Sweet Like Chocolate

Twelve

Nicole

I stood to my feet, but the tightening in my chest only got worst. I was standing in the house of a man who hated me just because of my skin.

He stared at me long and hard  For a second, it looked like he was about to flip his shit. But no, he let out a soft chuckle. "Okay, okay, where are the cameras. Y'all got me."

All looking confused, we exchanged looks at eachother then back at Edward's dad.

"Honey," His Mother spoke up. "This ain't no prank. The boys in love."

"With a beautiful, intelligent, outstanding woman." Edward added on with no hesitation. "If you have something rude to say Dad, then we'll be on our way and you won't have to worry about me for a long while." He took my hand and caressed it. Waiting for his response, I held my breath.

"Hm... " He looked off. "Okay, okay. When's dinner?"

Looking lost, his Mom said, "It's cooking now."

"Well? What we standing 'round waiting here 'fer? Help me set up the table boy!" He walked over to his son and patted him on the back. Edward looked at me and shrugged. I went along with it and offered to help set up the table.

"No! No, you's a guest." He said. "Stay here. Sit down."

...

Greene

Collard greens, mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, lamb slices, milk, and rolls were passed around the table, and so was the tension. I sat on one side of Nicole. Mama on the other side of her, who sat directly across from Pa. He seemed as though everything was handy, like any other day was coming and passing. We said prayer and dug in.

"This food is great, honey." He scooped large forkfuls of the food into his mouth. "I'm liking these collard greens baby, good job."

"Thank you, honey."

"I agree. This meal is delicious, Misses Greene." Ma smiled at Nicole and patted her on the arm. It was genuine, I observed. "Thank you so much, Nicole. I'm glad you like it."

Pa looked around the room at me and Ma, and back to digging in his plate. I caught his expression, but let it go.

"So," Mama said. "Tell me about yourself, Nicole. Who are you inspirations? What do you do in your free time? Any plans going into the future?"

A sly smirk came from my father, who hadn't made eye contact with Nicole not once so far tonight. He just glued his eyes to his plate and kept his mouth shut whenever he didn't have food stuffed in it...

Nicole on the other hand, had been doing excellent tonight. She had been polite, and had manners. She smiled and called mama ma'am. Mama seemed to like her, actually.

Taking a napkin and delicately tapping the corners of her mouth, she sit up in her seat.  I could only see the beauty in whatever she was about to say. I was too confident in her to hop off my high horse. Everything felt right about bringing her home.

"Well, an inspiration of mine is Nelson Mendela." She began. Out busted a laughter from across the table. I looked over, and Dad was choking on his milk.

We ignored him and turned back to Nicole. "In my free time, I just take care of my daughter. That's where my free time is." Mama nodded and smiled. "How old is she?"

"Four."

"How cute."

"My future plans? I want to be successful in my modelling career. I also look forward to working with Edward more, maybe get a promotion," She said, eyeing me, then nudging my arm playfully. I nodded and took a sip of my milk. "You deserve it," I said through my sips from the glass.