Page 57 of Honey's Special Roux

“Thank you for the opportunity,” I replied.

“For sure. My dad went to prison back in the day, and no one gave him a chance to make a living. It took Mister Okafor opening his store for recently incarcerated individuals to really make a difference in the community. My husband took over the store not too long ago and kept that same ideology. All people ever really need is a chance to show the world they aren’t who they used to be.”

“Fa sho. I’m grateful.”

Henrietta was a cute older woman with a kind voice. She had the southern hospitality down. She gave me my uniform shirt and told me to wear black pants and slip resistant shoes to complete the look. I’d have three shirts to keep in rotation. I’d work five days a week and would have two consecutive off days, which varied depending on the schedule. My new norm would take some time to get used to until I got the government off my back and could touch my money stash.

“Aliza will help you until your lunch break. Let me go take you to her.”

Henrietta led me to the storage room where a couple of people worked. She introduced me to everyone: Caleb, Mark, and Aliza. Aliza was fine as hell. She was about the average height for a woman, and her body was crazy thick. I could see her ass from the front.

Aliza was a light-skinned woman with her hair pulled up into braids. She had hoop earrings and shiny clear lip gloss on her juicy ass lips.

“Aliza, this is the new hire, Marquise. Marquise, this is the warehouse manager, Aliza. She will get you situated with the rest of the crew.” Henrietta left us be.

I licked my lips as I gazed down at Aliza. “What you need me to do, beautiful?”

She batted her long lashes at me as she took in my appearance. I towered over her with my muscular build. I got my signature style back down to the low-cut fade and my beard returned to the low trim as well. I was never an ugly man, and the women always made me feel loved.

“Um, you can start with loading the cart up to stock the refrigerators. Packs of water, sports drinks, beer, and stuff like that.”

“Fa sho. I got you.”

“If you need anything, just call my name.” She placed her hand on my arm and grinned. She had a pretty smile, but she looked young. If we were going to flirt or fuck, I needed to make sure she wasn’t too young to deal with me.

“How old are you, ma?”

She smirked. “Grown.”

I shook my head. “Grown will get my ass sent back to prison. I need a number.”

“I just turned twenty-three.”

“Your young ass.”

“How old are you, then?”

“I got five years on you.”

“That’s nothing. I’m grown. You’re grown. I don’t know how long you were gone, but I know you ain’t had no good pussy in a minute.”

I adjusted my dick in my boxers and chuckled. “This shit will have you hiding in my bushes, baby. You don’t want that.”

She licked her lips. “I’m a big girl. I can handle all that.”

“Fa sho. We’ll see about that. I need to get to work, though.”

“Mm-hmm. Once you’ve loaded the cart, push it to Caleb, and he’ll show you where to go.”

I walked away from her and went to the large array of boxes. I pulled up my pants, put my headphones in my ear, and jammed out while I loaded the cart to stock the shelves. Constant movement made the time fly by. Before I knew it, I was clocking out for my lunch break.

I opted to go to the deli and get a ten-piece wing and potato wedge combo. I had a Sprite and chocolate chip cookie for dessert. As I ate my meal in peace, I scrolled on my phone. So much had changed in the world. It was weird to see how powerful social media was these days. Folks could become billionaires from setting up a camera and talking on the screen. It put a lot of shit into perspective for me. I was too private of a person to let millions of people know my moves in these streets. I may not have had the power anymore, but nobody needed to know my every move.

“Hey, you.”

I looked up from my phone to see Aliza. She stood a few steps away from the table I set up shop at. She gave me the look most of the bitches on the block gave me. Back then, I never gave them a chance because all I needed and wanted was Honey.

Fuck, man…

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