He puts his hand on the table, and that cross tattoo stands out. Selene scrunches her nose, and he notices.
“My dad was a minister. I’m a seminary school dropout,” he informs us.
“Leviticus chapter nineteen, verse twenty-eight. You shall not make any cuts on our body for the dead or tattoo yourself.”
Preacher smiles and leans closer. “That’s subject to interpretation. Some biblical scholars believethat—”
“I am not in the mood for a sermon. You are not allowed to say biblical scholars ever again,” I warn Preacher, who puts his fingers to his lips.
“Girl, please.” Eden waves her hand in dismissal at my cousin. “My man’s tatted up, and there is nothing wrong with him. Hush.”
“Selene is just goading you,” I tell Preacher.
He smirks and turns to Selene. “Oh, yeah? I love to be goaded.” He drops his voice into a hushed whisper. “Goad me anytime. I can goad three to four times a day.”
“We were just talking about our periods.” I start to cough at Selene’s lie. “Mine is so heavy, I think I might pass out.”
Preacher raises his hand and gestures for the server. “Can you get this lady some tea?” He turns to Selene. “Ginger should do it.”
Selene’s eyes widen, and I giggle.
“We always get ours at the same time. It’s called menstrual synchrony. It’s quite common with friends.”
The server brings Preacher his coffee. He moves closer to Selene, who is now against the wall.
“Yeah, that’s been debunked. There’s no science behind it. It’s been reduced to nothing more than a coincidence.”
Selene makes a face. If there’s one thing she does not like, it’s men talking about women’s issues.
“Stay out of our bodies. Gross.” She tosses her hair and turns away from him.
“So, you want to go see a movie or something, Selene?”
“I have a boyfriend.” Preacher snorts. “And you’re not my type.” She gestures at his tattoo.
“That little bitch dentist?”
Eden’s lips twitch, but she hides it behind her mug.
“Where is he? Fixing a thirteen-year-old’s broken bracket?” He rolls his eyes.
“You mean earning an honest living?” Preacher scoffs. “No offense, you guys.”
“Why would we be offended?” Eden asks, and Selene purses her lips shut.
“Oh, I quit my job. I sent Armstrong a one-line email saying I won’t be returning. I didn’t even thank him for the opportunity.” I high-five my friends. “An honest living is for the birds.” I wave my hand around.
The server brings Preacher’s food and Selene’s tea, which she sips.
“He’s sitting over there.” Selene points to the empty table.
“I think I’ll stay here.” Selene eyes the tattoo. “I got that after I dropped out of seminary school.”
“Why did you drop out?” Eden asks.
“I lost my faith,” is all he says. “It was a bunch of things, but this tattoo is a reminder of that time, that I got through it.”
The table remains quiet until Selene speaks up. “Well, that was heavy. Thanks for crashing our table to talk about that morbid shit.” Her phone dings, and she picks it up. “Ooh, there’s a new cat video.”
