Chapter 10
Tunan “Tune” Payne
After giving my dick a shake, I tucked it into my briefs and pulled my pants up my waist. Don had handed me the keys and given me an address.
In the Ferrari, the six-hour drive had taken only four.
I’d been needing to pee for the last two hours, but I wouldn’t dare stop.
I’d been shocked that Glow had even accompanied me on the drive.
The ride was quiet as we trailed behind a line of sports cars, carrying the rest of the mobsters and their women.
Outside of an occasional sniffle, Glow hadn’t said a word.
Don had insinuated that I’d known more than I’d given Glow, but she still hadn’t questioned me.
I knew we had to have a serious conversation—this just wasn’t the time or place for that shit.
Not knowing where Glow’s head was at, I couldn’t tell if she even cared to talk about that or anything else.
With washed, damp hands, I pushed the door open and paused as a group of surgeons in teal scrubs rushed past me.
I kept walking, and the vinyl floors squeaked beneath my Nikes from the fresh wax.
The walls were uncomfortably white, and the ceiling was covered with white acoustic tiles.
The waiting area was empty of the people I’d walked in with because seconds before I went to the bathroom, we’d been called back after waiting an hour.
Glow had paced the entire time, with the women trying their best to keep her sane.
“Third floor,” the receptionist called out.
She sat behind a desk, chewing gum as if she didn’t witness death and disappointment all day.
Her long lashes fluttered, and though she wasn’t all that in the face, her body made up for it.
I’d seen it when we first rushed in, while she was bent over, shuffling through a cart of papers.
She hadn’t read the room when she turned around, giving us all fuck-me eyes.
It didn’t matter that we’d been tense. The men I’d come in with had dispersed, and with only me left behind, she hadn’t changed her sentiments—ole girl was looking to get fucked.
“Which room?” I inquired.
She swiped her tongue across her glossed lips. They were too small for her face, and the ashy pink color didn’t suit her for work. It didn’t look good on her skin tone at all. Still, I kept a neutral expression and waited for her to tell me Glee’s room information.
“Can I get your number first? Or better yet… I can show you why taking my number would be good for your fine ass.”
She shifted her eyes to the supply closet across from us. I scowled, looking toward the closet, then back to her face, now sporting a big-ass smile, showing all her teeth. I’d never gotten my dick wet in a supply and hadn’t planned on it happening today either.
“Room numba?”
“Is that an accent? Sound like you from Memphis. I love Memphis niggas.” She bit her lip, and I sighed.
My patience was as thin as her edges. Instead of cursing her ass out, I went the easy route. “You’n know if I just finished takin’ a shit and barely wiped my ass, bruh. But you ready to slurp me up in a germ-infected-ass supply closet?”
She shrugged and sniffed the air. “You smell fine to me and look even better.” She grinned, and there was pink gloss on her coffee-stained teeth.
“Miss lady, I’m married. Now, if you can tell me da room numba to my sis-in-law, I would greatly appreciate it.” I gave a tight-lipped grin.
Her smile fell, and her eyes went to my hand that was crossed at my waist.
“Ion see a ring. That’s my bad. Can I see your ID? You know… So I can print you a pass?” She smirked.
She was really working the nerves that I didn’t fucking have.
“No, heffa, you can not. Room?”
She frowned, scoffed, and waved me off. “Room 336.”
“’Preciate you.”
The elevator opened when an old, white couple walked out. Seeing them triggered the fact that I hadn’t seen one black person besides that receptionist and us. This was a small, racist-ass town that I avoided like the plague anytime I traveled from Memphis to Atlanta to Jagoda Bay.
The ride was short, and as soon as I got off the elevator, Nel was ushering a crying Pia back onto it.
“Room 336. She’s gonna be good. This shit is just too much for Pia. I’m gonna get a room in the next town over. I refuse to stay in Klanville.”
I nodded, agreeing with him and hoping Pia would relax so she didn’t go into labor so far from home.
A few steps later, after rounding the corner and inhaling a whole lot of antiseptic air, I was in front of the room.
Don, Matteo, Zo, Ezio, and Vello were huddled a few feet away.
All their eyes shot up at me, but I kept going, pushing the door open to the room.
“Fuck, Glee…”
Various tubes and cords ran out of my sister-in-law as she lay in the bed.
Both arms had IVs, and her leg was propped on a stack of pillows, with a fresh cast on it.
The women surrounded the bed, two of whom were comforting Glow.
Everyone peered at me with red eyes after my comment.
Glow had her hands on the sides of her face as she cried so hard that her body shook.
Glee’s face was damn near unrecognizable. Her eye was busted and sealed shut, her bottom lip had stitches going straight through it, right down the center, and there were purple welts all over her neck and arms. I didn’t have the details, but it was clear she’d been in some sort of accident.
“Gleeeee! Oh my God. I’m so so so so so sorry!” Glow blurted out through her sobbing, her shoulders jumping with each word she spoke.
Excusing myself to get through the ladies, I pulled Glow from Dasani’s embrace. She didn’t push me away, crying into my chest. Dasani gave me a look and quietly left the room. Now it was just Glow and me, standing over Glee as the low hum of machines bounced off the walls.
“She… She… She was in a wreck. Her car flipped over, ejecting her. They found her phone ten feet away, shattered. She… She… She has a broken leg, bruised ribs, and… And so many cuts and bruises, Tunan. My… My mom is so upset that our father is having to pick her up and bring her. She’s too distraught to travel, and they can’t stand one another.
Glee… She just had a baby. Just had complications with labor…
I… I feel like I’m losing my sister, and it’s my fault. ”
“Aye! Aye…”
As I pulled Glow back, I stared into her eyes. She was so pretty and fragile. She looked tired, and her eyes had sunken in. Glow hadn’t been taking care of herself, and once we got back to Jagoda Bay, I was on her ass.
“You ain’t losin’ yo’ fuckin’ sister, Glow.”
“But they had to put her in a coma. There is swelling on her brain and—”
“Medically-induced coma, my baby. She gon’ pull through. Look, I know shit is fucked up. Life do dat. Shit be all good, and den a series of problems just overloads ya. You gon’ have to thug it out, doe, my baby.”
Rubbing her shoulders, the way she looked up at me had me ready to put on a fucking cape and solve all her problems. Glow was blessed.
She was gorgeous, had a thriving career, adoring fans, her own everything, and was baby-free.
She’d been holding on to her version of a perfect world for no telling how long, and now that shit had hit the fan unexpectedly, she was shutting down.
When I was hit with that fucking charge, I was fucked up, but a nigga like me was prepared for the worst. Girls like Glow couldn’t handle the worst, but I was gone help her get through this shit, even if she gave me pushback.
“I was so mean to her…”
“Cuz she’d fucked up. You were angry, but you made it right. You gon’ have plenty more chances to make it right as soon as she gets up outta here.”
“You think she will?” Glow’s eyes widened as she looked up at me again, as if I had all the answers.
My heart beat wildly in my chest, and my stomach churned. I nearly took a step back because the feeling was foreign, but I stayed planted right there.
“I know she will.”
Glow peered at me while I tried to dismiss the brewing in my chest.
“What do you think I’ll be… I’ll be—”
“Glow? Glow!”
Her body went slack in my arms as her eyes fluttered. I held her up, ushering her away from the bed and the machines. Her breathing sounded odd, and her body was slightly convulsing.
“Aye! Ayeeee!” I called out for help as I tapped Glow’s face.
“Glow. Wake up, my baby. Wake da fuck up! Glow! Come on, baby. Fucccck!” Scoping her up, I carried her out of the room and ran into a doctor, who looked like she was making her rounds. “Aye, mane! Ion know… My fuckin’ wife, she passed out, and her breathing is fucked up.”
Glow’s body was now almost weightless as she continued to convulse. I was on the verge of tweaking out seeing her like this. Between shock and fear, I looked from the doctor back at Glow. The doctor pushed her chart into a nurse walking by, and everything started moving in slow motion.
“Get me a bed! What’s her name?” the brunette doctor asked me as a team came out with a bed and a crash cart.
“Gl—Charisma. Charisma Payne.”
“Okay, let us take her. Charisma, can you hear me? I’m Dr. Brani.”
Two nurses, one a man and one a woman, ran to me and tried to remove Glow from my arms. I was squeezing her face, trying to wake her up, as her eyes rolled back into her head. I could only see the whites of her eyes, and it looked like she was possessed.
What the fuck, my baby? I know you ain’t on that shit.
“Sir, let us take her!” The doctor grabbed my arm.
I snatched away, and Glow’s head bounced almost unnaturally. “Dis my… She’s my fuckin’ wife. She was just fine. She was just—”
“Tunan.” Don walked up. “They gone take care of her. Let ’em take her.” He nodded to assure me.
I glanced around, and the doctors were impatiently waiting while the women cried. Jisei was trying to get to us, but Ezio was holding her back and trying his best to calm her down.