Page 7 of About That Night

Fortunately, my best friend Nevaeh made the move with me, though she’s been trying harder than me to have a social life. She grew up in Baton Rouge, not this small bayou town, and she wants to be young and have fun.

When I get to the house, Nevaeh is actually outside on the front porch, watching Josiah playing with a soccer ball. He loves all sports. It makes me feel guilty that he doesn’t have a father to kick a ball around with, and I’m always short on time. Besides, I haven’t done anything athletic since high school. I’m way out of shape for being twenty-three, and I have the ass to prove it.

“Hi, guys!” I say, and my cheerfulness isn’t forced. I can have the worst day in the history of life and when I see my little man, it all turns around. Josiah makes everything worth it.

“Mama!” Josiash runs over and hugs my leg briefly.

I barely get to touch his blond curls before he’s off in the opposite direction again. My heart squeezes. “He’s killing me,” I tell Nevaeh, dropping my bag on the cement pad of the porch and sinking into a plastic lawn chair. “He looks so grown up, I feel like I might die.”

“He’s four. Calm down.” She gives me an amused glance. “And no, he didn’t grow while you were at work.”

She knows me too well. I blow out all the air in my lungs in an upward motion that shifts my hair on my forehead. It’s a heartfelt sigh that seems to come from the depths of my beaten-down, sex-deprived soul. Life is hard, y’all.

“You sure?” I ask. Josiah tries to kick the ball but misses.

“Positive. Though he might have gained a pound. He ate all the chips when I was in the shower.”

“Lord. That was like half a bag of barbecue chips. What am I going to do when he’s fourteen?”

“Pray.”

That makes me laugh. “I already do. How is the job search going?”

“The job search is still a search. But I’ll find something, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“Unless I don’t.” She shoots me a concerned glance. “Which means I’ll have to go back to Baton Rouge. I really don’t want to do that. I do like this quirky-ass town.”

The thought sends panic through me. “Just give it a little longer.” I’ve been living with Nevaeh as a roommate since I was nineteen. I rely on her in a way that probably isn’t fair to her, but we both need each other for various reasons.

“Why is life so damn expensive?” She draws her legs up and wraps her arms around her knees.

Nevaeh is the physical opposite of me. She’s tall, with long limbs and minimal curves. She eyes her fingernails, which she hasn’t been able to get done. Her acrylics need a fill.

I sigh. “That is an excellent question. If you want to go live with your mom, I understand.”

“What? No. Hell, no. You know what my mom is like.”

I do. She is about as easy to get along with as my own parents. Which means not at all. “I’m just throwing it out there. I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay because of me. I’ll figure something out. I always do.”

It’s her turn to sigh. “I’m not leaving. You know I won’t leave you and Josiah until I know you’re good. I love y’all. You’re my family.”

I nod, throat tight. “I love you too. You and Miss Loretta became my family after my own family turned their backs on me. Listen, do you care if I go get a drink with an old friend after Josiah is in bed?”

Something about my tone obviously gives me away because she grins. “Does this old friend happen to be a sexy man? Get it, girl.”

“I’m not getting anything,” I protest. “I’m not getting dick, which means I’m not getting pregnant, which is the way it’s going to stay.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m serious.” I will literally melt into a puddle and evaporate with the first beam of sunlight if I turn up pregnant again from a casual hookup.

“I know you are. But you do know birth control exists.”

“I do.” I watch Josiah pick up the soccer ball and throw it at the side of the house. “And Josiah exists anyway.”

“You don’t even know if that fool was using a condom. He just told you he was. Tell me the truth. Would you have known the difference?”

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