A half-full bottle was dangling from Naya’s sleeping hand. I grabbed it and set it on the coffee table. “I’d say yes.”
“Cool,” Will said. “Well, if you all will excuse me…”
“Time for another nap?” Mike asked.
“Yeah. The other forty were just for practice,” Sue interjected.
I took a look at my phone. Jack was supposed to come home for dinner—he’d gone to help his mother with something—but it was eight, and I was starting to wonder. He’d seen her more often since our Christmas dinner disaster, and it seemed their relationship was improving. He acted like visiting her was an obligation, but I had the feeling he enjoyed it. I’d hoped he’d write me to tell me how things were going, but when I didn’t see any messages from him, I read a couple of class emails instead.
I zoned out until I heard arguing. I looked back up to find Naya awake and scowling at Mike. “Are you guys OK?” I asked. He was looking down, with a guilty expression.
“We’re fine,” she said, “it’s just that Mr. Why-Don’t-I-Kiss-My-Brother’s-Girlfriend thinks he’s qualified to give me advice aboutmyrelationship.”
“Naya…” I began.
“Don’t get into it, Jenna. He’s an idiot, and he needs to learn to keep his trap shut.”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean what he said,” Will objected.
Mike started rubbing his temples. “Naya, please, don’t bring that upagain. I know it was a mistake, but it’s in the past, and it would be better if it stayed that way.”
A part of me agreed, but I also remembered what Jack and I had discussed. No more lies, no more secrets. It was a question of respect. At the same time, I had to think about my own sanity and the sanity of everyone in the apartment. Was this really the time for Jack to have another one of his breakdowns, when all of us were already so on edge?
As I asked myself this, I crossed eyes with Mike, who threw up his arms and shouted, “What do you think, Jenna? Do you want my brother to know? Because, fuck it, if you do, I’ll tell him.”
“Mike, for God’s sake, don’t curse in front of the girl,” Will said.
Sue, who had remained silent up till then, observed, “I really doubt that’s a good idea. Mike clearly regrets what he did. I think that’s enough. All of us make mistakes.”
“A mistake is doing it once,” Naya responded. “This is the third strike for Mike. There’s seven of us in this apartment now, that’s way too many, especially if one of us is going to criticize other people’s relationships and constantly try to undermine Ross, who’s done so much for us. If he confesses to Ross and they make up, fine, but otherwise, he can go. I’m not going to sit here and cover up for him anymore, and I’m not going to keep listening to his bullshit.”
Sue and Naya scowled at each other, then looked at Mike and me.
“Icantell him,” Mike said. “I’m not scared, if that’s what you guys think.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I told him, “Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”
A few minutes later—following a stressful silence—Jack opened the front door, walked in whistling, and stopped as he noticed how awkward the situation was. “Is something up?” he asked.
“Come here, honey,” Naya said to her daughter, picking her up andwalking to the bedroom. “The adults have something they need to talk about.”
Jack looked confused. “We do?”
Will was as nervous as I was. Mike was even worse. He was opening and closing his fists, and a thin film of sweat had appeared on his brow. Sue’s lips were pursed as she observed the scene.
“OK, seriously,” Jack announced. “I’m going to need you guys to tell me what the hell’s going on now.”
“Something happened,” Mike admitted. “And it’s past time I told the truth. I kissed Jenna.”
I wished he hadn’t just come out with it like that. He could have prepped Jack, made an excuse, something. I felt like a soldier on a battlefield waiting for a grenade to land and explode. For a few seconds, Jack stood there staring, and I even began to wonder if maybe he didn’t care. But then a shadow fell over his face. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“I’m not,” Mike said. “It was the night Naya gave birth. I tried to kiss her, she pulled away from me. That’s it. End of story.”
Did he hope just blurting it out would make it seem like less of a big deal—one of those things that just happens, like bad weather or a burst pipe? I don’t know, but it didn’t work. The tension grew in Jack’s body as he turned from his brother to me. There were too many emotions in his face for me to grasp what he was really feeling. “You didn’t tell me,” he said quietly.
“I’m sorry,” I responded.
“You said we’d tell each other everything. And as for you, Mike… You’re a miserable piece of shit.”
