Page 78 of One Good Reason

Now that my workday had ended, I knew I was getting ready to be questioned by the two nosey ladies in the house.

“What you talking ‘bout Mrs. Jessie?”

“Honey, you don’t have to play coy with me. I saw you and that man hugged up outside this morning?”

I gagged. “Mrs. Jessie, I thought you were sleep.”

“Ummhmm… I bet you did. I was until I heard doors slamming outside. Imagine how surprised I was when I peeked out the blinds and saw you hugged up with the man you claim was just your boss.”

“He isjustmy boss,” I lied. Last night, Law had gone from being my boss to being the man responsible for bringing my body to new heights. I hadn’t had sex in years and my God did he deliver. If the man kept delivering, my ass was going to end up going back on my word.

“Looks like more than just a boss to me. But your secret is safe over here.” She made the motion with her hands like she was locking something then tossed an imaginary key over her shoulder.

“Where is Gema?”

“She’s resting. We watched In The Heat of The Night earlier and after eating some kiwi, she fell right on to sleep.”

“Allergies Mrs. Jessie,” I groaned.

“Hush up, chile. Bertha took Benadryl after she finished eating. Everything is alright.”

“The two of y’all are determined to send me to an early grave.”

“The way that man had his tongue stuck down ya’ throat, I would say he was the determined one.” She laughed before sauntering away.

I was going to have to text Law and tell him that he got me caught. Next time we would have to take extra precautions. Peeping in on Gema, I checked to make sure she was still sleep and after confirming that she was, I headed upstairs to change out of my clothes.

When I made it back downstairs, Mrs. Jessie was standing at the stove stirring something in a big pot.

“You staying again tonight?”

“Yeah. I promised Bertha, I would take her down to the Asian market in the morning. She wants to see if she can find this special type of egg roll wrappers. She wanna show me how she makes her famous egg rolls.”

“Oh, Lord.” I laughed. “My Mama will shit a brick if she finds out Bertha Mae done showed you the family recipe.”

Mrs. Jessie laughed. “Bertha said that exact same thing. Chile ain’t nobody studying yo’ mama or the rest of them damn siblings. I’m doing whatever I can to make sure Bertha stay happy.”

“A little tip. They have those same wraps at Kroger. Gema just like venturing into the city. She knew if she asked me I was going to say no.”

“I figured it was something like that. It’ll do her some good to get out of the house though. She needs it sometimes.”

“I know she does. That’s why I try to get her out for breakfast on the weekends.”

“She appreciates that.”

“You need anything from me? I’m sleepy and in dire need of a nap.”

“I would be sleepy too if I had stayed out all night.” Ms. Jessie laughed.

“Goodbye Mrs. Jessie.” I giggled. “I’ll be in the living room.

Walking out of the kitchen, I headed into the living room and grabbed the remote off the table. After scrolling through Netflix,I settled on Grey’s Anatomy. Snatching the throw off the back of the couch, I tossed it over me, got comfortable, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

“Un hunh, Gema. You gotta use egg wash to make sure they stayed closed.”

“Girl, I been making these longer than you been alive. You use a lil’ flour and water and they’ll seal right on up,” she disagreed.

Sitting my glass of wine on the island, I hopped up on the counter and watched Gema teach Mrs. Jessie how to make the famous Howard egg rolls. When I was growing up, Gema babysat for this Asian couple in Warner Robins and they taught her how to make egg rolls. Over the year she perfected their recipe and with a few tweaks, made it her own.

---