I shoot my arm into the air, my middle finger raised. It’s not like I can make things any worse at this point.
Freddie reaches deep into his pocket and hands me a paper lunch bag that’s been flattened and folded several times with a blue ribbon tied around it. “Open it at home,” he tells me, and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “Merry Christmas, Ramona Blue.”
“Merry Christmas, Freddie Floaties.”
The whole way home I sit with his present in my lap.
In the front seat, Tyler and Hattie bicker back and forth,but tonight I am tuning them out.
At home, Tyler and Hattie both go to Hattie’s room, which is a surprise, but I guess right now Tyler is in better graces with my sister than I am.
I untie the electric-blue ribbon and lay it flat on my bed to put in my chocolate box. Inside the brown bag is a leather cord bracelet with a light-blue evil eye in the middle. Attached to the cord is a tag from Hex, the store we visited in New Orleans. The tag readsLIGHT-BLUE EVIL EYE. Meaning: communication and willpower.
I slip it onto my wrist and hold my hand to my chest. I didn’t get Freddie anything. We don’t really do Christmas presents at home, so it didn’t occur to me. Getting him a present now would be too obvious.
But I’m going to make it up to him. I will make it up to him when he least expects it.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Saul swings his door open and shouts, “Happy New Year!”
“Could you ask them to leave their shoes outside the door?” asks a voice from inside his apartment.
Saul rolls his eyes, but can’t stop himself from grinning. “You heard him.” He’s trimmed his facial hair and has traded his porn-star chic uniform of cutoff jorts and a tank top for fitted charcoal pants and a soft blue button-down shirt. He almost looks... like an adult. A hot adult with a job that doesn’t involve a margarita machine.
Freddie, Hattie, Tyler, Adam, and I all kick our shoes off and leave them on the mat to the side of the door, where Ruth’s sneakers already sit. As we file inside, Saul hands us New Year’s hats—feathered headbands for Hattie and me and plastic top hats for Freddie, Adam, and Tyler.
Saul reaches into the kitchen and yanks a short Latino boy with caramel eyes and a buzz cut away from the sink by his wrist. “Y’all, this is Reggie.”
Reggie nods at us once. “Rogelio, but I go by Reggie.”He has a faint accent and rolls hisRwhen he says Rogelio. He shakes each of our hands. His fingers are callused like my dad’s, and he wears khaki pants and a black polo shirt. The two of them standing together look like a pair of gay dads.
“Reggie,” Saul says, “this is... y’all. Though I’ve never met you.” He points a finger in Adam’s direction.
Ruth steps out from the hallway with a feathered headband gathered in her fist. “Saul, this is Adam. The guy I was telling you about with the two moms. Be nice. Adam, this is my brother. If he makes you uncomfortable, he’s doing it on purpose.”
Saul winks at Adam.
“The guy with the two moms?” Adam asks. “Is that all I am to you now? No wonder I didn’t tell you sooner.”
Ruthie rolls her eyes but laughs, and I think I can feel a bond forming between them.
“I’ve heard a lot about each of you,” says Reggie.
Saul laughs. “And none of it was good.”
Hattie shoves him.
Reggie and Saul are the perfects hosts. They’ve set out plates of finger foods and cookies with little paper appetizer plates that sayHappy New Yearin gold. It’s almost easy to ignore Ruth scowling in the corner.
Saul has everyone gathered around their brand-new TV as he links it to the internet and shows videos of one of his former classmates, who has not so secretly posted videos of himself doing covers of pop songs.
“Isn’t this the guy who tried out forAmerica’s Next Superstar?” asks Adam.
“Oh yeah,” says Ruth. “They put him through to Hollywood.”
“As a joke,” Saul adds. “I would honestly feel bad if the guy weren’t such a jerk.”
Ruth clicks her tongue. “No, you wouldn’t.”
