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CHAPTER FOUR

FERRIS

“ Y ou wanna meet in Nome for lunch? I know you ain’t doing shit.”

I frowned as Asad chuckled. As I sat in my gaming chair, I paused my game and reclined. “Nigga, I’m always working, although it don’t seem like work to you.”

He laughed. “Well, I figured we can go to Jen and Chrissy’s Diner, and maybe you can see Milana.”

“I’m not worried about her ass. She shot me down. She didn’t even want to get to know me without strings attached. I know when to back off. However, I’ll go, though, because I haven’t been in a while. My soul started craving that stuffed fried chicken the minute you said it. What time?”

I looked at the clock to see it was nearly ten already.

I had to send in the data for this game by tonight, but I wanted to send it in before lunch.

That was why that nigga felt like I didn’t work.

I was a game tester, so I basically played video games for a living, offering feedback on what they could do to improve it.

“Is twelve thirty cool?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I should be done in the next hour.”

“A’ight.”

He ended the call, and I went back to the game I was playing.

My mind was no longer on it though. It had shifted to Milana.

I was pretty decent at reading people and realizing when there were other driving factors to why they did the things they did.

Just from the conversation I overheard, it seemed she was into it with her mother.

I had to assume it was her mother since she referred to her dad when she was talking about her.

She’d said her mother slapped the piss out of her, so it must have been bad.

It seemed to be taking a toll on her too.

When she wasn’t communicating with her cousins, her eyes held a sadness that I could clearly see, especially after I overheard the conversation.

She was so beautiful, but her reaction to me threw me completely off .

. . caught me by surprise. The way she was blushing and shit when she saw me staring at her made me think she would be receptive.

I paused my game and stood from my seat.

I was barely paying attention to that shit.

I kept notes as I went, so I went over them to make sure they were on point before I added more.

That helped pass time as well. By the time I was done, it was nearly eleven thirty, so I took a quick shower and got dressed, being sure to look nice.

Since I was at home most of the time, it was common for me to be in T-shirts, sweats or basketball shorts, or even bare chested.

I sprayed cologne on, then grabbed my keys and headed out.

When I got there, the place was crowded.

I hadn’t been here in years, but I didn’t remember it ever being this crowded.

They’d grown, and people were realizing just how good their food was.

After getting out of my vehicle, I saw Asad getting out of his car.

He smiled when he saw me, and I could imagine what his ass was thinking.

Sure enough, when he got close, using his best impression of Ray Gipson from the movie Life he said, “You mighty dapper . . . very debonair to say you ain’t worried about seeing Milana.”

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, then shook his hand. “Shut the fuck up, nigga.”

We made our way inside, and the ladies behind the counter smiled at us. They were Jen and Chrissy, the owners of the diner. I couldn’t believe they were still working the counter instead of hiring other people to do that.

“Welcome to Jen and Chrissy’s!” the gray-headed one said.

We both smiled and nodded. Asad looked around as did I, trying to see what we could see.

Two of the young ladies Milana was with at the rodeo yesterday were here, but I didn’t see her.

Those twins weren’t here either. Good. I didn’t feel like being rude to nobody today.

When we got to the counter, we told them what we wanted to eat.

After paying and finding a table to sit at, I could feel eyes on me.

I looked up to see Ashanni and the other chick staring at me. They smiled and waved, and I did the same. They were friendly enough. Once I blessed my food and was about to dive in, Asad said, “You know, I think Carter Legend and Red Squared tryna holla at the twins.”

I frowned and turned my lip up. “Those mean ass girls? They couldn’t find anybody else?”

He chuckled. “Well, Bali seems to like Carter. Noni shot Red down, but my brother said he ain’t giving up.”

I slowly shook my head as I glanced around the diner. Bringing my eyes back to my food, I could see Asad staring at me in my peripheral. “What, nigga?”

“She ain’t here.”

“I noticed. Ashanni is though.”

“Mm-hmm. I noticed her fine ass. How’s the gaming going?”

“It’s going. I’m almost done with the one I’m working on. I’ll have a lil break after that.”

“Is it at least an interesting or ‘fun’ game?” he asked, throwing up air quotes.

“It’s okay. It would probably be more interesting for a kid under the age of thirteen. It’s a little too easy. If it’s easy for me, it would most likely be easy for a teenager whose life is consumed by video games.”

He nodded and ate more of his smothered beef tips.

I was trying to save my chicken for last, because I wanted to savor it, but the way that shit was staring back at me on my plate, I had to take a bite.

I fully expected to taste mac and cheese when I bit into it, but not so.

When I tasted red beans and rice in that chicken, I nearly lost my damn mind. “Yooooo,” I said, a mouth full of food.

Asad chuckled. “What’s wrong with you?”

“The last time I came here, she only did mac and cheese and said she was about to start experimenting with greens. Nigga, this is red beans and rice. What the fuck?”

I quickly took another bite as Asad laughed and shook his head.

“She’s been stuffing that chicken with all kinds of stuff, bro.

One time, they said there was sweet potato and cabbage in that shit.

I don’t know how Missus Jen does it, but she’s an OG with that!

The way my indigestion set up, though, I can’t always stomach the fried foods. These beef tips are pushing it.”

I chuckled. “Yo’ ass getting old as hell. That’s why.”

Before he could respond, another lady walked in, holding a saddle in her hands. “Look at this shit!” she said loudly.

Everyone was staring at her as she cried. Jen and Chrissy went to her as she dropped the saddle to an empty table. “She fucking bought me a ten-thousand-dollar saddle!”

They hugged her and allowed her to sob in their embrace. I noticed they were both shedding tears as well. Several other people had left their seats and went to her. I didn’t know saddles could cost so much. I wish I would pay ten grand for a damn saddle.

“Please tell me you gon’ call her, Tiff,” a lady said.

My eyebrows shot up. Shit! She was Tiffany Henderson, Milana’s mama.

That was probably a gift to get her attention.

Apparently, the call she placed last night after the rodeo went unanswered.

I took another bite of my chicken as I watched them.

I was trying to be discreet, but Asad’s ass had turned all the way around to look.

“That’s a badass saddle. I bet that’s sterling silver on it for it to cost that much. That’s top of the line,” Mrs. Chrissy said.

“I sent her a text for her to meet me here,” Mrs. Tiffany said.

Asad looked back at me when she said it. “Is she talking about Milana?” he asked in a hushed tone.

“Yeah. I overheard her talking to her cousins about a break in their communication. I’m thinking it was definitely Milana’s fault for her to be dropping bands like that on a saddle. She must do really well at the rodeos.”

“Yeah, but look who her family is. I’m pretty sure they had a pretty penny saved up for her. That’s how the rich pass down wealth, through the generations. They keep working and set up shit for their kids.”

I nodded in agreement. He was right about that.

They didn’t engage in frivolous spending, especially while they were still building wealth.

It was niggas like me who suddenly came into a lot of money that burned the shit up.

After finishing off my food, I wiped my mouth and went to refill my tea.

As I was doing so, I saw Milana walk inside.

She looked nervous, and I guess so if she’d done something wrong and hadn’t spoken to her mother in weeks.

When Mrs. Tiffany turned around and saw her standing there with her head down, she practically ran to her and hugged her tightly.

Milana broke down crying. Her audible cries had touched even my heart.

I couldn’t imagine not talking to my mama for weeks.

That woman had a whole attitude if I missed a day, let alone weeks.

When I rejoined Asad, I could see that their tearful reunion had touched others as well.

Most of the women in here were crying. I continued watching them, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, but I couldn’t hear a thing.

As I finished off the rest of my food, they broke their embrace, and I heard Milana say, “Can we talk privately, Mama?”

Mrs. Tiffany placed her hand on her cheek, and Milana flinched slightly.

Tiffany lowered her hand and squatted with her hands covering her face.

Mrs. Jen and Mrs. Chrissy helped her from the floor, and she immediately pulled Milana in her arms again.

Whatever had happened had to be pretty bad, and my nosy ass wanted to know.

When they separated, somehow, Milana’s eyes met mine.

She blushed slightly then gave me a one-sided smile.

She already had high, defined cheek bones.

So that small smile nearly made her eye close.

I smiled back. Maybe this was what was holding her back.

She may have felt she had way too much drama going on to focus on getting to know someone.

Being that the drama was with her mother, clearly a mother she loved tremendously and probably looked up to, I could imagine the toll the separation was taking on her.

Mrs. Tiffany grabbed her hand and stared at her lovingly then released her to grab her saddle. Once they left, Asad said, “Well, that looked promising.”

“Yeah. It seems they are going to be able to work things out.”

“I’m not talking about her relationship with her mama. I’m talking about that slight smile she gave you. I didn’t miss that.”

I nodded, but I didn’t respond verbally.

As long as I was single, she had time to contact me.

However, a nigga surely wasn’t going to wait for her.

I was searching for my one. If I found someone I vibed with, then she would have just missed her opportunity to vibe with a nigga that would change her life forever.

My pops taught me how to treat women, especially a beautiful black one that I was trying to establish something with.

I knew she was young and probably had some growing up to do, but I didn’t mind being the fertilizer for that process. There was only one way to find all this shit out though. She would have to call. I only shot once.