Jahlani is quiet for several moments, mixing the salad.
“Roman is brilliant, Gwen,” she says, slowly. “He has this way with the customers. He’s so expressive and controlled. He’s very personable and works so hard. It’s not easy what he does,but he’s good, and he likes it. He’s happy. Shouldn’t that count for something?”
Gwen sighs heavily. “Happy doesn’t pay the bills, baby.” She pats her arm as if to say,you’re so cute, so young, so naïve.“It doesn’t cover the cost of her health.”
Jahlani lets out a long sigh, scratching her temple because she understands now.
Why Roman is the way he is.
“Gwen, you should be proud of him. You should cheer him on. Support him. What you think matters to him.”
She sets her glass down, her head tilting. “Did he say something to you?”
Jahlani shakes her head. “No, I just … I see how hard he works and how good he is with Lucy. He’s trying. He has a lot on his plate, and I just think you might be being too hard on him,” she says, her voice quiet. “Sorry if that’s overstepping. I’m gonna ... set this on the table.” Jahlani squeezes past her, not waiting for her reaction.
The rest of the night is spent playing an intense game of Catan over milk and cookies. Roman is patient, taking his time to explain the rules, brushing his fingers over her thighs, resting his arm on the back of her chair, and reminding her to drink. It’s well past eleven when they get back to his, and he’s tucked Lucy in.
He shuffles out to the living room, lifting her legs to drop them in his lap as she hits the play button on a show. He peels both her socks off before moving to massage them. She drops the remote across her chest, leaning further into the couch.
“What’s going on?”
“They’re trying to figure out how to kill their sister’s husband.”
He snorts. “That’s sick.”
Jahlani shrugs. “He deserves it. You’ll see.”
Twenty minutes later, Roman is nodding at the screen. “I see.”
She laughs, looking at him.
“What’s that look?” he asks after a beat.
Jahlani sighs, looking toward the ceiling. “Nothing. I’m just happy.”
He turns to her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I like it when you’re happy.”
She sighs, turning back to watch the show. “Me too.”
And as they watch the main characters argue on whether to cut the brakes of the husband’s car, his fingers rubbing soothing circles, Jahlani thinks about how maybe it is possible for things to come in threes.
Lucy.
Roman.
Her growing relationships with everyone.
Despite everything she’s been through with her parents, Micah, her financial dilemmas, and school, she feels something she didn’t foresee happening anytime soon.
She feels hope.
“Okay,” Jahlani says, clapping her hands together in the front of the lecture hall the next day. “We have two more topics and then we’re done.”
A few students whoop from the back. Jahlani laughs, feeling light and airy andgood. Her eyes gloss over Roman who sends her a wink. She averts her attention back to the screen, pulling up the next PowerPoint.
