(Angel)

I Have My First Fight

with Marcus

heading home from

the Bean Scene

full on mochas

and conversation

about his moms.

“They’re pretty great,” I tell him.

He smiles.

          “I know—they liked you, too—

          even if you told them

          the wrong dilemma.”

“Huh?”

          “I thought you were going to ask

          them about the ethics of a

          friendship with a client.”

“It’s not about me—

it’s what I should do

about Brendan breaking

the window!”

        “The window thing is

        Brendan’s,” he agrees.

        “But you said yourself

        you’d have a hard time

        explaining your friendship

        to Dr. Martina,

        because he came to Willows

        as a potential client.”

His words poke

at me and, Girl,

I stop walking.

        “You’re keeping something

        from your boss because you think

        it might show you did wrong.

        Baby, that’s an ethical dilemma

        right there.”

“You sayin’ I’m wrong

to be friends with

a kid who needs one?”

I stare him right

in his cocoa eyes.

        “Easy there!”

        He takes a step back.

        “No judgment, it was just

        an observation!”

The hell?!!

Sounded

pretty judgmental

to me.

I look away, try not to notice how his

biceps bulge when he crosses his arms.

I’m ready to

tell him

he sounds like a

self-righteous asshole

when he

          says soft, “I’m not even saying

          it’s for sure wrong—I’m just

          saying maybe you should give

          Dr. Martina a chance

          to weigh in on it.”