Page 6 of Honey's Special Roux

“Look, I got a little carried away.” My shoulders lifted into a careless shrug.

“I don’t even want to touch the shit now. That’s so fuckin’ nasty.”

Rell was a member of Merlot’s crew. He handled the physical jobs Merlot coined beneath his scope of expertise. Merlot stood near the doorframe and watched as Rell removed the rope from Yosohn’s mouth.

“Where’s Chandler?” I asked Yosohn instead of continuing that useless conversation with Rell’s whiny ass.

“Man, I don’t fuckin’ know!” Yosohn exclaimed.

“Bitch ass, you know something.” This time, I punched him in the jaw. I held back from using my full force. Last time I used full force on a punch to the jaw, the dude’s mouth fell apart… literally.

“Fuck! I said I didn’t know shit.” He cried out in pain.

“If you don’t know shit, your life has no other purpose. I’ll kill yo’ ass right now.”

He trembled with fear like the bitch he was. He shook and cried as he begged me not to take his life. Merlot stepped forward with an expressionless look on his face.

“Man, it’s hard to keep young niggas in check. They do shit their own way, and it gets messy. Save us both the hassle of dealing with Marq’s crazy ass. Where is that mothafucka Chandler hiding out at?” Merlot’s voice was even.

Yosohn sighed. “I don’t know, man! I told you, when Kita overdosed, he took that shit hard. She might have been a crackhead, but that was his first love. He didn’t want her to die. He cut all of us off and left town. I want to find him, too, because he took all the money with his bitch ass.”

“Man, Unc, let me kill this mothafucka!”

“Marq, go take a walk. You fuckin’ up the plans. I don’t know why I thought your hotheaded ass could be cool enough to handle shit.”

I smacked my lips.

“I’m cool. I just don’t understand why we are still wasting time with Yosohn. He ain’t got no information for us, and it looks like he not important enough to keep in touch with Chandler.”

“I got this. Fuckin’ with you, we ain’t ever gon’ get shit done. I’ll call you when I got something for you. For now, go back to yo’ folks’ house and let me handle this.”

“But—”

“Go!”

My face staled. I looked everyone in the room over and spit at Yosohn before I turned and made long strides out of the room.

Adults pissed me off with that shit. He thought I was some crybaby ass little boy when I’d caught more bodies in my teenage years than he’d ever had the balls to in his old ass age. If he didn’t want me to help, that was fine. However, I wouldn’t rest until I fed Chandler Kent to the swine. His actions resulted in my life being a pile of shit. His actions made me a product of the streets. The only form of payment I would receive as compensation was his head on my mantel.

Fall passed into winter,which turned into spring. The night air was cool against my cheeks as I sat on the porch swing with my book tucked in my hands. The romance novel had me completely absorbed in the lives of the fictional characters.

Boom. Ba Boom. Boom. Ba Boom.

The obnoxiously loud speakers interrupted the tranquil moment. My eyes peered over the circular reading glasses I wore, to see Marquise swing into the driveway and park his car. He sat in the driver’s seat while he bobbed his head to the beat of the song he was listening to.

When he cut the engine off, he emerged. Marquise was fine as hell. He’d always been fine. His aura was attractive. He was the definition of swag. He’d added three or four new tattoos since the first time I’d seen him. At seventeen years old, he had a body covered in tattoos. My favorite was the gorilla on his shoulder. The snarling image was vibrant and lifelike.

He looked over at me on the porch and contemplated speaking. Over the last several months, we’d spoken a few times in passing. We’d had a few lingering glances too. He’d never taken me up on the offer to be his friend, so I kept my distance.

“Hey, Marquise,” I called out to him.

He licked his lips and walked across the grass. “What’s up, Honey?”

“Just reading a book. What are you doing out this late?” I asked.

“Chilling. Needed some fresh air and wanted to hear my baby roar on the highway.”

“You know the neighborhood hates you and that custom sound system you put in your car.”

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