Page 13 of The Dating Prohibition

Kendra used to think she was just being needy––surely the baby of the family was sensitive and simply craved attention. But it wasn’t that she didn’t receive attention; rather, the attention that she received was never the same kind that would be directed at her brother.

“What kinds of things were you thinking about for your menu, Keke?” Shonda spoke up with an encouraging smile.

Kendra shot her sister-in-law a look of gratitude. “I really want to bring our cultures together in some different ways. Smoked

ribs with an adobo-style sauce, panang curried jambalaya, a seafood soup where poh tok meets sinigang, fried okra with nam

prik kapi for dipping, lumpia stuffed with sai ua, butter pound cake with a calamansi glaze, ube bread pudding...” she

rattled off. “I have a huge list of dishes that I’ve not only conceptualized, but I’ve already cooked them. I know they work.”

Logan’s eyes lit up. “Panang curried jambalaya sounds fire.”

Lani nodded in agreement, pointing to her raised hand. “I volunteer as tribute––I’ll happily sample any recipes that you’re

still working through.”

Kendra laughed. “Thanks, cuz.”

Mrs. Porter sighed. “I can understand why you’d want to blend to pay homage to our backgrounds, but some people are purists

when it comes to food, honey. I just worry that you’re being too ambitious.”

Kendra’s heart pounded as she felt the knife twist in her chest. “Did you have that same worry when Logan and Shonda conceptualized

PALATE?”

“No, but—”

“It really be your own people.” Kendra pushed her plate away from her and held out her glass to her cousin. “Fill ’er up.”

“Is that responsible, Kendra Jhené?”

She turned to her mother, whose frustration sat on furrowed brows. “I live here. It’s not like I have to drive home.”

“Yes, it was very kind of your brother to let you stay here,” Mrs. Porter replied softly.

“Mom,” Logan warned.

“What? Why am I always the bad guy? You want to leave your job and go flitting around the globe taking cooking classes, fine.

I didn’t say a peep! You want to start your own restaurant, okay. I’ll be honest––I’m glad that you’re doing this near your

brother so he can help you if things go wrong.”

“But why is your mindset that something will go wrong? You didn’t think that for L. Why do you think that for me?” She hated that her voice broke as she asked, but it

was a question that needed an answer. Why don’t you believe in me? “And it’s not like I chose to leave my job. Who chooses to get laid off? I did good work while I was there, but it wasn’t

something I loved, so I took advantage of the opportunities that I had and did something that I may never have another chance

to do. I wasn’t flitting around, I worked my ass off while I was gone.”

“You betta check your tone—” Momma pointed one ruby nail toward her daughter.

“Regina...” Mr. Porter looked at his wife, and her mouth snapped shut. She waved her hand away from her daughter as if

she were removing herself from the conversation.

Kendra observed her dad warily as he turned to meet her gaze. “And you? You agree with her?”

“Keke,” he said, his voice a balm. His face held a warning not to keep pressing. “What your mother’s trying to say is that

we all know this industry is not an easy one. And you needed that time while you were away, but we both thought you’d go back

into tech when you got home. We’re just trying to adjust.”

Mrs. Porter wrung her hands before standing and quietly excusing herself to go to the powder room.

Kendra watched her mom exit the room and rubbed circles into her temples. “I guess I’m trying to understand why this adjustment

feels like a challenge to y’all. Logan was in tech. He pivoted. I was in tech. I’m pivoting.”

A countless number of conversations over the dinner table went this way, with Kendra having to point out what Logan had done

and questioning why her forging a similar path was worrisome or problematic. On one hand, it was like everyone knew that she

was smart and determined, but she needed protection in ways that he didn’t. She was only meant to admire roses, not handle

them, because the threat of injury by thorns was too great. Misogyny disguised as safeguarding was exhausting. And they’d

simply blame it on a generational gap when she called it out in the past, but that was nothing more than an excuse to avoid

change. Kendra’s mom returned to the table in silence, smiling tightly at her plate. Kendra took another sip of wine, willing

the moisture gathering in her eyes to dissipate.

Mr. Porter nodded. “You’re right, sunshine.” He glanced at his wife, who rested her head on her hands, her gaze averted from

the table. “I think that we should continue this conversation another time, but I want you to know that we recognize you’re

a hard worker. You’re a Porter––you can do anything that you put your mind to.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Kendra smiled half-heartedly as her dad rose from the table and kissed her forehead, petting her hair. He offered

her his hand, and she took it as she stood and stepped into his arms. In her periphery, Logan consoled their mother and led

her toward the front door.

“I love you, sunshine. You know that, right?” He squeezed her tightly.

She nodded against his chest. “I do. I love you too, Daddy. And I love Momma. I just want to feel like y’all have my back. It’s hard enough trying to break out into this industry when you’re doing it on your own. It’ll be even harder if it feels like no one believes that I can do it.”

Her father kissed her forehead once more. “We believe in you, honey.”

“That was...” Logan shook his head as he opened another bottle of wine and reached for Kendra’s glass to top her off before

refilling his own. Shonda had retired upstairs after the family left for the evening––they were expecting some early deliveries

at the restaurant in the morning, and she wanted to be there to take inventory and do some planning.

“Yeah. Welcome to my hell.”

“You know they mean well, Ke,” he groaned.

It was hard not to feel like he was taking their side.

“I know that,” she sighed. “I just wish I felt like they were as confident in me as they are in you. And I get it––you’re

the firstborn and my big brother, so they expect you to lead by example. They expect me to follow––I’m the baby. But I’m not

actually a baby anymore, and I am capable of achieving just as much as you are. Please know that none of this is to detract from what you and Shonda have built, because

PALATE is spectacular, and I am beyond proud of all that you’ve done. I am not competing with you. I just don’t want them to be so damn surprised when I put something together that actually seems like

it could be successful.”

They stared at each other for a long moment.

Logan reached across the table and placed his hand on Kendra’s.

“I hear you. And I’m not going to invalidate your feelings, because I see how they do you, and it’s not fair.

I’m sure it’s not easy for them as parents to see us as anything but the kids they raised––half the time, I think Momma still sees us in diapers.

” He cracked a smile. “But I am looking you in the eye as I say that I know you are capable. Go grab your proposal and all your stuff, and I’ll go grab the one we put together when we were getting

our place off the ground. We’ll compare notes.”

Kendra set her other hand on top of her brother’s and squeezed. “Thanks, brother. I’ll be right back.” She rushed downstairs

and grabbed an accordion file full of documents from the coffee table. She huffed as she returned upstairs. “The main place

that I could still do more research is for the financial projections, which I won’t have a ton of clarity on until we secure

a location, but going and visiting some local sites and talking to Duke should really help with that piece.”

Logan nodded, accepting the paperwork from her and flipping through the pages. “You’ve already got your company description

and LLC together, I see. You’ve started the liquor license application and just need to have your location set for that...

Damn, look at all this data for your market analysis!”

She grinned at him and shrugged. “If you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready.”

He nodded, his eyes widening. “This is in your savings right now?”

She’d scrimped and saved as much of her severance as possible. “My employment contract guaranteed two times my base salary,

but I’d negotiated a bonus on top of that. For my time away, I didn’t have to pay for lodging in Asia or in New Orleans. I

paid for food here and there, but I was apprenticing most of the time. I knew I’d have to hold on to as much as possible since

I don’t have property for collateral––I need to show that I’ll have skin in the game too.”

“You’re right. And this is a good starting figure.

” Logan took a sip of wine. He thumbed through spec sheets on different properties that Kendra had collected.

“Wow, I didn’t know that one was a landmark building,” he marveled, pointing to a large brick structure in a heavily trafficked part of Northeast DC.

“Yeah, I made notations for what I could find about their histories, and I included in my business plan the different ways

that I envision showcasing a bit of that history within the establishment.”

“You showed this to BJ already?” Logan quirked a brow as warmth spread to Kendra’s cheeks, his image forming in her mind.

“No, I haven’t shown him anything yet.” Maybe he won’t want to see anything now.

He rolled his eyes as if he could read Kendra’s mind, but there was no way that BJ would have told him that there was chemistry

cooking with his baby sister. “I think this is right up BJ’s alley. I’m sure he’s excited to talk to you about all of this

stuff.”

She shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know, he’s a busy guy.”

Logan narrowed his gaze suspiciously. “Right. Well, I think you’ve got the right plan and you’ve done way more than I think

Mom or Dad––or even Uncle Ronnie––gave you credit for. It’s a fresh concept, and I can imagine it being featured in the Washingtonian as the new hot spot.”

“We got a ways before that happens. Besides, PALATE is gonna get that recognition first!” They raised their glasses and tapped

them together. “To the Porter empire.”

“To the empire. Love you,” he added.

“Always.”

“Don’t worry about Momma. She’ll come around.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kendra sighed. “I’ll call her tomorrow so she knows I’m not mad at her.”

“Good.”