Chapter 3 #2
Just like me, Joshua could be hotheaded without the proper guidance, even at our big age.
We were both loyal to a fault, and that was why we rarely did the new friend thing.
There were a few friends that we chilled with that we knew since we were younger.
My grandma gave me the best advice when she told me that you couldn’t and shouldn’t take everyone with you.
Joshua nodded before he opened his truck door to climb out. We walked up to the porch, and he pressed the camera doorbell. I felt the nervousness coming off him.
A moment later, the front door opened, and P’Nee appeared. You could tell that she had been home for a while and had settled in for the night. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to venture over here, Josh. Please come in.”
She stepped aside to let us both in. I took in the house which was nice as hell.
I had been in here years ago when a bitch that I fucked with rented it for a year before she moved to Florida.
It looked a lot different now, as it should have.
She asked if we wanted anything to drink.
My jaw tightened when she offered beer. “You drink beer?”
She tittered. “I don’t, but I picked it up from the store today.
I knew it wouldn’t be too long before Josh came over, after seeing you earlier, and I wanted to be prepared.
If I correctly remember, both of you like Red Stripe.
” She has a good memory. Our young asses drank beer from the time we were fourteen years old.
We accepted her offer and got comfortable while she went to the kitchen to get them.
Well, I got comfortable. Joshua roamed around the living room looking at the pictures, certificates, and degrees that were on the wall.
I watched my best friend’s emotions play Tetris on his face.
I saw him moving around pride, hurt, anger, and confusion.
“Here y’all go,” P’Nee said as she set the beers down on the coasters on her coffee table in front of her couch. She went back into the kitchen for a second and came out with an empty wine glass, a bottle of wine, and a platter with something on it.
When she set it on the table, I tilted my head in her direction. There is no way. “So, you just keep cornbread on deck, or was this specially made?”
She let out this cute giggle. “Like I said, I wanted to be ready. I do make cornbread often, though, for my faculty, staff, and students.”
The platter was accompanied with three small plates.
I saw that she was on her hostess shit. There was no reason for me to act like I didn’t want any.
I hadn’t tasted her cornbread in forever.
“Aye, you want some, nigga?” I asked Joshua.
I could eat all this by myself, but I wanted to be considerate this time around.
He chuckled. “Yeah, nigga. Don’t eat all that. Sis, you should have made more than this if you really wanted to be ready. We were greedy as fuck then. What do you think we are now?”
We all tittered softly. P’Nee got comfortable in her recliner that I could only imagine was probably her favorite place to sit. “Trust me, there’s more. How have you been, Josh?”
“I think the better question is, how have you been? You cut a nigga off like I did something to you. What’s up with that?” He went straight into it like I knew he would.
An uncomfortable expression covered her face.
Her face dropped for a second before she lifted it to make eye contact with him.
“That was not intentional, Josh. I love you, but it seemed easier to completely be done with Clover. There was a lot going on, and after so much time went on, I just settled into it being just me and my mother.”
“You’re saying a lot without saying anything, Sis. A lot was going on like what?” Joshua asked. His jaw was tight.
I planned to be a spectator during this conversation.
I was here for moral support and now cornbread.
P’Nee was beautiful in her leggings and T-shirt.
It was clear that she took on her grandma’s and mom’s body profile.
The Anderson women were a thick generation of women.
You could see P’Nee’s ass from the fucking front.
I pulled myself out of lustful thoughts.
“Josh, what happened doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago. How about we restart our relationship now? So, am I an auntie yet?” She diverted from the topic at hand better than a politician.
I side-eyed Joshua to see if he would let her slide or beat the horse a little more to make sure it was truly dead. When he reached out and grabbed a plate to put cornbread on, I knew that he would leave it alone for now.
“Nah, you’re not an auntie yet. No kids are coming from me until I find my wife. If that never happens, then I’ll stay a childless man,” he replied to her inquiry.
That was something that he always said and stood by it.
His parents’ relationship traumatized him, and on the other hand, he saw my parents together before my dad died.
He knew what a loving marriage looked like.
It was my parents’ love that shaped me and made me want the same.
It was also why I wasn’t the overly friendly type.
It would take a special woman to hold my leash.
Dinner Cruisin’ . . .
It was time for our monthly dinner cruise at our Charleston location. I was on the grill tonight. It was a sacred thing to cook on another man’s grill. Grif trusted a baby’s handful of people on his grill. His second in command was good, but he couldn’t manage the task alone.
We hadn’t pulled from the dock yet, and it was already hype as hell.
The cruise was sold out like it always was.
The vessel that we bought for these cruises was expensive as fuck, and I thanked God that our business sustained us to afford it and still turned a substantial profit.
The first boat that we financed was paid off five years ago, and this one only had a little over a year.
It was the biggest and most expensive of the two vessels.
“I already see a little bitty that I plan to get at.” Joshua interrupted my grilling. “I don’t think that I’m gonna have to work too hard for it either. The best kind of quick dick trips. The ones that don’t require too much gas.” This nigga.
“Man, shut the hell up,” I said with a laugh. I looked at my watch. “We should push off in less than an hour. The servers are about to serve the main course.”
For our dinner cruises, the boats stayed docked until after the main course was served, and I shut the grill down.
We could grill while the boat was moving, but my dad never liked to do it, so we didn’t.
If it was a private event and they requested it, we did, but outside of that, we were docked until after the main course.
Once we were on the water, there was a buffet set out that people could enjoy, to soak up their liquor.
“Bet, I’ll get at her after we push off,” Joshua said more to himself than me.
I finished up what I was doing while we talked about bullshit. Our aimless conversation was interrupted by one of the servers. “Bolt, one of the tables wants to give personal compliments to the chef.”
I smiled at the sentiment. “Aight, I’ll be out there in a minute. What table is it?”
She told me what the table number was before she grabbed what she needed. Joshua patted my back. “My boy out here like a country ass Gordon Ramsey. Pop Benj would be proud.”
I moved to the sink to wash my hands. “Shut the hell up. Let me go get my compliments so I can take a shower and chill.”
I left the grill area to head to the table that requested me. When I got a few steps away from the table and realized who it was, my blood bubbled. Yeah, I wasn’t about to do this dumb shit. I walked up to the table.
“Bolt, hey! The food is amazing. I love when you’re on the grill,” Anna cooed.
I was confused as hell how she was here. I knew that I canceled their reservations. “Anna, how the fuck are you here? I know for a fact that I canceled your reservations.”
I glared between her and Kaycee’s ditzy ass. Anna’s light skin reddened. “Bolt, I thought that was a mistake. Our friends also had a reservation, so I paid them for theirs.”
“Yeah, that’s some real stalking type shit.
” I reached into my pocket, pulled out a wad of cash, flaked off six hundred dollars, then dropped it on the table.
“There’s the cost of the night. Now both of you get the fuck on.
” I waved over security. “Please escort these two ladies to the dock. Their night is over.”
Anna jumped up. “No, it is not! We are paying customers. You can’t just kick us the fuck off!”
I heard my security mumble oh shit under his breath.
Yeah, it was oh shit. I assessed how much attention was on us to decide if I cared.
I took a couple of steps toward Anna. I didn’t get completely into her space, because something told me that was what her weird ass wanted.
She was the type of female to sneak kiss a nigga.
“Anna, as the owner of this establishment and organizer of this cruise, I can deny service to anyone at any time for any reason. I tried to give you a hint when I canceled your reservation. When I called you after my people told me that you pulled that bullshit in the store and told you to fuck off, you should have told your stupidity that it was a hard stop for us. In the happenstance that you didn’t get that picture, I canceled your reservation, but you’re still here stuck on stupid.
” My voice was low and audible only to her.
As stupid as she was, she must have understood that I truly didn’t want to completely embarrass the fuck out of her. She stepped in closer. “Bolt, I don’t understand. It’s like you don’t even want to give us a try. You just want to fuck.”