Page 12 of Taming a Menace
“Cool, let me get myself together.”
Dressed in only socks and a condom, he strode across the room and disappeared behind the bathroom door. Once he was out of the room, I was suddenly self-conscious. What the hell did I just do? It didn’t matter how good it felt. I knew having sex with a stranger was reckless.
It was bad enough that I’d let him into my home while no one else was here. His business had raving reviews, so I knew he wouldn’t murder me at least. Now I was questioning every decision I had made tonight. Post good dick clarity was the worst.
“What the hell are you thinking, girl?” I asked myself.
I almost jumped out of my skin when he opened the door.
“You good?” he asked with a frown.
“Um yeah, just tired,” I told him, stretching my arms over my head to drive my tired act home.
“Yeah, I’m going to get out of your hair and let you get some rest.”
“Thank you again, for everything.”
“It was definitely my pleasure.” He simpered.
“You got everything packed up?” I asked just to make conversation and verify that he was going to get the hell out of my house with haste.
“Yeah. I got everything but your phone number.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea. Remember I’m still working through some things.”
“Fair enough,” he said, nodding his head.
I released the stale air that had been caught in my lungs since he walked in the door. Thank goodness he wasn’t making things any more awkward than they already were. Once he was dressed and had his trunk rolling toward the door, I hopped off the stool to follow him. When we made it to the door, I opened it to let him out.
“Good night, Key. I’ll make sure to leave you a great review and refer you to my friends.”
“Make sure you let them know the packages don’t include orgasms. That was an exclusive offer.”
“Noted,” I said, rolling my eyes but unable to hide my smile.
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. Then just like that, he was gone.
Two
Keywan
Three Years Later . . .
I swept away the beads of sweat from my forehead with the back of my arm as I tossed a bowlful of potatoes and grabbed another. Busy work kept my racing thoughts at bay, but my mind wasn’t completely shut off. The smell of greasy food and empty calories brought back fond memories of working after school at a place not too different from where I found myself at the moment.
I lost track of the number of potatoes I cut up as I listened to the latest hip hop and R&B tracks blasting from the speakers in the kitchen of Cravings, a late-night dive I had been working in since coming home from prison.
I wouldn’t have been working my fingers to the bone at all hours of the night if it weren’t for Franklin, my bitch ass parole officer. I had to deal with his soft ass for a whole damn year. If we were lucky, I would make it to the end of my sentence without choking his tongue out of his head and hanging him with it.
I hated working for other people. I had always been someone who didn’t play well with others, so having my own business worked for me. I had been home about a month, but things hadn’t gone back into full swing.
Since business with my catering company Eat Up with Key hadn’t picked back up yet, Franklin deemed that as me being unemployed and shiftless. It didn’t matter that I had already paid my entire fine in full up front out of the money I had stashed before my arrest. He just wanted to be on my ass about something to make it seem like he was doing his job.
I loved to cook, so I wasn’t all that fucked up about my current position. My indifference didn’t mean I wanted to be there for the long run. My business did well. Once things returned to full swing, I was out of here. I had put the word out that I was back in business. At this point, it was a waiting game.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of time. So for now, I bided my time as a prep cook at Cravings. I liked that they had THC options on their menu. I planned to incorporate similar items on my menu soon.
I quickly diced the last potato and tossed it into the ice bath with the rest of the diced potatoes. I’d gotten Sonny, the owner, to add a fried potato and onion hash to his menu. It was selling like hot cakes. It was simple to make and went well with the greasy pork and beef entrees on the menu.
