Page 34 of Until Nalia

“Yeah.” I carry a gallon of milk and the eggs I picked up to the fridge. “She is in the school play, so she stays after every day until five.”

“That’s cool, what play are they putting on?”

“Clue.”

“Like the board game?”

“It’s something like that, but I think it’s based on the movie.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen it.”

“We can watch it sometime.” I grin when she presses her lips together.

“Namalama, can you help me study my spelling words?”

“Me too,” Coop says.

“Sure.” She makes her way over to the table and takes a seat between the kids. Despite her reluctance to spend time with me, it feels natural to have her here, as if she and Zuri have spent years sitting at the dining table with Coop, doing homework after school.

As I listen to her read off this week’s spelling words to the two of them, I put away the groceries and clean up the dishes left over from breakfast this morning. While I’m starting the process of chopping up the stuff for my homemade salsa that gets better the longer it has to sit in the fridge, my cell rings, and when I check the caller ID, I see that it’s Hector.

“Yo.” I put the call on speaker and place it face up on the counter.

“You home?”

“Yep, everything okay?”

“I have the deposit bag for the bank, but I got an appointment in the morning with my lawyer, so I’m going to drop it off so you can take it to the bank.”

“Sure, thanks, man.”

“No problem. See you in five.”

“The door’s unlocked,” I tell him before he hangs up and go back to chopping while I listen to Nalia read off the word communicative. I don’t remember ever having to learn that word in fourth grade; then again, I stopped being able to help Coop with his math homework at the end of last year. Not because I don’t understand division and multiplication, but because the way they have the kids do each problem nowadays makes no fucking sense to me.

A few minutes later, when the front door opens, Hector calls out “Hello,” and Dozer heads to greet him while I tell him that we’re in the kitchen.

The moment he steps through the doorway and sees Nalia at the table, he stops, and his eyes fly over to me.

“What’s up, brother?” I hide my smile then mutter. “You remember Nalia.”

“Yeah.” He shakes off his surprise, focusing back on her. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Nalia says, adding. “This is Zuri.”

“Nice to meet you, Zuri,” he says while Coop asks,

“Are you staying for dinner? Dad’s making tacos.”

“Damn, you pulled out the big guns.” he smiles at me, then asks, “You got enough for one more?”

“You know there is always enough,” I tell him, and he brings over the bank bag, dropping it on the counter. “You got a beer?”

“In the fridge.” I motion towards it, and he walks across the kitchen.

“You want one?”

“Yeah.”