Page 10 of Honey's Special Roux

“Oh… Oh dear…” I passed the joint back to him.

“You good?” he questioned.

“I… I’m not sure,” I admitted.

It may have been my imagination, but my body felt... That was the complete sentence. My body felt. All the things. The rise and fall of my chest. The flow of my blood through my veins. The beating of my heart.

“What do you feel?”

“Everything.”

His boisterous laugh hugged my heart, which made me roll my window down to feel the cool air of the night. I needed something to release the rising heat in my core.

“Don’t start tweaking. Long as you stay calm, you should have a good high.”

“Do most people get this high off a couple of puffs?” I inquired.

“No, but it’s not uncommon either. Would you do it again?”

“Not anytime soon. Maybe after I’ve graduated high school and want to dabble again in college.”

He nodded. “Fa sho. What do you want to study?”

“Honestly, I just want to become a world-renowned chef. Food is my love language. Have you ever watchedSoul Food?”

“Nah, what’s that?”

“It’s a movie about a family who comes together every Sunday for dinner. When the matriarch dies, the family loses touch, and drama happens. Anyway, they finally get over their differences and rejoin each other for the love of Sunday dinners. Food heals the soul, and I want to bring soul food to different cultures around the world.”

“Type shit. You be helping cook the dinners your granny brings over?”

I dipped the spoon in the blizzard and ate a generous helping of the frozen treat. “Yeah. I am in the kitchen with her all the time. Her recipes are unmatched. One day, she’s going to teach me theSpecial Rouxrecipe.”

“I’m gon’ need a bowl of the gumbo you make, fa sho. I ain’t had a good gumbo in Houston. Last good batch I had was from a hole in the wall spot in Louisiana.”

“You travel a lot?” I asked.

He shrugged. “A little. When I got a job, I’m traveling to most cities in the south. Texas really has enough business for me, but now and then, I’ll catch a flight.”

“At seventeen?”

“I been on my own since I was twelve. I never had parents who gave a fuck about me.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

His words tugged at my heartstrings. I wanted to hug him, but it didn’t feel appropriate.

I didn’t know what made me do it, but I reached out and held his hand. My blizzard was long forgotten as I folded his fingers around mine.

It must have been the drugs, because I’d never felt so in tune with my body—not to mention the call of my private parts to his.

Marquise rested his head against the back of the seat and lulled his head to turn in my direction. Our eyes met, and the seat of my panties got soaked.

We were too young.

Iwas too young.

His hand reached up and cupped my face. His thumb brushed against my bottom lip. It was happening. I was going to have my first kiss.

---