are you just ready to sign on the dotted line and forget all they’ve put you through over the years? Who’s to say they won’t up and abandon you again?”
Lexi was making valid points. First, with Ramel, and now, with my parents. Singing, to their record label, meant forgiving them for all the past wrongdoings or at least pretending to. I didn’t think I was ready to just move forward in a relationship with them if we didn’t at least acknowledge how much they’d hurt me.
“Way to ruin a good time.”
Nissa rolled her eyes at Lexi as she noticed my mood change. I’d gone from ecstatic about my future to completely unsure. All the issues that Lexi was bringing up were things I should have been asking myself before allowing myself to get all worked up about going. Now there was a good chance of backing out altogether.
“That’s not what I was trying to do. I just wanted her to put a little thought into this. I’m sorry, Gina, if I ruined your moment.”
“It’s okay, Lex. You’re right. I should have thought of everything you mentioned, but I got so caught up.” My eyes started watering out of nowhere. “When my mother called and told me how much she loved my song and how proud of me she was, I caved. You guys can’t understand how long I have been waiting to hear those words from her.”
Lexi and Nissa were seated on opposite sides of me, and they both instantly scooted closer. The tears were now falling, and I couldn’t hide them if I wanted. My emotions mixed with the shot were about to ruin my makeup.
“I can imagine. We all want to live up to the expectations of our parents. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Anissa said, using her napkin to dab my face. I thought she was trying to salvage my look.
“Actually, I’ve never cared for anyone’s approval, but I can see how that would affect you guys.”
Lexi’s attempt to sound sincere only caused Nissa and me to laugh harder because we both knew she was dead serious. Lexi didn’t care about anyone else’s opinion, not even her man’s. She had her own bubble, and whoever got to enter it was blessed to witness her.
“Can you believe this girl is a licensed therapist?” Nissa joked about her sister, causing us all to laugh harder.
“I actually can. But thanks for asking the hard questions, Lex. I promise I am going to put my thoughts into my decision going forward.”
“Good for you.”
“I love y’all,” I admitted, getting emotional all over again.
“And we love you.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Ramel
“What’s on your mind, young blood? You been quiet all day.”
Top walked into my office for the third time, instantly annoying me. His being in my office wasn’t unusual. We worked together a lot to make sure a lot of the kinks we were experiencing as a company were worked out before it made it to Cap. As the commander, he had too many other things on his plate.
