Page 21 of The Big Catch

Car_Son_TheGreat: I deserve that. We can meet tomorrow at 7pm. I made reservations at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille. I’ll see you then.

Yeah, he definitely would. Toolie and I were going out for drinks together tonight while the girls went out on their own.By the time Belle came out of the shower, I was almost dressed. She loved the smell of lavender and vanilla. She claimed it was relaxing. “What you and Gabrielle plan to do tonight?”

“There’s a store that she wants to go to for a pair of shoes that she’s been looking for. So, shopping, then dinner more than likely. We’ll be back before ten so that we’re ready for the morning,” she told me.

I nodded after I turned around and leaned on the dresser. “Tomorrow night, we’re going to dinner at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille. There’s a reservation for seven o’clock.”

“Oh, that sounds expensive,” she cooed. “Is this our first date?” Her smile beamed.

I hated to burst that shit. We hadn’t gone on an official date yet. I was going to make that happen, but not tomorrow. “Nah, we’re going to catch up with Carson.”

She coughed. I handed her a bottle of water that was close to me. She took a few sips to get herself together. “Wha—what?”

“He messaged you, right? Said he wanted to catch up and shit, so that’s what we’re going to do. Let’s see what buddy is up to.”

I had this thing about me when I was in a relationship. That thing was, I didn’t play about my fuckin’ woman. One thing about being a country boy from the backwoods was there were plenty of places to hide bodies that would never be found. Add to the fact that I’d hunted all around my hometown and on the outskirts. I knew just where to put a body for the animals’ nutritional enjoyment. I’d never been a street nigga like my cousin, but I’m his best friend. His bullshit was my bullshit.

“You went through my phone? Is that what we’re doing?” Her attitude decorated her face. I didn’t give a damn. “I don’t think it’s fair that you can go through my phone, but I can’t go through yours.”

I snickered. She thought she was slick with that shit. My phone was on the charger close to where she stood. I walked over, took it off the charger, then handed it to her. “The code is 405011. Go for what you know. I have nothing to hide, lil baby.”

She hesitated, then grabbed my phone with an eye roll. I watched her put my code in. Her finger moved around on the screen. I knew I had nothing to worry about. I didn’t have any social media accounts on my phone, and any bitch that I dealt with prior to fucking Belle after the fourth time, I blocked and erased their numbers. When I asked her if she found anything interesting, she scoffed. “Whatever. You still shouldn’t have gone through my phone.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have. Let me tell you what you shouldn’t have done, play in my fucking face. When I asked you if you were good, you should have told me what was up. I don’t do liars, Adabelle. That man is not a run of the mill ex. You thought you were married to him for ten damn years. I expect you to have remnants of feeling for him, but let me know if I need to step away from this shit,” I said with a grimace.

Panic laced her eyes for a second.Let’s see if she’s gonna resort back to the woman that she was when she got here out of defense.“No, I don’t want you to step away. I want to be with you. I planned to tell you, but I was shocked he reached out. I settled in my mind that I would never hear from him again because when he left me, he turned my phone off.”

“Cool. I’ll take you at your word on you saying that you planned to tell me. If I ever ask you if something is wrong, right or indifferent, I need you to be honest. I will give you the same courtesy as your man.” I reached out to her to pull her into my arms and kiss her neck. “Now, we’re going to go to dinner tomorrow night to catch up with your ex. Right now, though, I need to dig in that pussy before I leave.”

Yeah, that ended the argument. Her cheeks turned rosy, and her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. “Only if you promise to talk me through it.”

I smirked at her request. She didn’t have to ask for that. I always talked her through it.

“I think we should all go to dinner tomorrow. I’m just saying, me and my girl be hungry too.” I told my cousin about Belle’s bitch ass ex and dinner tomorrow. He let me know that he would have done the same thing that I did.

Toolie’s ass was too unpredictable for this kind of situation at a five-star restaurant. All Carson had to do was say one wrong thing and it was to hell from there. He had a hair-trigger, unhinged button. “Nah, I got it. We’re just going to catch up and shit. Nothing too serious.”

“Nigga, that man don’t know that you’re coming. You think his ass isn’t going to be a little hostile? Are you at least carrying your whipper snapper?” he asked.

Since he was five, he’d called guns whipper snappers. I thought he would grow out of it, but he never did. “You know better than to ask me that shit. I don’t go anywhere without my shit.”

I was licensed to carry in any state that I went to for fishing competitions, for safety and hunting reasons. Toolie and I had ran into racist ass white boys who felt that I shouldn’t be in their world. I wasn’t sure what made fishing their world, but I always made sure that I had what I needed to stay safe. I was raised to be a respectful person. My father taught me to always be respectful. If you’re respectful, when something occurred thatcaused you to be disrespectful, everyone will know that you were respectful from the beginning.

“Shh, you can’t stop me from taking my girl out to dinner. I don’t have to be at the table, but I will be in the fuckin’ restaurant. You can put that shit on ya bingo card.” When Toolie made his mind up about something, there was no need to talk him out of it.

All I could do was tell him to make his reservation at seven. Where I carried one whipper snapper, he carried at least two at all times. That wasn’t something that was out of the norm for country boys. What was out of the norm for Toolie was the switch that he had on his Glock. Our fathers kept us in target practice in the woods since we were ten. Both of us had impeccable aim, which made us expert hunters. Toolie with a gun was dangerous, but him with a switch was terrorism.

For the rest of the night that we were at the bar, we drank and played pool. We talked about the game plan for the competition tomorrow. When we got back to the hotel around nine thirty, the girls were already there. It was clear that Belle told Gabrielle about the meetup tomorrow because she was overly excited when Toolie told her that they were going.God, please don’t let this be a go to jail situation.

The competition the next day went like we planned it. I won as predicted with a payout of forty thousand dollars. Competitions that lasted more than one day had payouts each day that increased as the days went along. The final payout tomorrow was sixty thousand dollars. My total payout for this competition would be one hundred and twenty thousand dollars after I won. This was my fourth and last competition for this year. This year, I’d made three hundred and twenty thousand dollars in payouts.

It was seven fifteen. Belle and I had just arrived at the restaurant. After the competition, I had to buy a suit since Ididn’t bring one with me. The jumper pantsuit that Belle bought fit her thick ass like a glove. I could tell that she was nervous about this meetup which was understandable. This was the man who broke her heart. I was the man who had it.

“We’re here for the Atkins party,” I told the hostess after we walked up to the stand.

She smiled before she told us to follow her. Belle followed her closely, but I hung back a little. I wanted Carson to think that she was alone when she walked up to the table. I saw Toolie and Gabrielle a few tables over. My eyes squinted in their direction because Gabrielle looked completely different with a wig and a full face of makeup on. I assumed she didn’t want Carson to recognize her.

He stood to greet her. “Belle, you look amazing, damn. If I miss anything it’s how good you look.” My brows dipped at his backhanded compliment.

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