Chapter 8 #6
“Correct. All is forgiven, friend, but don’t do that shit no more.” Jisei wiggled her finger at me before hugging Scarlett and me.
“I won’t! I promise.”
The remaining ladies all rolled their eyes before breaking into laughter.
Just like that, we were back to our old selves, and I was relieved.
I would need to talk about what to do about Tunan to somebody.
All of the mob wives had their chaotic story on how they married into the mob or married because of the mob, but no one had married for personal gain in the way Tunan and I had.
As I tuned back into the conversation, I smiled, realizing I’d finally gotten what I wanted.
I wasn’t just friends or affiliated, I was in.
I was happy that Dasani understood my position because I wasn’t thirsty to be a part of mob life.
I was just determined to be included with the women I admired and loved.
A group of beautiful ladies dazzled in the most expensive clothes, fragrant with exotic aromas, with their handsome, wealthy men drooling across from them was what this was.
Pinterest, Instagram, and an all-black casted movie had nothing on us.
“And don’t think we didn’t realize you skated over explaining what’s going on with you and Tunan.” All eyes were on me after Missy’s comment.
I shifted in my seat, preparing for the line of questions that were about to be fired off. Tunan and I hadn’t talked about what to say to anyone regarding our marriage, but these were my girls, so I planned to be as honest as I could.
“When I saw y’all talking at the Sniff-and-Sip party, I knew it was something between you two.” Scarlett grinned.
“I—”
“Fuck that!” Mocha smirked. “I knew when you went live at the steakhouse, you was gonna fold. Granted, I didn’t know who he was, but the way you were cheesing in that camera… Yeah. He fucked that night, didn’t he?’
“Now, Moke!” Scarlett bumped shoulders with her, but the look on her face said she wanted the tea.
“Girl, if you let that nigga buss that pussy open, so fucking be it. All that waiting shit is overrated. I mean, what’s the difference between a man getting it now versus later? The pussy is the same.” Missy winked.
“Ion know, Missy. The sooner you let ’em fuck, the crazier you make them. Then, it’s like… When they become mob-affiliated, these niggas automatically get fertile. Like, damn, is a fertile dick and a suit a part of the recruiting package?” Dasani scoffed.
“See, I’ll take my rap star for 3000, Alex. So glad my man’s dick went infertile when he met me. I’ll take being a stepmama any day. I love on them, spoil them, and send them back to their mammy’s.”
“But don’t you still have the boys?”
“Girl…” Missy took a swallow of her drink. “We do. She’s supposed to pick them up before Essex goes on tour with G Herbo. The boys aren’t a problem at all, and I would never tell my man his kids aren’t welcome, but I don’t have any fuckin’ children.
“If Viv can be all over Instagram, arguing with fans over Essex, accepting interviews like she the main bitch, and shaking her ass at them weak-ass bookings, she can get her sons. If she doesn’t want them, cool.
But she gonna have to let me tag her ass again and sign over her rights.
I’m not about to play with that hoe. I haven’t even figured out what it is I want to do with my own life. I’m not her built-in babysitter.”
“No lie, I feel you, bestie,” Pia replied. “Either she’s going to remove herself from the equation, or step up so y’all can come up with a co-parenting schedule. Being a mama is hard, but being a mama to someone else’s kid, while their mama act ignorant, is tough.”
“Right. I still gotta go through the properties Ms. Covington left me. Shit, I’m still grieving that crazy-ass lady.
Ain’t had a second to be alone so I can cry about the shit.
Shits just been moving so fast that I haven’t had a chance to process it.
” Missy blinked back what I assumed were tears.
“But anyways… Enough about me. Glow, tell us about this husband. Since you ain’t let us be bridesmaids, walk us through the day. ” Missy urged.
“Yes! And that ring looks so good,” Dasani complimented. She was being nice because if she knew my ring had been bought off the street, she would probably smack Don for letting Tunan do that.
Glancing down at it, I smiled faintly, ignoring the pounding in my chest. I was crazy as hell to still be wearing it.
But for some reason, I didn’t want to take it off.
Our wedding had been a hot-ass mess. That damn preacher and that God-forsaken church lived rent-free in my damn head.
I was happy to have met some of Tunan’s family, but Memphis was a wild place.
It had been nothing but theatrics from the moment I got off the plane.
“We basically went to a courthouse. Then, I got on a plane and came back here for the engagement dinner.”
“Booo! Tomato! Tomato! I can tell from that live of y’all on the porch it was more than what you’re trying to make it seem.” Jisei squinted at me.
“Right. Only good pussy can make a nigga have his whole family out there taking ya fucking braids down. Especially in that hot-ass Memphis heat.” Missy fanned herself as if she could feel the warmth.
“I can’t stand when a nigga’s whole family is fine. I’m so damn glad Lorenzo ain’t got no siblings. I know Tunan ’nem gave their mama hell growing up,” Mocha whispered.
The men were right across from us, but the sounds of the gambling machines around us drowned out our conversation.
Sister. They were raised by their sister.
“So, y’all didn’t consummate the marriage?” Scarlett asked.
“We…” I smirked, thinking about Tunan fucking me in the old-ass car when I thought he was Shio’s worker. “We’d done that already prior to getting married… And, after.”
“Ha!” Missy clapped her hands together. “Fuck you talmbout! Glow, I knew you had it in you, my girl. Put that pussy on him and had him marrying you, ASAP. That’s like a Rinaldi record, ain’t it?”
Dasani placed her glass to her lips in a teasing smile. “Hell yeah, it is! Demise had to trick me, with his ole ugly ass.” Dasani shook her head in disgust but then grinned again.
“We’ve had sex. But it’s more of a business transaction, y’all. He needed a wife.” I shrugged.
“And what the fuck did you need? You already paid, you’re famous on the net, and you fine as fuck. You can get any nigga you want, friend. So, what was it?” Jisei cocked her head.
“Shit… I married Matteo because I was flat on my ass, Glow. My mama was a crackhead, stealing everything from my baby and me. And I’d just gotten fired from my job. A man offering to pay me to be his wife sounded crazy, but it also sounded like a plan that I didn’t have.”
“I had Zo’s baby. He needed a wife, and there was no way he was marrying another hoe.”
“My brother owns all this shit and told me I had no choice. It worked out, though. I love me some Ezio Cuppucio,” Jisei added.
All of the women had married for a feasible reason, and hearing what I already knew out loud had me feeling more and more like a fool. Dasani had her legs crossed, swirling the ice cubes in her glass as she held it up.
“I… I wanted to fit in, I guess. I wanted y’all to see me as an equal.”
I felt so stupid. The words burned as they slipped out of my mouth, and the way everyone looked at me with confusion, then realization, made me sink further into the couch.
“I outta slap the shit out of you! What the fuck, Glow!” Jisei screeched.
“Umm hmm. I done told her… I done told her. Then, she had the nerve to hide from us, like Glee having a baby is something to be ashamed about.”
“I don’t know what for. At least Glee’s eighteen and in college. I was sixteen without a pot to piss in.”
“I was underage too. My daddy was pissed but, shit… look at me. I finished school and everything.” Mocha reminded me of the degree she earned, which had been collecting dust.
But Glee didn’t have the resources Mocha had. She also didn’t have a rich mobster as her baby daddy, nor was our daddy “street rich.” Still, I kept my thoughts in my head.
“I hear you, Mocha. It just caught me off guard. I was not expecting a baby.”
“And I wasn’t expecting my sister to kill a car full of niggas for her boyfriend.
But it happened, and the most I can do is support her.
That’s all Glee needs from you. She’s got all of us.
She won’t be alone in this. She will still be able to go to school.
We got nannies and shit, and we got school, housing, and food money.
It’s okay to be disappointed, but be easy on her.
That postpartum shit is no joke.” Pia rubbed her own belly.
“Yeah… I feel bad.” Jisei stared at me with a shake of her head, causing me to groan. “Whattttt?”
“Oh, nothing. I just can’t believe you did that crazy shit…
Married a man you don’t even know. You wild as fuck, Charisma Glow.
But it wouldn’t be the mob if all of us didn’t have a crazy-ass story.
Who would have ever known my cool-ass neighbor would be locked in this shit with me? ” Jisei chuckled.
“Well, is the sex even good? I know you ain’t marry into an organized crime for mediocre dick…” Pia’s brow rose.
My cheeks burned, and I looked across at Tunan.
He was enthralled in conversation with the other men.
It didn’t take long for him to lock eyes with me.
We held each other’s gaze, and it caused my breathing to hitch.
Nel, grabbing Tunan’s shoulder, broke our stare, and I focused back on the women around me.
“Hell yeah!” all of the women replied in unison, followed by loud shrills.
Tunan could fuck. I didn’t know whether he had gained the skill while in jail, due to being so deprived, or if it had been in him all along. But it was a wonder that he didn’t have a baby mama or a crazy ex sniffing about. His dick game was that phenomenal.
The attention was off of me when Pia started talking about the gender reveal and the girls discussing Discover.
I was grateful as the women fell into side conversations.
The liquor had loosened my nerves, but I knew I was going to pay for this tomorrow.
The way liquor made me feel sluggish the next day, plus the guilt of the extra calories, nearly had me groaning out loud.
Glancing around, the women were all smiling, rings glistening, even Missy.
She and Essex weren’t engaged, but he had iced her out from head to toe.
I smiled at how within the group of women, everyone had their someone or two.
The sisterhood had me thinking about Glee.
Searching my purse again for my phone, a frown appeared on my face when I saw all the messages were still green and hadn’t delivered.
With my brows knitted together, I tried calling Glee and twice more afterward when she didn’t pick up.
Pulling up the outdoor Ring camera on my phone, I checked the driveway, and when the Lexus didn’t show, I switched to the inside cameras.
Both Nelsa and Pearla were standing over the baby, smiling.
I received a notification that someone was in the driveway and sighed with relief.
However, when I didn’t recognize the car, I frowned again. Bella and Mahzeyah hopped out laughing, and I pulled my head up from my phone.
“Pia….”
She was laughing with Missy, but when she noticed the panic on my face, she stopped. “What happened?”
“Can you call Pearla and see if she heard from Glee?”
I knew she hadn’t. Still, for my sanity, I needed to double-check. Glee should have made it back from Cove City by now. And even then, her phone should have been working hours ago. Something wasn’t right.
Pia stood, dialed Pearla, and placed her on speaker.
“Hey, sister. You heard from Glee?”
“Umm, no. I been trying to call her, but the messages aren’t sending. We been at Glow’s house waiting for her. Is something wrong?’ Pearla’s voice grew more and more shaky as she spoke.
I shook my head at Pia. There was no reason to alarm the girls until we knew what was happening.
“Everything is good, Pearla. Lemme call you back.”
I tried calling Glee several more times and got the same results. I even checked the location, powering my phone on and off, but it kept saying the location was unavailable.
I panted. “Oh my fucking God! I should have never let her go.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I could feel the veins pulse in my neck. My mouth was dry as sandpaper, and my stomach felt full as if I’d just consumed a whole feast when I hadn’t eaten anything today.
“Demise!” Dasani called out.
I was still trying to call Glee and had even stood up, beginning to pace.
I should have never let her go.
“What happened?” Don was no longer popping bottles or passing insults between the men. He was front and center with his wife.
“Glee… Glow’s baby sister. Nobody can get a hold of her.”
“Hunh? Where was the last place she was at?” Don turned to me.
“What’s going on? You good?” Tunan placed his hand at the top of my back, and though his presence was welcoming, I was still going haywire on the inside.
The bells and dings and laughter and chatter around us faded into a dull hum. I was staring at the location again, and nothing had changed.
“She… She went to BU in Cove City to transfer. She was supposed to get a room for the night, but she told me she was coming home when we last texted. Her phone is going to voicemail now, the messages aren’t sending, and I can’t get a hold of her.”
A cold fist clenched around my heart, squeezing until I couldn’t breathe.
Panic clawed at my throat, a silent scream trapped inside.
Every instinct yelled at me to do something, but I was frozen, paralyzed by fear and uncertainty.
The world seemed to tilt on its axis, and the vibrant colors of the casino faded into a dull, blurry haze. This couldn’t be happening.
What if she’s hurt? What the fuck happened? Where is my sister?
“Tunan,” Don called out, all of us turning our attention to him as if he’d called us.
Tunan was doing that thing he did when he ran his hand down his waves, making my heart fall to the pits of my shoes.
“What do you know?” Don asked, confusing me because, as far as I knew, Tunan didn’t know my sister beyond their meeting after he’d fucked me into a sleep coma.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I might know where we can find her.”
That didn’t make any sense—not even a little.
Tunan knowing Glee’s whereabouts was puzzling, but I didn’t care about the how.
I wanted answers on where she was. Pushing down the urge to slap Tunan until he told me what I wanted to know, I steadied my breathing and did what the rest of the mob wives would have done—let Don handle it.