Page 15 of Just Listen
“Hi, my name is Rachel,” a young, black waitress politely greeted us. “I’ll be your server for the evening. Are you guys familiar with our menu?”
“I want the crawfish etouffee plate with a side of potato salad,” Big Baby immediately ordered, with the menu concealing her entire face.
I gave her the side eye, as it felt like she was awfully familiar with the dishes, when I hadn’t seen her thoroughly look over the menu once, despite it being in her hand. Hell, it was actually upside down.
“O-kay.” The waitress’ eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “And you, sir?” She focused on me.
“I’ll have the same.”
“Gotcha. Will you guys be having any cocktails?”
“We’ll take the purple berry house special with an extra shot of Don.”
“Okay, got it. Those drinks will be brought to y’all shortly.” The waitress claimed, before switching off.
“Say,” I focused on Big Baby, as she still had that menu obscuring the view of her pretty face from the onlookers. “You sure do know this menu like the back of your hand…to say that you got beef with the owners.”
“I know. The food is good.”
I furrowed a brow. “So, you eat here?”
“Yeah.”
I tilted my head. “But you don’t wanna be seen here?”
“Nope.”
I shook my head. “That’s crazy. The fuck you go around doing to people? Probably be singing to their niggas, or some shit,” I mumbled.
She cut her eyes at me. “Really?”
“I’m saying,” I chuckled. “The fuck is you hiding for?”
“Okay.” Her eyes wandered around the room, before focusing on me. “Don’t be telling nobody…but I’m a secret assassin for the government.”
“What?” I laughed, enjoying her sense of humor.
Big Baby didn’t take herself seriously, and I never realized until then how much I appreciated that quality in a woman. She was silly. Goofy even. And that shit tickled something deep inside. Had me feeling like I was back in high school, as genuine joy entered my being.
When the manager of the restaurant strolled past our booth, she once again covered her face, making me give her the side eye. All jokes aside, I could tell that she really didn’t wanna be seen by people there, and that had me wondering. Perhaps she really had made enemies out of the owners, but I doubted it. If anything, she just didn’t want somebody recognizing her, which made me consider that either she was a stripper or had a nigga at home. Or both.
Nevertheless, by the end of the evening, I was fat full from the food at the restaurant. We’d ordered so many drinks, and the shit seemed more potent than any time I’d ordered there before. I knew that we’d run up a tab, and was completely thrown off when the waitress told me that I owed nothing. The night was on the house.
Big Baby was looking around, like she was lost, not giving the waitress any eye contact, and kept her head low, as we exited the building.
“Say, you really aint gone tell me what that’s about?” I finally asked her, after we were back in my Rover.
“What are you talking about?” She questioned, with fluttering lashes.
“That whole situation at the restaurant. Who paid for our food?” I wanted to know, as I pulled away from valet.
“Ummumm.” She shrugged. “You gotta learn how to stop questioning your blessings.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep.” She nodded.
“So, are you just gonna keep dancing around my questions?”
