Page 50 of Obsessive Love
“What do you need?” he grabbed a cart and leaned against it.
“Fruit,” I answered, and he nodded. “Also, I just want to see what they have.”
“Alright, let’s go,” he said, then started moving. We walked through the store on the first lap to see what they had, but I started putting what I wanted in the basket on the second lap. When we got back to the fruit, I started looking over everything. “You good?”
“Yes,” I nodded as I looked over a pineapple. “I just wasn’t expecting these kinds of options.”
“Memphis doesn’t half-ass it,” he chuckled. “His wife was picky as fuck when she was pregnant with their first child and wouldn’t talk to him for hours at a time when she couldn’t get the fruit that she wanted.”
“Memphis?” I set the pineapple down and picked up another one. The first one looked good but wasn’t big enough for what I had in mind. “Who is he?”
“A friend,” Pyrite answered. “He also owns this store and six others.”
“Of course, you would be friends with the owner,” I laughed and put the pineapple in the basket. “Who else do you know?”
“A few killers, drug dealers, thieves, and misfits,” he answered, and I playfully rolled my eyes.
“Pyrite, be serious,” I laughed.
“I am,” he shrugged. “Shit, you know them too.” He wiped his hand over his mouth and chuckled. “My family is off the chain; I can't deny it.”
“Your family?” my eyes damn near bucked out of my head, and he nodded. “No damn way.”
“Fable, them niggas are not innocent at all. Citrine was a boxer and fought underground for years. Am was legit a car thief. Before he wore those scrubs, he was popping doors and making bands.” He laughed. “I know you didn’t think we were always legit.”
“I had an idea,” I said, nodding. “But for you to freely admit it is crazy.”
“Because I trust you,” he replied. “Ain’t no reason to have any secrets.”
“I could be your biggest downfall,” I said, and he shook his head.
“Never,” he said, and it was my turn to shake my head.
“Never say never, Pyrite,” I said as I moved around to look at another pile of fruit. I hardly ever used dragon fruit, but after seeing them, I now wanted to.
“I stand on what I said,” he replied.
Pyrite followed me with the basket to the register, where a tall, muscular man stood with a short woman beside him. A cute little girl in a stroller sat kicking her feet and eating an apple. Pyrite laughed, and I looked back to see him smiling.
“I ain’t know you were here,” he said, coming to stand next to me.
“This my shit, you think I don’t know when my people show up?” The man replied. He looked from Pyrite to me, our basket, and then back to Pyrite. “What’s good?”
“I can’t complain,” Pyrite said. They gave each other a brotherly hug; Pyrite stepped back and put his arm around me. “This is Fable, Fable, this is the Lincolns; Memphis, Nyla, and their daughter, Coen.”
“It’s nice to meet y’all,” I said as I shook Memphis's hand. Nyla hugged me, but Coen was too busy enjoying her apple to care about what we were doing.
“You’re the baker, right?” Nyla asked. “Xoey told me all about you. She said something about a girls' night soon?”
I knew nothing about what she was talking about, so I only nodded in response. What Xoey planned in her head, only she knew. I wasn’t about to try to figure out what she was thinking.
“What you got in the works?” Memphis asked me as he eyed the basket. “You about to be in the kitchen?”
“Yes,” I laughed. “I have a few things I’m playing around with and need to start working on.”
“Whatever it is, I want,” Memphis laughed. “I already heard from Am how you get down. And from the way this nigga looking, he wasn’t lying.”
I glanced over at Pyrite and saw him smiling. “Everything I’ve sampled has been good as fuck.” He licked his lips and eyed me. “I know whatever is next is going to be top-notch.”
