Page 63 of Saints & Sailors

Angela looked like she wanted to protest, but she didn’t.

“Be back in half an hour,” she told me before disappearing back inside.

Dreux offered me a small smile. “Come on, I usually grab something at Marty’s.”

A break from his mother sounded nice, so I followed behind him as he circled around front and began crossing over onto Marty’s parking lot.

Marty’s was an expansive supermarket, making the area where the barbershop, hair salon, and liquor store were look like a lone trailer.

Even if it were small in comparison, it seemed like good marketing. You could get your hair done and then run errands all in one setting.

“What are you hungry for?” Dreux asked as we stepped inside. Madonna was playing and he seemed to nod along.

We were passing the floral department where Cas was out straightening up her roses. When she noticed me, she offered me a big smile.

“Hey, Saylor,” she said as she greeted me. Her gaze flickered to the boy beside me. “Hey, Dreux.”

Of course they knew him here.

I was on the fence about Cas, but by her peppy demeanor, a part of me thought of her as a good candidate for Scott since they were both single.

“Hey, Cas,” I replied.

“You here to see your dad?” she asked me. “He just left at three.”

“We’re just grabbing some food.”

“Oh, don’t let me stop you.”

Things with Scott were still messy, but I didn’t clue her in as I accepted her help before following Dreux over to the prepared foods department, where the smell of fried food hung heavy in the air.

There were a couple of people in line before us, but I didn’t mind, it gave me time to choose what I wanted to eat.

In their glass case was a good variety of food. Fried chicken, baked chicken, fried fish, baked fish, chicken tenders, chicken wings, as well as a good amount of side options. In the end, once it was our turn, I opted for baked chicken wings, veggies, and mashed potatoes while Dreux went with fried fish, veggies, and macaroni and cheese.

Instead of going back to the salon, we sat in the café at a table across from each other.

Cameron hadn’t lied, Dreux liked putting ketchup on his fried fish. A sight that almost had me gagging.

But who was I to judge? I liked hot sauce on my mac and cheese.

“She paying you?” Dreux asked curiously.

“I’m guessing my first week is free labor, but after that yeah,” I said.

Dreux smiled. “See, not so bad.”

I nibbled on a chicken wing, comfortably numb to all that my life was turning out to be.

Well, almost.

“So,” I began as I gathered my Cherry Coke. “What’s the story between you and Bonham?”

Dreux’s face fell as his eyes lowered to his Styrofoam plate. “Why?”

“Oh, come on.” I sat back and groaned. “Either you two are ex-lovers, or something big happened.”

Dreux rolled his eyes. “Saylor.”