Lewis pulled his Land Rover into the garage, clicked the remote, and heard the door roll down behind him. His head was buzzing slightly from the six beers he’d consumed at Freddy’s place, but he felt good. His dash clock read 12:53 A.M., so he figured Monica would be long asleep. He was thankful for that; because she hadn’t rung his cell once that night, Lewis knew she was still mad at him.
She’ll sleep it off and be fine in the morning, he thought, grabbing the door handle and preparing to step out of the truck when his phone started ringing.
“Who the hell?” he said, checking the caller ID.
The screen read PRIVATE.
“Hello,” Lewis said after flipping the phone open.
“Lewis,” a strangely familiar woman’s voice said.
“Who is this, and why you calling my phone at one in the morning?”
“We just arrived in Chicago on the red-eye.”
“Who is this?” Lewis said, losing patience.
“I should take offense that you don’t remember me, boy. This here is Salesha.”
Lewis closed his eyes, every muscle in his body tightening.
“You there, Lewis?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Salonica here, too.”
“Hey, Lewis!” he heard the daughter yell into the phone.
“What brings you all to Chicago?” Lewis asked.
“You know I want to see my grandbaby.”
“Salesha, you can’t just be popping up out of thin air, expecting me to drop everything just so you can see Layla.”
“Really? Why not?”
“Because—”
“Because what? We flew all the way up from St. Louis to see our baby, and we gonna see her. You gonna tell me what time is good tomorrow, or should I come knocking on your door tonight?”
“You don’t know where I live, Salesha.”
“You wanna bet I can’t find out?”
“All right,” Lewis said, stepping out of the truck and slamming the door. “Tomorrow. You have to give me your number so I can call you and tell you when.”
“That’s all right. We’ll call you first thing in the morning and get that info then. Have a good night, Lewis.”
“Bye Lewis,” he heard Salonica yell into the phone again.
“Good-bye,” Lewis said.