Page 195 of Sweet Dominion

Who fucking knew?

I shrugged.

Dima put his fork down, pulled out a notebook, and jotted something down.

“Dear God!” Chen ate it up. “I have no idea who will win! This is giving me anxiety!”

Fen pushed the glass of water in front of him. “Try some more of this, Chen.”

“Dear God! He cooked water too! Genius!” Chen picked it up and began gulping the water down. “Delicious!!”

Oh God. Maybe we will take him to the hospital.

I glanced further down the Judges’ table.

Chloe bobbed her head. “I might have to give this one to my cousin, although I loved Chef Foo’s dishes.”

Smiling, Banks pointed to the ribs. “These are my ‘Slap-My-Mama Ribs,’ slow-cooked for hours until the meat falls right off the bone. Served with baked beans and cornbread. If you pick those up and meat doesn’t fall off and land in your plate, then you can personally go over there and slap my mama.”

“Say what now, baby?” Aunt Betty widened her eyes.

A few people snickered.

But just like Banks had said, as soon as I picked a rib up, the meat fell off.

Mmmm.

I had to fork it up, but once I put it in my mouth I almost sang.

Well damn.

The ribs were tender, juicy, and packed with flavor. The smoky barbecue sauce clung to each bite. The baked beans had a hint of sweetness and the cornbread was so fluffy it practically crumbled in my hands.

Wow. This is insane. I really thought Banks had no chance.

Banks looked around. “Anybody need to smack my mama?”

“Boy, you better stop playing!” Aunt Betty mumbled between bites of chicken.

That being said, no one got up or even laughed.

Everyone was too busy eating ribs.

Chen didn’t even use a fork he was just grabbing portions with his fingers like a starved man.

And sure enough I gazed around in the crowd to catch Duck filming him.

I would have stopped him, if I weren’t so absorbed with getting more ribs into my own mouth.

In fact, I didn’t even feed any to Moni. They werethatgood.

Banks smiled proudly as the staff brought over the final dish. “And I don’t know if you all fuck with oxtails in the East, but in the South, baby, we don’t play about our oxtails.”

Several of Rowe Street Mob hooted.

“Big Mama used to say, ‘The reason Black folks love oxtails is because, back during slavery times, the masters would eat the whole ox and leave the tail for us. And you know how we do.’” He spread his hands out and grinned. “You can’t let Black folks step through the door with anything. We’ll take it over and make it better! Make you wish you hid the thing from us in the first place!”

A few in the crowd clapped.

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