Page 93 of The Need to Know

“I hope it works out,” Ezekiel said. “Paisley’s a bomb-ass woman from what I’ve seen so far.”

Paisley was amazing.

“So, what do you think of Leslie?” I wondered. For a woman, seeing your best friend fall in love was endearing. For a man, sometimes it seemed like they acted like their friend had died.

“She cool, I like her,” Ezekiel said. “Cease and me could be one in the same. I know him like he know me, and I can just tell this one is the one. The way he talk about her? That shit deep.”

“Aww,” I gushed. It sounded like how Paisley spoke of Sloan. “Are you one of those guys who swear they won’t settle down until they’re good and forty or fifty?”

Ezekiel immediately shook his head. “Nah. I’ve never been in a rush. I guess I believe in cosmic or organic meetings. Ultimately, I want what my parents have. My dad loves my mom, treats her good, treated me good growing up, and we were happy—we are happy. When I get my R&B, I’ll know.”

I was confused. “R&B?”

He faced me, seeming to blush as he clarified. “That rhythm and blues. The stuff of songs. Deeper than a vibe, that special one and only soul connection. Luther Vandross a house is not a home without you type of thing.”

Stevie Wonder, I mouthed, thinking of a love song by him.

“Marvin Gaye,” Ezekiel said back.

“Jill Scott.”

“Alicia Keys.”

“Yeah,” I said softly.

We’d reached the bottom and I felt in a daze. I had to be hungry.

“Food?” Ezekiel suggested.

I could only nod, but a few feet away from the Ferris wheel I spotted a booth that was like the epicenter among all the other vendors, and found my voice.

“Chicken wings!” I all but abandoned Ezekiel as I cut through the crowd to make my way to the line to get a good place. There was a competing chicken wing vendor a few booths down, but the sight of two women in the booth in front of the line made me stay where I was.

“I’m going to check out the other booth’s wings,” Ezekiel said to me as he came by. “Meet me at the picnic tables.”

“Okay,” I promised.

When I made it to the front of the line, I didn’t even gag at the prices. Because I was greedy, and more than likely would want more later, I purchased two ten-piece boxes. One plain and breaded, and another with lemon-pepper rub. I stacked one box on top of the other after paying and quickly scanned the vendors for who sold alcohol. I needed a beer for this.

“Nas!”

Shouting from my left caused me to look over. Ezekiel had found seating at a picnic table under a large red tent. Not only was he babysitting a box of wings, he also had two cups of beer.

“Oh my God, you read my mind.” I joined him at the table and curiously picked up the amber-colored liquid filled cup. “What brand is this brew?”

“Corona,” Ezekiel said proudly. “They had it at the other wing booth.”

The two women were only offering soda, but I could live with their wings.

“Well, mine came with a side of fries,” I said.

Ezekiel frowned. “Damn.”

“I got two ten-pieces, so there’s plenty of fries,” I said as I opened one of my boxes. “What kind did you get?”

“Half bourbon BBQ, and half garlic parm,” he said as he opened his box.

“A feast,” I commented. “The girls at the Wicked Wings booth also were generous with the wet wipes. So I got us covered outside of the napkins.”