“And when you let him fuck you one time for keepsake, y’all can go back to being just boss and employee.” Blayke stuck her tongue out, and Glee giggled.
“Sometimes… you do gotta fuck a nigga just to get him out your system,” Mahzeyah ranted.
“Again, gross. Essex isn’t in my system, friend. That is a grown-ass man.”
I sat up and cleared my throat. “Before we change the subject, can we address the pretty-ass, Spanish-speakingelephantdownstairs?”
Solana.
When we put her in the bathtub the other day, I was crying right along with her. She was so beautiful—so young. I didn’t know her full story, but she was fighting a drug addiction, and it was taking its toll. We gave her the best bath, shampoo, and conditioning she’d probably ever had. When she was dressed, Bella gave her an Ibuprofen that her doctor had prescribed for her period cramps, and Solana was out like a light. I made it my business to check on her every day. Earlier today, she was in much better spirits. The guys were down there shooting dice now while we ladies held this floor down.I was sure she was entertained, listening to Italian and his friends talk shit to each other.
“She’s pushing through…” Bella said.
“She is, but I wonder why he didn’t take her to rehab?” Mahzeyah asked herself more than anyone else.
She understood why he couldn’t take her there, but she didn’t agree with her rehabbing alone in the basement. Between her, Bella, and me, we didn’t know all the details, but we understood it wouldn’t have been safe for her to be in a facility because of mob-related business.
Solana, as beautiful as she was, had appeared out of nowhere. One day, Neltz came home and couldn’t stop talkingabout hisMexi-Mami. Seeing her up close, I understood why my nephew was so smitten with the Afro-Latina. Even in chaos, with vomit on her face and clothes, and her hair tangled enough to take us two hours to comb through, she was still gorgeous.
It was quiet until Bella spoke up. “I’m rooting for her. Maybe she can teach me some Spanish. I been thinking about learning another language.”
“I’m rooting for her too. I’ll give her a pass for having her claws in mysugar daddy.” Mahzeyah fretted, fake rolling her eyes with a smirk.
Bella shook her head. “Her and Shio aren’t together.”
She left it at that, not attempting to divulge more. I shifted my eyes from my phone to her and then to Mahzeyah, seeing the silent conversation they were having. Bella would probably go into more details when it was just her, Mahzeyah, and me. For now, speaking on Shio and Solana was over.
My phone vibrated on my lap as I took another swig of the wine cooler. Seeing that they’d talked my brother up, I let it go to voicemail. I didn’t feel like talking today, especially since my brother never wanted to answer my questions.
I’d been trying to get to know our father, but Teo was still at odds with him. Whenever I asked him about our father, he had little to say, but he kept encouraging me to spend time with him. The problem was, I had been spending time with Reuchie Rinaldi, and he was every girl’s dream. I wanted to know how Teo felt about our father, but I got nothing. I trusted my brother, and without him being more forthcoming, I had my guard up.
I’d been a little envious of Pia and her father’s bond, even though Rio took great care of me when everything was finally out in the open regarding him and my mama. Everything happened so quickly that we all had no choice but to adapt. My sister went from working security and struggling to pay her bills while running a household to being given cars, trucks, and boats.Our mother suddenly could talk, and Pia fell in love with her childhood best friend. It was something out of a movie, and it was hard to make sense of it all. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t struggling. Financially, life was much better. My sister had gone from rags to riches, and she had a man madly in love with her and a dad who was smitten with her. Pia’s life was perfect, and the new baby would be loved immensely.
But me, I was stuck trying to find my place. I knew I was surrounded by people who loved me, but I didn’t feel like I belonged to anyone. I didn’t feel like I was anyone’s number one priority.
Matteo
Pearla
I knewmy brother well enough to tell that the text was a warning. As mean as Teo was, he had a sensitive side too. He hated being ignored, and while I wasn’t trying to do it on purpose, I was just chilling. If I answered for him, he’d guilt-trip me into coming to his house by saying Princess wanted to spend time with me. I loved my pretty niece, but the last time I was over there, I had the worst stomachache ever from eating cereal all damn day. For some reason, Princess was addicted to it—all different kinds too—and my brother was sure to keep the various cereals in stock.
It was hard for me to appreciate my own wins because life just didn’t hit the way one would think it would in my position. From what I’ve seen, my daddy was a good man. His wife hadn’t displayed any hurt about my being her stepdaughter, but I didn’t know them well enough to read the situation accurately. I’d stayed the night at their house a few times and had my own room there now, but I always found myself back under my sister’s roofwithin a few days of leaving. Everybody wanted me around, and while the attention was nice, I knew it was because they were scared of where I’d go mentally if alone for too long.
“Pearla… Who do you think looks good? You can judge the Cuppacios because, like you said, y’all are not related. I’m just trying to see what your type is,” Blayke asked, probing. She reminded me of Bella so much.
“Ion know…” I shrugged. “I guess I’m gonna have to go with what Mahzeyah and Bella said. They’re too old to look at like that.”
Blayke kissed her teeth. “Oh my God! They like… mid-twenties! Maybe late, but they not too much older than us.”
“We’re seventeen,” Mahzeyah gestured to me. “You’re nineteen. To us, mid-to-late-twenties is along wayfrom seventeen. And it’s nothing against girls that like men in their twenties, but I’m a lil’ too girlish for them.”
I agreed with Mahzeyah, so I just nodded my head. Flexer was twenty, but she was nearing eighteen, so they only had a two-year age gap. Blayke’s eyes bulged, and she took a big swig of her wine cooler, nearly finishing it off.
“Hold up! You fucked with a nigga in his twenties?” Bella asked, almost screaming.
“I mean… yeah.” Blayke picked invisible lint from her biker shorts.
Bella perked up, being nosy as hell. “How old?”
