Page 5 of A Little Kissing Between Friends

Me: You love me!

Cedes: You know it.

Mercedes was one of the women I’d immediately clicked with when I started dancing at Sanity. She was a fellow single mother, with a background in dance, and two boys who were close in age to Amani. With so many similarities between us, it was no question why we got on the way that we did. We’d become so close that she was like an auntie to my baby. I’d gone from having just my granny, to losing her right before Amani was born and only having Samir, to now having a live and in the flesh sisterfriend.

And then of course there was Poppa. My bestie boo.

Speaking of Poppa...

I navigated back to my text messages and selected our ongoing thread.

Me: What did you eat today?

Poppa: ...

Poppa: I had a cheeseburger before I made it to the studio.

Twisting my lips to the side, I shook my head. If I didn’t know that girl as well as I did, I might’ve been satisfied with that answer. I mean...it sounded good enough and kinda sorta answered my question, if I tilted my head to the side and squinted. The thing is...I wasn’t about to do all of that. It wasn’t even necessary. I was willing to bet that even though she’d only been back in town for a few days, Poppa had been at Rhythm & Rainbows since the night before, which meant she hadn’t eaten a thing today. It was only eleven in the morning and she likely had no intentions of leaving the studio anytime soon.

Closing my laptop, I sat it on the coffee table where my phone had just been. Grabbing my keys from a hook on the wall and my purse from the coat rack by the door, I left my condo and headed toward one of my favorite food markets.

Briggs Food Hall was essentially a mall food court without the haggard families doing school shopping, or the groups of emo teenagers drinking bubble tea and wearing studded belts from Hot Topic with thumb holes cut in the shirt sleeves. It was the anchor business in a small commercial strip, tucked into the heart of Third Ward, minutes from 288. The parking lot held eight cars, max, and most everyone parked on the streets surrounding the building. I lucked out and caught someone pulling out near the door just as I took my chances with the lot. The moment I stepped inside of the building, I stopped and took a deep breath, inhaling all of the delicious aromas from the different booths.

There were six restaurants located in Briggs Food Hall, all of them creative endeavors by local masterminds, but I was there for one place only. Yee-Raw was a Tex-Mex sushi fusion restaurant owned by a married lesbian couple who decided to merge their Japanese American and African American heritages with their Texan roots. What emerged was a surprising roster of dishes that became immediate favorites. Me and some of the girls from the club stumbled onto Briggs one day after a workout and I’d been the only one willing to give Yee-Raw a try. The moment that brisket temaki touched my lips I decided that Tessa and Anna would never have to pay for another lap dance as long as I lived. They’d yet to visit Sanity, but the moment they did, it would be five-star treatment for them all night!

Six months later, and I had Poppa hooked as well, and since I was sure her ass probably hadn’t eaten anything more than a couple of cold toaster pastries all day, I knew just what to get her.

“Hey, girl, hey!” Tessa Kimura-Brown called out to me as I neared, waving from her post behind the counter of the stand she owned with her wife. Her ginger-dyed halo of kinky coils was in a massive puff at the crown of her head, her edges secured by a red bandana printed with the Yee-Raw logo tied around her temple.

Lifting my hand, I offered her a huge wave as I sped up my steps, practically skipping past the cafeteria-style seating. The relationship I had with food was very, very serious—we were madly in love—and as a culinarian, Tessa was one of my favorite people on the planet. On top of that, not only was she a sweetheart, but she was gorgeous, with her smooth, chestnut hue, round face, and bow-shaped lips that were always spread in a toothy grin.

“Hey, boo!” I got in line behind a woman giving Tessa her order, and looked up at the menu over Tessa’s head as if I didn’t already know what I was going to get.

Once the woman ahead of me accepted her receipt, she turned around to sit at one of the nearby tables, allowing me to step up to the register. Before I could speak, Tessa held up a finger.

“Hold on a sec.” Twisting her neck, she called over her shoulder, “Babe, Juleesa’s here!”

My eyebrows shot up in excitement. Was I a VIP now? I stopped by Yee-Raw at least once a week, and both Tessa and Anna recognized both my face and my name, which came in handy when I placed mobile orders, so it made sense, but it was still surprising. Shifting my gaze behind Tessa, I peered through the wide rectangular opening in the wall that separated the front of their stall from the kitchen area. Anna stood on the other side of the wall behind a prep table, her jet-black hair up in a tight bun at the top of her head, a black mask over her mouth and nose, and the same red bandana that Tessa wore tied around her temples. She waved at me, her eyes crinkling as she smiled behind her mask, and gave her wife a thumbs-up. Tessa nodded and turned back to me.

“The usual?” she asked, her eyebrows up near the bandana as she waited for the answer she already knew was coming.

Laughing, I nodded. I’d tried everything on the Yee-Raw menu and while each item could get ate at any moment, there were certified bangers in my eyes.

Tessa’s grin widened and she echoed my nod. “Mmhm. So, two brisket temaki, elote tempura, and seaweed salad?”

“Yes, ma’am.” As I pulled my card out of my bag I eyed her. “What was up with the fanfare?” I tilted my chin toward the back kitchen. “What are you and Anna up to?”

Smile widening, Tessa winked and took my card. “It’s a surprise.”

“Ooh,” I breathed, bouncing on my toes. “I love surprises.”

Tessa swiped my card and spun the screen toward me so that I could sign. As she handed me my receipt, my phone buzzed in my purse. I chose a tip and scrawled some chicken scratch when it prompted for my signature before I pulled the device out and stepped away from the counter. I stood over to the side, out of the way of traffic but not as far away as the tables either.

“Juleesa!”

I looked up from the Sanity dancers’ group text about the workout session at Thick n’ Fit that afternoon to see Tessa waving me over. Glancing around, I noted that the woman who’d been ahead of me in line was no longer sitting at the table, but pushing through the exit. That meant my order was ready. Tucking my phone away, I approached the counter just as Anna stepped through the swinging door holding a covered container in her hands. My cheeks bloomed as an excited smile came across my face.

There was a bag on the counter in front of Tessa that was already filled with containers of assorted sizes. She added napkins, chopsticks, and condiments while Anna placed the container in her hand on the counter and smiled at me.