Page 575 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

Hoodie under my jacket.

Sweatpants yanked over tiny spandex shorts. UGGs I shoved on in the dark.

One brown.

One black.

I close my eyes, ‘cause… Perfect.

Nothing says stable emotional support system for a mother’s liver transplant like a drunk tagging along in mismatched UGGs.

I glance out the window and back toward the house. The street is criminally dark and quiet, the five-in-the-morning freeze sticking to the glass.

Inside, Andrew’s house wakes up one window at a time.

A hallway light.

The kitchen light.

A bedroom light.

Then Paola’s scream splits the house open from inside, happy and crying, the warmth of it hitting me right in the chest.

Four minutes later,

the front door swings open.

The three of them pile out, Maria—bundled inside a mountain of sweats and winter coats—glued to Andrew’s side as he helps her down the porch steps.

Paola follows, clutching a rosary and crying-laughing, her hands in the air as she prays and talks a mile a minute.

Maria’s rambling rapid-fire Italian as she digs into her pockets, pulling out a breakfast bar, and Andrew snatches it right out of her fingers.

“Ma, che cazzo…

“I told you. No food,” he snaps.

When she groans,

he looks at her like⁠—

you-gotta-be-kiddin’-me.

“They’re about to cut you open, and you’re tryin’ to sneak a fuckin’ breakfast bar?”

Paola spots the Mercedes waiting on the curb first. Sees me sitting inside of it next.

“Allison!” she shrieks, yanking the back door open to sit behind the driver’s seat. I barely have time to turn before she’s leaning between the front seats, both hands grabbing my face, kissing my forehead. Then my cheek. Then the other one. “Lemme look at you, sweetheart,” she says, grabbing my chin. “Pale, drunk, sad. Just like the last time I saw you.”

My jaw falls open,

a half-laugh slipping out.

“Damn. Good to see you too.”

“Glad you’re here.” She pats my cheek, eyes lit up. “Andrew needs you. We all do.”

The cold air rushes in when Andrew opens the back door behind me, the car filling with the scent of Vicks and old perfume as he helps Maria into the backseat.