Chapter 18
The next morning, I wake to a massive dose of sunshine when Lana comes into my room and opens the blinds. It must be long past seven o’clock for it to be that bright.
“I overslept,” I say, barely coherent. “I’ll be late for school.”
“No school—it’s Sunday.”
“Oh yeah,” I say, trying to get my bearings. Nothing like being startled awake to confuse the hell out of me. “Then why are you up so early?”
“I have to take my friend’s surveillance shift again this morning. But I promised myself I would stop sneaking out of the house before you wake up.”
Last night was my first good sleep in a while so at first, I have no idea what she’s talking about. Then I remember The Talk last night, and how we haven’t said a word to each other since. When I finally came home from MJ’s house, Lana was in her office. I went straight to my room and closed the door, expecting sleep to take forever to come, but I barely remember my head hitting the pillow.
“Chanti, I know you must be really angry with me right now—I’m kind of angry at myself. But even after what I’ve told you, especially because of what I’ve told you, we have to stick by the agreement.”
She’s talking about the agreement we made about the same time my hormones started to kick in and we had our first real argument. She left for work angry at me and I was at home cursing her when her partner came to the house to tell me Lana had been in a traffic accident during a pursuit. He said we didn’t have much time; I had to get to the hospital right away. It turned out okay and we did get more time. After that, we made a pact that no matter how angry we were, we couldn’t part without promising that it would eventually be okay between us.
“Is it okay for me to leave?”
“Yeah, go.” It’s Lana/Chanti speak for I love you, which we both have a hard time saying. It’s even harder this morning when I feel like Lana has sort of betrayed me.
“I should be home before dinner.”
“Mom?” I call to her before she goes down the hall.
“Yes?”
“He should know about me.”
She stands in the doorway and looks at me for a second, but leaves without saying whether she agrees or not.
I must have gone back to sleep after Lana left because it’s close to ten o’clock and I never sleep that late. You’d think with all the crazy stuff going on with me right now, I’d be an insomniac. Maybe finding out my father didn’t reject me unloaded a weight I didn’t even know I was carrying.
After a quick shower and a bowl of cereal, I head down to the bodega to share with MJ some ideas I have about dealing with Lux. I’m feeling confident until I see Lux coming out of MJ’s house carrying the box. The cold November morning apparently hasn’t woken me up fully because I don’t turn around and head back to my house before I’m spotted. That would have made more sense. Instead, I stand at the bottom of MJ’s porch steps, foolishly thinking I’m going to get some kind of explanation of why Lux is coming out of the house when neither MJ or Big Mama are home. I know for a fact MJ is at work and Big Mama is still on one of her church missions. He looks at me but doesn’t say a word.
“Hey, you left the door open,” I say.
“So close it,” he says as he walks down the stairs. The day of the fire, I noticed he had an odd gait as he walked down away from the crowd. Now I see that he has a limp, and favors his right side.
I follow him to his car. It looks new. Not to mention it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him with one.
“Do you own a real coat? Because if you plan on staying in town, you ought to know we’ve got another four or five months of winter coming, no matter what the calendar says. This isn’t California, and that hoodie won’t cut it for a Colorado December.”
“You don’t need to know my itinerary.”
“Just trying to be neighborly. Hey, I didn’t think MJ and her grandmother were home.”
“You win a prize,” Lux says, putting the box in the trunk.
“What I mean is how did you get inside if no one is home? And why are you taking stuff out of their house?”
“Didn’t MJ tell you I’m her man?”
“That’s what she claims, but it still doesn’t explain how you got inside. Big Mama keeps the house locked all the time.”
“MJ gave me a key.”
Considering MJ was threatening to kill him last night for breaking into her house, I’m pretty sure he’s lying.
“I think . . .” I begin, trying to think of a way to suggest he’s lying in a way that won’t get me killed, but Lux interrupts me.
“I know about you, Chanti, and what I think is you need to stay out of other people’s business,” Lux says as he opens his car door. “Unless you want to get hurt.”
Yeah, those are the right words. I shut up quick and apologize for bothering him. Before he drives off, I manage to get his photo using my phone, and another of his license plates. Well, not his car because it’s a rental—there’s a sticker on the bumper. I close the front door to MJ’s house and then head for the bodega, where I find Eddie at the counter talking to a customer about her sore feet.
“Sorry to interrupt, Eddie, but I’m looking for MJ. It’s really important. Is she in back?”
Eddie apologizes to the customer for my rudeness, then says, “MJ took the day off. She called me last night and asked if I’d take her shift this morning.”
“She hasn’t been in at all?”
“No, I haven’t seen her since yesterday.”
The customer figures out she’s on her own and goes off down the center aisle in search of bunion pads.
“Really? Did she say why she couldn’t come in?”
“No, and she also wouldn’t tell me why she called off our date last night.”
Well, that was probably because I was there most of the evening, followed by Lux at eight o’clock. She was too busy last night to fit in a date with Eddie.
“Probably stressing over her GED exams.”
“I’m pretty sure keeping a date with me would have provided her some stress relief.”
Eww. TMI.
“I was supposed to come by around nine after I closed the store, but she called a few minutes before that saying I couldn’t come over, and that she wouldn’t make it into work this morning, either. I’m starting to think something’s up.”
So am I. Oh snap. What if Lux checked the box last night and could tell someone—like me—had looked through it? I can’t imagine that’s it because I was so careful not to leave any clues, but now my first thought is whether MJ is okay.
“I gotta go Eddie. If you hear from MJ, tell her to call me right away.”
“What’s going on, Chanti? Should I be worried?”
I lie and tell him no, but I’m beyond worried.