Page 30 of Standing In The Sun
Like someone had sent him there.
It was like someone had sent him there…like his father had sent him there.
Lunar closed his eyes, the sounds of Pimp and Aku’s playful bickering fading into the background.
He’d never met Big Lunar.
But damn did he miss him.
eight
Lunar saton the edge of his bed his mind everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Kamari was tucked against him. his little breaths were steady and his body warm and relaxed. Having him close to him felt good, like it was what it was supposed to be. Kamari had been giving everyone a run for their money but he’d taken a strong liking to Lunar. It was a quiet comfort Lunar hadn’t realized he needed until now.
The vibration of his phone rattled against the nightstand. It was an unknown number but he answered anyway.
Exhaling, Lunar dragged a hand down his face. “…Yea?”
There was a beat of silence.
“Lunar.” Ahvi’s voice came out low and uncertain. Like she was trying not to feel too much, trying not to let too much slip.
He adjusted Kamari against his chest. “I was wondering when you was gon’ call.”
She exhaled, something like a breathless laugh but too drained to carry any real humor. “Yea, well. I been busy… you know?”
He snorted a ghost of a laugh. He knew that tone. Knew the way people talked when they were backed into corners and barely holding on. He’d witnessed it with Bu and that shit hurt like he was the one locked away.
Lunar leaned his head back against the headboard and shifted the phone between his fingers. “You good, though?”
Every time he laid eyes on Kamari, he thought about all the ways he could help his mama because something in him was telling him that was his purpose—to save a little black boy so he could dream and live and be loved.
Lunar had done his research on Ahvi. He heard what the officers said she was being arrested for again. He’d even gone as far as having the family attorney, Elle give him a little more background info about her. What he’d concluded was, Ahvi was a mother having to be a father and was willing to do anything for her baby.
Ahvi scoffed softly. “As good as I can be when I gotta serve thirty days.”
That got his attention. His brows pulled together, something twisting low in his gut. “Probation violation?”
“Yep.” Her lips popped.
“Damn, Ahvi.”
Her name still sounded sweet coming from his lips.
“Yea,” she sighed, “and it gets better. I got sixty days after I get out to prove I got a job or they’ll give me some real time.”
His jaw tightened. That wasn’t enough time to build anything real. The system wasn’t built for people like them, though. It was built to cycle them through, over and over, until they couldn’t find a way out.
But Lunar had been raised by dreamers so he knew there was always a way out.
Ahvi cleared her throat, shifting on the other end. He could hear the muffled sounds of the jail - voices, the occasional buzz of a security door, and the distorted echoes of too many lives trapped in one space.
“How’s Kamari?” she finally asked, her voice softer now.
Lunar glanced down at the baby, at the tiny hand curled against his chest. “He’s sleep, Ahvi.”
“Wake him up.”
Lunar frowned. “What?”
