“Well, I’m going to meet people,” Retta said immediately.
“What about you? You good?” Drix looked at Charm who nodded.
“Yeah. Rome will introduce me.”
“I got her,” Rome verified.
“A’ight. Come on, Twin. Let’s get you a snack and me liquor.” Drix announced.
“I don’t have to eat every time we’re together, Drix,” I reminded him.
“I said a snack, not a three course meal. Don’t start tripping.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue. I looked around the event, from the decorations to how the different tables were set up like a nice dinner with several tables with large centerpieces but rap music played and there was a lot of smoke in the air and drunk people talking loudly.
Drix led me straight to the snack table and I realized a lot of it looked good, from the actual food to the desserts.
“What looks good to you?”
“A little bit of everything,” I admitted. “If I put snacks on a plate, can you put desserts on one so I can get a little of everything without looking like I’m greedy as hell?”
“Yeah. Just let me know what you want me to grab.”
“Cookies for sure and the chocolate cake with chocolate icing too please.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.”
I got snacks and Drix got a bottle from the bar. Then, we headed to a table. People glanced in our direction and I realized I loved the way people parted for him. There was no sliding between people or elbowing necessary. He didn’t even utter a word, and when we got to our chosen table, he set the bottle down and pulled a chair out for me.
“You good?”
“Yep.” I nodded and popped a chip into my mouth. “I’m good.”
“Good.” He sat in the chair beside me and I watched him while he took in the room.
My eyebrows knitted together at the sight of his gun tucked into the back of his pants.
“They let you bring your gun in here?” I asked.
“Who the fuck was gon’ take from me?” Drix’s eyebrows drew together in genuine confusion. “They didn’t want those mothafuckin’ problems.” He reached over, grabbed one of my chips and popped it into his mouth.
“That’s insane, Drix. The fact that people think you’ll go crazy on them for following policy is wild.”
“They don’t think. They know. The only way somebody is touching my gun is if it’s against their head,” he deadpanned. “Now eat your little chips and salsa.”
I laughed at that. “How’d you get four plus ones anyway?”
“Bino has been trying to get me on a track for years now, so he usually does what I want within reason.”
“Bino? Bino, Bino?” I turned toward him.
“Yeah. The nigga whose party this,” he reiterated.
“And you’ve been passing on getting on a track with him?”