The Baker And The Queen Pin

03.) Confrontation/ A Date

~~~Booker

I see myself, upset at the situation. My children had decided to confront me as soon as they got home from school. That was more than enough time to get ensnared by their mother, it's then that Junior opens his mouth. 'Why do you hate us? Why do you hate mother so much?' "Hate your mom?" I say in a questioning tone, 'Dad, stop pretending,' Belle says. 'I wanted to keep it to myself, hoping that my father couldn't be this type of person, but we need to know the truth' I hear Booker say. 'Mother told us everything you did to her and the way I see it, you're not father of mine if it's true. My dad was a kind and compassionate man who loved my mom, who is this man now?'

Their words cut deep, I then began to speak my part, not trying to involve her and not trying to make it seem any worse. "I love you both, I really do but are you two really ready for that?" 'Dad, stop lying to us,' "Your mother cheated on me with another woman. I never had a problem with splitting custody and I just wanted her to know that I wanted an amicable divorce," 'So, are you saying our two moms are only together because she cheated on you?' I hear Belle say. I look down as I say, "I wouldn't lie to you, I've always loved you both. I want you both to know how special you are to me," I say, reaching my hand out to my son and daughter.

It's then that Booker smacks my hand away and Belle declines my hand altogether as they both say, 'You need to sign the papers,' It was rare that they spoke in unison though when they did, it was when they least expected it. It's then that Belle hands me the papers and she says, 'I'm going to go to Mom's house. Please stop fighting for us and let us live our life,' "Booker, please could you wait?" It was then that Belle was already gone, 'I have nothing to say to you, old man. Sign the papers, let's go our separate ways,'

I sit in the bathroom and I feel an emotion well up in me, an emotion I've been trying to ignore. Crying, sadness and it's then that the tears begin to flow down my face without my consent. I feel myself, getting more and more consumed in the emotion. As I keep crying, I find myself asking why did this have to happen? What did I do to Keshia for her to do this to me? I just wanted to be a good dad, that's it. It's then that I hear a bell and I compose myself, quickly. I allow myself to let go of the emotion and to confront what was outside my door.

"Hello," I see a pale young lady, she was dressed extravagantly. Her eyes were so beautiful but you could tell they looked deep into your soul. Those steely grey eyes had a story to tell, I look and see her beautiful black hair. 'Is the store open, sir?' I look at her, dumbfounded, forgetting all of my responsibilities for this moment. "Yes ma'am, we just opened. Sorry, I was on lunch," I say to her. She then says, 'Are you okay, sir?'

"I'm fine," I say, completely composing myself. "Let me get a menu for you,"

~~~Maria

I see two children walk out of the store, I send one text to Kevin to confirm everything. He then says to me, 'Yes, everything has been handled,' I take a deep sigh as I walk into the building to watch everything unravel. It's going to be fun, squeezing more money out of the city considering all they can do is waste my time. I'm losing upwards of 250,000 dollars every 24 hours whenever they do this especially since I'm a distributor.

I walk into the building and I don't see anyone. I look around and I find myself, almost annoyed but I understand. I open the door up again and it's then that I see a man come out of the restroom. 'Hello,' he says in a surprisingly soft voice. I look at his eyes and see that he was freshly crying, it seems like he was having a bit of a day. "Is the store open, sir?" I say. He then tells me he was on a small break as he hands me a menu.

I look at the menu and I find myself enticed by the breads. I look at my phone clock, I have plenty of time, I can enjoy some bread while I'm here. I was confused as to what I wanted to eat and I wasn't too familiar with bread. 'Might I make a suggestion?' he says. I look to him as I put the menu down and I say, "I'd be delighted to hear it. I haven't had bread before," 'Are you allergic to nuts of any kind?' "No, not at all," I say to him. 'Do you like fruit?' "Here and there," I respond.

'Would you like to try some banana bread?' My eyebrow raises, "Banana bread?" I say, questioningly. "Yes, I would love to try some," He goes to the back to grab some and I notice myself taking in his dark skin, I notice myself wanting to taste his lips, too. Who would be interested in a 28-year-old queen-pin? Who would be interested in a woman with no kids? Who would be interested in a killer? I push the thoughts out of my mind as I look outside.

I see the police cars, slowly starting to fill the area. 'I got your bread for you,' He interrupts my thoughts, he puts down the bread on a nice glass plate and it smells divine. The heat radiated off it as if it was freshly baked. He offers me a fork and a knife as he says, 'Enjoy,' I take a bite of it and it tastes delicious. The bread was so soft, melting into my mouth, the banana adding some sweetness and the walnuts adding some crunch. I found myself saying, "Mmm," moaning from the taste of food.

'How do you like it?' he says with a soft voice. "I love it," I say with a smile, "Do you have any more?" 'Yes, I do,' "I'd like you to package me some for tomorrow," He says, 'Right away, ma'am. How much would you like?' "Well, how much is it?" I say with a smile. 'The bread usually goes for five dollars a loaf,' I was silent, something so good for so cheap. 'If it's too expensive, I could negotiate a price,' "No," I say, almost shouting.

"I just didn't expect the prices to be so fair. How much was just half a loaf?" I didn't realize how much of it I'd eaten. 'Well, typically I sell the half a loaf for 3.50 and a full loaf for 5.00,' "I'll take two full loafs," I say to him. 'I do have to watch my figure,' I say with a smile. I feel myself exposing my hands, letting him know I wasn't married. I look for a ring on him, I see a ring on him but it wasn't a wedding ring. Maybe he had a fiancé, but I wasn't hung up on that.

'I'll get you rung up,' I find myself going into my wallet and pulling out a 100 dollar bill. I look into it again and I see that I had more than 1000 dollars of cash on me. He looked surprised and then says, 'Do you have anything smaller?' I was annoyed now, He may be cute but god is he inconvenient. Did I just think he was cute? I say to myself.

"No unfortunately, I don't,' He then hands me the bread and says, 'It's okay. This will just be on the house,' He was generous? I turn outside as I see a swat car move in, they begin to conduct their raids and I say Fuck it, let it happen in my mind. I find myself, asking a question, something I didn't think I would ask. "Do you mind if we ate together?" He gets flustered and for some odd reason, I could tell he was blushing.

'Uh Miss, don't tell me you're married?' "No, far from it. Don't tell me you're married," I say disappointedly. 'No, far from it. I'm flattered but it's just that my store doesn't close until five,' It's then that I pull out 4 100-dollar bills. "Then I'll pay for the day," He puts his head down in shame as he says, 'I can't take your money, ma'am' he says, stuttering. "You're not. I am paying for service rendered. I intend to merely pay a man for his services and that includes the entire day," He looks around and for some odd reason, I was expecting another no though the unexpected happens.

He walks to the back and he comes back with a coat on. I see some greys in his beard and I see a nice gentle smile. He sees the 400 dollars and he says, 'Are you sure you want to pay a man like me for your time?' I think about my impulses, I think about what I'm doing. I allow myself to enjoy them, I can allow for my business to function on its own. "Yes I am," I say in a playful tone. "Would like to spend the evening with a woman like me?" I say with a smile on my face.

End of Chapter 3: Confrontation/ and A Date