Page 88 of Happy Endings

“What, she didn’t say ‘I love you’ back?”

“Will you stop joking for a second? This is serious.” Andre tipped his head and knocked back the rest of his beer.

“I’m just messing with you, man.” Xavier’s cool-dude vibe disappeared. “Talk to me.”

“After dinner last week, right before I was going to tell her, she dropped a bomb on me. She’s opening a shop at District Market. A co-op.”

The waiter dropped off their beers. Andre swallowed the cold amber liquid.

“That’s great news!” Xavier held his glass out for a toast, but Andre didn’t return the gesture. “What did you do?”

“I told her she had to choose between Mama Hazel’s or District Market.” Andre shook his head, angry at himself. He’d handled it all wrong.

“Aw, man.” Xavier shot him a disappointed look. “You messed up big time.”

“Trixie’s not even my biggest problem right now.” Andre sighed. He told Xavier about Mr. Jackson and the upcoming meeting with their new landlord.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Xavier whistled. “That’s fucked up.”

“There’s nothing we could’ve done. I talked to everyone in the building about buying him out. None of us had the funds.”

Andre rubbed his face. It wasn’t until the stubble scratched his palm that he realized he’d forgotten to shave that morning. How did everything go sideways? When things had looked bad, at least he’d had Trixie by his side.

“What does Keisha have to say about it?”

“I didn’t tell her.”

Xavier’s jaw dropped. “She will kill you when she finds out.”

“She won’t. You’re not going to tell her.” Andre gave his best friend a hard look.

“She’s going to find out when you have to vacate the premises. You are a brave man.”

“I thought I could handle everything on my own. Keisha is going to kill me.” Andre slapped his forehead.

“Keisha may be shorter and smaller than me, but I’m scared of her the same way I was of your mama.” His best friend shuddered.

Andre laughed, remembering their childhood games that his sister always won. She knew how to get what she wanted. Their nachos arrived, and the two men dug in. Andre was glad to have something to soak up the two beers that he’d guzzled.

“Are your finances getting any better?” Xavier asked afterthey’d polished off the nachos. “Maybe you can move to a different location.”

Andre shook his head.

“The sexy pop-ups aren’t working? From what I can tell, you’ve had a full house for every one this month.”

“We’re basically breaking even. With the Monday family dinners, I’m still in the red.”

“Shit, man. I’m sorry.”

The two men drank their beers and half listened to the performers on the makeshift stage. Andre wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep Mama Hazel’s open. After Andre downed his third—or was it fourth?—beer, Xavier broke their silence.

“Mama Hazel would want you to be happy. What would make you happy right now?” Xavier asked.

“I’m not sure.” Andre truly didn’t know the answer to that. He thought leaving DC, away from nosy neighbors and expectations, would free him. Make him happier. New Orleans did, for a little while. He didn’t realize how much he missed his family and everyone until his mom became sick. Right now, he didn’t have time to worry if he was happy or not. Too many people depended on him.

“Does Trixie make you happy?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

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