Honey & Spice

Malakai waits by his car, and Kiki notes how attractive he is. She’s self-conscious, but also comfortable around him. She realizes he’s listening to a playlist she made for Brown Sugar and reveals she named her show after the D’Angelo album. He compares her to the scotch bonnet, a pepper that is a staple of many Nigerian meals. He says the flavor makes things more exciting and makes “Scotch” his nickname for her. He takes her to Eastside to a diner named Sweetest Ting and Kiki is won over by the ambiance and the food. He introduces Kiki to Meji, the owner, a friend and mentor to Malakai. They eat and talk. Malakai shares how he found the restaurant when he was walking around, new to town, and police approached him with hostility. They searched him, claiming he was being aggressive. Meji intervened, taking Malakai into the restaurant and feeding him, and they became friends. Sweetest Ting became Malakai’s space. Kiki shares that a spot in the library, next to the African histories, is her space.

Kiki starts calling him Kai as they enjoy their food. Kiki suggests that maybe he wasn’t communicating clearly with the girls he was dating, but she decides he isn’t a Wasteman after all.