Page 12 of Forbidden Fruit

I watched her fidget for a minute. Her eyes seemed to water a bit as she looked up at me. “Sexually, we can be exclusive, but I don’t know about anything else.”

“Why?”

“My parents will do everything to break us apart. I don’t wanna put you through that bullshit.”

“I’m a grown man, Vashti. I can handle yo’ peeps. I don’t have to come to dinner or meet them anytime soon. I just don’t want to let you go in no capacity.”

She gave me an under-eyed look, with a smirk on her lips. Her cheeks were red again. “Girl, you got a nigga feelin’ like King Shit in here.”

She laughed loudly, then put her hands over her mouth. I laughed at her as she slapped my arm. Within a couple of minutes, they called our order number. When I sat back down, Vashti dove into her fried fish and shrimp. “You hungry, baby girl?”

She looked up at me, jaws stuffed to the gills. I laughed so much, I almost choked on my food. When she swallowed her food, she said, “Shut up, Drek! I was starving, shit.”

I laughed loudly, then continued eating my food, occasionally glancing at Vashti.

Seven

VASHTI

After we ate, Drek and I went to the river. We walked on the sidewalk, and he held my hand the entire time. We talked so much. I told him of my plans after getting a job, and he’d asked me if I ever wanted to get married and have kids. We both agreed that was something we both wanted. By the time we finished talking, it felt like I’d known him forever.

He was so passionate about what he wanted out of life. The way he took care of Ms. Carol was the icing on the cake. Jedrek had me all soft around the edges now. We’d sat in the grass for a few minutes, and he held me in his arms. It felt like that was where I belonged. Just to gaze in his eyes had me speechless, and the way I was starting to feel for him had me nervous as hell. I’d only been around him for three days, but it felt so right.

By the time we left the river, it had gotten dark and was almost nine o’clock. I’d been driving for a little while, not sure of where we were going. “Chitrita, this evening has been… shit, I don’t know what to say about it. I enjoyed your company and getting to know you more.”

“I enjoyed it too, Gray. Umm…” I hesitated.

“What’s up, baby?”

Feeling the heat rush to my cheeks, I said, “I like you a lot, Drek. I’m glad we met.”

“Me too.”

He caressed my cheek as I drove, and I could feel him staring at me. I glanced over at him, and softly asked, “What?”

“You’re so beautiful, Vashti. Just like the Queen in the Bible.”

When I stopped at the red light, I looked at him. “What’chu know ’bout that?”

“I looked up your name, because I’d never heard it. The Bible was the first thing to come up. It talked about how beautiful she was.”

“Yeah, but she was disobedient to the king. She wasn’t glorified.”

“And? That was the Old Testament. She was feisty, just like you.”

“Stop making me blush!”

“Why would I wanna do that? I wanna make you blush all the time. You my girl or not?”

Shit. My heart was about to beat out of my chest like he’d asked me to marry him or something. I didn’t know what to say. Instead of fighting it though, I turned to him and said, “Yeah. I’m yo’ girl.”

The grin that broke out on his face, made me smile. “What’chu blushing for, Drek?”

He chuckled. “The most beautiful woman I’ve ever met is mine. Now let’s go consummate this.”

“Consummate it? Nigga, you stupid! Where we going?”

“That depends on what time you need to be home, lil mama.”

---