I didn’t know how Essex dealt with both Missy’s fine ass and Bella’s crazy self all day. Missy was feisty as hell, and Bella was bossy as hell. Essex had watched Bella grow up, just as he had with me, so Bella was family to him. But Bella wasn’t Baby Bella anymore. With what Essex paid her, she now had the look that matched her bold attitude. Every time she came around, she looked like new money. Plus, she was still in everybody else’s pockets, too, including mine lately, and I was supposed to be the little cousin.
Glee’s eyes had been closed as Pearla greased her scalp, but it was as if she had mommy senses because they popped open as soon as we entered the space. Unlike mean-ass Mahzeyah, Glee’s features were always soft. Her bruises were beginning to heal on her face, and even though there was a scab running down the center of her lip, I knew it would heal good too. She was a trooper and pretty as hell, just like all the other girls surrounding my everyday life. I didn’t know how much she knew about our family, but when we loved, we loved hard as fuck, and she and Baby Leader were stuck with us now.
I reached for the baby, and Mahzeyah bopped away.
“You so foul, yo.”
“Boy, whatever!”
Mahzeyah sat next to Glee’s fine-ass friend, who was balled up on the end of the sectional with a blanket over her head. We’d all been up all night talking shit, telling stories, and passing thebaby around. I walked them home around four a.m., and they were right back over here at ten.
“Y’all fighting over Baby Leader again?” Glee giggled.
“That’s him. He be hogging her, and then gets mad when I get her. You had her all night!”
“Well, didn’t nobody tell you to take yo’ ass to see that nigga. You woulda been able to get her some.”
“For your information, I went home. I’m seventeen, negro. I have a curfew. Everybody can’t be a dropout that do what they want to do like you.” She rolled her eyes.
“Y’all don’t start that shit today…” Bella warned while she held the phone up to her ear. “No, Missy. I’m not talking about y’all. My lil’ cousin and bestie—they argue like a married couple.” Bella shot us a look before restarting the video and huffing ideas into the phone again.
“Aye, watch thatlilword.”
“You heard her.Lil’ cousin.”
I kissed my teeth. “Put the baby down, follow me to the back, and I can show you how lil’ I’mnot.”
Pearla tossed her head back in laughter, and Glee held her hand over her mouth, trying to hide hers. She complained about her ribs still being sore, so she tried her best not to do too much.
Mahzeyah continued patting the baby’s back. “Never in your wildest dreams, Italian Cuppacio.”
“I know…” I shrugged. “It was worth a shot, though.”
“Is this y’all baby or hers?” Pearla snickered.
“Mine…” “Ours,” we answered simultaneously, with me smirking about saying Baby Leader was ours.
“Oh, Lord,” Pearla said as she parted Glee’s hair.
Mahzeyah smacked her glossy-ass lips. “He needs some kids. The boy got baby fever.”
“I could say the same ’bout you. You pushin’ out a Baby Flexer soon?”
“Tuh! It damn sure won’t be a Baby Cuppacio whenever I do.”
“Shol’ won’t!” Bella chimed in, still on the phone.
“Bruh, pipe down. As long as you don’t have no kids, we gucci. Me, I’m grown.”
Popping my invisible collar, since I was wearing a crew neck, I laughed when Bella waved me off and continued her conversation. I was certain by the end of it, she would get whatever it was she was proposing to Essex and Missy. She constantly complained about how much work she did for Essex, yet she was always inserting herself into anything related to his career.
“She’s just so pretty and so little. I love her outfit today, Glee. I love all her outfits.”
We all watched as Mahzeyah held the baby in her lap while making kissy faces at her. Glee’s mom had rolled a bassinet over here since they were here most of the day. It was useless because she’d maybe slept in it once.
“Facts. She be fly. That teal and gray fit she had on… What was that? Wednesday? Hard.”
Mahzeyah cut her eyes at me. “You tryna be funny?”
