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“Don’t you think it’s time to let the world taste the same food we’ve had the pleasure of having?”
Puzzled, Mercer flipped the key in his hand, staring down at it before looking back up at us.
“I can’t take this,” he said, trying to hand the key back.
Malachi shook his head.
“I’ve got paper. You niggas know that, right?”
“We have no doubt about it,” Milo assured him.
“But that’s beside the point,” I added.
“Use your money to build it out if you just have to use your shit. But we’ve all put some money in a pot to get this place off the ground.”
“You niggas can—”
“Watch you do what you love to do on a much grander scale. Whatever it takes to turn this spot into the five-star restaurant we know it can be, we’re willing to do,” I interrupted.
“Hmph,” he scoffed.
“We’re not taking that key back, so take your wide-back ass in and check it out.”
“If you weren’t my little brother, I’d be done bust you in your mouth.” He chuckled, still following orders.
We filed into the building, the three of us allowing Mercer to lead the way so that we were able to see his pure reaction. The two-story building was massive. Turning toward us with a smile on his face, he nodded in appreciation.
“I’ma need to go dig up that mil.” He laughed. “This motherfucker gon’ take every dime.”
“Or you could use the quarter that’s left in the account after purchasing this space to get started.”
“That’s your idea? Budget?”
“Yeah. If I can cut some costs, seven-fifty or eight might do it.”
“You have two-fifty. We can make sure you get to four and you match it. That’ll give you the eight you need to get it to where it needs to be,” Malachi explained.
“You don’t have to. I have the—”
“We don’t want to hear that shit, Mercer. Just deck this bitch out. That’s our only request.” I hushed him.
“And agree to the name we’ve already decided on.”
“What’s that?”
“The M.”
Nodding, he agreed in an instant. We wasted little time shaking on it.
“The M,” he repeated. “It’s a done deal.”
FOURTEEN
Seeing my grandmother made my soul bubble. I loved her deeply and I loved her wholly. Aside from a cousin living on the other side of Huffington State, and a few other distant relatives, she was the only family I knew. Neither my mother nor father had large families. It was the sole reason that I planned to be fruitful when my time finally came.
“I have to get going, Granny. Work starts in a bit and I need to make a stop. It’s my coworker’s birthday and I can’t walk in empty-handed.”
She was lucid. It wasn’t often she was, but those moments, I cherished.
