Page 85 of The Need to Know

I turned and faced her. “You gon’ trash my movie?”

She was trying, and failing, to hold back her smile. “Uh-huh.”

Bobbing my head coolly, I faced the road. “Okay.”

“Okay? What’s that mean?”

I shrugged casually. “Just okay.”

She was blushing and that only made her prettier. “Whatever, Zeke.”

I found Leslie’s spot, and pulled in the double driveway beside Cease’s car. From what little I knew of Leslie her crib was fitting. It had a homey vibe from the outside alone. The porch swing, the yard decorations, and the floral arrangement by the porch.

Nastasia unbuckled her seat belt and faced me. “Let’s get to it, I guess.”

I peeked at the house before coming back to Nas. “Code word is ‘Scorsese,’ if you wanna sneak up outta here if things get too awkward.”

She winked at me. “Gotcha.”

I met her at her side of the car and placed my hand on the small of her back before leading her up the path to the front porch. Leslie must’ve heard us pull up, because she was quick to greet us at the door.

“Hey, Black people!” She was extra affectionate as she leaned in and gave us each a hug. With Nas, she held her at arm’s length and studied what she had on. “Girl, I need this in green.”

“We got it in stock at my store, Shéc,” Nastasia swore as Leslie let us into her house.

As Nastasia fished out a business card, I found Cesar in the room off the front door on the right. It was an entertainment room complete with a comfortable-looking blue suede sectional. The smell of something homecooked was in the air and the sound of an old Janet Jackson song playing on the stereo set the tone.

“What you got goin’ on, Leslie?” I asked as she entered the room with Nastasia. “Smells good.”

“Just a little something,” Leslie said with a sneaky grin.

It turned out a little something was a meal of pesto chicken, a side of pasta, and a salad. We sat around the dinner table eating and drinking. Wine for us, and a glass of some lemon-lime soda for Nas. Leslie could cook, and seeing her and Cease in action made me more than happy for my brother and best friend. She’d wanted to clear the dishes after dinner, but he wouldn’t let her do it alone. They worked as a team, and I could tell Cesar wasn’t showing out for company, that he just wanted to do it. When he’d said Leslie was the one for him, he hadn’t been kidding.

We settled into the entertainment room after eating. Cesar was on the chair and Leslie was on the arm, leaning into him. I wouldn’t give it long before she just ended up on his lap.

“That was really good, thank you,” Nastasia said as we shared the sofa. I was lounging across the sleeper and she was on the cushion next to me, nursing another glass of soda.

“It’s never a problem,” Leslie offered.

“I’m definitely taking advantage,” Cesar joked.

Leslie couldn’t fight her smile and Cesar was quick to touch her thigh.

“We should play Nosey or Not,” Leslie suggested.

“What’s that?” Nastasia asked.

“Basically, someone asks a nosey-ass question and if you don’t answer, you drink,” Cesar explained. “You sippin’ on a Sprite, so that’s cheating.”

Nastasia laughed. “I’m not into wine.”

Leslie stood up and went over to her shelf across the room that housed books and records. I loved that she kept it old school and had vinyl. I’d been meaning to start a collection of my own.

Leslie came back over to us with a deck of cards. “Y’all down?”

Nastasia peeked at me and I shrugged. Down for whatever with nothing to hide.

“Okay,” she said in a small voice.