Page 139 of Heart Of A Goon II

I watched as she self-regulated. Her ass probably wanted to tell me to shut the fuck up again, but she stopped herself. “I will tell you this… there won’t be too many excuses for her. The way she was screaming at Mommy while going through withdrawals didn’t sit right with me. We’re all trying to help her and she’s not even trying to help herself… now, we can go, Pumpkin.”

She swung her Chanel bag onto her shoulder and walked over to the Jeep. I held the door opened as she climbed in, and I put our smaller bags in the backseat. I had a surprise for her tonight and then we would check into the resort.

Recommendation: Listen to “You Remind Me (Remix)” by Mary J Blige.

Soon as we left the gates of the private airport, I put the top back. Boobie had her hand out the window as we drove through town, getting caught in the local traffic. We bypassed vendors on the side of the street selling their produce. The music played between us, because neither of us rushed to speak.

It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, either. She expressed how she felt and I accepted it, even if what she said was hard to process. She was sounding like Khaos, and while I understood where they were coming from, something in my heart wouldn’t allow it to happen.

What the fuck I looked like tossing her out on her ass, no matter how many times the thought came across my head.

I reached for her hand, and she placed it inside of mine, as I lifted it and kissed the back of it. “I love you, Baby.”

She looked over her sunglasses. “I love you, Pumpkin.”

I smirked. “Oh shit.”

“What?”

“Never thought I’d hear Ms. Lawyer Lady say that shit so willingly.”

We both laughed, as I drove further away from the city and into the more rural area. “Where are we going?”

“Up country.”

“I’m gonna pretend I know what that means. We passed by the KFC and now we over here next to farms and shit.”

My grandparents owned land in Mile Gully, which was in Manchester Parrish. All of this farmland felt like home to me. I grew up always driving these same winding roads to their home. The air felt different and the sun shinned a bit brighter.

Even being here, I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. I had to come today and see them, and sleep under their roof. I knew Boobie was going to throw a fit, but I wanted her to understand me.

When I first came home after being locked up, I sat in the second room and wanted to cry because the shit felt like heaven. You didn’t know what you missed until it was taken away from you.

We didn’t get to visit back home often once we were older because money was tight. Whenever moms could get a cheap flight for us, we came and spend time here. I’d run on the land, go down to the water pump and refill the water jugs. All the shit that modern ass kids would throw a fit over, I did it because I loved being here.

She let her hair free from the bun it was in, as I drove up a hill. I watched as she sang along to the music as her hair was going wild in the air. This peace wasn’t some thing that I could ever pay for.

Her hand did a wave motion out the window, while she sang her entire heart out. I loved seeing this part of her because it was one she never let anyone see often. Not even her own family got the chance to witness this.

Zoya being peaceful and free was foreign to many people.

Not me.

The further we drove into Mile Gully, the more the road disappeared from us. Pavement gave way, as we hit the curved roads that took us further into the hills. It was a rough drive, but one the locals made every day. I shifted the gear the deeper we got into the hills. Boobie was gripping the door every time we hit a dip in the road. The homes this way weren’t stacked on each other. Once you saw one, you could see miles and miles of green before you would run into another one.

The lines with clothes swinging in the wind with animals and greenery as the background. People here were so happy with less. We often thought we needed it all, when those that lived here already felt they had it all.

Living off your own land sounded like a fucking dream to me.

“Pumpkin, I know you said that we’re going up country, but where is that?” She looked around nervously, as I shifted gears again, as we took another turn around the curves.

“Country, Baby… told you already.”

“Gerald, this ain’t the country. People come to disappear here… like bodies. I watch enough shows to know this ain’t right.”

“You trust me?”

She touched her stomach. “We’re not sure.”