Page 23 of Waiting for Friday Night

Halle’s cell phone rang. Her cousin Kayla’s number flashed on the screen. Probably calling to ask about the cousins’ weekend. She sent the call to voice mail, not wanting to deal with that right now.

“Go shower and get some rest. We can talk more later.”

She expected Shania to argue or push for more. Instead, she nodded and stood. Shania turned and walked toward the door, her shoulders slumped. Halle’s heart broke.

“Shania,” she called. When Shania turned around, she tried to smile. “We’ll figure this out, okay? No matter what it is, don’t we always make a way? We will this time, too.”

Shania’s lips lifted in a weak smile before she left. Halle’s phone rang. Kayla again. She answered instead of sending her cousin to voice mail.

“What’s up, Kayla?”

“Umm... Halle, I’m gonna ask you something and I need you to not get mad, okay?” Kayla spoke quickly, her tone already telling Halle she was about to have to deal with some foolishness.

Halle frowned. “Are you changing the plans for cousins’ weekend again? I already told you we don’t need a spades tournament. Mick will act the fool.”

“Nah, it’s something else.”

“What is it?” Halle sipped her cold tea and wondered what new game her cousin had discovered and wanted to include in the weekend.

“Look, there’s no easy way to say this so I’m just gonna ask. Is Quinton Shania’s daddy?”

Halle spit the tea across the table. “What? Why would you ask that?”

“See, that’s why I said you can’t get mad, alright. Look, Zach said he overheard y’all talking in Quinton’s office and that’s what he heard. I told him that can’t be true because ain’t no way you wouldn’t have told me that Quinton was her daddy.”

Halle pinched the bridge of her nose. “Shit, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Zachariah and Kayla had been dating for years. Halle hadn’t considered they’d be overheard. Or that if they were overheard that Zachariah would go back and tell her cousin immediately. This day was getting even worse.

“See, that’s what I thought. I told you you heard wrong,” Kayla yelled, obviously talking to Zachariah. “You can’t be just saying stuff without being sure. You know how rumors go in this town. You gonna have everyone talking about Halle and Shania.”

“That’s why I asked,” Zachariah said in the background. “I wasn’t trying to spread rumors.”

“He didn’t hear wrong,” Halle mumbled.

“Wait, what?” Kayla nearly screeched. “Zach, hush. Halle, what you say?”

Halle looked at the ceiling and wished that the light fixture over the table would fall, hit her on the head and she’d wake up tomorrow realizing this was just a really bad dream. The light remained in place. Which meant she had to deal with this immediately.

“He didn’t hear wrong. Did anyone else hear?”

“Hold up! Quinton’s her daddy for real. How could you not tell me?” The accusation in Kayla’s voice made Halle’s stomach twist. She was going to have everyone asking her the same question. From her family to her friends, and even the people who worked at the school district.

“It’s a long story, but I don’t want to get into that right now. Ask Zachariah if anyone else overheard.”

Kayla asked. “Nah, no one else that he knows.”

Halle let out a breath. The last thing they needed was for this to be on the Peachtree Cove gossip circle before she and Shania had a chance to figure out what this meant.

“Well... I don’t think no one else heard,” Zachariah said a second before she could feel any relief.

Halle groaned. Her life was about to get out of hand.

“I never should have listened to you,” Quinton said later that night when he was on the phone with his baby sister, Dawn.

Dawn scoffed before replying. “About what? I always give you good advice.” The sound of her fingers tapping on her keyboard were in the background. Dawn worked remotely as a training coordinator for an insurance company. She’d said she was chatting with her colleagues in India when he’d called to tell her just how much her advice had thrown his life for a loop.

“Not this time. My life is about to turn upside down.”

The typing stopped. “Ooh, you may need your life turned upside down. Your life is way too boring considering you were a professional athlete.”

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