He sat down so fast I almost laughed.
Roast chicken. Potatoes. Green beans. Biscuits. Pie.
He said, “You made all this?”
I tied my apron tighter. “You all eat, don’t you?”
Rico blinked. “With biscuits too?”
“Sit down.”
He sat down so fast I almost laughed.
Then came the night it nearly all broke apart.
By the third Sunday, there were rules.
No swearing at my table.
No fighting on my porch.
Shoes off at the door.
And nobody was allowed to say they weren’t hungry if I could hear their stomach from across the room.
Rico pointed at me and said, “That’s something Calvin would say.”
I opened it to find Andre and Jamal carrying Dev between them.
I answered, “Then he learned from the best.”
Then came the night it nearly all broke apart.
There was pounding on my door just after 11.
I opened it to find Andre and Jamal carrying Dev between them. Blood soaked one side of his shirt.
I didn’t waste a second.
