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 mealsanda 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 Ihadn’tleft 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 shewould 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’sGlow? 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.”
