"Start with what time it is."
"It’s almost seven thirty."
"Now, what the fuck are you doin’ here so fuckin’ early in the morning?"
"I came to visit you, man."
"You know, Nick, it ain’t that I’m not glad to see you. But, shit, most people don’t beat on the door for fifteen minutes. After a minute or two they just go away."
"I knew you were here."
"How you know I was here?"
"The rug. You still turn the rug over when your home."
Freeze looked at me and frowned. Slowly, the frown became a smile and turned into a laugh. "Glad you back, Nick."
"You hungry?"
"Why, you gonna cook?"
"Hell no. But I’m buyin’."
"Good, ’cause there ain’t no food here anyway."
"Well, get dressed then."
About a half-hour later, Freeze came out of the back, escorted by a very attractive young woman. I stood up to meet her. "Nick, this is Paulleen. Paulleen, that’s Nick."
"Nice to meet you, Paulleen."
Judging only by the way she rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth, I could tell that Paulleen wasn’t glad to meet me.
"I’ll be right back, Nick. I just need to roll her home."
"How long?"
"Fifteen minutes."
Once Freeze got back from droppin’ off Paulleen, we set out to eat breakfast. While we ate, Freeze told me about his night. Before Paulleen, I mean. She was the closer. There was a problem at Cuisine. A customer had a complaint with their meal and the manager had gone home sick. The only one left to talk to him was Freeze.
"So, Nick, the guy starts yellin’ at my ass, talkin’ ’bout how the service was fucked up and the food was cold. Nick, I’m talkin’ ’bout right up in my face."
"I know you can’t stand that. What did you say?"
"I was cool. So I back up off him and I go through the whole nine, apologizing for the food, and the service and shit. I tell the waitress, no check for this table. Then I tells him, get this, to call ahead for a reservation the next time he wishes to dine with us, and he would be my personal guest for the evening."
"You said that shit?"
"Shit yeah! I’m fuckin’ tired of hearin’ Wanda’s mouth ’bout this customer service shit. But I ain’t feelin’ that shit, Nick."
"Why you do it then?"
"That’s where Black wants me."
"End of story. So what happened with you and old boy?"
"Okay, after