Page 102 of The Mob: Shio Cuppacio
I nodded again.
Using her shoulder, Pearla swiped at her tears. “Let me stop crying. I done made you cry, and next the baby will be crying. Can’t have that.”
Pearl’s phone began to ring. Using her free hand, she pulled it from her pants and rolled her eyes at the screen. Using her pinky finger, she swiped the button, connecting to a FaceTime.
“Damn, bitch! Let us see the baby! You already got us up early as hell waiting on an update.” I heard a voice ring out before the black box connected to show a face.
Someone kissed their teeth. “Right! Let us see!”
“First, y’all need to speak to the mama.”
Pearla held the phone up and flipped it so I could see. Tucking my messy hair behind my ears, I waved at two pretty girls. One was lighter than me but had a bonnet on her head, while the other was chocolate, pressing out her hair in the mirror. I could see a cheer uniform on her body and wondered which school she went to.
“Hey, girl!” the darker one spoke first.
“Oh, you’re pretty. Hey, boo!” the other said before Pearla turned the phone back around.
“Y’all so rude. The one in the cheer fit is Mahzeyah, and the other is Bella.”
“I’m big mad I gotta do cheer camp on the weekends and all summer,” Mahzeyah fussed. “Now, let us see our baby before I have to go.”
Pearla looked at me for confirmation. When I nodded, she held the phone over the baby.
Squeals erupted from the phone as the baby still slept peacefully.
“Y’all too loud!”
“My bad, my bad! That baby is so damn pretty! The niggas really gonna be on us with a baby riding shotgun. You know they love playing stepdaddy to bad bitches.”
“Bella, please!” Pearla rolled her eyes with a grin.
I loved their dynamic, and it made me miss my own best friend. I hadn’t heard from Blayke, which meant her parents had taken her phone.
“What’s the baby’s name?” Pearla asked.
Licking my lips, I inhaled and exhaled, repelling all the negative thoughts and feelings.
I didn’t know how he’d feel about it, but only one name came to mind. “Her name is Leader.”
Chapter 18
Solana Damita Ledesma
Since the engagement party, I’d been on a cloud of funk. I’d missed the not-so-surprise engagement and the surprised laboring start, but I received messages from the ladies with videos and pictures. I hadn’t given out my contact information, but since they were affiliated with the mob, I’m sure my number wasn’t hard to acquire. I was added to a group chat that had been quiet since the night of the engagement. That night, I went back to Shio’s home solo. I felt too beautiful to change, soI got in my zone while lying in bed fully clothed. I didn’t want Shio disturbing me, so I locked and barricaded the door as I had many times before. He hadn’t bothered me, though, which was his usual memo as well.
The pretty lady who was about to pop had a beautiful engagement, according to the group chat, and I almost felt bad about missing it. Seeing everyone rally around her when her water broke on the stage had my stomach in knots. It was hard to witness any kind of happiness when I knew I’d never have that. A man would never get down on one knee and ask me to be his bride. I had been negotiated and handed over on a 24-karat golden platter. Discover —sí, ese es su nombre(yes, that’s her name) —seemed like a nice lady who deserved happiness, andshe also deserved to have those who were genuinely enthusiastic about her in attendance.
Yo era simplemente una extranjera(I was simply a foreigner).
For the past week, I had been sulking. My daily activities were working out with Shio because he wouldn’t let me skip out, eating the healthy stuff he kept in his fridge so I wouldn’t starve, and staying up all night, lost in my thoughts, just to sleep the next day away.Before the engagement, I’d been sleeping, but I’d also been looking forward to the time I spent around the American boy. We’d work out and eat together, and that was enough because my coño (pussy) would quake the whole time. Now, I did my workouts and ran right back to my room. I felt disgusting for lusting after Shio when he had dealings with the beautiful woman, Glow. However, I told myself today that I was bringing myself out of my coma. I was leaving this room and seeing what the king of the castle was prioritizing. I’d keep my thoughts respectful.
Like always, I woke up well past noon. By the time I showered, fingered my curls since they still looked good despite the sweating and sleeping I’d been doing this week, and got dressed in a Skims tank dress that hugged my body down to the ankles, it was almost five in the evening. I’d gone braless since the dress had thin straps, but it was so form-fitting that it held everything in place. Staring back at myself in the floor-length mirror, I could see the effects of the workouts and the healthy eating. My curves were more defined, my stomach flatter, and even though my limbs were stiff and sore most days, I looked amazing. I’d asked Shio multiple times if he was trying to condition me for war, and each time he ignored me and continued to dish out instructions in his underground gym.
Shio was the calmest, most stern personal trainer I’d ever seen. I mean, I’d never had one myself, but I did see themin action online and on television. He’d show me the workout, instruct me to do it, and then go on about his business, doing his own version of the exercise. The first three workouts were brutal; I could barely get through a set without feeling like I had to throw up, but it had gotten better. All this week, you would have thought I was Superman with the way I was zipping through the sets like I’d been doing it my entire life instead of just a couple of weeks. Shio was even impressed. He hadn’t voiced it, but the look on his face said it all.
Spraying Ummo all over my body until the honey fresh tobacco scent was nearly too much to bear, I took one last look in the mirror. Seeing snot dripping from my nostrils, I snatched a piece of tissue and wiped my nose before washing my hands, grabbing my phone, and prancing out of the bedroom. The warm notes of my perfume trailed behind me. After our workout on Wednesday, I got back to my room to find more items in the closet. One of my favorite addictions, aside from Skims lounge wear, was the Mexican brand fragrances I loved. Even though I looked darker than my Hispanic lineage, I had been born and raised in Mexico City, and it was pretty much all I knew. Among my favorites stored in the closet was XINU, a Mexican brand founded by a husband and wife based in my hometown, Mexico City.
Shio had been quiet since the engagement party too. He would knock on the door to let me know when he was leaving, or ask me after breakfast what I wanted the next day, but that was it. I hadn’t yet joined him at church, mainly because I wasn’t up for it, but he had been going without me.Seeing his mother at the engagement dinner made me feel nervous because I was not one of them. She was nice and pretty, but I only imagined the things she said about me after I walked away. Elders in Mexico had never been kind to me, so I expected nothing different in the States. It shouldn’t matter either way because I wasn’t here forlong. I was simply going to enjoy my time in their world because, like Shio said on the drive to the engagement party, there’s no telling when I might be thisgratis (free)again.
