Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 124320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
My cheeks go hot, which hasn’t happened to me in years. Sometimes I’m shocked to hear my own voice, my words strong and clear and flowing. Who would believe the girl rattling off stats and details in front of a camera, for millions of viewers, used to hate reading in front of her classmates?
I look up to meet Ezra’s stare, and I know he’s remembering that day in Mrs. Clay’s class. I’d forgotten this kind of telepathy we share, seemingly conducting thoughts between our minds with nothing more than a glance. There’s a disconcerting intimacy to it that feels wrong when his mind isn’t mine. Neither is his face, which settled into a roughly hewn beauty that I can barely tear my eyes from, or the big body standing like a tree offering shelter. I’m not his to shield. He’s not mine to shelter. We’re not each other’s anymore.
I guess we never were.
“Wait,” I say, looking between my old friends. “So you guys stayed in touch?”
“Not until we ran into each other a couple of years ago at a teacher’s job fair,” Mona says.
“I was staffing the school,” Ezra says. “And there was Mona. She practically runs the place now.”
“Now, we know that’s a lie.” Mona tsks. “This one’s a control freak. It’s bad enough I have to put up with him at school. Then we bought houses next door to each other. Aiko’s a good neighbor, even if he isn’t.”
“Aiko’s your wife?” I ask, looking from him to Ezra to Mona. “Where is she tonight?”
His expression freezes and his eyes widen. “Oh. Aiko’s in Tanzania on safari,” he says. “She’s a photographer, but—”
“They’re not married,” Noah interjects. “Mommy says marriage is a social construct like gender and race.”
A tiny startled silence is broken by us three adults laughing. Noah divides a puzzled look between us.
“It’s not funny,” he says, his little face earnest. “It’s fact.”
“Noah’s right,” Ezra says, turning to me. “Aiko and I aren’t married.”
Damn the breathlessness that seizes my lungs. I assumed they were married when I saw the three of them at the funeral and heard Noah call her Mommy. But it doesn’t matter if he’s married or not. He’s taken.
“Just because they’re not married,” Mona says with a smile, “doesn’t mean you aren’t a family, right? Your parents have been together longer than a lot of married couples.”
“I know.” Noah grins, showing a missing tooth. “Mommy doesn’t want Daddy to put a ring on it.”
“And Beyoncé shall teach them the way that they should go.” Mona laughs.
“I didn’t realize you’d started a school,” I say. “That’s amazing, Ezra.”
“Thank you.” He shrugs, a gesture I remember from when we were kids to downplay praise and attention. “Like I said at the funeral, your father convinced me I should when I ran into him.”
“Then it’s only fitting you’d receive an award in his name.” I twist the gold ring on my thumb Daddy gave me years ago. “It sounds incredible, what you’re doing at the school.”
“We’re on summer break.” Ezra hesitates, his glance fixed at some point on the floor, and then lifted to look me directly in the eye. “But you should come by sometime when you’re in town. How long are you here?”
The question probably only feels loaded to me. Maybe the intensity of his stare, the heat generated by his nearness, is my imagination, but I can’t look up when I answer, staring at my fresh manicure.
“Um, a couple of weeks,” I say. “I’m taking some time between campaigns.”
“We have to hang out,” Mona says. “The Three’s Company crew. Can’t we get together for lunch or something?”
“Oh.” I look up to find Ezra watching me closely, waiting. “Sure. That would be great.”
“You used to love barbecue,” she says. “You gotten all bougie on us, or you still okay with getting a little messy with your food?”
“It’s been too long,” I admit. “I’d love some good barbecue.”
“You’re thinking Tips?” Ezra asks Mona.
“Yeah. It’s this new place near Ponce City Market,” she says. “What do you have going on tomorrow?”
“This guy’s got a play date.” Ezra nods to Noah. “He’s leaving me all day to go to Stone Mountain.”
“Yup,” Noah says, his smile wide. “You guys can keep my dad company.”
“What do you ladies say?” Ezra asks us both, but looks at me. “You wanna keep me company?”
It’s like that moment at the funeral when we could’ve exchanged numbers. It felt like a risk then. With this invisible live wire that seems to connect me to him, it still is.
Before I can reply, my mother walks up to join us.
“Ezra Stern,” she says, a slight smile tugging at her lips. “Lord above, it is you. I hadn’t looked at the final list so you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw you and heard your name.”