“You can leave the key on the nightstand.”
“Aite, my baby.”
I’d given him the key to check on my house when he left the hospital. It was a spare key I didn’t need, but I just wanted to be petty since he wouldn’t bark back.
“Where have you been, Tunan?”
“To the barbershop and den to pick up yo’ food and den here.”
“Stop fucking playing with me, Tunan. I’m talking about when I decided to stay in the hospital.”
“When the last time you ate?” he asked, completely ignoring my question and my growing irritation.
“Why?”
“Cuz I know dey made you eat in the hospital. When you here, you be on some other shit.”
“My mama cooked breakfast. So I’m actuallynothungry.”
“Well, it’s past noon.Lunchtime.”
Flipping the container open, a mountain of food had me nearly gagging. From what I could see, there was mac and cheese, candied yams, greens, and three large pieces of catfish piled on top of the sides. Forking the greens, the juice from them dropped onto the catfish.
“Open up.”
My eyes turned into slits at the request. “You think you cute?”
“Nah. Dat little puppy yo’ neighbor got, who keeps shittin’ on yo’ lawn, is cute. I ain’t nuttin’ special, but I do think you prettyas fuck. We can elaborate on dat more when you've had some food, doe.”
“All this food for lunch? This is too much. Perhaps a salad?”
“Mane, perhaps dis fork in yo’ mouth, white chick. Either you gonna open up, or I’m gonna open dem lips up for you.”
“You sound like you're into taking.”
His bushy brows, a stark contrast to his crisp line, lifted. The sun had given his pecan skin a golden glow, as if that were his name instead of mine.
“Taking from dese niggas? Yeah. I may have made a muhfucka, or three, come clean, but pussy?” He pushed the fork into my mouth. “I ain’t gotta take nuttin’ dat’s handed over willingly.”
The greens on the fork were juicy and bursting with flavor. I’d eaten a lot of food. I’ve visited a lot of restaurants and even had quite a few soul food reviews posted on my platforms. These greens were undefeated. As a matter of fact, his mama’s were the only ones that could come close. These had a smoked spice flavor, while hers had a seasoned flavor.
Looking up at him as he towered over me, I chewed the greens before allowing them to slide down my throat. He followed it up with a second helping, doubling the amount on the fork from earlier.Then, the mac and cheese was up next. He pushed the fork into my mouth, and I didn’t expect it to be so cheesy and gooey.
“Good, right?”
My reply was an eye roll as I chewed. He laughed in response—a hearty, sexy-ass, fuck-nigga laugh.
After three forks of mac and cheese, he went to the yams. The candied yams were the right amount of sweet. They were my favorite, and I wasn’t even a “candied yams” person. By the third serving of yams, my stomach felt heavy, and I gagged.
“Hol’ it in, my baby. Here…”
Tunan put the fork in the tray and handed me an opened bottle of water. I took a big gulp, and he shook his head. “Slow sips. Pace yo’self, my baby.”
“I’m full, Tunan.” I groaned, taking another sip of water.
“You ain’t had enough protein just yet. Eat at least one of the fish, and you can be done.”
I placed the water bottle back on the nightstand and held my mouth open as he picked up a fried fillet. “You know, I can feed myself.”
