Chapter 12
Shio Cuppacio
“She straight, though?”
Tunan was swirling his glass of Hennessy while hunched over a plate of hot wings. We were at The Bottom Spot Bar and Grill, and although he hadn’t touched his food, I’d fucked up my burger. I had a lot of shit going on my damn self, but food was one thing I wasn’t going to deprive myself of.
The waitress came over and removed my plate with a grin. I returned the gesture to the brown-skinned cutie with hair so big it resembled an afro from the seventies. I hope the smile was enough for her to keep all the flirting at bay because the last thing I was up for was smiling in a woman’s face.
“Yeah. She’s up,” Tunan replied. “But she ain’t tryna leave the hospital until dey release Glee. When the brain swelling is down, dey said she can be discharged too.”
“And the baby?”
I remembered the hurt and shock on Glow’s face when it was revealed that her sister was in active labor.
Shorty was straight up trying to lay her ass out in that hospital until Tune stepped in and de-escalated the situation.
The fact that both were hospitalized was fucked up.
I was going to send an extra prayer for them tonight because I knew how much Glow meant to the wives and how much Glee meant to Glow.
The way Tunan was staring off every few words, it was safe to assume Glow had come to mean something to him too.
I wasn’t judging my brother for caring for her in a matter of weeks.
I’d begun to care about the little sinner in a matter of days.
“Cathy ’nem been rotating schedules at the hotel across from the hospital with the baby… You remember the nigga I was locked up with?”
On many of our outings and rides through the city, Tunan and I chopped it up about minor shit, and his cellmate had come up a time or two.
“Yeah. The one that got a book?”
He swirled his glass again. “Yeah, him. Leader.” He paused before turning to look at me. “That’s Glee’s baby daddy.”
I whistled. “Damn… I wasn’t expecting you to say that shit. She must’ve met that nigga at school?”
When Glow and I were conversing, I’d looked thoroughly into her.
When I first caught sight of her pretty ass while visiting Jisei back when Ezio was in the basement, I had to make sure she was fit for this life if I’d so happened to bring her in.
That’s when I found out about her sister, who was in high school.
“Yeah. He from ’round dat way. Nigga used to be deep in his feelings about his lil’ college junt. I would have never thought that she was Glee, and I damn sho’ didn’t think he’d get her pregnant.”
“Shit happens, Tune. Just because she got a baby now don’t mean her life has to stop. She just gotta go harder.”
I had no fucking plans on getting Bahati pregnant.
But my having a forgiving heart spared her life and made me a father in the process.
I, now having a child, was about to go ten times as hard, but I needed to see what my next move was about to be first, and this conversation with Tunan would certainly help my decision.
“Yeah. Well, tell dat shit to her sister. Glow gone be ready to kill my ass when she find out ’bout Leader, especially dat I know the nigga.
” Tune finally picked up a wing, dipped it into the dressing, and took a bite.
“Dis shit ain’t got nuttin’ on Memphis wings.
As a matter of fact, they need to switch that BBQ shit to hot wings. We got the best wings, hands down.”
“Ion know. The Chi got some good-ass wings and fasho the best food. Let Bella show you them TikToks everybody be making about Chicago being the best food city.”
“Chicago? Fuck dem videos. Y’all got that mild sauce shit. Dat shit ain’t hittin’ on nuttin’. Y’all best known for dem hot dogs.”
“Deep dish pizza, nigga… Hot dogs up there with it too. But I have heard Memphis BBQ is undefeated. Y’all can keep that.”
“You gotta pull up at somebody grandma’s or uncle’s crib for the fye shit. None of them food spots on Beale is gon’ getchu right. And if the uncle ain’t got sandals on with his crusty-ass heels exposed, shit gon’ be slaw.” He took another bite of his wing. “These aite doe.”
With my back turned to the brick wall that lined the bar top, I glanced at the entrance as Tunan smacked on the wings.
The gloomy weather outside did nothing to slow traffic.
While the bar wasn’t packed, it had a steady crowd.
I turned back, facing the TV mounted above the bar.
Highlights from the NBA playoff games flashed in a series of videos with Shaq and Charles Barclay arguing as usual.
I was going to make it my business to catch a few games this upcoming season, but I also planned to catch some local games at the high schools.
I’d been in Jagoda Bay for a few years and hadn’t gotten the chance to really enjoy the city or my paper.
I’d been on a constant run to stack my money, keep up with Don’s demands, and a keeping shit in line with my cousins.
The day I could sit still and enjoy the fruits of my labor was the day I’d sleep like a fucking baby.
I was hoping I’d have someone to share that time with, but I wanted someone worthy—someone intelligent.
“I fucked up.”
I turned to see that my brother had finished half the wings and was now looking into my face again. “Tune—”
“Nawl, G…”
He picked up the almost empty glass and downed his Hennessy. His tone implied he was about to say some shit that needed my full attention, so I didn’t look away.
“When you first approached me and you bought dat high-ass painting, I purposely taxed yo’ ass cuz I didn’t give a fuck ’bout the nigga we came from. But den you were outside the jail, and ever since, you been showin’ up. The least I coulda did was asked you if it was okay to go after Glow.”
He rubbed his hand down his head but held eye contact.
Tunan looked like the rest of his siblings, but it was times like this when I saw our father in him.
Each time Sandro made his appearance in one of my features, it threw me off, especially because I saw the shit when I looked in the mirror every day.
“Dat shit was flaw as fuck, Shio. When you sent me to stand in for you, and I saw Glow sittin’ there…
” He hung his head low for a second and then chuckled before looking back at me.
“All I could think ’bout was how fuckin’ pretty she was.
I’d just told myself I was done with dese bitches.
I was gonna focus on my come up and keep my dick to myself.
But den, dat shit just happened. Den I needed a wife. Den I couldn’t stop thinkin’ ’bout her.
“I realized I wanted in with the mob more than I needed your approval. The fucked-up part of me feels like I mighta married her before you could, and if dat’s the case, you shouldn’t wanna fuck with a nigga like me—blood or not.”
“You’re right, I shouldn’t. But Tune… You ain’t come looking for me, it was the other way around. You don’t remember because you were too young, but our father loved you. He was fucked up, no doubt, and some days I questioned if the nigga even loved me.”
I chuckled as I thought back to my first time seeing Tunan. I was only youngin’ and hadn’t completely given up on Sandro.
“You need to leave!” the woman I’d never seen before yelled at my dad from behind a screened door.
She was different-looking from my mama. My mama was thin and always well-dressed, and this woman was heavy-set and wore a house gown with discoloration all over it.
Her hair was wrapped in a scarf, and my mama kept her hair flowing down her back.
The tired look in her eyes was the one thing she had in common with my mama, and from the look on her face, my daddy had done something to disgust her.
My head bounced from her to my dad. I was confused.
When my dad put me on the fancy airplane, where the nice flight attendant gave me cookies and juice, I thought we were headed to Disney World.
But when the plane landed, and we walked through the airport, and I saw the Welcome to Memphis sign, I knew then, we were a long way from Disney World.
“I'm just trying to see the boy. I can give him a better life—”
“A betta life? A betta life! Are you fuckin’ crazy!”
The sound of people moving closer to the door could be heard, and about four boys varying in ages, two of whom were wearing diapers, appeared behind her.
They all shared identical features, but one stood out among the rest. He had his eyes on my daddy, whereas the other boys were looking at their mama.
“Listen, baby—”
“Baby?”
I was just as shocked as the woman in the dingy dress.
I looked at my dad with the same bewildered eyes as her, except he wasn’t paying me any mind.
His focus was fixated on the woman, and the pleading in his eyes was the same he’d shown to my mama when he knew he’d done something wrong, which was most of the time.
Still, I loved my daddy, and that’s why I was standing here, waiting for an explanation as to why we were here instead of on rides at Disney World.
This neighborhood was filthy, the houses were tiny, and this particular one looked too small for so many children to be living in it.
They all looked so poor. I didn’t know where my daddy had found these poor people.
I didn’t understand why we were here, and he was showing so much urgency and care toward the unkempt woman.
“The boy—”
“You can’t even call him what he is! He’s not the boy, Sandro! He’s your boy! He’s your son! A son I wouldn’t have had had I known your ass was married!”
She began shooing the children behind her back as she whispered that last part of her sentence.
“I know… I know he’s my son. That’s why I’m trying to make it right. You won’t take money from me. You won’t let me move you away from this city. The least you can do is just let him come with me.”