“Why?” She was still whispering, and it made a goofy grin appear on my lips.
“Long story.” I wasn’t telling her I blurted out her name when I was inside of someone else. Shit was bad enough.
“Dang, Rico.” She smoothed her hand over the page again, mumbling under her breath, “Wouldn’t let that shit happen to methough.”
She drew out the last word, just like in that episode ofThe Boondocksand I couldn’t help it, I snorted a laugh that had me clapping my chest and Christian shifting in his sleep.
When I stopped laughing and opened my eyes, Harlow was staring at me with a twinkle in her eye I wanted to take credit for.
This was why I loved her. She got my corny ass inside jokes and laughed at them no matter how much time had passed.
She got me.
All of them did.
Christian, Soul and Harlow had been the center of my world for over a decade. We had our own families but had created our own together.
We fit.
We loved each other.
We understood each other even when we didn’t use words.
We made sense in every way that mattered. I didn’t understand why it couldn’t just be us forever.
But Harlow and I were leaving for two different colleges in less than a month, Christian was working at his dad’s bakery, and Soul was taking a gap year to figure out what he wanted to do.
We were all headed in different directions. I hated it. I wanted to keep them close. We could figure out this life thing together. But I knew it wouldn’t go my way.
I had to let them go and hope with everything in me we made it back to each other one day soon.
“What are you thinking about over there?” Harlow asked around the rustling of pages, quickly following up with another question. “Wanna go downstairs and eat the cupcakes my mom left?”
Yvette wasn’t my mother, but she looked out for me like I was her own. She knew she’d be off the island for a doctor’s appointment with granny today, so this morning before she left, she made enough cupcakes for all of us to share. Ms. Yvie went out of her way to consider me. Meanwhile, it was almost six o’clock and my mother hadn’t even texted me happy birthday yet.
“Without Chris?” I asked, shaking away my hurt.
“We can eat another one when he wakes up,” she whispered conspiratorially, her grin spreading as she walked past me to the door. “Come on.”
Downstairs, Harlow clinked her cupcake against mine in a fake toast.
“If you could have anything on your birthday, what would it be?”
I stood in front of her with a lump in my throat and my heart in my ass, too scared to say what I wanted. I knew there was no coming back from it if I told her. So I let silence fill the space between us until she spoke up.
“Oh, right. You’re not supposed to say your birthday wishes out loud or they won’t come true.”
She winked, but it was more of a crinkling of her cheek and nose.
“Happy birthday, Rico. I hope you get everything you want and more.”
Heart and Soul
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Chris:
Tell Harlow and Soul to come downstairs. I’m about to start the show
