Page 43 of Through Treacherous Weather
When the sixty minutes was up, they met out front, and Esco had a lazy grin on his face. He paid for the massages and openedthe door for her to walk through. “Yo, I fell asleep like three minutes into the massage. That shit felt so good man, I got a damn membership.”
Fatima smiled. “I knew you’d like it, and I’m glad it relaxed you. We can eat right there at that taco place if you want.”
Esco’s brow hiked. “You want tacos?” He asked the question like he was surprised.
“Let me guess. You thought I’d only eat at five star restaurants with valet parking and $50 glasses of wine.”
“Well for a date yeah.”
“I like tacos, and I like this place. They have the best shrimp tacos, and they make good strong drinks. I’m a regular person. I could have a million dollars, and I’ll still eat Ramen noodles with sausage, shrimp, and a boiled egg.”
“It’s not that I don’t think you’re regular, but you know for dates men have to bring their A game. These days chicks will cancel you over taking them on a cheap date.”
“First of all, I’ll literally go to a restaurant like Ruth’s Chris alone in the middle of the day and order $300 worth of food. I can take myself to those places. A lot of those women can only go to those places if a man takes them. Yes, it’s good to have standards, and I wouldn’t want to date a man that was struggling financially, but him spending hundreds of dollars every time he takes me out to eat isn’t necessary.”
“You cool as fuck, and I enjoy being around you. A woman can want what she wants just like a man should be able to want what he wants, but I know women with way less than you that act entitled and spoiled.”
“Those are the women that aren’t used to shit. Having standards is absolutely normal and necessary, but some of these women are diabolical with their way of thinking. A man has to give them those things or do those kinds of things for them because they can’t do them for themselves. And what you haveor don’t have shouldn’t affect how you treat people or your attitude toward others.”
“Tell that to those hoes,” he joked making her chuckle.
Fatima ordered her favorite drink and was pleased after the first sip. It was strong per usual.
“Your pops reached out to me about covering Winter’s wedding and reception.”
“Really? Did you accept?”
Esco bobbed his head. “I did.”
Fatima couldn’t recall there being security at anyone else’s wedding in the family. Wise and his loved ones could most certainly be a target at any time because even though they were out of the streets things still occurred. Wise was rich as hell and still more than likely had a laundry list of people that didn’t care for him. He wasn’t wrong for wanting to make sure the venue was secured, but she couldn’t help but wonder if her father gave Esco a job simply because he knew Fatima had a crush on the man.
“That’s cool. It seems like I’ve been to more weddings in the past few years than I ever have in my life. It’s dope though.”
“Real shit, I’ve never been to a wedding.”
“Really?” she asked stunned. “None of your friends are married?”
“Nope, and the family that I have that’s married was either already married before I was born, or they went to the courthouse.”
“I love weddings.”
“You taking a date to Winter’s wedding?”
Fatima almost choked on her drink. “I’m not dating anyone.” The moment the words left her mouth, she realized that she was in fact on a date. “I mean, you know.” She cleared her throat.
“Would it be presumptuous of me to ask if I can be your date?” Esco’s face scrunched. “Wait, is it tacky to ask you on a date to a place that I wasn’t invited to?”
Fatima simpered. “No, it’s not. I mean, you couldn’t come if I couldn’t bring a plus one, and I can. I probably would have asked you if we continued to hang out. But wait, aren’t you working the wedding?”
“My people are working the wedding.”
“Oh okay, boss. I see you. I forgot you have people on payroll and shit.”
The food came out, and the pair ordered another round of drinks. Esco’s first taco was devoured in two bites. “Damn this is good,” he marveled looking down at the remaining tacos on his plate.
“I told you. They have the best tacos I’ve ever tasted. Even better than the food trucks I’ve ordered from. The only thing they don’t have here that I like are Birria tacos. But I have a place I get those from. With a side of Ramen noodles in the birria juice. That shit slaps so bad.”
Placing his fist in front of his mouth, Esco laughed. “Niggas will put noodles with anything. First seafood boils now tacos.”
