Page 80 of No Merciful Corruption

She groans. “I don’t want to.”

“Leticia.”

“Ugh, fine! I love you too,” she murmurs, the words quick and squished together. “Happy?”

I smile smugly. “Very.”

Diego clears his throat. “About, um…everything.”

He doesn’t know what to do with himself. He makes several false starts, gestures with his hands, and stops halfway before shoving them both in his pockets again. For someone whose confidence and sense of self has always been so secure, to see him this uncertain is strange.

“Karina and I, that night,” he runs a hand through his hair. “We were only together because we were worried about you. The truth is, if something ever happened to you, I don’t—I don’t know…”

Diego can’t meet my gaze and instead stares at the tips of his shoes. I don’t mind.

“I know you came into our lives because of our brother but you belong to us too…if that makes sense.” He hesitates. “And getting Karina pregnant is definitely much worse than you telling me to go fuck myself over the phone.”

“Much worse,” I agree.

“Almost incestuous when you think about it.” Lettie adds.

“And the fact that you were in New York for an entire month and never came to see me.”

Lettie says in my ear, “Don’t forgive him. Make him work for it. His fuck up is way worse than mine.”

Diego and Lettie aren’t the only ones who didn’t come to see me in the hospital. Neither Karina nor my father were able to work up the courage to do so and while all four of them had distinctly different reasons, I can’t help but wonder if I’m not partly to blame. Everyone can’t be the problem. There has to be something I’m doing, or something I’m not, that’s made it difficult for the most important people in my life to approach me. Maybe I need to change too.

Right after I make Diego work for it a little bit.

“You impregnated my cousin.”

“I know.”

“And I bet you’ve had a thing for her this whole time and didn’t even tell me. I saw you guys at Christmas. You kept it a secret.”

He lowers his head. “Dee, I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry. For all of it. I’ll do anything. You know I’m not good with words—Alex is the flowery one.”

I squint. “How about a favor?”

“Fine.”

“Any favor?”

“Any favor. And it doesn’t have an expiration date,” he says.

“Can I get one of your leather jackets too?”

“Sure.”

“The Glenn Ligon with the red interior.”

Diego visibly recoils like he’s been stabbed.

Lettie’s eyes light up. “Excellent choice.”

I smile. “Thank you.”

He releases a breath between his teeth and closes his eyes. “Fine.”