Page 9 of Honey's Special Roux

“You aren’t afraid of getting caught with that?”

“No.”

“Hmm.”

The engine roared to life. The rumble caught me off guard. Marquise glanced at me with a smirk.

“It sounds a lot scarier than what it is.”

“Okay.”

He pulled out of the driveway while I said a prayer to God to keep us safe on the road.

He held his phone out for me. “Put the address to the DQ in the GPS.”

“Thank you.”

He shrugged. “Whatever.”

I placed the phone in the holder. Once we were on the main street, he turned on a playlist. The bass nearly shook my heart out of my chest.

“How do you listen to your music so loud?”

“Huh?”

I reached over to the volume knob and turned it down. I repeated the question, which made him chuckle.

“Easy.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re so annoying.”

“Nah.”

He merged onto the highway and let his engine yell into the night traffic. It was crazy to watch him weave through traffic to get to his exit. When we pulled up to the DQ parking lot, we went over to the drive-through. I ordered a blizzard with cookies and cream while he ordered one with M&M’s and cookie dough. He paid for them both and pulled into a parking spot.

“Was the ride worth the hype?” he asked as he unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed a joint from the container in the center console.

“I’m not sure. The music was so loud, the bass made me feel like my organs shifted. Not only that, but you are a very fast driver.”

“I went the speed limit the whole time.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

He lit the joint and put it between his lips. He inhaled, held the smoke, and slowly released it. He repeated the actions several times before he finally touched his blizzard. He held the joint out for me.

“Wanna try?”

“Um… if I tweak out, are you going to make sure I’m good before you take me home? I don’t want my folks to lose trust in me.”

“I got you.”

His eyes were low as he licked his lips. I was surprised he never had ashy lips, because he licked them a lot. If I did anything other than apply some ChapStick, I’d look like Dave Chapelle as Tyrone Biggums.

“When you put it to your lips, inhale like you’re sucking through a straw but slower. Hold it and release.”

I took a deep breath before I followed his instructions. The hot smoke entered my mouth and infiltrated my body. My lungs burned, which made me exhale rapidly. The smoke swam around me as I repeated the actions twice more.

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