I laughed through the tears. Saroya laughed. Honor shook her head but smiled.
And just like that, the weight lifted.
Not gone.
Just… lighter.
Because I wasn’t alone.
I had them.
And for now, that was enough.
Chapter 11
AMAI
Ipulled away from Delphine’s house and watched Truth disappear through the screen door in my rearview mirror.
The Seventh Ward was a place where people laughed loud, loved hard, and survived on gumbo and stubbornness.
I didn’t belong here.
But I’d stood in Delphine’s yard eating crawfish and code-switching like my life depended on it, and for those few minutes, I’d felt something I hadn’t felt in years.
Normal.
I turned onto St. Claude Avenue and merged into traffic.
The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple that made the city look almost beautiful. Almost forgiving.
I wasn’t forgiven.
And I sure as hell wasn’t normal.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried to focus on the road.
Tried not to think about the way Truth had looked at me when I dropped her off—tired, grateful, soft in a way that made me want to protect her with my very life if I had to.
Tried not to think about the fact that I’d spent the last thirteen days fucking Alexis like I was trying to prove something to myself.
She’s just the surrogate. You hired her. This is business.
I repeated it in my head like a mantra.
Like if I said it enough times, it would become true.
But the guilt sat heavy in my gut, thick and sour, refusing to be rationalized away.
Thirteen days.
Sometimes twice a day.
Alexis in her bed with the white sheets and expensive candles. Alexis bent over her kitchen counter. Alexis in my house that one time when I knew no one would be there, her legs wrapped around my waist, her nails digging into my back.
It had been good.
Raw. Primal. Uncomplicated.
