Page 98 of All The Smoke
“What are you doing back?”
“Here.” He handed me a white bag that clearly had a food container inside.
Dropping the knife onto the counter, I quickly snatched the bag from him and tore inside of it as if I hadn’t eaten in ages. I was pissed about my quesadilla but whatever he had gotten me smelled so much better.
“Where was The Jive Turkey truck?” I asked, realizing it was a turkey birria pizza. My mouth watered seeing the greasy pizza with the melting cheese oozing out of it.
“Around the way. Go sit down and eat.”
“Are you my daddy or my baby’s daddy?” I asked playfully.
“I’m trying to determine whether or not I’m still ya nigga after this conversation,” he countered, wiping the smile off my face. “Sit down.”
“Solomon.”
He sighed. “Kaori, just please sit down at the table.”
We held one another’s stare before I finally gave in and walked over to my table, setting my plate down before I sat in front of it while he sat next to me.
“Okay, so what now? I’m sitting.”
He chuckled. “You were just crying about food in the car, Kaori. Eat.”
“Why do you keep calling me Kaori?” I frowned.
“Is that not your name anymore?”
“Yes, but normally it’s bae, baby, love, or some other endearing name.”
“Yeah, I know, but that’s when you were acting like bae, baby, love, and all that other shit,” he shot back.
“Solomon, it was innocent.”
“Aight, let me hit my last bitch up so we can chill and chop it up.”
I frowned deeply. “That is not the same the thing and I wish the fuck you would.”
“It’s the sameexactfucking thing.”
“No it’s not. What I did was harmless and?—”
He shook his head, cutting me off. “Naw, it was grimy. You knew you ain’t have no business in that fuckin’ car. That’s why you instantly started screaming ‘it’s not what you think’.”
“Right because I knew it looked shady and you were going to think the worst,” I argued. “It was cold?—”
“So take your ass back in the club where you were supposed to be to begin with, Kaori, not in the fuckin’ car with another nigga you know I wasn’t gon’ be aight with.”
“I know. He was just…” I released a heavy sigh. “He asked to talk and because I said I was cold he offered his car…”
“And you had to accept?” He frowned. “Your car was a short distance away.”
“Okay, you’re right. I was wrong,” I admitted. “I had no business in there at all and I realized that, but by then you were at the door. How did you even know I was in there?”
“You called me. The shit was a little muffled at first but then I heard the nigga say something about getting in his car. I was on my way by then.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to disrespect you.”
He gazed at me for a moment before reaching for my hand and pulling me from my seat into his lap.
