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Part IX

As expected, a car full of Marshall’s friends arrived near dinnertime and crowed into the house with loud raucous laughter and about a ton of luggage. Coral was in the midst of preparing dinner, the newly hired maid setting the table. She heard the voices in the foyer and Marshall’s happy voice. He’d been anticipating the visit of his friends for a long time and gave in, everyone hugging and shaking hands, laughing and saying too many times, “Good to see ya! God damn it’s good to see ya!”
She heard the clunking of luggage going up the stairs and the echoes of the loud voices and smiled. One of those voices was Marshall’s and she was happy for him.
Much quicker than she had anticipated the trot of a dozen feet fell down the stairs and burst through the kitchen.
“Guys, meet the wife, Coral Matthews!” Marshall called as the group crowded in. Coral looked up from where she was putting a layer of filling on what would comprise a twelve layer chocolate and cherry filling cake. She smiled.
“How are you doing boys?” she asked.
“Coral, these are the guys, Swifty, Kon Artis, Bizarre, Proof and Kuniva,” Marshall pointed to each guy in turn and they looked at her in surprise.
“Nice to meet y’all Marshall’s been talking non stop about y’all,” Coral replied to the silence.
“So you’re the wife huh?” Swifty asked.
“Technically, just technically until the papers go through. Marshall and I are friends. Why don’t you guys go check out the new living room, and I’ll bring in the appetizers,” Coral replied giving a last swipe to the layer of filling before topping it with a thin layer of chocolate cake.
“Yeah, wait till you see the new entertainment center, built it myself, with Coral’s help,” Marshall’s voice drifted into the living room along with his friends and she nodded in approval. This was going to be nice.
“Gentlemen, here you go,” Coral said as she entered the living room, carrying a tray in each hand.
“So you really are the cook?” Proof asked.
“Indeed I am. I hope you like the appetizers,” she smiled as she sat the trays down.
“Stay a minute Coral,” Marshall said grabbing her by the arm.
“I got to finish dinner, you, go, talk to your friends,” Coral pushed him back towards the room and went back to the kitchen to finish the cake.

“So, what’s it like?” Proof asked stepping up to Marshall.
“What’s what like?” Marshall asked.
“Da bitch, she good in bed or what?” Proof reiterated and Marshall’s brow furrowed.
“Lets get two things strait, you do not call that woman a bitch, period and second, we are not fucking,” Marshall replied. Proof held his hands up in defense.
“Hey man, just asking, just asking.”
Kuniva plopped himself down on the new couch and asked,
“Yeah man, what is up wit chu and the girl? There got be something going on.”
“Yeah, we’re friends and I hired her to cook and help me fix up the house, that’s ALL,” Marshall replied sitting down and taking one of the crab puffs off the platter.
“Well then, is she a good cook at least?” Bizarre asked.
“Man, you gonna think you died and went to heaven. This girl can make anything and everything.” Marshall replied through a mouth of food.
“You living high on the hog ain’t ya? Got a maid, and cook, you turning into a regular celebrity ain’t ya?” Kon asked with a suspicious gaze in Marshall’s direction.
“Oh shut the fuck up. I got the maid cause you all can’t be bothered to do your own laundry, and I ain’t doing it for you, and that’s not Coral’s job. She’s gone the minute you all are out of here.” Marshall replied vehemently.
“Take it easy man, we’s just saying,” Kuniva replied.
“Yeah and all it’s gonna take is one of you fucks ‘just saying’ something in front of Coral and you’ll wish you hadn’t. I gave her the job because she needed it. She has another job waiting for her, she can leave any time she wants.” Marshall replied, though he was getting a little intense over this.
“So why don’t you kick her ass out? You don’t need a cook, and if you ain’t getting any ass, out of fine looking woman like that, then what good is she?” Proof snorted.
“Yo Proof, you better watch your mouth man. She’s my friend all right. I’m not kicking her out, side from that, she ain’t got a place to live,” Marshall replied shaking his head, grabbing another one of the crab puffs and popping it whole in his mouth.
“So you feel sorry for her, I see, pity,” Kon asked.
“Not pity. She been a real decent person when she could have been a real bitch about the whole situation,” he said sitting back.
“Man’s got a point,” Bizarre nodded and looked around at the fellow members of the band.
“Very true,” this seemed to hit them finally and then they were all wondering the same thing.
“So how long you been crushing on the girl?” Proof asked raising an eyebrow and cocking a smile.
“Guys, dinner’s all set!” Saved by the bell, Marshall thought to himself and quickly got up, dodging Proof’s question, which in reality was as good as saying, “Yes, I’ve been crushing on her.”

“I’m gonna take it that you all are a little suspicious as to why I’m hanging around here. I already got the once and twice over from your friend Dr. Dre. I don’t want Marshall’s money, and I don’t want to ruin his career. Both of us made the mistake, it’s not fair that he pay for it. And now that he’s really been so generous to me, giving me a place to stay, and a job, I wouldn’t do anything against him. Besides that, we’re friends, and I don’t make it a practice to cheat my friends. Now, are we all okay?” Coral had mad a point to speak up when she brought out the dinner. She knew that these guys were Marshall’s best friends and extremely protective of him, and she couldn’t blame them.
After her little speech the guys made her sit down and eat dinner with them.
“So, what you think of our rap boy here, think he’s got the talent to keep going?” Kuniva asked Coral later during dinner. Marshall gave him a dirty look. Obviously Dre had told everyone he was thinking about retiring and the consensus was, he shouldn’t.
“I think he’s got something yeah. His last number, some deep shit,” Coral nodded.
“See man, you got it, still,” Kon began and Coral took the hint from Marshall’s folded brow and quickly changed the subject.
“So how do you guys like the work Marshall did on the living room?”

Coral got along fine with the guys and they with her, though Marshall wasn’t surprised, Coral really wasn’t that hard to get along with. He didn’t understand why her parents and her sisters and brother didn’t get that. The only thing Coral wanted was to make a living doing what she was good at, she wasn’t asking for anything else. She wasn’t asking for a handout, and she wasn’t asking for the world, only that she could cook for it.
The rest of the evening was spent eating the impressive cake that Coral had prepared for dinner and gathering around the television to watch a movie. The part time maid left once the dishes and kitchen were clean, and Coral was again invited to hang out with them.
“I thought you wanted time with your friends,” she asked as she took a seat on the floor beside the couch, her favorite spot to watch television, even while eating dinner. Marshall nudged her with his knee and said,
“You are one of my friends.”
“Yeah, I meant your guy friends. I’m not messing with the testosterone levels or something?” she laughed.
“Actually I think you’re helping keep those levels pretty high, right Marshall?” Proof asked wiggling his eyebrows at Marshall.
“What the fuck man? Are we in fucking preschool? Shut the fuck up!” Marshall snapped.
“Oh, Em and Coral sitting in a tree,” Swifty sang plopping down beside Marshall and squishing him into the arm of the couch. Marshall growled but knew if he got up he would get looks.
“You guys are really subtle, aren’t you?” Coral asked as she shook her head.
“Well come on, friends? When are a man and woman friends?” Bizarre laughed. Coral rolled her eyes.
“Now is when they are. When they meet up, at a random bar, have way too much to drink, and do something stupid they can’t remember. That’s when. Satisfied? Now put in the movie,” she said waving towards the television.
“That don’t sound like friends to me,” Kon said with a mischievous tone.
“Hey, I do have some standards. The guy I marry, I have to know him at the very least a week before we say the big I do,” Coral chirped and even Marshall laughed.
“Ironic ain’t it? I got one who’ll cook for me, but we ain’t gonna be married for much longer.” This got the guys to laugh.
“But you forget, that you still got to pay her,” Swifty cackled, and again they all laughed.
“Guys, just start the damn movie!” Coral shrieked, and finally they turned on the television.
“Aw man, you had to get Sin City, didn’t you?” Coral asked when she saw the titles roll up.
“What, you don’t like Bruce Willis?” Kuniva laughed.
“No, he don’t bother me that much, it’s just such a gross movie,” Coral cringed at the thought of it.
“Oh I’m sure Marshall won’t mind comforting you, will he?” Proof did a little smooching impression and Marshall glared at him.
“Just watch the movie already,” Coral said as she rolled her eyes.
It took about half an hour before Coral couldn’t watch any more of the gory movie and said goodnight to everyone.
But she didn’t go to sleep. She couldn’t sleep. So she called her sister Turkey.
“Hey, hope I didn’t wake you,” she said sheepishly into the phone.
“No, you didn’t, I was actually just catching something to eat, had a ton of stuff to get done. What’s up?”
“Oh nothing, just wanted to talk to my favorite sister.”
“Coral, what’s up?” there was a tone to Turkey’s voice this time.
“I don’t know. Think you could tell me?”
“Let me guess, you think you’re falling for that guy aren’t’ you?”
“Actually that was pretty far from it, to tell you.”
“Don’t tell me you were thinking about Charlie, were you?” Turkey nearly moaned in disappointment.
“Well, a little yeah. I mean I met Marshall’s friends today, and they keep joking that we’re together, and it just reminded me of him, you know?”
“Coral, please, you’ve never been one to fawn over a fallen man, don’t start now.”
“I know, I know. It would just be nice you know, nice to be settled down, not worrying about that high school love crap.”
“I know it baby girl, I know it. But it’s not that easy for us Matthew’s women. You know it took mom nearly four years to get dad. Pearl, well, she’s one in herself, Onyx, there’s a perfect reason she’ll never get married, Opal’s just a basket case and me, I’m,”
“You’re too nice Turkey, that’s your only fault.”
“Try telling that to Mr. Your Just Not Exciting Enough.” Turkey mimed with a voice into the phone, Coral chuckled.
“You are too Turkey. The right guy will find you, I promise.”
“And the right one will find you too honey, it’s just not Charlie. Now what about a blind date, I know a guy, a nice one, and maybe you guys could just go to dinner, nothing extravagant, just meet and talk. Get you away from that house, and Marshall.”
“Marshall isn’t the problem,” Coral snorted.
“I don’t mean it that way honey. I mean yeah, the guy is good looking, and he’s nice, but I don’t know if you two would work out. Not to mention the whole thing with getting married and the divorce and his career. Honey, do yourself a favor, be friends with Marshall, but have a life at the same time.”
Coral had to agree. Marshall was very nice, a great friend, and she had been indulging HIS loneliness by sticking around so much. She didn’t have any regular hours, she worked with him all day on the house and redecorating, and cooked and even ate with him everyday. She didn’t mind it, but she was deluding herself. This couldn’t last forever. He was too good a rapper, and soon enough he would realize that, make a new album, and she’d be gone. And too, maybe his friends were right, how could and man and a woman be friends?
“You’re right.”
“Of course I am. Marshall is a very charming, very nice guy, and he’s been a really good friend to you. But honey, you got your own life and your own friends too. He’s got to learn how to stand on his own two feet. You being there all the time will only give him the wrong idea. You’ve got to get out and spread your wings a little more. Take some of those jobs Jackie was offering you, go out and have a little fun once in a while. You do know you’re entitled to some time off, and you can come visit me.”
“You’re right again.”
“You know it.” Coral took a sigh and processed some of the things going through her head.
“You don’t think he likes me like that, do you?” she asked after a long silence.
“Well, I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t exactly been around him while he’s around you, not that much anyway. But it is possible. I would just be careful. Don’t give him the wrong idea.”
“Then I’ll definitely go on that blind date. Set it up, for this week, okay?”
“You think he does.”
“Not necessarily, no. But then again, I’m not a novice with how men act okay? Besides, like you said, with his career and everything, it wouldn’t work.”
“Hmm, you’re probably right on that one. Oh, by the way, how are the divorce proceedings going?”
“Not well, they still haven’t gone through yet.”
“I bet you it’s because Onyx has been chatting with her friends the judges. Tell that lawyer of Marshall’s to resubmit the stuff to a different judge. Judge Harrow, and I should tell you also that Pearl was looking awful smug the other day, I think she’s been talking to somebody or something.” Coral put a hand over her eyes.
“Shit, just what we need. Dammit, why does Pearl have to do this?”
“Because she’s a selfish bitch, that’s why. Look, I spoke to Mica and he has agreed to help you two out with the tabloids and stuff. And not because its Eminem or anything, he’s dealt with his lawyer enough to know how much trouble the guy is, but because you’re his sister. He actually think this time Pearl was wrong.”
“How hard did you hit him?”
“Coral, I mean it. He has a lot of sway with those papers ever since they printed pictures of Britney cheating on her husband. He wants to help.”
“We’ve been lucky so far, there’s been no paparazzi.”
“Just be careful. I mean I know he’s a celebrity and really doesn’t want this out in the open, but sweetie, if you get caught, he might think you had something to do with it.”
“I know, I know. That’s the last thing I need right now.”
“Honey, get some sleep, you got to work tomorrow.”
“Yup, six hungry people to feed.”
“Just remember, you can be a good friend, just don’t stop being a good friend to yourself as well.”
“Okay Turkey, love you.”
“Love you too sweetie.”
“Bye.”