Devil

-25-

-Nicotine-

After we were done assisting with the trials of my new strand, I took Goddess in one of my various cars (this time the Jeep), to a burger joint. "Ion think they got pizza there, but they got burgers," I repeated for the tenth time, but this time in a different way. She sure knew how to be insistent when she wanted to be. That was one thing about her that made my heart melt.

"Hmph," she folded her arms across her chest as we approached the place. I rolled down the windows slightly, having already been here before. As soon as the scent of buttered burgers and fried food wafted into the car, Goddess' demeanor switched.

"Damn. We goin inside right?" she turned to me.

I chuckled, already expecting this reaction from her. This was a nice little hole-in-the-wall I had found on a Perry Island tourist guide site. Their food was fucking good! I parked near the entrance, lucky to snag that spot before a black minivan could. I saw the driver's sneer of frustration but hey, I didn't feel like circling the parking lot like her.

Goddess and I hopped out, stomach's already grumbling as we entered into the small establishment filled with customers and good food. "I don't even know what I want to order. Shit, everything?" she laughed, looking up at the large menu that spanned across the small wall. "Shit, double fried fries, onion rings, mustard filled onion rings, taquitos, bacon burgers, gravy and beans, French fries, nachos, chicken tenders, tacos, steak burgers..." she continued to read the list out loud.

I already had my eyes on a steak and bacon burger. I'm glad I hadn't decided to go to stale ass McDonald's over this. Mickey D's had admittedly good fries but that was where one's stomach had to draw the line. "I think ima get the bacon burger and some regular onion rings," Goddess declared at last.

"You sure?" I asked, smirking down at her.

She scowled. "Ima be back, shit, I'd be a fool not to."

We joined the long line filled with people from all walks of life. I looked around the place, trying to find a free spot to sit. If push come the shove, one of us could wait in a spot. The place was packed and I hoped that I'd be able to fulfill Goddess' wishes to eat inside of here.

Thirty minutes later and we were at the front of the line, shifting uncomfortably to try and get some air conditioning to flow our way. "Welcome to Burger Burger Bun, can I get your order?" a teenage dude with the beginnings of a beard asked us. "Thanks, could I have a steak and bacon burger," I ordered, "hold the mayo and pickles. And could I also have a," I turned to Goddess because I had forgotten what she wanted.

"A bacon burger, just ketchup, and your regular onion rings," Goddess finished. She leaned against me, her lukewarm breath not helping my desire for air conditioning. "Okay, your order will be $12.95, will that be cash or card?" he typed some things into his machine. "Cash," I answered as Goddess stopped leaning at me and dug through her pockets.

"You good, it's ight," I assured her.

"Your order number will be number 56."

I handed the boy the exact amount, and started to step off to the side, grabbing Goddess' hand on instinct.

"Fucking gays," I heard someone murmur.

I looked up and realized it had been the cashier.

"What did you say?" I didn't mean for it but my voice carried across the restaurant. It grew silent, the sounds of a Spanish song finishing up in the background. It switched to a country song, as Goddess tried to tug me away from the counter. She knew my temper all too well. And shit, maybe if he had just said something about me I would have let it go, but "gays" is very much plural, and he wasn't finna talk about Goddess like that.

Nobody was.

The boy uncomfortably held someone's drink in his hand, not saying a word. "We're fucking gays?" I asked him again, every word laced with anger. Goddess gripped my hand tightly, slightly turned in against me.

"What's the issue?" someone older came from the back as I stared the boy down. The woman looked from me to the guy. The white teen called me a n-word with the hard -er under his breath.

The restaurant was quiet enough for all to hear, and he froze. Shit, did he think we couldn't hear him?

"What did that boy just say?" a larger black man stood up from a table, staring down the boy.

"Ma'am, I- I apologize," the woman, who I guessed was the manager, started saying.

"Nico, let's just go," I heard Goddess whisper.

Someone came out and set order number 56 out on the counter with a bored expression, then seemed to notice the heavy tension in the restaurant. "Ian do nunin," the boy threw down the cup, and glared at the lady. "I fucking quit," his words were laced with a heavy country accent that almost blended in with the song playing. He tore off his uniform and headed out of the restaurant. I snatched our food off the counter and started quickly following him out the door, pushing the bag into Goddess' hands.

"You don't wanna do this," the man laid a hand on my shoulder. He was taller than me and he was trying to send sincerity through his butter-colored eyes. "But that-

"I know, but it's not worth it," Goddess joined in, holding our bag of food tightly to her. The restaurant was starting to get back to normal, but a lot of people were leaving out, some from their seats, others out of the line. I took in a deep shuddery breath and nodded up at him. "Thank you." He only tipped his head down at me and went back to his table.

As we left out of the burger joint, I looked both ways for the teenager, knowing that he'd probably be one of those stupid people enough to wait for me and want to fight me. I would win, I smirked in my head. We safely made it into my Jeep and we rolled out of the lot. As we left I saw someone arguing with him next to a car, damn near spitting in his face.

I let down the window to hear what they were saying as I cruised by. The customer was tearing him up for what he said about me and Goddess, and mentioning respect to all people. I went up to the red light and blew out a long breath, almost making my lungs quake. I needed to get this toxic energy out of me and calm down.

"You okay?" Goddess asked me timidly, still clutching the bag of food like a little mouse.

"Yeah," I sighed out.

We rode in silence, Goddess finally opening up the bag and handing out our food. "They put mayo on mine," she frowned.

"Yeah, sometimes I don't like mayo either," I sighed again.

Don't forget to comment !!