The Night of Neltz’s Birthday Party
The night of Neltz’s Birthday Party
Peeling my gloves off, I tossed them into the fire sitting in the middle of a vacant field just outside the city limits.
A warm, orange glow illuminated my face from the flames, which were eating away at the green, rustic Ford Explorer until it was just a shell.
My clothes were next, even the shoes, and when I was sure that the clothes had fed the fire, I unzipped the duffle and pulled out my change of clothes.
By the time I was dressed, the fire had grown wild, so I jogged to my vehicle parked a few feet away.
The heat burned my back, but it wasn't enough to be painful. Tossing the duffle onto the bed of my truck, I hopped into the driver’s seat and took off.
Keep Hobo alive.
That was yet another thing added to my extensive list, which had grown over the months since we settled in Jagoda Bay.
But, for Neltz, I would do it. Ever since I caught wind of those little niggas planning Hobo’s demise, I knew I had to intervene.
Their plan was too fucking flawed. They hadn’t fact-checked shit.
Had I let them go through with their little mission, that would have been just extra shit for us Cuppacios to clean up.
With Ezio having a new baby and being a fucking newlywed, Renello planning a wedding, and Metavello preparing for twins, I was the most available man, so that automatically made me responsible for all these little niggas.
It was cool, though. I’d always been the fucking fixer of the bunch and had grown used to doing what I had to do to make sure everyone around me was okay mentally and physically.
Nonetheless, my plate was past full. I couldn’t even fit a fucking dinner roll on it, and Neltz, along with Italian, getting caught up in some bullshit would push my food onto the floor.
I couldn’t have that. A nigga was hungry more than ever now that we’d tasted the good shit since leaving Chicago.
We hadn’t killed Hobo, but I needed all of our DNA from today’s events destroyed.
One day, he would meet his end when Neltz was strong enough to stomach it, and when that time came, I didn’t need some detective that took his job a little too seriously to come and try to piece together some shit that was handled sloppily.
Neltz still had eight years until he turned eighteen, but the law has been known to dig up evidence from fifty years ago.
Scientists have been cloning Saber-tooth tigers with DNA from millions of years ago, so I didn’t put anything above the government.
If a person wanted to know something, they could dig until they found out, but with me, you’d be digging until you reached the core of the fucking earth before I was caught slipping.
I waited until I was about an hour outside of Jagoda Bay before I turned my phones on.
There was no need for GPS because I knew exactly where I was headed.
I’d only made the drive once, and that was nearly a year ago.
Still, I knew it by heart. I’d been putting this shit off long enough.
I'd passed the ball, waiting for a nigga to pick it up and make a play, but that shit had just been rolling around on the court. Now it was time for me to show my face.
When both of my phones powered on, the one I used for personal interactions connected to the radio, and Lana Del Ray’s “West Coast” rattled through the speakers.
One day, I’d stumbled across her music during my workouts, and she had a nigga hooked.
Them Cuppacio boys clowned me anytime I wasn’t playing rap, R&B, or Selena.
I enjoyed all types of music, though. Classical, jazz, and gospel were amongst my favorites, but rap, especially my boy, Essex, was the most relatable to me, so it got the most play.
Bobbing my head to her whisper-like chords, a text came through on my personal iPhone. Picking up the overused device, my thumb swiped the screen, not stopping until I reached my messages.
Glow
Yes, I’m good. Just leaving Neltz’s party. I’m calling it a night early.
Reading Glow’s response to a message I sent right after I slipped away, I waited for the butterflies to flutter in my belly and for my heart to skip a beat.
All of that good shit I know my family was experiencing, I paused for it to hit me.
When it didn’t come, I shifted my eyes to the open road in front of me before typing out a reply.
You got that breakfast video to film tomorrow, right?
Glow had caught my eye from the moment I set foot in Jisei’s yard.
Usually, I liked my women with a bit more melanin in their skin, but the light-skinned beauty had me intrigued.
She was slim, almost too slim, but she had enough ass to declare her slim-thick.
We’d been texting mostly because my life wasn’t set up enough to date.
Ironically, I didn’t have the time to entertain a woman, but acquiring a wife was on my priority list. Had it not been for my hectic lifestyle, I would have long ago swooped Glow off her feet. But time hadn’t been on my side.
With Demise hovering over us with our pending marriages, I knew my time frame for crowning a queen was something that I couldn’t delay much longer.
However, every time I planned on getting up with Glow, some bullshit fell in my path that I had to clean up.
The twins had finally gotten it right. Vello wasn’t engaged yet, but I knew it was coming soon.
I was the last one left, and instead of stressing everyone the fuck out, I was just going to propose to Glow.
On paper, Glow was perfect for me. Shit, she was perfect for any nigga.
Not only was she pretty, but she was successful.
She’d made a killing off of doing food reviews all over the city.
Who would have known motherfuckers would get a kick out of watching someone suck on a crab leg, but with how fucking attractive she was, I would watch anything she put in her mouth too.
Instead of continuing to waste her time with small talk, I hit the plus sign on the bottom left side of the screen, selected the Apple Cash icon, and sent her a stack.
I didn’t know how much the breakfast food would cost, but I knew she ordered a plethora of shit to try out just by watching a few of her videos.
When the money went through, seconds later, bubbles formed at the bottom of the screen.
Glow
Shio! Thank you so much! But you did not have to send me that!
It’s all good.
The highway split into two sections, and instead of merging to the right, which led to Sparkling City, I ventured to the left lane.
Glow
You always say that. I feel like I have to do something for you. Outside of holidays and events with your family we haven’t even seen each other. No date or anything. I gotta take you out.
Reading her message, discomfort settled in my chest, causing me to grip the stirring wheel.
It would be a cold day in hell before I allowed a woman to take me out.
Not that I was a sexist or no shit like that, but I did the fucking courting, and I paid the fucking tab.
My woman could make all the money in the world, but I didn’t need her spending hers on me.
She could blow hers like a fan, and then come and blow mine, and it still wouldn’t put a dent in my pockets. All it would do is make my dick stiff.
Glow and I made sense. She was one of Jisei’s best friends and was versed in my lifestyle.
Granted, she wasn’t mob-affiliated by blood or marriage, but she’d been around us long enough to know that we weren’t regular niggas.
Plus, she’d heard us call Demise Don enough times to put two and two together.
I’d looked into Glow before I called myself pursuing her, and her background was clean.
A few sucker-ass boyfriends, a divorced pair of parents who were still in her life, and a little sister who was a little older than Pearla is what she came with.
Even though she was a content creator garnering millions of views with her food reviews, she hadn’t told a soul about who we were or what we did.
I knew because I’d looked into that too.
Whenever I made the time to get her to my fucking self, she was going to make the perfect bride for me. First, I had to handle this, though.
After wishing Glow a good night, I switched the radio from Lana to Sonder. My boy, Brent Faiyaz, was in his bag when he was part of a group. I still fuck with his new shit, but I vibed with his old shit heavy.
Things have been quiet with the mob. Everyone seemed to be settled, and these days, the only issue we had hovering over us was Grind still being in a coma.
Other than that, we’d all just been playing our roles and getting this paper.
Hopefully, things could stay calm so that I could seal my deal and have Don not side-eyeing me every time we were in the same room.
I’d had a long-ass day wrestling with Hobo’s big ass, and now, I had a long-ass drive. I wouldn’t be at my destination for another five hours, so I locked in, blasted my music, and enjoyed the wide open road.