Blue’s smile went wide and she shifted, popping a hip and pumping out her breasts. “Sure,” she said. “I believe you have my number.”
He nodded and started toward the back of the restaurant. “I’m sure I do.”
Yeah, he had her number and Erika’s and so many others. But he didn’t have time for that now. Not with all he had to do to get the shop reopened. Not to mention working with Kerry. It took just about all he had to keep his head on straight. Making that mistake with Erika was bad enough, but having Kerry greet her in the morning—well, it was downright embarrassing.
Not that it should make any difference who Kerry caught in his kitchen, but still, it somehow didn’t feel right. Kerry in there with Erika or whoever it might be. That was Mama Joy’s domain. His brain did a mental freeze. Mama Joy’s domain. He guessed he’d have to change his thinking on that, and soon. But shit, it had only been a little over a week, and he wasn’t quite ready to make space in the kitchen or his heart just yet.
Having woven through the tables, Jesse pushed his wayward thoughts to the back corner of his mind as he greeted Ziggy with a dap and moved in to sit.
“Where’s Craig? I thought he would be here by now, especially with seventy-five-cent wings being over in thirty minutes.”
Craig came up behind them just then. “What are you talking about?” Craig said. “As if I’d miss wing hour. I’ve already put in my order for twenty. I suggest you get yours in before it’s too late. You know how they are here. Once the time is up, the price goes up.”
Jesse nodded and raised his hand, hoping to get the attention of their server. Thankfully he came over quickly, a young guy with deep-brown skin and a serious expression. Way more serious than the job and the venue called for, but who was Jesse to judge? He’d spent most of the day brooding in a yarn shop, so he wasn’t one to talk.
After putting his order in, he leaned back, letting the energy of the room, and the fact that he was out, take over his mind and body. It was good to be out and not think about the shop for a little while. Not think about his life two weeks ago or his life twelve hours from now. Right at this moment, he just wanted to be in the moment.
“So, how are you making out?” Ziggy asked, breaking into his zoning.
Jesse tilted his head and thought about the question, not sure he wanted to answer and not sure he had an answer.
“You held it together pretty good during the funeral. I have to hand it to you. I don’t know if I could have been as strong as you were. Must be something to do with your last name. Your mother was an amazing woman. She definitely passed a few things on to you and your brothers,” Craig said.
“That she was,” Jesse agreed, and he didn’t have any words to add besides. “Strong” wasn’t the adjective he’d use to describe himself or his brothers these past two weeks. Honestly, he didn’t know how he’d found it in himself to even fight for the shop the way he did. Everyone had thought he and his brothers were so together. Four misfit princes of Harlem—but lately they had been more misfits than princes. Barely talking and only meeting in passing, except when it was time for Mama Joy’s weekly dinners. Now, without her and those dinners, when would he see his brothers?
Who knew, maybe that was part of why he fought so hard to keep the shop open. How could he lose her and them too in one fell swoop? He knew he couldn’t take it.
When he came out of his own thoughts both Ziggy and Craig were staring at him, as if he maybe had stopped talking midstream and they expected him to say more. He hoped like hell that he hadn’t expressed any of his thoughts out loud, but he didn’t have to worry about it much because just then their server came over with their drinks and Craig’s order of wings, along with Ziggy’s.
Craig was all about the wings and immediately dug in, but Ziggy wasn’t ready to let the conversation go. He’d picked up a wing but still pointed it at Jesse. “So, you didn’t answer. How you holding up?”
Jesse shook his head and took a sip of his beer. “I’m like you see me here. I’m okay. Don’t I look okay?”
Craig slipped him a look, then nodded. “You look all right. Still a little too pretty, and I’m not sure why I hang out with you. But yeah, alright.” He stared at him a little harder. “But you’re not sleeping worth a damn, are you? You need to get some rest. That pretty face won’t last forever.”
“Aww,” Jesse said, and reached for one of Craig’s wings. Craig’s horrified expression was priceless. “Thanks for your concern, Auntie.”
“Shut the hell up and be prepared to give me one of yours when it comes or shoot me a dollar.”
“A dollar?” Jesse said. “It’s a seventy-five-cent wing.”
“Interest, my man. Interest. And wing hour is about over anyway.”
Jesse laughed, feeling kind of glad to have come out now that Ziggy had broken the mood. “Okay, so wings aside, what’s up with you and Erika Taylor? You and her getting serious?”
Jesse’s laughter quickly faded. Dammit, word traveled quick. “No, we’re not getting serious. Nowhere near close to that. She may have stayed over at my place, but it was a onetime thing.”
“A onetime thing?” Craig asked. “Damn, you pretty motherfucker. That’s a smooth-ass drop right there. Slipping in about Erika Taylor staying over and then a onetime thing. Your lucky ass been tipping with her about a minute, pissing off half of Harlem and the Bronx, and now you’re talking a onetime thing.” Craig shook his head. “You really are worse off than I thought. Here, have another wing. You need a refill on your drink too?”
“More like a few-times thing, but her sleeping over at my place was a onetime thing. She knows this,” Jesse said. “Just like I told you. And I gotta keep my mind on my grind right now.”
“Oh, Erika can keep a brother’s mind on his grind. That’s for damn sure,” Craig said as he and Ziggy clinked glasses.
“So what’s the grind?” Ziggy asked. “Did you and your brothers decide how you’re going to close up the shop?”
Jesse felt the tension that was just starting to dissipate rise up again. Even his boys didn’t give any thought to him keeping the shop open. Nothing like a high dose of no one believing you’ve got any ingenuity to bring a guy down. Still, he faced his detractors head-on. “No, we’ve decided to keep the shop open. Or rather, I have. My brothers will help me out when they can.”
The looks the guys were giving him had him thinking for a moment that he was speaking another language. Even Craig had stopped chewing. He decided to continue on. Go remedial and maybe they would understand. “We figured it’s what Mama Joy would have wanted. She cared about the shop and what it means to the community. I figured I need to at least try.”