“Probably not. I didn’t want to disturb her.”
“Interesting … well it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m her sister Carla. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Nice to finally meet you too, Carla.”
“Is that your driver over there sitting in the car?”
“Yes.”
“Tito, right?”
“How’d you know?”
“Ursula talks about him too. Ursula tells useverything. We’re super close.”
That was definitely some sort of warning.
“Tell him if he stays there too long that someone might call the cops on him. They don’t like strange men sitting in cars on this block. Especially quiet men.”
Carla sits her bags down on the ground and stretches out her back.
“I’m going to sit for a minute,” she says.
So, I sit too.
“When’s the baby due?”
“I’ve got about another three months. Why? Do I look like I’m about to drop?” She looks down at her belly. “Dexter keeps telling me to lay off the cookies.”
“Dexter needs to mind his own business. You look great.”
“Thanks, but this baby is kind of Dexter’s business. He’s the daddy.”
“Still.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.Still, he should be nicer.”
“Do you know what you’re having?”
“Hopefully a sane human being.”
I laugh at her joke. I’m starting to see where Owens gets her quick wit. Her sisters both have it too.
“Actually, I do know the sex of the baby, but I told my sisters that I didn’t. I’m having a boy. I hope you can keep a secret.”
“Congratulations, and yes I can keep a secret.”
“Good. So now that we’re getting to know each other a little better, I feel comfortable talking to you about something. About Ursula.”
“Okay.”
I glance up at Owens’s window at the mention of her name. I’ve been lurking around her lately trying to get up the nerve to finally finish the conversation that she started. In the office, at the new school, at practice—but I just haven’t been able to find the words yet.
I had Tito drive me by the apartment tonight so that I could talk to her privately, but I ended up just taking a screwdriver out of the glove compartment and fixing a short in the light outside. I never rang the buzzer.
“I mean it’s not just a coincidence that you’re creeping around her apartment fixing stuff, is it?”
“This is not what it looks like.”
