Page 67 of The Mob: Shio Cuppacio
No matter how many views I got, it was still baffling to me when people recognized me. I wasn’t a celebrity. I was just a girl who ate on camera and got brand deals for it.
“Girl,” Tuscany tsked. “Who doesn’t watch you?”
She turned the steering wheel to the left while her right tires careened down the incline. The airport was now in our rear-view mirror, and the bubbles had now settled in my belly.
“Lots of people don’t watch me.” I chuckled. “But I appreciate your support. I know you’re his sister. Can you tell me your name again? I want to make sure I pronounce it right.”
Tunan didn't do much talking that night, mostly listening, but he’d spoken about his sister a few times. It was clear that he loved and respected her to no end.
“Tuscany Payne… Cherman, I mean. My husband hears me use my maiden name, and he will appear out of thin air, looking ugly in the face!” She beamed at the mention of her spouse.
Her smile was infectious, causing me to produce a grin of my own.
She shot me another quick glance as she veered through traffic. “I’m fan girling over here, and that’s something I usually do not do. My daughter, Athena, put me on to you. Thanks to you, her daddy done made more than a few seafood places rich ’round the city. I’d appreciate it if you ate some peanut butter jelly sandwiches or some shit the next few videos. Go easy on my nigga.”
Tossing my head back, laughter escaped from my chest, and just as Gray Wig had done, Tuscany made me feel at ease.
“I am not a fan of peanut butter, but I got you. Don’t have Athena spamming my comments, going off on me when I switch up, though.” We laughed together, knowing how girls and women can be.
The semi-smooth tar of the expressway was now long gone and had been replaced with crater-sized potholes thatTuscany dodged with ease.Buildings that had seen better days, some with air conditioning units hanging from them, appeared alongside children playing on the sidewalks and riding bikes in the streets. There was a man with a towel covering his head while pushing a shopping cart and a green old-school car on tall rims, doing donuts in an empty parking lot. We were in the hood. I wasn’t a stranger to the hood at all, but I’d never visited the areas since I grew up lower-middle-class. I wasn’t green to the ghettos. I’d gone to the Bricks on a few occasions with Jisei and Mocha, and each time I’d gone, I had a time. But this wasn’t Jagoda Bay. This was Memphis, Tennessee, the fucking murder capital.
“Ion know what you and Tunan got goin’ on, and even though my brother is cute or whatever…” She rolled her eyes. “I can’tbelievehe knows you. But I am glad you came to visit here with him.”
There was a red light, and instead of the car slowing, Tuscany looked both ways and ran it. My heart accelerated as I searched the area for the police, expecting flashing blue lights. When they didn’t come, I relaxed. I opened my mouth to say that Tunan and I weren’t together, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. I’d fucked that man like I was on camera, getting paid for it. I’d drenched his dick with my juices, and the mere thought of it had me saturating my panties. So, I just gave his sister a tight-lipped smile.
“He’s been through a lot when it comes to these bitches. Tunan is one of six, but he’s one of one, for real. He’s always been his own man—always figured his own way out. Right now, he needs someone real; someone who has too much to lose. Never will I ever encourage a woman to build a nigga up, even if that nigga is my brother. I will say, though, I’m glad he’s not giving these nothing-ass hoes his time. You a great look, Glow.”
I’d been ten seconds from saying I wasn’t with her brother, but here I was, smiling like a crazy woman in the front seat of this vehicle. Hearing that I was a good catch didn’t have the same effect as being recognized by someone. I knew I was a catch. My knowing I was a catch was one of the main reasons why I was single. I’d built myself up, brick by brick, and refused to let a man come around trying to tear it down or control what I’d done myself. The men who had the pleasure of fucking me hadn’t been worth ten dead dogs. Being single was easy. It was stress-free. And before I linked with my girls, it had been the best choice I’d made.
Being single wouldn’t get me the inclusion I want with my girls, though. If I truly wanted to belong, I had to change the status of my relationship, and Tunan seemed willing to help with that.
The car rolled to a stop in front of the last house on a dead-end street. Even though we were in the hood, all of the houses were new. They couldn’t have been more than fifteen hundred square feet, but the different exterior colors made them look bigger. The home we stopped in front of had white siding, dark green shutters that almost looked black, and a small, lush lawn. It was the biggest on the block, and even though it was just as slim as the other houses, it went up two stories.
There was a group of men hunched down in the middle of the yard, fussing and pointing at each other, while others stood, scanning the area.
“These niggas gone burn the fuck up, gamblin’ in the hot-ass sun.” Parking the car, Tuscany’s phone rang, and the name Aphrodite flashed across the display. “Bestie boo,” she sang as I attempted to scan the yard for Tunan.
“Un hunh! Don’tbestie boome, hoe! Where my baby daddy?”
My eyes nearly flew out of their sockets as the voice blared through the speakers. Still, Tuscany smiled while looking past me at the yard of men.
“I can’twaitto tell Goal you called my husband your baby daddy.”
“Oh God! Please don’t get him started.”
“Right. But he shootin’ dice. You’ll have to wait till he takes these niggas money, and then call back.”
“Is Tunan playing?” the voice asked.
It was as if he sensed his name because he stood up from the ground with a stack of money in his hands, his hat sitting atop his head in a cocked manner, and a lazy grin on his face. I couldn’t tear my gaze from his profile while his grin remained in place. His eyes were on the car, but he hadn’t moved. I wasn’t even standing, and I could already feel my knees threatening to give out. My lips parted, but nothing came out except a slight breath. My hands moistened as I gripped the seat belt diagonally across my body. Someone said something to him, causing him to look away from the car, and only then did I snap back to reality.
He’s so damn fine.
My inner voice sounded, not helping my current state. It didn’t take long for the other side of my brain to speak up.
But, you know that, Glow.He’s just a man—one of many.
Pulling me out of my head, Tuscany sounded beside me. “Girl, bye! I’ma call you back!”
