Nazeera bites her lip to kill a smile, but the suppressed laughter in her eyes wipes out the last of my patience.
“All right, you know what?” I say, standing up. “Get the hell out of my house—”
I look up at a sudden blast of sound, reeling as Warner charges angrily through the open front door, then nearly trips over the groceries left by the entry. He looks up at me automatically, likeIhad something to do with this mess, and I can tell he’s about say something when Kenji storms in after him.
“Why won’t you just admit it?” he shouts at Warner. “That was my lemon tree! You cut down my lemon tree!”
The subject change is like a shock of cold water.
I’m grateful for it.
Warner pivots to face him, narrowing his eyes. “I didn’t cut it down. You never took care of it—”
“You had no right to touch my tree—”
“I had the right when it died and fell over onto my property,” Warner is saying. “Yet you have the audacity to yell at me when in fact I did you a favor, removing it for you without even asking you to help—”
“I didn’t want you to remove it! I loved that tree!”
In a distinctly un-Warner move, he finally raises his voice, nearly shouting when he says, “Then why was I the only one who ever watered it?”
Kenji’s mouth gapes open a moment, then closes. Then opens again. “Wait, what? What are you talking about?”
Warner exhales slowly, looking like he might be working his way through an aneurysm.
“Kenji,” he says slowly, like he’s talking to a full-time idiot. “Did you think the tree was growing magically, all by itself?”
Kenji hesitates, like he knows he’s about to give the wrong answer, and gives it anyway. “I mean, it’s a tree,” he says. “Trees just grow. Like, on the planet. People don’t need to go around watering them.”
“Bro,” I say, making a face. “Come on.”
“What?” His eyes widen. “I’ve had that tree for years. It was getting sicker over the past few months, but I thoughtthe rain would help, and Winston said—”
“I’ve been trying to explain to you,” Warner says, “that it was getting sicker because Istoppedwatering it. The heavy winds from the storm knocked it over, and I—” He takes a step forward and his boot catches on a bag of groceries. “And why was this door wide open?Who left all these groceries here? Is that broken glass?” Then, looking beyond my head: “Why is the kitchen such a mess?”
“Oh, shit,” Nazeera whispers. “I think we’re about to get grounded.”
“You know what, never mind,” says Kenji, who’s now looking nervously between Nazeera and Warner. “Maybe I should go.”
“Don’t you dare—”
A shrill ring echoes through the room, and everyone swivels toward the sound. Nazeera glances at her pager before lifting it in the air. “Juliette is awake.”
“Thank God,” says Kenji, toeing off his shoes before heading hastily for the stairs.
“Hey.” Warner goes after him. “That’smywife—”
Kenji turns back, his eyes widening in surprise. “What? Really? When did you get married?”
Warner shoves past him with a glare, his voice muffling as he heads up the stairwell. “I’m going to tell her what you did—”
“Me?” he says, staring at Warner’s back in outrage. “You’re the one who killed my tree!”
“Man, I miss this so much when I’m gone,” Nazeerasays, propping her chin up in one hand. Her eyes linger on Kenji as he stomps up the stairs.
I look at her, watch her take a breath.
Her eyes grow heavy with a longing I recognize too well, and she forces a smile before getting to her feet.
