Page 100 of The Mob: Shio Cuppacio
Ma in Law
Hey babyyyyy! I haven’t heard from you! I went by that empty ass campus last week to take you to lunch and forgot you were going home for the summer. Ain’t nobody told me nothing! I hope you’re having an amazing summer! Sending you some funds for you to enjoy yourself with. I know my son would have wanted you to have it. We love you, and I’m forever rooting for my future doctor!
The text was followedby an Apple payment of three thousand dollars. Tears pooled in my eyes again as I exited from the text thread. I had half a mind to tell her I’d given birth to her second grandchild, but that was just one more person to be disappointed in me. I hadn’t spoken to Leader’s family in a few weeks because I’d been trying to finish exams, move out of the condo, and get over the flu, which I now knew were early labor signs. My goal was to catch up with them once I’d settle in Jagoda Bay at my sister’s townhouse. I’d more than settled in the few days I’d been here.
Nonetheless, this was my mess. It was bad enough that she still hadn’t been able to see her first grandchild due to Leader’s baby mother playing baby games. She'd been the reason Leader was spending the next almost decade of his life locked away. Had she not gotten in his car with his drugs that she’d stolen and started a fight, prompting the police to pull him over, he’d still be here. And if he were here, he, too, would be disappointed. I couldn’t bear the thought of one more person being upset with me, so I locked my phone screen without responding.
What could Leader do anyway? He couldn’t raise a child from jail.
Knock knock knock
“Come in,” I whispered loud enough so that the person on the other side of the door could hear me, but soft enough to not disturb the baby.
Three large yellow, pink, and blue balloons greeted me before the guest could. There was a matching gift bag that was big enough for a toddler to fit inside. Once the person entered, my curiosity turned into discontent. I wasn’t sad because of who had entered, but because she hadn’t meant to enter my room.
Black biker shorts sat on her thick legs, and she wore an oversized graphic T-shirt with Selena on it, along with matching black and red Jordans. Her fresh braids were pulled up in a half-up, half-down style, with two pieces hanging on the sides of her face. Had I known I was gearing up to have a baby, I, too, would have gotten braids minus the boho strands.
Who was I kidding? Had I known I was having a baby, it wouldn’t have been born. I would have been right at the chop shop just like Blayke had.
“Hey, girl! Happy first Mother’s Day!” She paused. “Opp, I’m sorry! Did I wake the baby?” she whispered.
Looking down, I shook my head no.
Placing the balloons and gift bag on the couch where the father of the child should have been spending his nights, she turned to the sink and washed her hands. “I’m Pearla.”
“I know who you are. I’m Glee.”
Pearla twisted, eyes on the baby. She wasn’t cheery, but she wasn’t as sad as I was. She seemed somewhere right in the middle.
“Um… I think the other lady, the one who’s friends with my sister? I think she’s down the hall.”
I was still shocked that I’d been transported to the private wing with the lady. Before Blayke’s parents had come, she had given me an earful about the fine-ass, dangerous-looking men on the floor. She’d even told me the other lady had given birth to twins—a lady I now knew as one of my sister’s friends. Glow kept her friends secluded. I only knew a few things about them due to my lurking on their social media accounts from when they posted my sister or she posted them. I’d seen Pearla on one of their profiles and came across her social media accounts. I’d liked her posts anytime I saw them because she was always fly. She hadn’t posted much lately, though, and I wondered if the reason was the same reason her eyes held weight like mine.
Pearla’s brow rose. “You talking about my sister’s stepmama?”
“Uhh…”
“Discover. She was married to my sister’s gay daddy. Now she’s engaged with Metavello.”
“Metavello?”
“Yeah, my sister’s fiancé’s twin brother.”
“Oh…”
Pearla squinted her eyes. “You lost about everything around here, hunh?”
I nodded.
I was still trying to process the fact that my sister seemed to have a whole man now that called himself her husband. I was in pain, but I knew what I’d heard before they wheeled me up here. I’d nearly died when I went into labor, but I still remember the shock on everyone’s faces when Blayke and I walked through the hospital doors.
Pearla took a seat where the nurse had just been, keeping her eyes on the baby before looking back at me. “It’s a lot going on, but we’re all here for each other. That’s how it is in the moin this family,” she stated, stumbling over her words. “But we protectour own. Everybody has a job to do, and one day, you’ll learn yours. For now, I’d like it if we were friends. I could use another one, and I’m sure you can too.”
I licked my lips again, and my need must’ve been evident because Pearla reached into the Louis Vuitton crossbody bag and pulled out a Carmex. I took it, smeared some on my finger, and gave it back to her. The medicated balm felt amazing as it left a greasy film over my parched lips.
“Thank you. And I’d like that. I don’t know how good a friend I can be right now, though. I’m sure I’m about to be pretty occupied.” I chuckled, glancing down at the bundle.
“Can I?” Pearled motioned for the baby.
