Roman sends her a blank stare. “I’m serious, Danica.”
She shrugs. “What? So am I.”
“You know what? Forget it.” Setting his drink down, he starts to get up.
Her hand shoots out. “Aw, Ro. Come back. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She pulls him back down on the couch next to her. She takes a deep breath, trying to poker her face. She motions her fingers, and he reluctantly hands her the ice pack for her to press against his face. He winces when she applies too much pressure. She grimaces, mouthing asorry.
He exhales slowly, scratching under his chin. “I just feel like, if I had done things differently, Kareena would still be here, and Mom wouldn’t have to keep giving so much of her life for us. I want her to be able to do what she wants and not worry about me and Lucy.”
Danica shudders dramatically. “Don’t say that she-devil’s name.”
Roman scoffs. “She’s the mother of my child.”
Her eyes snap to him. “No. She’s not. She gave up that right when she left.”
She exhales loudly, moving the ice over his eye before dropping it back to his lap.
Danica rubs her forehead. “Look, Ro. This is life. Not a cheesy Hallmark movie, you know? Shit happens. And Mom, she’s fine. Stop worrying about her. She makes her own choices. Her happiness isn’t on you.” She waves her hand between the two of them. “It isn’t onus. So, you know, don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself.”
She gives him a harder slap than necessary on his back before moving to pack her things.
“I will say, though,” she starts, drawing the zipper up on her purse, “sometimes I agree with her about the bar when things like this happen.” She gestures toward his face before moving to shoulder the bag.
He rolls his eyes, sitting up. “This is the first time this has ever happened.”
Her eyes squint at him and she folds her arms over her chest. “Yeah. Why did it happen, Ro? Don’t they have other people to handle drunk patrons?” she asks, raising a brow.
They do, but this one put his hands on Jahlani, and that he couldn’t let slide,he thinks as he shrugs his shoulders, finishing his drink before standing. “Dan, it’s nothing.”
“It’s notnothing, Roman,” she says, raising her hands, before letting them fall to her sides. She blows out a breath, rubbing her forehead. “God, I just wish you would reconsider it, so that you’re not somebody’s punching bag,” she says through gritted teeth.
Roman sets his glass down on the counter. He drops his hands onto Danica’s shoulders before grabbing her left cheek and pinching it.
“Aw, Dan the Man, are you worried?”
She swats his hand away, the crease in her forehead deepening as she steps back.
“I’m serious.”
He lets out a groan, looking to the ceiling. “God, you’re starting to sound like Mom,” he mutters before he looks at her. “Ilikewhat I do.”
“But why a bar? Why there? There are plenty of other jobs. You’re smart, and capable, and I just …” She shakes her head, her eyes wide. “I don’t understand.”
“Why do you have to understand it?” he asks, his gaze hardening. “Why do you and Mom have to pick apart everything that I do?”
“Because, Roman.”
“Becausewhat?”
“Because,” she says, her eyes jumping around the room, “you make really dumb decisions sometimes, and we just worry about you. We just want tohelp.” Her words strike a nerve in his chest, knocking the wind out of him, but he refuses to let her know how much her words hurt him moving toward the fridge to grab a drink and setting it on the counter, his jaw tense. “No, you don’t. You just agree with everything Mom says.”
Danica follows, folding her arms across her chest. “No, I don’t.”
Roman exhales, running both hands down his face. “You know what?” he says, his voice hoarse. “I’m tired. I’ve had a long night, can we just … put a pin in this, please?”
Danica’s arms fall to her sides, and he suddenly sees his little sister again. The one who used to look up to him. Not this new version that looks down on him.
“Sure,” she says, grabbing her keys from the counter. “Love you, Ro.”
