Chapter 1 #2
“This reminds me of middle school,” Fiona said as she looked around the room at the clusters of people who were talking. “I’m worried that no one’s going to ask me to dance.”
I had the same worry, but instead of shrinking back, I decided to be bold and said, “Fuck it! Let’s go find a dance partner.”
“How?” Fiona asked.
“Who do you think is the hottest guy in the room?”
Fiona didn’t even have to consider it when she nodded toward one of the men talking to Zoey’s boyfriend, Garvey. “I want that one.”
I looked around and found one of the handsome men I’d been admiring since he arrived a few minutes ago, glanced down at his hands to make sure there wasn’t a ring on his finger, and then stood up and ordered, “Let’s go.”
“You want me to just walk up and ask some guy to be my dance partner?”
“Don’t be chicken,” Taylor teased.
“I don’t see your ass picking out an unwilling victim,” Fiona snapped.
“Fine! We’ll all do it. On the count of three. Ready?”
“Are we splitting on three, or . . .” Moe glared at me, and I laughed before I said, “I was just asking!”
“I don’t know if I can just . . . You know what? I’m doing it!” Taylor said before she walked away.
I took off across the dance floor and realized that Moe was keeping stride with me, which might be a problem, so I asked, “Who are you going for?”
“The guy in the black shirt.”
I looked around and burst out laughing. “More than half of them are wearing black T-shirts, Moe!”
“It must be part of their biker dress code or something,” Moe mused. “I’m going for the hottie with the blond hair.”
“Also too many of those to count,” I muttered, sure she was about to ask the guy I had my eye on.
When I stopped just a few feet from the man I had my eye on, Moe stepped up beside me and said, “This is the first time for both of us, so be gentle, okay?”
“Moe!” I snapped, horrified that the men might take her sense of humor the wrong way.
The men in front of us started laughing, and the one that had caught my attention stuck his hand out to shake mine before he said, “Maybe I should ask if you’ll be gentle, because I’m way out of my element here.”
“I’ll try,” I assured him as I put my hand in his and introduced myself. “I’m Serana Gonzales.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Serana. I’m Roscoe Hamilton.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this, but here goes! Will you be my dance partner, Mr. Hamilton?”
“Gladly!”
◆◆◆
“My people meter has reached max capacity, and I’m fourteen words away from losing my shit,” Moe warned as she pulled into the parking lot of the diner where we’d agreed to meet our dance partners for dinner. “This is your warning.”
“Why are you warning me? I know what to expect. It’s the people around you that need a heads up.
You should wear a sign or something,” I told her after she put the car in Park and I opened my door.
We had walked about six feet away from the car when a man appeared out of the shadows, and I felt Moe tense beside me.
I ignored my initial wariness when I realized he was just down on his luck and obviously homeless and greeted him with a smile as I walked past him.
“Can I bum a smoke?” he asked.
“We don’t smoke,” I informed him as I stopped to wait for Moe to catch up to me. She was standing there staring at him. I wondered what the problem was but didn’t want to linger out here in the dark for too long.
“How about some money?”
“We aren’t carrying any cash, but I’d be happy to order you something to eat and bring it out to you,” I offered.
“I’d rather you take your pretty ass inside and have them run your card for some cash,” he said snidely.
“And I’d rather you fuck right the hell off and leave us alone,” Moe said in the same tone.
“I wasn’t talking to you, bitch!”
“Come on, Moe,” I said as I yanked her arm to pull her toward a part of the parking lot that was better lit.
She started walking with me but turned her head so that her eyes never left the man who was glaring at her.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he was still standing there and asked, “Why did you have to be so mean to him?”
“He was about ten seconds from mugging us, Serana. Jeez, woman. How in the hell have you survived out in the world this long?”
“You don’t know for sure that robbery was his intention. He was probably just hungry.”
“You’re right,” Moe said as she shook off my hand. “He just wanted someone to buy himself a fat, juicy burger. I’m sure that would help him get rid of the shakes. It might even heal the lesions on his skin.”
“I might not be able to give him what he really wants, but food always helps.”
“Honey, I worry about you sometimes,” Moe said as she pulled the door open and urged me to walk ahead of her.
I saw Roscoe and Josh waiting next to the check-in stand, but before I could greet them, Moe ordered, “We need to sit over there by the windows to make sure that guy doesn’t fuck with my car. ”
“What guy?” the man Moe had danced with all evening asked as he looked beyond us to the closed door.
“Some tweaker. He’s probably already moved on, but I don’t want to take any chances,” Moe explained.
“I’ll go check it out.”
“Don’t bother, let’s just sit somewhere we can see my vehicle,” Moe said as she stepped in front of him.
Roscoe turned to the employee and asked him to seat us near the window and then motioned for me to walk ahead of him as he led us to the booth. I slid in and Roscoe took the seat next to me before he looked up at the young man and asked, “Is Dylan in the back?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Will you tell him we need to talk to him, please?”
“Of course,” he assured him before he leaned down and said, “You know how pissed he gets when he thinks it’s just some random person or someone who wants a recipe, so I’m not gonna say it’s you.”
“Acting like your mother is not good for your health, kiddo,” Roscoe told him with a grin.
“She’s living her best life, though, isn’t she?” Robbie asked.
“I can’t believe that kid’s old enough to have a fucking job,” Josh muttered as he watched the guy walk away.
“You’re friends with his mom?” I asked.
“She’s one of my business partners,” Roscoe explained.
I was about to ask Roscoe what he did for a living, but Josh cut me off by flipping his menu shut. “I’m wasting my time looking at this,” he joked. “I just want one of everything.”
“Is the food that good?” I asked.
“You haven’t eaten here yet?” When I shook my head, Roscoe looked appalled and said, “We’re gonna have to order a few different sampler platters so you can try everything.”
“I thought I’d just get a sandwich or something simple,” I told him, wondering how much a platter cost.
Despite working two jobs, I was barely scraping by. Court fees and restitution took up most of what I made. I couldn’t risk a week of hunger just to satisfy a momentary craving.
“How much is a sampler?” Moe asked as she opened her menu, her thoughts probably on the same track as mine.
“Depends on how mad he makes Dylan,” Josh answered with a grin. “Can one of you pull a ‘Country Club Connie’ and make him lose his shit?”
“What’s that?” I asked.
Moe’s entire demeanor changed, and she scoffed before she wiped an imaginary crumb off the table and then grimaced as she brushed her hands together. “What kind of place did you bring us to? I can’t imagine what the kitchen looks like if this is the condition of the dining room.”
Josh and Roscoe bellowed with laughter, but I was too shocked to react.
But Moe wasn’t finished yet and pushed her menu toward me before she said, “I doubt they have any decent vegan options.”
“Use that!” Josh whispered as a man with a scowl walked up to our table.
“What?” he asked without any other greeting.
“My date has a few questions about the menu,” Josh lied.
The man’s eyebrows drew even closer together as he looked at Moe and asked, “What kind of questions?”
“I noticed that you don’t have any vegan options on the menu,” Moe said primly.
“Good job.”
Roscoe started choking, and when I looked at him in alarm, I saw that he was covering his face so the man couldn’t see his smile.
Josh wasn’t nearly as covert and asked, “How are you going to remedy that situation? Obviously, she’d like to enjoy a meal with us while we eat at your fine establishment. ”
“This is a barbecue joint, sweetheart; not a juice bar.”
Moe’s tone was snotty when she asked, “Do you at least serve salad?”
“Yeah, and it’s covered in eggs and bacon bits. It’s got some delicious croutons on it too. They’re made in-house and slathered in herbed butter before they cool.”
“Well, that just won’t do,” Moe scoffed.
The man snorted before he smiled, transforming him from a scowling grump to a very handsome man, and said, “One second. I’ll go see what I can find for you.”
As he stomped away, Roscoe and Josh were careful to be quiet as they shook with laughter, both of them with their hands over their mouths as their eyes filled with tears.
“He almost lost his shit,” Josh finally gasped.
“I wonder what his blood pressure is right now,” Roscoe said through his laughter. “The man’s on the verge of a fucking stroke. I guarantee it.”
“Why are we eating here if you guys hate the owner?” I asked. “I’m not sure I want to eat anything he makes if . . .”
“Oh, no! We’re friends of his. We just like to fuck with him,” Roscoe hurried to explain.
“I can’t believe I managed to keep a straight face,” Moe said with a grin. “I’d move to Hollywood, but I don’t think they’d appreciate my greatness.”
Suddenly, the owner reappeared carrying a tray, his expression twisting into a performative grin just before he slammed a bowl down in front of Moe. “I made this just for you. Enjoy.”
With one eyebrow raised haughtily, Moe looked down at the clump of dirt-clogged roots and grass. She then flicked her gaze up to him, her face a mask of wide-eyed innocence as she asked, “What kind of dressing would you recommend?”
Dylan’s eyes never left hers as he tossed the tray toward the young man that had seated us.
Moe couldn’t hold it in anymore and started cackling, which opened the floodgates so that Josh and Roscoe could finally laugh freely.
I covered my face in embarrassment when I realized that every patron on this side of the restaurant was watching the show.
Dylan extended his fist toward Moe as he said, “You had me there for a bit.”
Moe bumped fists with him before she slid the bowl his way and said, “I love your creativity and think we could become friends and traumatize the world.”
“Are you free on Friday?” he asked.
Moe smiled before she said, “That depends.”
“On what?”
“How much I like the real food you serve. I’ve got high standards when it comes to sauce, and I can’t stand the taste of liquid smoke.”
“Liquid smoke?” Dylan said with a bark of laughter. When Moe shrugged and nodded, he rolled his eyes, “Oh, hell no. I’ll bring your food out myself.”
As he stomped away, I whispered, “But we haven’t even ordered yet!”
Moe laughed and said, “I have a feeling that you get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.”
I watched Dylan shove the swinging door into the kitchen so hard that it made a loud crash as it slammed against the wall behind it and then shook my head as I looked at Josh and Roscoe. “If the two of them fall in love and start terrorizing everyone, it’s all on you guys.”
Roscoe grinned before he said, “I’ll bring the popcorn so we can watch them raze shit together.”
“That sounds like fun.”