~~~Chapter 2~~~
Five minutes later, I whipped into a packed lot, before venturing behind the shopping strip. I then shot a few texts, while we were parked directly behind View, which was a lounge/restaurant.
Big Baby’s eyes suspiciously danced around the car. “Uh…so, you’re just comfortably posted up behind a building? What if some people come and try to block us in?”
“Shiiiit,” I stressed, while reaching on the side of my seat, to clutch that heat. “I never leave home without it, baby.” I winked, as I lifted my glock.
“Umm. Is that right?” She poked out her bottom lip.
“For sho’.”
“So, why are we back here—” She got out, before one of the back doors of the building popped open, and out stepped Ms. Brenda. The cook for the spot.
“Hey, baby,” A slim, elderly Ms. Brenda smiled, as she approached the truck, limping, with a large fancy carry-out bag in tow. “Everything is fresh. I dropped the wings as soon as you texted me.” She explained, as I slid down my window.
Nodding with approval, I grabbed the heavy bag, as she handed it to me through the window. “Appreciate cha.”
“Any time.” Ms. Brenda grinned, before waving at Big Baby. “Hey, there.”
“Hey.” Big Baby politely waved back.
“Alright, Malice. Y’all be safe.” Ms. Brenda tapped my truck, before limping back into the building.
“Umm,” Big Baby moaned, as she sniffed the air. “Damn, that smells good. Did she cook the food?”
“Yep.” I grinned, while placing the food in the backseat.
“Really? How do you know her?” She probed, as I pulled the truck forward, rounding the building.
“From the hood. She sells plates.”
“And works in the kitchen here?”
“Yep.”
“Okay. What did you order?”
I pulled out of the lot, and onto the busy street. “Fried chicken, lamb chops, oxtails, rice and gravy, mac and cheese, corn brulee, cabbage, greens, and cornbread.”
She gasped. “What the fuck? Who the hell is about to eat all that damn food?”
I shrugged. “You said that you love to eat. And I couldn’t make up my mind. So, I ordered three different plates. I figured that we could sample and share everything. I mean, if that’s alright with you.”
She stared at me.
“What?” I furrowed a brow.
“Where there hell are we finna eat all this shit?”
“Well…I got a spot. Right around the corner from here. We can post up, for a minute. Eat. Chop it up. You know.”
She narrowed her gaze. “I never said that I was going to your spot.”
“I know. But do you really wanna bust down some oxtails and gravy in this muthafucka? Or do you wanna stretch out comfortably and enjoy a meal?”
Shaking her head, she smiled. “You’re literally the last type of nigga that my fat ass needed to run into. Here I am, thinking that you’re about to grab a fucking burger. Meanwhile, you had that lady whip up a whole Sunday menu. At two o’clock in the morning, no less.”
“Yeah. Shit’s crazy. But you eating at the spot, or nah?”
She playfully rolled her eyes. “I’ma eat.”
“Cool.” I nodded.
Ten minutes later, I pulled up at a four-story home, in the heart of River Oaks. The richest part of the city. Mostly old money resided there. But with recent new, modern rebuilds to keep up with the times.
“Oh, wow,” she grumbled, as I pulled the Rover into the garage. “This is nice.”
Saying nothing, I nodded, before killing the ignition, and allowing the garage to shut us in. I then grabbed the food from the backseat, before easing out of the truck. By the time I’d stepped around the truck, Big Baby was already out, waiting on me to guide her into the house.
For a second, I paused to take her in. Her thunder thighs were eating up those tiny shorts, cuffing that fat pussy. She was gazing up at me with those enchanting, slanted eyes, looking innocent, while she was probably everything but.
“Come on.” I gestured with my head, before pulling the door open to step into the house.
She sexily sauntered past me, as I held the door open, while her aura tickled my senses. She then paused, allowing me to step in front, and lead the way. She then followed me upstairs, to the second level, where the kitchen, kitchen’s nook, and sitting area was located.
Stepping into the open space, Big Baby paused, as she glimpsed around. “This is definitely nice…but this aint yours. I know a Airbnb when I see it, nigga.”
I lightly chuckled. “Say, it’s mine, while I’m in it. I never claimed to live here.”
“Okay…but why even rent this, if you live in the city? Cause I know a Houston nigga when I see one.”
“Cause. Sometimes you gotta confuse your enemy. Stick and move. Switch it up. Keep ‘em on their toes.”
“Umm.” She pursed her lips. “Well, that pretty much tells me everything I need to know. You gotta be in them streets. Heavy .”
“Aye.” I shrugged, before carrying the food over to the table.
“That’s all you got to say, huh?” She smirked.
Smiling, I gave her a wink. “Pretty much.”
Sexily, she twisted over to the table, and helped me unpack the bag of food. “I gotta try this chicken,” she mumbled, before opening the plastic container and helping herself to a wing. “Umm,” she moaned, after biting a piece. “This is seasoned to perfection.”
“I already know. Ms. Betty don’t miss,” I boasted. “She caters all my kickbacks.”
Big Baby gradually nodded. “In the hood, right?”
“Sometimes. Sometimes we kick it at the crib.”
“Okay. But what’s the hood? Where are you from—” She questioned, as her cell rang for the umpteenth time.
Sighing, she grabbed her phone out of her back pocket, peered at the screen, before silencing the call.
I raised a brow. “A hot commodity, right?”
She bit back a grin. “You know it. Now, back to my question. Where are you from, Malice ?”
“Acres Homes.”
She arched a brow, as she sat at the table. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah. Who you know from ‘round there?” I questioned, figuring that she had to know somebody.
She shrugged. “A few people.”
I grabbed a chair, positioning it right next to her, before sitting down. “No specifics?”
“Nope.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Why do I get the impression that you don’t wanna play the name game, because you don’t want me figuring out who you are?”
She reached in, opening the container of mac and cheese. “Because if it’s meant, then you’ll know everything you need to know. Directly from the source.” She dipped a small spoonful of macaroni into her mouth.
I nodded, while contemplating. Yep. She was definitely a stripper.
Watching Big Baby eat was interesting. Studying her in general was something I couldn’t stop doing.
I was analyzing every word, every movement, every gesture.
Her long nails were clean underneath. She ate so properly, not wasting a crumb.
She chewed with her mouth closed, as her dimples sank into her cheeks.
Her skin had a polished sheen to it, like she bathed in baby’s oil.
Her teeth were white and straight. I could tell that she had good hygiene.
Every so often, she’d gaze at me, with those hypnotizing eyes. “Why are you watching me, Malice?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I wanted to know. “I love what I see, and I’m just soaking it up.”
“Is that right?” She covered her mouth, as she spoke with food in it. “So, is this the norm? You pick up girls from the club, and stuff them with soul food in the middle of the night?”
“Nah.” I shook my head, before taking a piece of oxtail into my mouth. “This was a first, actually.”
“Okay.” She placed her fork down. “So, what’s next?”
I shrugged. “This your world.”
“I heard that.” Her eyes scanned the room. “You got some tequila?”
“Don Julio.”
“Alright. Let’s take some shots.”
I nodded. “Bet.”
After wiping my hands and mouth, I stood up. After approaching the smart refrigerator, I scrolled to YouTube, and played some music, before grabbing the bottle. By the time I was done pouring the shots, Big Baby was standing next to me.
Wasting no time, she took her shot to the head, and I did the same. Within less than ten minutes, we had both downed three shots apiece, and was talking up a storm.
“Main, say, tonight was wilder than a muthafucka,” I admitted. “Them niggas turned that lot into the wild west.”
“Yeah, that was crazy. Did your boys check on you?” She asked.
I nodded. “They texted me. They said that security kept everybody in the club, while they were shooting.”
“That’s good, I guess. For the people in the club, anyway. But I know that a lot of mamas are gonna be crying in the morning.”
“No bullshit,” I concurred.
“I wonder what the beef was about,” she pondered aloud.
“Either money, dope, or get-back,” I assumed.
“Yeah, that’s crazy.”
“It is, but it’s just the way shit is.”
“But is it, though?”
I eyed her. “What chu mean?”
“I’m saying. With all this shit going on in the world, why are our Black men out here killing one another? Like, how can taking a life be done so casually?”
“Come on, baby. You gotta know that the answers aint that simple. In a perfect world, I could give you a explanation that makes sense. But that aint the world we live in. I love my people, and I do believe in elevation…but in this life…you gotta meet niggas where they’re at.
Imagine me trying to be sensible with some nigga who never received love at home, and got hell in his heart.
He might be far too gone. And I gotta deal with that, as it is. Not how I want it to be.”
“True.” She nodded. “I guess…I just wanted to hear your perspective.”
“To see how I think?”
“Yep.”
“And what did my answer tell you?” I wanted to know.
“That you have some sense. The one thing that I can’t stand is an ignorant muthafucka. I want all gun totting idiots far away from me.”
“Yeah, I feel you,” I agreed. “But can I ask you something?”
She bit the corner of her lip. “What’s that?”
“Do you go around, singing to all the niggas in the club?”
She giggled. “No.”
“So, why was you teasing me?”
“Honestly?”
“Yeah, keep it real.”