“You have a white father. I understand that. But your ass got a black mama. She never cooked you no neckbones and rice?”
“My mother? Are you serious? When I was born she was still a young black girl from the other side of the tracks doing everything in her power to fit into her new husband’s lily-white world. And she wanted me to fit in too. And my siblings after me. Neckbones and rice wasn’t a thing.”
“But from what I read about you on the internet every woman you be dating is black. Didn’t they school you on soul food?”
Hawk’s jaw tightened. That damn internet was the bane of his existence. “Don’t believe everything you read about me,” he said.
“Meaning?”
“Many of those women they claim I’ve dated? I’ve never even met.”
Janita stared at him. “You don’t date?”
“Certainly. And yes, my preferred dating partners have been black ladies. But it wasn’t any of those ladies they love to put me with in the blogs and tabloids.”
Janita was stirring her pot in more than one way. “Are you dating anybody now?” She said it and then looked at him to see his reaction.
She didn’t see any change in his expression. Which was welcomed. “No,” he said. Which was even more welcomed.
She smiled as she continued to stir her pot.
“What about you?” he asked her, which surprised her. Most guys never wanted to know much about her. “You dating anyone?”
There was a hesitation from her. Not because of his question, but because he cared enough to ask it. “No.”
“Sure about that? You hesitated.”
She smiled. “I’m sure.”
“When was the last time you had a boyfriend?”
She didn’t have to think about it. She knew. “Seven months ago.”
“Damn girl. Why the drought?”
“Guys haven’t done right by me,” she admitted as she continued to slowly stir her pot. “I got tired of being abused.”
Hawk frowned. “You mean physically? Some joker laid a hand on you?”
“A couple of them did. But I laid a hand right back on them,” she said, and Hawk laughed. “But I don’t mean physical abuse,” she added. “I mean emotional abuse. They played with my emotions way too much and I got tired of it.”
Hawk nodded. “I know what you mean.”
That surprised Janita. She looked at him. “Women play with your emotions too?”
“No,” he said. “I’ve never allowed it to get to that.”
Janita knew what that meant. He didn’t care enough about them to let them hurt him. Which, she also knew, said a lot about how he treated women who “joined” him in those bathtubs. Which made it clear to her to stay clear of him.
That was why she stopped talking and plated their food.
When she sat his plate in front of him with a glass of water, and sat down at the small table with her plate, he inwardly smiled. He’d never ate in such a modest environment in his life. And he found that he liked it.
“So these are neckbones,” he said.
She laughed. “Those are neckbones, yes sir.”
He was moving them around with his fork. “Might I ask which animal’s neck did these bones come from?”
