Page 68 of The Mob: Shio Cuppacio
“Yeah, Exhilarate crybaby self about to wake up anyway.”
“Give my baby a kiss for me,” Tuscany cooed.
“Nope! Y’all shouldn’t have left my daughter. She like Memphis too!”
“No the fuck she don’t,” a deep voice boomed, making both of the ladies laugh.
The line disconnected while Tuscany continued to giggle and shake her head as she gathered her purse from the back seat. Shewas in the middle of the hood with a Kelly Birkin, reminding me of Jisei and Dasani.
“I can tell we gone be sisters, even if my bigheaded-ass brother don’t make it off the bench.”
I chuckled, and she reached over and grabbed my hand.
“I mean that, Glow. I know Tunan is a little… hardened, but life be like that. I’m not tellin’ you to be with my brother, whatsoever, but I’m a walkin’ testament that sometimes the complex things do work out. Take my best friend, Aphrodite, that was on the phone just now. She used to be with my husband before I even knew that nigga existed. They share a daughter, Athena, and she’s all our baby girl. Her husband, Goal, is my son’s biological brother. Crazy… yes. I had a damn child by mybest friend’s husband’s daddy, and she got a baby by my husband.”
Tuscan shrugged like she hadn’t just given me a whole novel’s worth of drama.
“It’s complicated, but it works for us, Glow. That’s all I’m sayin’… complicated can work. Come on… I know Mama ’nem done with the food.”
Before Tuscany could open her door, a fine-ass man, whose skin tone reminded me of a worn penny, was at the driver’s door with a blunt hanging from his lips.
Damn, he’s fine. All these niggas are fine.
If this is the husband, I understand why both her and Aphrodite had babies by him and were now best friends. He pulled her from the driver's seat, and she giggled like a schoolgirl as he wrapped his arms around her waist while blowing smoke in her face. That was the sexiest thing I’d ever witnessed. The trunk opened, and then closed, and before I could turn to investigate, my door was being opened too.
“I thought you was gone flake on a nigga.”
How dare the fucking sun sit behind him just right?
Tunan’s smile wasn’t full, but it gleamed just as the biggest star behind him did. I was starting to make his style, which was streetwear. While some of the other men I’d been in the presence of opted to mix and match designers and have a perfect balance of street, casual, and business, Tunan didn’t balance shit. He was all street. A white graphic boxy tee, cut right above his belt loop, matched the yellow and blue Travis Scott Nikes on his feet. His shorts were also white, fitted, and sat an inch above his knee. There was a chain belt hanging from the left side of his belt loops. He couldn’t have been in the sun long because he smelled like soap and Tonka Beans. His hair had been freshly cut, and if his barber was in the yard, I was giving him not only a tip but a shout-out on my socials. He’d outdone himself.
“Hi, Tunan…” I simpered.
Tucking his bottom lip in his mouth, his teeth were on display as he held out his hand. Placing mine in his, I flinched at the shock and wondered if he noticed since he hadn’t reacted. My luggage was at his side in his left hand, confirming he was the one at the trunk a few seconds ago. I’d overpacked and nearly had to swap suitcases, but I didn’t want to risk checking my bag with the airline. Glee had been the one to remove a few items and zip the suitcase closed before she shooed me out the door.
As I stood to my full height, which was still many inches shorter than his, he took a step back with my hand still in his.
“You on dat straight from the airport, hunh?”
I didn’t know the context of his lingo, so I just shyly grinned.
Tunan often used words I hadn’t heard before, even though I was heavy in these social media streets. Memphis just had its own language that I wasn’t sure I’d learn before I was back in the air in twenty-four hours.
“You look good, my baby. That’s all a nigga sayin’,” he said, reading my mind.
“Thanks. You look nice too. I love the shoes. I get jealous when I see people in them because I had too many raffles to count and still came up short.”
I remember when the shoes first dropped. I had my fits picked out and all. But I didn’t get them, and I wasn’t about to ask any of the girls to help me secure them. I refused to wear replicas since those were the only brands that had reached out to sponsor that particular shoe, and I wouldn’t dare pay five hundred for a pair of Nikes. I’d just continued to admire them from afar.
“That ain’t shit. I’ma cop ’em for you.”
“Who dat in da whiteeee?” A face identical to Tunan’s stood from the gamblers’ circle while shaking his fist.
“None of yo’ business. Just roll dem fuckin’ dice so I can get dat bread up outcha.”
The men looked like twins. They even smiled alike; it was scary.
“Baguette, this is Glow,” Tunan said as she came up to us with her man’s arms still around her waist as he walked behind her. He hit me with a quick head nod, and I gave a small wave.
