“You don’t know?” he shot back. “If it get’s any worst, you’ll be sittin’ here by yaself … Jus’ kiddin! But anyway, what do you wanna eat? I’m tired a dis salad shit. I ain’t no fuckin’ rabbit. I want some meat, fish, chicken, sumthin’. I’m hungrier than I don’t know what ….”

Tender stared at the menu. She could hardly make out the names of the dishes. It wasn’t because she couldn’t read. She could do that very well. The names were all funny-sounding. She didn’t know how to pronounce these dishes, let alone order them. She pretended to be deep in thought, undecided on what to get. Every time Q glanced over at her, she strained her face like she was concentrating. He knew she was like a fish out of water in here, out of her element. He also knew Tender was too proud to ask for his help. He got that vibe from her, almost from the moment they met. Tender was a loner, an independent person. Whenever possible, she did for herself. She didn’t depend on anybody. And especially no man.

Suddenly the waitress appeared. “Hi. How are y’all doin’ this evening? Are ya’ll ready to place your order? Ma’am? Sir?”

“You go, Q,” Tender insisted. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Dat’s cool wit me,” he commented. “As hungry as I am, I could eat anything cooked except pork. They’ll be no swinin’ and dinin’ over here. Lips dat touch swine shall not touch mine …”

“Q! Aiight! Enuff iz enuff. We get da picture.”

“I wuz jus sayin’ …” He continued to joke. “But as long as I make myself perfectly clear … I’ll be havin’ filet mignon. Well done.”

“What kind of vegetables would you like with that, sir?” the waitress asked. “We have fresh green peas, corn, green beans, spinach—”

“Lemme get a sucka shotta dat corn,” he replied.

“And you, ma’am?” the waitress asked Tender.

Tender was stuck; she wasn’t too fond of red meat but she didn’t know how to decode the rest of the menu. All this fancy-dancy food—Q could have taken her to Mickey Dee’s for this hassle. Suddenly she recalled a line from some old black-and-white movie she had been watching not too long ago. The line was kind of jazzy to her too. Now was the perfect time to use it.

“I’ll have what he’s havin,’ ” she said coolly.

“Now, dat wuz real original,” he kidded her. “Did you think of dat all by yaself?”

“Shut up!” she fired back. “You get me sick ….”