Page 57 of All The Smoke
“Call me Solomon,” I requested. For some reason hearing her call me by my street name didn’t sit well with me. “And you gotta forgive a nigga. This my first time at some shit this fancy for real.”
Tearing her eyes away from the menu, she gave them to me and smiled. “Mr. Chow’s is not fancy, first off, the other places you named for a date were much more expensive. Secondly, your first time? That’s interesting.”
“How?”
“Your parents are very wealthy and well put together, at least I assume they are, so I would have thought you ate at places like this often.”
Tossing both of my arms onto the booth beside me, I slouched just a bit in my seat and replied, “Bishop ain’t always been as wealthy as he is now. We stayed in The Ridge and shit when I was a little nigga. It wasn’t really until he became Bishop that the money and shit came.”
“Yeah, but that’s been since I was a little girl.”
“Word, but by then I was knee deep in the streets and doing my own thing.”
“How do they feel about that?” she asked. “Bishop and First Lady are okay with their son…” She leaned in a little closer and whispered, “Being the plug.”
Tossing my head back a little, I laughed.
“Shit a nigga wish I was big time like that. I’m not on ya pops level and shit, but I do okay for myself.”
“I don’t need you to be like my father.” She shrugged then a sad look took over her face. “As a matter of fact I hope you never are because I don’t want our baby to go through what I am.”
“Ay,” I leaned forward and took one of her hands into mine. “Ain’t gon’ be none of that shit, aight? My kids gon’ always have me and you too if you want me.”
I didn’t know where that last part came from, but I did want her to know that. She had a nigga’s nose wide open since the first time I laid my eyes on her little ass, so I wanted her to know the ball was legit in her court and this shit with us would go however she wanted it to.
“You can’t promise me that.” She pulled her hand away while shaking her head. “My daddy promised me and my mama he would never leave us and…”
I cut her off. “And that nigga still around. Might not be there how y’all want him to be, but he got eyes on y’all and still making sure y’all good.”
“You act like you know him.” She rolled her eyes playfully.
“Nigga a street legend.” I chuckled. “And he a solid ass nigga. I don’t have to personally know him to know he stand on big business about y’all.”
The streets talked and word had been buzzing since I was a snot nosed little boy about how solid and real of a nigga K-Dot was. He was so real that he put his lil protégé back in the day on and left the entire empire here in Crescent Falls to him before packing up and starting fresh in a brand new city from. It was the famous scripture he quoted all the time that had me like I was when it came to my family.
But if a man makes no provision for those dependent on him, and especially his own family, he has disowned the faith and is behaving worse than an unbeliever.
I had that shit tatted on my back and I lived by the shit and took it seriously. It was why I made sure my brother was alwaysstraight, would give Bino and Scoot the shirt off my back, and hell, even made sure Bri was good. He and his word were all the way righteous to me. Really on the same level as Noah’s for real.
“Speaking of, he wants to meet you ASAP,” she said and rolled her eyes. “I’m going to visit him next weekend; you should come with me.”
“I can dig it.” I nodded and moved my hand from the table so the waitress could set the sushi down. Kaori went right to eating with her greedy ass.
“Are you guys ready to order?” the waitress asked, looking between the two of us.
“Yes,” Kaori answered as she covered her mouth since she was still eating her sushi. I’d already given her the green light to order for me too as long as she didn’t have them bring me anything still alive to the table. After the waitress walked away she pointed and asked, “You want to try some?”
I shook my head. “I ain’t really into raw shit.”
“This one is cooked.”
“What’s the pink and green shit?”
“Wasabi and ginger.”
“Why it’s on the side and not inside the roll?’
She shrugged and laughed. “I don’t know, I’ve never really asked. I just know that wasabi helps with digestion and makes the fish safe for eating and ginger is a palette cleanser.”
