Page 24 of Obsessive Love

“What exactly is it?” I asked as I picked up the plate and examined it.

“Stuffed squid with rice and herbs.”

I looked up from the plate and stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “Who the hell gave you this to try?”

“Citrine,” she answered with a laugh. “He swore it was good.”

“Mama, that nigga eats ass, like legitimately puts his mouth on his woman’s ass and sticks his tongue in it.” I walked over to the trash can and dumped the food and the plate into it. “I can not believe you were about to have me try something that nigga suggested.”

“Get my damn plate out of the trash!” she laughed, and I shook my head. “Little boy, I’m not playing with you! That plate is one of my favorites.”

“I’ll buy you a new set,” I replied. Mama walked over to me and tried to reach into the trash to grab the plate, but I blocked her. “Don’t touch that shit. Like for real, don’t.”

“It's not that bad,” she laughed and backed up.

“You tried it?” I asked her, surprised as fuck. Mama talked a lot of shit to me about not trying new things, but she was just as bad as I was at times.

“Yes,” she answered and nodded. “Which is why I know you’ll like it.”

I stared at her, momentarily confused, then pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed my brother's number. This nigga had me fucked up; dragging my mama into his weird shit was just too much.

“What’s good?” Citrine answered.

“You got me fucked up,” I said, still watching mama. She was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath.

“The fuck I do now?”

“You brought that damn food over here, and Mama tried to get me to try it,” I answered.

Citrine kissed his teeth and then laughed. “Nigga, that shit is good.”

“You eat ass, you don’t know what the fuck good is,” I replied. “Don’t bring shit else over to my mama's house for her to try. I don’t give a damn what you think is good. Run that shit by me first.”

“Yo grown ass still eats dino chicken nuggets with ketchup; you don’t know what the fuck good is,” he replied.

“You heard what the fuck I said,” I said, then hung up. I continued watching Mama laugh; all I could do was shake my head in disbelief. Her goofy ass thought this shit was funny and would probably start up again as soon as my pop walked in the house. “It ain’t that funny.”

“Yeah, okay,” she said, waving me off. It took her a few more minutes to get herself together, but she finally did and leaned against the counter. “Now, what’s been going on with you? I haven’t seen you in over a week.”

“Work,” I answered, and she twisted her mouth like she didn’t believe me. “I’ve acquired a new business.”

“Which is?”

“A bakery,” I replied, and she reared back in surprise.

“You don’t even like sweets like that, Pyrite,” she said, and I shrugged. “Why buy it if you won’t try the food?”

“I ate a cookie from there,” I said as I pulled up the feed from the security cameras at my house. Since locking Fable in my bedroom, she hadn’t said a word to me. I brought her all her meals, and she sat on the floor, eating, and never paid me any attention. Shit was annoying as fuck because I liked the sound of her voice.

“You ate a cookie, as in one, and decided to buy the company?” she questioned, and I nodded. “The cookie made that much of an impression on you?”

“Something like that,” I said as I watched Fable. She was lying on the floor, sketching. That was something new; she usually wrote down recipes and marketing strategies. I wanted to pick her brain and see what she had planned, but I didn’t want to overstep.

“Who is that?” Mama asked. I looked up to see her standing next to me, her eyes glued to my phone, and an inquisitive expression.

“Fable,” I answered. “The baker.”

“You bought her bakery, and now you have her in your house?” Mama questioned.

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