Girlfriends
Page 33
“And you, Mahalia?” he says to me, stopping himself in mid-reach. Not only does he know better than to call me sugar, he also knows I’ll refuse to offer my hand for him to kiss. I ain’t buying what he’s selling, and he’s knows it.
“Busy. What do you want, Marcus?” I ask, knowing that the only reason Marcus would come by in the middle of the day is because he wants something.
“Can’t I just stop by to say hi to my two favorite ladies?”
“Sure you can. It’s just that you never do.”
“Well I did come just to say hi, but I also want to talk to you about reserving a table tonight. I’ve got three associates to entertain this evening and Régine and Jacqueline will be joining as well.”
“You could have called, Marcus. You know I’ll have the big table by the window all ready for you.”
“Great. I’m sure you’ll be serving plenty of fried chicken and waffles, but one of my guests is a vegetarian. Any chance you’ll be making that famous sweet corn casserole of yours?”
“No,” I say flatly.
“Are you sure? I mentioned it to Lindsey, my guest who’s a vegetarian, and she was very exited about it.”
“Tell her to hold on to that excitement for a few more days. It will be a special on Tuesday night.” I often reserve some of my best specials for Tuesday and Wednesday nights (we’re closed on Monday) when people tend to eat out less and need a little more motivation to come in here and spend their money.
“Can you move it up on the schedule? For me? Please.” Being the snake charmer that he is, Marcus says this like he’s asking. But, we both know it’s more of demand than a request. If I refuse, he’ll slyly remind me of the money he loaned me to get this place off the ground . . . how he helped me when I needed it, and now it’s my turn.
“Marcus, that dish takes a lot of time. And I can’t just make it for your guests. If other customers see it coming out of the kitchen, they’ll want it too.”
“Great. Cha-ching Cha-ching. You’ll rack up some serious sales.”
“I don’t have enough fresh corn in the kitchen today, and I can’t get it wholesale at this late hour. You get me the corn, and I’ll do the best I can.”
“Where should I get it from?”
“The Safeway for all I care. Wendy at Shadow’s Catering always has a lot of fresh produce on hand, and she owes me a favor. Maybe you can work out a deal with her.” I’m willing to cave to Marcus to an extent, but I’ll be damned if I going to run around buying fresh corn on the cob at the last minute while I’m trying to run a restaurant. I’m sure he’ll just push the job off on his sister Jacqueline anyway.
“Okay. I’ll get Jacqueline on it. Thanks Halia. You’re the best.”
“Yeah yeah. . . .”
“If I can’t get fresh corn, will frozen do?
“You did not just ask me that? The only frozen thing I serve in this restaurant, Marcus, is ice.”
He smiles. “My bad . . . my bad. That’s why everything is so good.”
And he’s right. The best food starts with the best ingredients. Everything we serve at Sweet Tea is made from scratch. All of our meats and vegetables are fresh, many from local farms. We even cut and broil our own house-made sourdough croutons because no package variety comes close to my recipe. We make all our salad dressing in-house because the bottled brands just don’t have the creamy thickness I want, and we chop lettuce daily for all our salads—taste the lettuce that comes precut in a plastic bag, and you’ll know why. And, of course, all of the tea at Sweet Tea is fresh brewed on the premises. Every day we offer unsweetened, sweetened, and a special flavored tea. Today’s special tea is honey clove.
As Marcus leaves I think of all the reorganizing I’ll have to do to get a special on the menu that I hadn’t planned for.
“I’m going to need your help husking corn.” I say to Wavonne, who’s watching Marcus’s ass (and it is a fine one) while he walks out the door.
“I just got a manicure, Halia. I can’t be huskin’ no corn.”
“Would you prefer bathroom cleaning duty?”
Wavonne groans. “Let me know when Marcus gets back with it.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I will.”
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2001, 2002 by William Patrick Sanchez
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
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ISBN: 978-1-5756-6924-3
ISBN-10: 1-57566-924-2
First Kensington Trade Paperback Edition: August 2001
First Kensington Mass Market Edition: September 2002
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