Chapter 7
F our years later
“We’ve got three shrimp risottos for table sixteen. Hix, you’re up. Get them done,” the head chef called out.
“Yes, chef.”
I heated the pan for the risotto while I listened to the kitchen buzz around me. Three other chefs called out orders and cooked the meals listed on their tickets. I loved the way my life revolved around food.
After I graduated from high school, I took a year off to spend time with my family. We hit up a few different states and attractions. It felt good to wake up and do what I wanted without worrying about deadlines and assignments. Not to mention, I got to learn more recipes from Granny Janie.
In June of last year, I applied to the best culinary school in the state. My nerves were bad because I got insecure about my talents. I was afraid the year off I took would also hinder me, but I received my acceptance letter and started the program in August. We were down to the last two months of my program, and I could see the ink drying on my certificate.
“Risottos going up,” I called out as I brought the pan of rice and shrimp up to the window. I placed the serving amount in the center of three plates and added garnish before I hit the bell and went back to my station to clean up and prepare for the next orders.
Getting the job at Genny’s Gourmet Pasta and Pizza solidified my love for food and cooking. I worked on weekends and took my classes during the week. Every night, I went home to the apartment I shared with my man, where he’d greet me with something new he picked up while he was out.
People didn’t think we would make it out of our teens together, but I’d just turned twenty in December, and we were happier than ever. He spoiled me with love, good dick, and expensive gifts. In fact, he’d bought me a car the night I got accepted into the program.
The more I worked at Genny’s, the more I wanted to open my own brick and mortar restaurant in the city. I wanted to bring Southern flair to different cuisines.
My shift went by without a hitch. I even had a few customers ask to speak to me to tell me how much they loved my cooking. Once it was time to clock out, I said my goodbyes and headed out to the parking lot.
The sight of the six feet, four inches of sexiness brought a smile to my face. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and skipped to him. He looked up from his phone and grinned. My smile immediately fell.
“Aw, hell naw,” I grumbled.
“Don’t start your shit, baby.”
“Aht. Don’t start your shit. Fresh cut and the grills in? Moving around the city unsupervised? I’m finna beat yo’ ass.”
“Don’t hurt me, bae.” He took the bag from me and put it in the back seat.
“Gimme those lips,” I demanded.
He placed his hand on the small of my back and dipped his head down to kiss me. He scattered kisses across my face and down my neck. He slid his hand down to grip my ass. A moan slid from my lips as I pushed him away.
“Don’t seduce me to make me forget you were out here whorin’ it up in the streets.”
“Man, gone on. You know you are the only one who gets all this dick, baby.”
“I better be. It’ll be a ten-inch dick on 45 I ever catch you cheating.”
“Yo, chill out with all that.”
“You chill.”
“Get yo’ crazy ass in the car.”
He opened the passenger door for me, and I climbed in. He’d gotten the all-black Escalade when he’d become the second in command in Merlot’s crew. I hated the lifestyle he lived, but it had garnered a lot of money over the last four years.
When he pulled out onto the busy evening roads, he placed his hand on my thigh and rubbed the area. I sat back and scrolled through my phone for a few minutes.
“You want to hit up our spot for margaritas and wings?” he asked.
“Definitely. I’ll have to take a shower first, but I’m down.”
“Cool. How was work?”
“It was great. I had several customers come up to me and thank me for how good their food was. Ron even said if I wanted a permanent role, I could come in after my certificate and work full time. It’s a good Plan B if opening my dream restaurant doesn’t work out.”
“Yo’ shit gon’ work fa sho. You are too talented for things not to work out in your favor.”
“God willing.”
I turned to look at him as he drove. Marquise was fine as hell. God sculpted his grown man features to perfection. His jawline was strong. He had a fresh low-cut fade, and his once smooth face had the perfect lined beard. I took credit for his beard connecting. Tattoos almost completely covered his bright, light skin. He had designs scattering his neck, arms, chest, abdomen, and back. He scheduled to get his right leg sleeve done in a few weeks.
He had pierced ears, and the diamonds danced under any type of lighting. My favorite features on him included his juicy lips and perfect teeth. He had a set of grills he popped into his mouth sometimes.
It was common knowledge to everyone in the city we would get married one day. He’d taken my virginity and had my heart under lock and key. No other man could ever compare to Marquise in my eyes—not that I would ever let them try, either.
* * *
“Yo! Big Marq, what’s goodie, foolie?”
I craned my neck to see someone approaching our car. We hadn’t even gotten two steps out of the car without Marquise being recognized. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched as Marquise greeted the man with open arms. They dapped each other and started chatting.
“What are you doing on this side of town, Jerm?”
“Taking my ol’ lady to get a seafood boil. What y’all doing?”
“We here for the margaritas and wings.”
“Smart man. The drinks are only a dollar on Saturdays.”
“Ya feel me. We could pig out if we wanted to and wouldn’t even break the bank.”
“Fa sho, fa sho. Aye, say, man. Y’all wanna sit together?”
I stepped in. “No. I would rather have some alone time with my man. You can see him another time.”
“My lady has spoken. I’ll holla at you another time, fa sho, though.”
Marquise dapped him up one more time before he draped his arm on my shoulder and led me up the path to the restaurant. It only took a few minutes to be seated. Our server gave us menus and said she’d be back shortly.
“Are you getting your usual?” he quizzed as he folded his fingers on top of the table.
“I’m going to get all honey hot this time with a side of fries. How about you?”
“I’m getting the garlic parmesan this time.”
When the server returned, we told her our orders. It took about ten minutes to get our first round of drinks. My frozen watermelon margarita was exactly what I needed after a long day at work. I stirred the straw in the pink drink as I thought about what we could talk about. Unfortunately, more interruptions found us.
“Hey, Marq,” a woman sang in my man’s direction.
She left little to the imagination with the skintight romper she wore. She wore a nice wig, though. She didn’t speak to me as she stood at our table.
Marquise looked her over lazily before drinking more of his drink. “What’s up?”
“You didn’t come by the salon today. We missed you,” she whined.
I bit my tongue to restrain from dog walking her ass outside. Bitches were bold, but they only got the confidence to try me because Marquise didn’t check that shit.
“I had other shit to do,” he replied nonchalantly.
“Boo. Make sure you stop by tomorrow. I got something special for you.”
My blood boiled in my veins. “Bitch, he might not check you, but I will. If you don’t get the fuck away from the table, you and that wig gon’ get split.”
“Excuse me?” She rolled her eyes.
“You heard me. Go play in traffic or something.”
She swayed her hair in my face, and my whole mood changed. I had too much to lose to really get in the trenches with her, so I stood up and walked out of the restaurant.
Fuck the drinks.
Fuck the wings.
I wasn’t in the mood to do shit but put my hands on Marquise. As I paced in front of the car, I could feel the tears burning the rims of my eyes. Marquise liked to be the center of attention. He liked to have women begging to suck his dick. He liked to have men envious of the motion he had.
I leaned against the side of the car and called Jenifer. We didn’t see each other as much anymore, but I still called her to vent when I needed to.
“Hello?” she answered with a yawn.
“Were you sleep?”
“Nah. I’m still at work, just tired. What’s going on?”
“I’m so sick of Marquise.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I am!”
“Girl, if you were sick of him, you’d leave. Instead, he’s got you crying. What did he do this time?”
“Girl, it seems like the whole fuckin’ city at our spot tonight. When he is outside, he’s a completely different person than the man I lay in bed with every night.”
“You go through this literally two or three times a month. You are not leaving that man, so wipe your tears and go back wherever it is y’all at and enjoy the meal.”
“I don’t have an appetite anymore.”
“Poor tink. I told you back in the day to be careful, and your hot in the twat ass still followed that man like a lovesick puppy. He knows you are not going nowhere, and that’s why he plays in your face. You need to put that nigga in his place.”
A sigh escaped my lips. “You did not help how I needed you to. I feel even worse than before I called your ass.”
“You should have called Dayari. You know she’ll coddle you about her cousin.”
“Next time I will.”
“I love you, boo, but I need this storyline to hurry and pass. We need a new season with something different.”
I chuckled. “Whatever, girl. I’ll text you later.”
“Mm-hmm. Be safe.”
The call ended, and I let out a series of cuss words. The downside to being with a powerful man was the groupies. Sometimes it felt like he didn’t respect me enough to put those chicken heads in their place.
“Honey.”
I rolled my eyes and continued to look at the Houston nightlife.
“Honey!”
His voice was louder as he closed the distance between us. He trapped me between his body and the Escalade. He smelled so good…
Focus.
“Oh, now you know who I am?”
“What’s yo’ problem? Why you bolt like that?”
“Why do you have freckles on your face?”
He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. “Huh?”
“Oh, I thought we were both asking stupid questions.”
He guffawed. “You tripping.”
“You didn’t see a problem with the way you handled that in there? You don’t think my feelings are valid?”
“You overreacted. Ain’t nobody checking for Jasmine’s ass. I ain’t ever found anybody more attractive than you.”
“Cool. It doesn’t change the fact she had the audacity to act like I was some bottom ass bitch. I’m your woman, and these bitches need to respect me. This has happened one too many times, Marquise. On everything I love, if you don’t keep these bitches out yo’ face, I’m gone.”
His amused smile turned down into a tight frown. His eyes searched mine for any hint of a joke, but I was dead ass serious.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
“Are you? Because this isn’t the first or second time we’ve gone out somewhere and shit like this has happened. I really have too much going for myself to really put my hands on these hos, so please stop playing with me.”
“I won’t let disrespect go unchecked again.”
“If it happens again, I’ll be back at my parents’ place before you can apologize again.”
“I hear you. Are you gon’ go back inside with me, or are we going to dine and dash?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t piss me off. You took long enough to come check on me. I thought you ate without me.”
“I should have the way your ass threw that tantrum.”
“Was it a tantrum, or a woman fed up with her boyfriend?”
“I already apologized.”
“An apology ain’t shit without changed behavior. Until we can go out and your work life doesn’t interfere with our personal life, I’ll be moving accordingly.”
“I hear you.”
I pushed him away from me. “If I go back in there, I want you to put that bitch in her place so I can enjoy my night.”
“I got you. C’mon.”
He held my hand in his and led me back into the restaurant. When we got to our table, he waited for me to sit down before he cleared his throat and turned his back to me.
“Excuse me!” He shouted out into the busy room.
Chatter stopped as everyone looked at him.
“My name is Marq, and this beautiful woman right here is going to be my wife one day. I love her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, and I put my tongue on every part of her body between those areas. She is mine, and none of you chicken heads can have my dick. It’s hers.” To emphasize the point, he lifted his shirt to show the purple and black extra-large script font of my name just below his belly button.
I covered my mouth and laughed as everyone in the room gave various responses. My favorite one was some lady hollering back, “I know that’s right.” I found the table where Jasmine was and gave her a satisfied smirk at the scowl on her face.
“Please sit down.” I tugged at his arm, and he reclaimed his seat.
“We are good again?” he asked.
“Yeah. I keep forgetting you got my name tatted.”
“I don’t know how. You see that shit every time I got my dick in your esophagus.”
“Sir? Why would you say that?”
“It’s true.”
“Why is our relationship like this?” I asked as I shook my head and reached out to hold his hand.
He lifted my hand up and kissed my knuckles before responding. “We are just young, dumb, and in love.”
“Head ass.” I giggled.
Every week played out similarly to this one. It was always something or another that tested our bond. We butted heads, but by the end of the night, we were cool again. Some would call it toxic. Some would call me stupid. Regardless, I would be Mrs. Marquise Kent one day.