Roman sits up to look at her. “And that upset you?”
She purses her lips, tilting her head. “I’m not upset about the ticket itself. It’s more about what it represents.”
“Which is?”
She shrugs, looking down at her feet. “His new life. His new family. He doesn’tactuallywant me there,” she says, shaking her head. “It was Helen’s idea to invite me.” She looks back at his clear, very bright, veryseeing, moss-colored eyes.
He frowns. “And that’s what’s upsetting you?”
She turns her entire body to face him, nodding. “I just wish he’d thought of me for once. I get it, I’m not a kid anymore, but it hurts being an afterthought or not even being a thought at all to the one person that evolution had determined is supposedto care about me the most,” she says, quietly. “It’s kind of heartbreaking.”
Roman doesn’t say anything for a while, but he looks at her as if he’s unlocked some secret window into her soul.
And a part of her likes to think that he has.
His jaw works, and he opens his mouth as if he’s about to say something but then he stops himself. Instead, he drapes his arm around her, pulling her so that her cheek is pressed to his chest.
“Your dad is an idiot,” he says, his voice raspy and quiet. “And I’m sorry he ever made you feel like this.”
“Yeah,” she says through a watery chuckle. “But that seems to be the pattern with the men in my life.”
And at this confession, he’s pushing her up to look at him, his eyes hard as he wraps his hand around her jaw, his thumb swiping across her cheek. “Not with me, Jahlani. Never with me.”
She nods, her lips trembling as he draws her back into his chest. The monitor crackles to life and she swipes sweaty palms against her jeans as she stands up. He does the same, so that they’re face to face.
“I should head out,” she says, unable to meet his eyes.
“Yeah, thanks again.”
She sends him a small wave, turning to walk to her car when he calls her name. His arms grip the railing of the front porch. The wind whips against his hair, flushing his cheeks.
“I won’t be in class this week.”
She smiles, trying to hide the fact that her stomach dropped at the prospect of not seeing him after tonight.
She nods. “Okay.”
His eyes narrow slightly as he nods, before releasing the railing to step back. “Have a good Thanksgiving, Jahlani.”
“You too, Roman.”
Jahlani spends her days prepping next to her mom. She crushes, slices, and mixes dutifully before helping her separate items into Ziploc bags to marinate in the fridge.
She watches her grate cheese over the baked macaroni while she works on dicing onions. Thinking about her conversation with her dad, she clears her throat.
“Dad asked me to visit him for Thanksgiving,” Jahlani says, cautiously, watching her mom from the corner of her eye. She sees her shoulders tense, but she continues working on the cheese.
“Oh, yeah?”
“I told him no,” Jahlani says, looking up at her. “He’s never asked me before. I don’t understand why he did it now.”
Her mom meets her eyes. “You can go if you want, Jahlani. It won’t bother me,” she says, wiping her hands off and moving to grab the cheese sauce. “I’m used to going alone to your grandmother’s.”
Her chest pinches at her words and she sets her knife down. She sighs, walking closer to her mom.
“Mom, why did you and Dad separate?”
Her mom’s eyes flash with something before she slips her mask back on. She lets out a chuckle that sounds forced, moving away from her.
