Page 9 of Captured Immune

I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I can’t think.

I didn’t realize how much time I spent with Trey, until now, when I’m not.

He’s ruined me.And he’ll continue to ruin me. From now on, every doctor’s appointment I’ll attend alone, every kick I’ll feel from the baby, every time someone comments on my rounded belly, he’s all I’ll be thinking about.

I’ve always wanted to be a mom. I’ve dreamt of this moment since I was a kid, except I imagined this with a ring on my finger and the father-to-be at my side.

I’m terrified to do this alone. What will I tell my grandparents? How will I explain to my future son or daughter why they don’t have a father? How does anyone explain to a child that their father thought he was infertile and?—

Knock-knock-knock.

I jolt out of bed.Is it him?I rush to the door in my pajamas.

“Wipe that disappointment off your face.” Javina’s wearing a light jacket with the hood up to block the rain from all her black curls. She holds up a carton of ice cream. “Wanna have some rocky road while we plot his murder?”

I roll my eyes, mostly because when she called earlier, I told her not to come. Still, I motion for her to step inside. “We’re not going to kill him.”

“Of coursewearen’t gonna kill him,” she says as she slips her shoes off. “We don’t stand a chance against him and those huge arm muscles. We’re gonna hire a hit man.” Her tone is so serious, I’m no longer sure she’s joking.

On the floor of my living room with the ice cream between us, I tell Javina about the blonde chick I saw Trey with. I choke up as I hash out the details of our fight, leaving out any parts that suggest I’m with child. I’m not ready to tell Javina yet. She’ll freak out, and I need to be in a place where I’m not also freaking out before I tell her.

“Toward the end, we were fighting quite a bit,” I say as I dig my spoon into the now half-gone ice cream.

“About what?”

“Mostly about him keeping secrets from me. For example, he was always up at three in the morning, talking on the phone. I don’t think he sleeps.”

“Wait.” Javina draws her thick eyebrows together. “You don’t think he sleeps, like, ever?”

“Ever.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I’ll tell you what’s impossible. One time, we were at a restaurant, and somehow, he knew there was a teenage boy getting beat up in an alleyblocksaway.”

Javina takes a moment to process that before saying, “What?”

“Exactly. Then, there was this whole thing where he kept asking—no,begging—me to move to Paris with him. Whenever I asked him why, he kept saying he’d tell me once we got there, otherwise, I’d leave him.”

“Again, what?”

“Oh, and let’s not forget that on the night he and my ex got into a fist fight, Trey left with gashes in his knuckles. When I saw him three days later, his hand looked brand new. I got so curious that two weeks ago, I asked if he’s an alien.”

Javina freezes with her spoon halfway to her lips. “And?”

“He claims he’s not. Apparently, he’s not a superhero or from the future either. Those were my other guesses.”

Javina gasps. “What if he’s a wizard?”

“Like from Harry Potter?”

“Nah. More like the ones from that showCharmed. They have magical powers and shit, and they hide it from society, but they don’t need to use any wands.”

I go in for another spoonful of ice cream. “I don’t think he’s a wizard.”

“Don’t completely rule it out, girl. That’s what the wizards want us to do. They live among us and don’t want us to know it.”

“Do you really believe that?”

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