Page 46 of All The Smoke
It was a task doing all of these cleanings while as nauseous as I was. Little Einstein’s contacted Treva and asked if we could come do free cleanings and talk about proper dental hygiene with the students and she agreed, asking me and a few other hygienists to come with her. I accepted, of course. I loved working with the little ones and even got to see some of my patients while I was working, my favorite being little Solo who made sure to be in my line when he saw I was one of the hygienists.
“Daddy says I have to keep my teeth straight so I don’t have problems with the ladies, Ms. KK, so I brush my teeth when I get up in the mornings and when I get ready for bed at night.”
Chuckling, I tore some floss off and said, “Right, because the ladies don’t want funky mouthed boys.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I don’t have a funky mouth.”
“You sure don’t.” I smiled. “But you have to keep your head still so I can floss your teeth, baby.”
He nodded and opened wide, allowing me to finish up. Once I did he jetted over to his little friends, bringing them back tomy line and suggesting I do theirs as well, trying to get them in front of already waiting students . I had really only intended to do the few students left in my line but I couldn’t turn him down. I convinced them to go to the back of the line to be fair to the other students.
Because we were only doing partial, fifteen-minute cleanings it took me another hour and a half to clear my line and help the other girls clear their students. I was good and tired, as well as hungry, when I got done. Treva said they had the rest of it and gave me the greenlight to go get food and almost ran out of there.
As I checked out of the front office, I saw Solomon Sr. getting a visitor tag. The moment he laid eyes on me he told the receptionist to give him a second.
“You’re leaving?” he asked as he made his way toward me.
I nodded. “I need to get food.”
He lifted the bags in his hands. “That’s why I’m here. I grabbed you some shit.”
I gushed inwardly at the gesture. It had been a week since the incident at the hookah lounge and he had been texting and calling me to check on me. The conversations were very minimal, mostly about how I was feeling and asking about appointments, but I appreciated him.
I mentally struggled with the reality of making a baby with a man I knew nothing about outside of the bedroom. I kept telling myself I wasn’t the first or last woman this happened to.
“We have some tables outside if you guys want to go out,” the receptionist suggested. “They’re for faculty but I’m sure no one will mind you guys using them.”
I smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”
We followed her directions to the faculty patio area and I sat there silently as he took everything out of the bags. Once he had everything laid out, he pointed to the plates and told me to eat.
“You’re not going to eat too?”
“Naw, I got all this shit for you.”
Opening the Styrofoam container, my mouth watered and my heart warmed. There were twelve hot lemon pepper wings just how I liked them.
“How did you know I wanted all flats?”
“You had all flats on your plate when I was at ya crib.”
“And bang bang shrimp?” I gushed, opening the second container. “Both of these are my absolute favorites.”
“Then I did good.”
“You did.” I smiled then took a bite of a wing. “You’d have five stars across the board if you got me… you did,” I exclaimed, opening the small clear container and noticing it was blue cheese. I hated ranch. It tasted like sour milk with seasoning to me.
Smirking he replied, “Yeah, I noticed you had that thick, nasty ass blue cheese too.”
“You’re very observant.”
“I’ve been told,” he replied.
I didn’t know if this was a big deal for him or not but it was for me. I had been with Jamal for six whole years and every time he brought me wings there were more drums on my plate than flats, so Solomon taking notice of that minor detail spoke volumes to me, In my eyes he was a step above my ex already even though our relationship, or lack thereof, was patchy.
“How are you feeling though? Still been sick as fuck?”
“Ugh, yes,” I groaned. “And I’m so sad that I’m probably going to throw all of this good food up later.”
