Chapter 17 #3
“I do… Two.” He sat back, pressing his back into the railing.
“I regret she died ’fore me. I wasn’t ’posed to bury Emora.
Dat ain’t the natural order of things. I set our whole lives up in hopes dat she would outlive me.
I took care of it all. I paid for our burial plots, caskets, da whole nine.
Even bought my suit dat she was ’posed to bury me in.
I didn’t want her to have no worries. Shit didn’t work out like dat, doe.
” He took another swig of his can, which I was sure was empty or either hot as hell by now.
“You said you had two regrets.” I pointed out.
“Yeah…” He burped. “Me spoilin’ her shoulda came with conditions.
Not in the materialistic sense, doe—in the physical.
I had a cleaning service. She didn’t work.
Hell, I even hired the neighborhood crackhead to drive her ’round when I was out makin’ the bacon.
I enabled Emora. Dat ain’t no thang, though.
Dat’s what I was ’posed to do. See, since my wife had the world at her fingertips, she found herself indulging in errthang.
She was partyin’, drinkin’, eatin’ all dat bullshit!
She started puttin’ on weight, but I loved dat shit.
She was just right. Constant years of doin’ what da fuck she wanted without me dere to at least guide her in the right direction fucked with her health.
Diabetes took her faster than a thief in the fuckin’ night. ”
He used the towel to wipe his face. “So, to answer your second question, my second and most biggest regret was not being dere. I spent so much time outside the house, makin’ sure she had errthang she wanted and needed dat I forgot what really mattered.
” He pointed to his heart. “Had I known I’d only get thurty-six years with dat woman, I woulda had my ass home more.
I woulda pivoted. We woulda ate better, exercised.
One thang I do admire ’bout some folk from y’all generation is dat dey make time.
Back den, our time was spent makin’ sure we ain’t never have to go without.
I’d slit my fuckin’ wrist before my wife opened a cut-off notice. ”
“Didn’t you buy a big-ass house out in the east?” Tulen’s nosey ass inquired.
“Yeap. Used cold, hard cash too. Bought it five years ’fore she died.
Dat was our fourth paid-off home, by the way.
The other three, I was able to divide among our children to live in until dey were ready to buy their own.
Now, all but one use ’em for passive income.
Dat last one from my nutsack like you two,”—He cut his eyes at my brothers—“Fucked up!”
“Well, unless you want to join ole Elenora, I’ma take this.” Tuden reached for the beer can, but Shit-talker was quick.
“Back da fuck up, niccah! And I done told yo’ Slim Jim-lookin’ ass it’s Emora!”
We all laughed as Shit-talker hugged his beer to his chest.
“But you was just preachin’ all dat shit about wishin’ y’all ate and drank better. You four years late, but we can start now, Unc.”
“Didn’t I tell you dese hoes slaw? I’m ready to be with my ole lady, anyway.
If the can gon’ take me out, oh well… You worried ’bout me, but what you shoulda been learnin’ today is dat time ain’t on nobody side.
Fuckin’ all dese skeezers, by the time you meet the one, yo’ shit gon’ be saggin’ like horse balls. ”
“And I’ma still get slurped up! My brother the one need to be listenin’. I need my sis-in-law ’round fo’ a long-ass time. I fucked ’bout three grade-A bitches since dat live. Glow got some fine-ass followers.”
This nigga.
“I learned something from today, Unc.” Tulen raised his hand.
“Niccah, what?”
“I learned dat yo’ ass a liar. By subtractin’ your marriage years by yo’ age, it would‘ve been another fourteen or so years before yo’ ass was even born when Rosa Parks was put to da back of da bus.”
Shit-talker’s eyes bucked. “Ah, shit. I said Rosa Parks? I meant Rose Sparks! She was the neighborhood headhunter. She had a mean-ass throat too! Dese hookah hoes y’all got could neva hold dey breath like ole Rose.”
We all howled in laughter as Shit-talker started mimicking someone giving his drunk ass some head.
Though I had to get back to Jagoda Bay, this was one of the reasons why I loved the fuck out of my city.
I had no desire to move back, but being here, in the hood, surrounded by the people who made my childhood memories priceless, outweighed the suffering and the days we’d gone without. These types of moments were unmatched.
I didn’t know what the fuck Don had in store for me, and even though I low-key looked forward to it, the unknown had me uneasy.
Memphis was familiar. While I technically had family in Jagoda Bay, it was nothing like my roots.
Outside of the money that was to be made, there was one person who was making Jagoda Bay take Memphis’ spot.
Pulling out my phone while everyone continued to clown, I went to the last text thread in the messaging app.
Stay up
The room was pitch black, with an orange cast on her face from the laptop screen resting in her lap. I could see her perfectly because of it. Leaning against the doorframe, I watched as she cursed, banged the computer keys, and rolled her eyes at least four times in ten minutes.
“You gone stand there and watch me like a creep all night, Tunan?” Glow said, keeping her eyes on the computer.
“Yeah, the view is nice, my baby.”
“The view is a mess. My face feels swollen as hell since you and my mom have become the best of friends, and she forces me to eat more than you do. I thought that was near impossible. I need to do something to my hair. I’m behind on posting, so I’ve been up the past few nights trying to catch up, and now, I have bags that even the under-eye patches can’t fix. ”
The pink under-eye patches in question were stuck right under her waterline with words written all over them. Glow wasn’t talking about shit; she looked pretty as fuck.
Pushing off the doorframe, I entered her bedroom. It smelled like whatever plug-in and carpet freshener combination had been used when her mama cleaned earlier. I knew because I heard a vacuum when I called her right after being cleared through TSA.
Glow’s eyes jumped from the computer screen to the bag that I was carrying in my hand. Her sneer twisted into a full-on frown.
“Tunan… I’ve eaten three meals and a snack today. I didn’t throw it up, either, no matter how much I was grossed out. Please… No more today.”
I’d left my slides at the front door, not wanting to track germs into the house. I smelled the cleaning products before I could even turn the key that I hadn’t left on the nightstand as she’d asked.
Stopping at the side of the bed, I held up the black plastic bag. “You had food, but you ain’t have no dessert.”
“Tunaaaaan.” She was groaning, pressing her back into the headboard as her laptop slid off her lap. I caught it and put it back upright before it hit the floor, smirking at her pretty ass.
“At every opportunity, you gone do the absolute most. I’m not eating nothing else tonight, Tunan.”
“Well, technically…” I pulled my phone out and checked the time before stuffing it back in my baller shorts. “It’s a new day. Two a.m. to be exact. You ain’t ate nuttin’ yet.”
“And I won’t be until breakfast.” Lifting her head, the frown on her pretty face deepened. “Where you been anyway? Why you smell like soap? Why you dressed like that? Hunh?”
I smirked harder. “You ain’t gon’ lemme answer da first question without followin’ up with two more?”
Her response was to fold her arms under her chest. Her bottom half was hidden by her comforter, but her bare waist made an appearance when her oversized shirt rose with the gesture.
“I went to Memphis. I flew in ’bout two hours ago. I got my nephew settled and showered cuz I was fuckin’ ’round in the sun all day.”
Glow cocked her head. “I like Memphis.”
“It was last minute, my baby. My spoiled-ass sister acted like our other brothers couldn’t fly back with him.”
“With the way you stay in Memphis, let me find out you got a baby mama or something out there.”
“What?” I chuckled while shaking my head at her crazy ass. Glow had proven to be more possessive than I anticipated she would be. Hell, I didn’t anticipate her having clingy tendencies at all with the way she screamed that our marriage was only valid on paper.
“I didn’t stutter. You’re out there every chance you get. I thought the motive was the money, and the money is here. Let me find out you got a secret baby somewhere in M-Town.”
Her using our lingo had me full-on laughing this time. “Lemme find out y’all been runnin’ off at the mouth ’bout my brother business.”
Her arms fell, and so did her face. “No we haven’t—”
“Y’all have, but it ain’t shit. Just know, I ain’t got no kids, Glow.”
“So now it’s Glow? Not, my baby?”
I swiped my hand down my face. “I ain’t got no kids, my baby.”
“You had me waiting up all night, and you went and did God knows what.”
“I went from the airport to my sister house. Kicked my nephew’s ass in 2K. Smoked a blunt with my brother-in-law. Rocked my other nephew to sleep. I showered, brushed my teeth, went to the store, and now I’m here.”
“Well, my plumbing works just fine. You could have showered over here.”
“I will next time, my baby.”
She rolled her eyes and snatched the bag from my hand with her rude ass. Pulling one of the four tubes out, she held the label to her face. She then repeated the same notion with the other three.
“Tunan. These all say sugar-free. This must’ve been all they had?”
Scratching the back of my neck, I shook my head. “Nah. What you workin’ on, doe?”
She shrugged. “Editing a video. A while back, I did a faceless unboxing but never uploaded it. My viewers like to see me eat so I didn’t think this would be interesting enough for them. But it’s gonna have to do for now.” She sighed.