Zara launches. Simone listens like a journalist, which is to say she listens like it's the only thing in the room, and Zara laughs halfway through and says, "Don't write this down," and Simone says, "I'm not writing anything down, Zara," and Sage yells from the counter, "She's writing it down, Zara."
Plantains arrive.
The thing with the plantains is griot-style pork and slow-cooked red beans and coconut rice and fried sweet plantains on the side, and Sage has been working on the recipe for three months because her new best friend is a French-Haitian chef named Margot who moved into the building next door to open a restaurant, and I'm told Margot has opinions about how Sage's version compares to the real thing.
"Margot says my pork is underseasoned."
"Margot is wrong."
"Margot is not wrong, Venus."
"Margot is a mean chef."
"Margot is not mean. Margot is French. There's a difference."
Zara, deadpan, "Margot is both."
Nadia, snorting, "Margot is both."
Laughter around the table.
Simone's hand finds my thigh under the table.
She squeezes.
I put my hand over hers.
Marcus shows up at noon.
We're still at the table. Sage has joined us. Luna has migrated over with her notebook. Ayanna Bishop drifts in on her way somewhere else and gets pulled in for a coffee and stays for an hour. Darius calls Ayanna twice while she's sitting with us and she does not pick up and finally he walks in the door to collect her and has to eat a plantain standing up to make it worth the trip.
It's not a breakfast anymore.
It's a holding pattern.
Marcus has a bag over his shoulder and a couple days of travel on his face.
Simone sees him first and she's up out of the booth and across the café before he can set the bag down. He catches her. Picks her up. Spins her once because he's ridiculous. Sets her down.
Then he looks at me over the top of her head.
"Mercer."
"Brother."
He lets her go. Crosses. Grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me into the one-armed thing. Holds it a second longer than usual.
"You're doing alright."
"I'm doing alright."
"She's doing alright."
"Go ask her yourself."
"I'm asking you."
"She's doing alright, Marcus."
