“I was just checking on you,” I say, twisting my still damp hair around my finger. The ends brush my collarbone, cold against my warm skin.
Yuh see you, my inner voice says, teasing.
He chuckles. “Mi soon link yuh, man. Still out here.”
“Okay,” I murmur, settling into the pillows. The sheets are cool against my thighs, but my skin’s still warm from the shower.
“Wah yuh eat since mi lef?” he asks. He always asks that. Always checking, always looking after me in his quiet way.
“I ate what I cooked earlier and some fruits.”
“So yuh nuh hungry?” he asks.
“Not really. Maybe soon,” I say, and then I ask, “What about you?”
“Mi nuh really eat nothing yet… Just a salmon burger when mi just lef.”
I glance at the time. It’s past eleven. “Nickoi… look at the time. Yuh affi hungry now.”
He mumbles something I can’t hear, and I turn over, lying on my stomach. My thighs shift against each other. The heat in me spreads slowly, uninvited.
“Mi a go get summn soon,” he says, then quieter, “A you me nuh want a’ eat bad.”
Cause you a carry likkle Zara or Nickoi…
My lips curve into a smile, but my body tightens. It’s the way he says it, low and knowing. Like he already feels how much I want him here.
“Okay, baby… hurry up and come home,” I whisper.
He chuckles again. “Alright, mami.”
He hangs up, and I stare at the phone for a second too long before placing it beside me on the bed. The room feels still now. Empty. Like it’s waiting with me. I pull the blanket up to my chest. The air is cool but my skin hums with leftover heat from him, even through a phone call.
I want to talk to Mommy about graduation. It’s right around the corner, and everything feels so close now. I want to make sure I’m prepared, make sure I’m doing it right. But the clock is ticking toward midnight, and I know she and Mama are probably wrapped up in sleep by now, their phones tucked far from their ears. So I don’t call.
I miss Nickoi. I hate falling asleep without him next to me, it’s like the silence presses harder when he’s not here. I fight the drowsiness until it pulls me under.
But I don’t stay asleep. The phone rings again. I jolt up, blinking against the light from the screen. I press the phone to my ear and say nothing, waiting for whoever’s on the other end to speak first. A voice cuts through the quiet, but it’s altered, robotic, like it’s been run through some broken machine.
“Hello… goodnight. Trying to reach Zara,” it says. Something’s off.
I swallow hard. “Goodnight. Who is this?” I ask, forcing my voice steady.
“Mr. Duncan,” the voice replies, but the distortion warps the name beyond recognition.
Kiss mi teeth.It sounds fake. Forced.
“Zara isn’t here right now,” I say carefully. “This is her sister. Do you have a message for her, Mr. Duncan?”
The voice stammers, confused. “U-umm, who am I speaking with?”
Didn’t I just say? “Sarah. Her sister.”
This name a fi everything.
A pause. Faint murmurs in the background like someone is whispering instructions. This is exactly how I sound when I run out of words and want Gavin to tell me what to say.
“Oh…” The voice trails off, uncertain. I grip the phone tighter. This call isn’t just a call.
