Two thousand, actually.
“That’s nasty, man,” Tyrell said with a hoot. “Talk about a shriveled dick. That bitch be looking like a California raisin.”
I did not care for Tyrell speaking about my hypothetical genitals in such a derogatory manner.
You grinned and quoted one of your favorite movies, “Older the berry, sweeter the juice.”
Tyrell shook his head and completed the line, “It’s blacker the berry.”
Bruno raised his eyebrows. Despite the language barrier, he picked up on the context. It seemed he required more information before making a judgment. “This man… is he a man?”
“Kind of, but he doesn’t have a body right now, so he has to borrow them.”
“More like steal them,” Tyrell said, then ducked his head and glanced guiltily over his shoulder.
“That was an extreme situation. He’s actually very considerate about it.”
“This man—orixá—he uses human bodies?” Bruno asked.
“Every now and then. But mostly he just talks to me in spirit form. Showing up like he did today is pretty rare.” You smiled with a private pleasure I believed was only for me.
Bruno pondered it for a moment. “He could take any one of our bodies?”
“He did it to me before,” Tyrell said. He then relayed the incident pertaining to Derek, getting some of the details wrong, but I didn’t attempt to correct him. “And when I woke up, I was sitting at a McDonald’s, and I had no idea what happened.”
Tyrell forgot to mention I’d also fed him a cheeseburger and fries.
“Like I said,” you interjected because Bruno’s eyes were pie wide. “That was an extreme situation.”
“How long have you known thisorixá?” Bruno asked.
“I was six when I first saw him.” You glanced around. “On a playground like this.”
They both stared at you. Tyrell was first to ask, “How did you meet him?”
“I don’t remember, but one day he was just… there. We hung out, like, every day that summer. His favorite movie wasE.T.and mine wasGremlins.” You smiled again. It delighted me to know you looked back fondly on our beginnings.
“Some shit was going on in my house,” you continued. “I told Henri about it, and he handled it. Then he went away for a while. But he came back when I was sixteen. I called for him because…” You glanced over at Tyrell. “Because of that shit with Derek.”
Tyrell held up his hands in a defensive posture. “I sell weed these days. That’s it.”
Bruno was no doubt trying to figure out your peculiar friendship with Tyrell and how I fit. What would he tell his family about his new friends in Miami?
“He’s listening now,” you said quietly.
Tyrell jumped out of his seat and started rocking on the balls of his feet as though he were about to box me.
“Henri doesn’t go looking for trouble,” you said in an attempt to calm him. “It’s only when he thinks I’m in danger.”
“He’s here?” Bruno repeated and straightened up a bit. He ran a hand through his thick hair, grooming himself. “Well, what does he think of me?”
“Henri?” you asked with a mischievous grin. I’d been silent up until then. I could have remained that way, but I had a request to make of Bruno.
“Bruno has a nice smile,” I said.
You scowled. “You think he’s sexy?”
I chuckled. Such a jealous boy.
