Chapter 6
Shio Cuppacio
Beep Beep Beep
Blindly reaching for my phone, I hit the snooze button and stretched my limbs. As I sat up in bed, the cream silk sheets gathered at my waist. As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, I was hit with the smell of heat and tainted air, reminding me that I wasn’t in Jagoda Bay anymore.
My thudding bladder led me from the bed, across the cool marble floors, to the toilet. I hit the light on my way inside, and the Dove body wash on the side of the garden-style tub was an indication that I’d taken a long, hot bath hours ago.
Late last night, I arrived in the beautiful land of Mexico City.
Even in the dark, the streets reeked of culture.
Spices filled the air from the street hustlers, and bold, bright colors were everywhere I looked.
This land was filled with history. If I’d had the time, I would have checked out a few of the many museums, visited at least one of the cathedrals, and made my way to Teotihuacán to walk the land that holds the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.
They were just as fascinating as the land they were built on, since the pyramids were used for rituals, offerings, and sacrifices.
I knew the energy, along with the architecture, was worth experiencing.
There was so much to do here, and the shopping was like no other.
I don’t know what the fuck they had going on in the States, but Mexico’s malls were on steroids.
All of them were luxurious and filled with shit you couldn’t get back home, no matter how much paper you had.
I wasn’t here for all that, though. And had I been, I would have preferred something soft by my side, so I could drop some bread on her while showing her a new world. That shit wasn’t an option, for now.
Although I was clear across the country, my routine was still one that I had to abide by.
After shaking the piss from my dick, I stood at the his-and-hers sink.
Looking to the right of me, I saw no feminine products taking up space on the counter, which had me biting down on my molars.
I’d stood my date up, but hopefully Tunan was able to show her a good time.
She deserved that much, and he needed to get out as well.
He’d been spending all his time with his other siblings and me, so some interaction with someone who didn’t share the same blood as him would do him some good.
The electric toothbrush tickled my gums as it worked its magic to remove any plaque that may have formed overnight.
After spitting the toothpaste residue mixed with my saliva into the running water, I flossed, washed my face, added moisturizer, and then sunscreen.
Folks thought that since we were black, we didn’t need protecting from the sun.
I thought that too at one point until my dermatologist put me on a few years ago.
Now, I incorporate it into my daily skincare routine, and I look forward to seeing the results over the next few years.
Seafoam green Nike running shorts that stopped at my upper thigh, matching Nike sneakers, and my Apple Watch were all I took with me out the door.
The ride from the elevator to the lobby was a short one, and as soon as I made my way through the semi-busy lobby, my heart accelerated.
Ignoring lusty looks from employees and lodgers alike, I removed my Nike top and sprinted from the pavement to the trail.
Mexico City was in its rainy season. With its location being in a valley and surrounded by nothing but mountains, the terrain traps moisture, creating cooler environments that lead to showers.
Of all the seasons, it rained most of spring, all of summer, and part of fall.
Today, though, Mother Nature must’ve been on my side because it was hotter than a bitch, and the sun was blazing high in the sky with not a cloud in sight.
Trees covering the trail would shield me from the sun, but a nigga could use a nice breeze during my run.
A five-mile trek was my normal day-to-day routine, but today I was doubling it.
Don had me clear across the fucking world on a suicide mission, and my brain had been putting in overtime, coming up with a million ways this shit could go bad.
Exercise and what I put into my body played a major role in how my day-to-day went.
I was hoping that if I knocked out my run early, everything would go smoothly.
I’d been preaching to my cousins about finding better routines to keep their health in tip-top shape.
We, as humans, consume so much bullshit.
The food and energy of the world were deteriorating us, and we were failing to realize how big of an impact they both had on speeding up the rate of our deaths.
That’s why, when it came to problems, I tried my best to solve them instead of letting that shit linger and boil into a pot of mess.
Holding feelings and opinions hostage created nothing but quiet frustration, and I ain’t have time for that.
If people had an issue, their best bet would be to solve it on their own before fucking up somebody else’s day.
As for food, I loved carbs and fried foods just as much as the next person.
I just knew how much of the shit to consume.
During the holidays, I had one plate and a few desserts and left it at that.
I ate until I was satisfied—not stuffed—and protein was a huge part of my diet.
Above all, I drank my water and minded my fucking business unless it involved a Cuppacio.
Instead of letting my mind wander off into places that would take an additional ten miles to clear out, I focused on the empty path ahead of me. As sweat poured from my pores, I mentally recanted my personal to-do list a few more times.
“Time to check off one of these shits. Fucking Mexico City, let’s do this.”
“So, Demise Rinaldi can send one of his henchmen but can’t come face me himself?”
Metal clinked against the ceramic plates as Ines’s family stuffed their faces.
He sat at the head of the table with his wife at the far end, who had yet to wipe the snarl off her face.
Three of his oldest children, all boys, sat on the left side of the table, and three of his youngest children, again all boys, sat on the right side.
I was seated on the side with the younger children, but I didn’t give a fuck as long as I could see every door in the room.
The younger children—all of whom were Hispanic like their parents—either had their heads in a tablet or a phone.
It wasn't much different on the left side.
They, too, were all occupied with their electronic devices, looking like they wanted to be anywhere but here.
Ines's wife, Maura, hadn't spoken up once about her children having distractions at the dinner table.
She only smiled at them when her gaze landed on any of the six, but when she cut her eyes to me, her lips instantly went upside down again.
It was such a shame, too, with her being a beautiful woman.
Had she known her filler shifted every time she frowned, she might have thought twice about that.
Ines Ledesma waited impatiently for me to answer.
But he would be waiting until his food got cold because I had no intention of answering anything rhetorical.
With the way his belly was protruding, he needed to push back from the plate any fucking way.
I had a wellness and fitness plan that would have him in top shape in no time, especially since he was slim everywhere else except his midsection.
“Henchmen are errand boys now?” His Mexico City accent was so thick that his English ran all together.
My ear perked up at the screeching sound of his wife’s laughter.
Instead of returning the scowl she’d been tossing me all evening, I stared straight ahead at the empty chair in front of me.
The older children hadn’t given the vacant chair a second glance.
The house was fully staffed with not only guards at every entrance, but also three strategically placed in the dining room, where we were attempting to have dinner.
The chair wouldn’t have been left there if it were meant to be empty.
I could tell with the way the staff had been scrubbing the nonexistent dust upon entry that Cruella here liked for everything to be perfect.
The inside of the mansion was just as colorful as one would expect from a rich Hispanic family.
The casita was beautiful, but that’s all it was.
The energy was fucked up in the motherfucker, and I was about ready to get the fuck on.
“Are we expecting another guest?” I asked no one in particular.
A snort sounded from Maura Ledesma, making her husband shift his dark eyes from me to her.
Had his orbs been a bullet, his wife would have been shot dead.
Shifting in her chair was an indicator that she was now uncomfortable and knew she’d stepped out of line.
Instead of backing down, she picked up her champagne flute, placed it to her burgundy-hued lips, and took a sip, leaving the rim stained.
For her to be so snooty, you’d think she had access to a professional makeup artist who would’ve told her the lip color choice was a bust. The shit did nothing for her complexion, making her look like she’d been left in the tanning bed two hours longer than needed.
She resembled a tortilla that had been dipped in birria consomé.
The child next to me placed his iPad down and turned in his seat to face me.
Keeping my posture toward the seat across from me, I turned my neck and looked down at the child who looked much like his father.
In fact, all the children, young and old, looked like either Ines, Maura, or a combination of the two. There were no outliers among the bunch.