Page 22 of The Need to Know

I nodded. “Yes.”

He scratched at his neck. “You’re serious?”

“Shawshank has a good story, cast, and friendship, but Life is more poignant, especially when you see them start losin’ friends and the twist.”

“It’s…a comedy,” Ezekiel pointed out.

“I know, but it’s just deeper for me.”

“Shawshank has the message of hope, and shows the effects of long-term imprisonment, and what it’s like to be institutionalized,” he pushed further, practically pleading with me.

“I know. I know. But if I had to choose…”

For a moment Ezekiel just stared at me, quietly. And then he gathered his wineglass and lifted it eye level, perplexity masking his handsome features as he stared into the yellowish liquid.

“What? What are you thinking?” I asked.

Ezekiel peered back at me. Soon, he leaned over and snatched my beer. “I think you’re drunk.”

The gesture made me laugh, loudly and hard, and Ezekiel was quick to join in.

Warmth spread through me. For the first time, I felt relaxed and comfortable with a man.

With a smile on his face, exposing those adorable dimples, Ezekiel loosened up and nudged me as he returned my beer. “All right, what’s your favorite Scorsese movie?”

I didn’t have to think on that one. “Easy, Taxi Driver, yours?”

“Mean Streets.”

I couldn’t hide I was surprised he knew that one. “God, that De Niro and Scorsese duo can never be wrong. Robert was so good in that. Especially that dance he was doing.”

Ezekiel chuckled, smiling that handsome smile. “Yeah, but Keitel was amazing, too—he’s always amazing. Did you know one idea for the movie was to make it an all-Black film, since Blaxploitation was a big thing back then?”

I tried to imagine Mean Streets as a Black film about young men in a New York neighborhood. “I could see it, but I think it works as is, too.”

“Definitely. My second favorite Scorsese flick would be Casino.”

Another nod to the Scorsese and De Niro dream team. “I really loved all those suits Robert was wearing.”

Ezekiel bobbed his head. “Yeah, shit was clean. Pesci plays gangster well, but I like how Rob was just about his paper and trying to be legit.”

“Made me wish I was a hustler.”

“You are,” Ezekiel noted.

“Yeah?”

“Life’s a gamble, we’re all just hustlin’ to win.”

It was a thought-provoking take. One I couldn’t exactly disagree with. I’d gambled my future when I left school and I was just now making a comfortable lane for myself.

“So, is everything a game to you?” I wondered.

“Kind of,” Ezekiel said.

“When do you settle down?”

“I guess I just haven’t found the reason to stop playing.” He looked at me as I looked at him, and I wasn’t sure if this was a game or not to him.