Luke held up a finger asking for another minute.
He touched Naira’s chin. “I hope you decide to come. I can show you everything.”
She managed to sneak a quick peek at me and Sekou, both of us staring open-mouthed at her public display of affection with her parents and my grandmother in plain view. Luke kissed her lightly on the lips and my jaw dropped. I think I actually saw Naira melt. Okay, meeting a new dude was one thing, but when had they gotten so serious?
Luke finally made it to the Camaro before his sister up and left his ass. Luke twisted in his seat, glancing back at Naira as they drove off. She stared after that car, not moving until the red deathtrap NASCAR’d away. It was only after the roar of the revving engine faded that Naira finally snapped out of it and remembered the rest of us. Her shoulders sagged, as if the last thing she wanted to be doing was getting back on the bus with us.Ouch.
I opened my mouth, about to unload the boatload of questions that I had bottled up, but she held up a hand.
“Can we talk later?” she said. The space between us cooled in the sweltering heat.
“I didn’t even say anything,” I said, following her up the steps of the bus while Sekou brought up the rear.
“But it’s coming,” she said stiffly, looking for an empty seat and plopping in next to Peter Brooks, whose family ran the Bait and Tackle shop on the Isle. “I just want to cherish this moment for a little while longer, please. Then we can talk.”
“My bad,” Sekou said, bumping into my back when I’d stopped short, shocked at Naira’s from-nowhere attitude. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she was mad at me, as if I were the one who made Luke go home.
I huffed.Excuse me for intrudingwas what I really wanted to say.
I nodded nice and dainty, while confused as hell about what was going on and how I’d become the bad guy. I hadn’t even done anything yet. I kept my mouth shut, trying extra hard to keep it classy and be the mature one for a change.
And you know whatthatwas called?
Growth.
CHAPTER FOUR
On our way back to Golden Isle, we passed Mr. Gilbert in his fishing boat, delivering his latest catch to sell to one of the restaurants. I waved to the old man, who had so often brought me and Nana Ama a bushel of crab or shrimp or oysters from his hauls. Fishing, shrimping, and growing peaches had been the main sources of livelihood since the Kin had lived on the Isle.
Later that night, a chorus of whoops and hollers rang out as a newly sprung Cal High graduate jumped from the deck of his catamaran into the water with asplish. We had all tied our boats together in a network of ropes and moored them to the docks. Parties on the water were something of an Isle tradition, and our graduating class had spent countless nights hanging out beneath the stars. Sometimes the boats would drift out farther, away from the inlet and into the Atlantic, but tonight we decided to stay close to the shore. That way, if some of us got too drunk, we wouldn’t be too many clicks in to get them on land.
From where I stretched out in Sekou’s sailboat, I watched as another islander, Davis, dove into the dark water. I swayed withSekou’s boat, feeling pretty nice on the Peach Lightning moonshine that was our island’s specialty. It was so good that even the mainlanders loved to come and have a glass or three of it. Had to take it slow, though, because that ’shine could sneak up on a person real quick and lay them out completely for two days.
“How long before Ada tells me to dock so she can go home?” Sekou asked.
I wasn’t about to pay him any dust. I was relaxed and enjoying the night and everyone else having fun. I stifled a yawn, not willing to admit that I was a little tired and wouldn’t have minded going home to bed. It was that moonshine. But I wasn’t going to let Sekou Thompson, the eternal partier and playboy, have the satisfaction.
I turned to Naira, showing my saddest, most pitiful eyes. Since the bus, she’d mellowed out some and I wanted to keep it that way. This “being mature” took some getting used to. “Tell your friend to shut up.”
Naira offered a patient smile from her corner of the boat, where she’d been hunched over her phone all night. I was reassured we were good, even if she seemed distracted since we’d gotten back. I hadn’t mentioned Luke since we boarded the bus, listening to Sekou for a change. Growth, right?
I waited her out, hoping she’d be first to break and let us in on her love life. My growth was diminishing by the hour, though. There was only so much a person could take.
Naira said, “You’ve been sneaking home early for years already. Live a little.”
My eyes narrowed. Traitor.
The boat rocked when Sekou heaved himself off it and into the water with a tribal yell.
“Try to look like you don’t totally hate being here, please?” Naira slid her phone into her back pocket, stretching and wiggling her fingers at me and ignoring my groans.
“My bad.” I bowed and remembered to smile hard enough to make my dimples appear.
“Maris stopped by the store the other day,” Naira said nonchalantly. “I think she’s hoping you’ll hang out on the Fourth.”
I forced myself to remain calm so Naira wouldn’t notice how much I didn’t want to discuss Maris tonight.
“She shouldn’t have done that.” I gritted my teeth. “Considering she’s the one who ended things. She should be more focused on getting ready for that research trip with her college.”
