Page 38 of It Runs in the Family

“You didn’t ditch him, did you?” Mary Ellen asked with a cross look.

“I did not ditch him,” I said, turning back around to scoop coffee into the machine, almost forgetting to put in the filter first. I waited a few seconds before I added, “I’d gone to the bathroom. I was looking for him after I came out, and Billy found me.”

“What did you see in your vision?” Ava asked.

“I didn’t have one.”

“How’d you get out of it?” Mary Ellen asked.

I filled the coffee pot with water.

“Iris,” Ava prompted in an anxious tone. “How’d you get out of it?”

I turned around to face them. “I told him to move closer, and then I grabbed him by the balls and squeezed.”

They stared at me in stunned silence.

“You did … what?” Mary Ellen finally choked out, looking like she was going to be sick.

I leaned forward and mimed my words. “I. Grabbed. Him. By. The. Balls. And⁠—”

She waved her hand. “Yeah, we got that part.” She cast a wary look to her sister.

“What we’re asking,” Ava said slowly as though trying to find the right wording, “is what in the world possessed you to do such a thing?”

I grimaced. “I told him before that I’d never have a vision for him again, and I meant it.”

“God,” Mary Ellen said, running a hand over her head as she sat down next to her sister. “How’d you get away?”

“I squeezed tighter, and when I let him go, he doubled over for a good half minute, which gave me time to escape.”

“With Boner?” Mary Ellen asked.

“Boone,” I said in frustration. “And yes. I think I convinced him to bring me home.”

“Like you had to convince him to bring you home,” Mary Ellen scoffed.

“That part is kind of fuzzy, but I remember getting in his truck. He wanted me to give him my address, but I insisted on putting it in his phone so he wouldn’t know where I live.”

Ave gave me a deadpan look. “You realize he actually drove you here, so he still knows where you live?”

“I know,” I said, closing my eyes as I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead in an attempt to stop the pounding. “What can I say? I was drunk, and I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“So, did he walk you in?” Mary Ellen asked.

Had he walked me in? I scoured my memories, but the last thing I remembered was falling asleep in his truck. “I don’t remember.”

Mary Ellen groaned. “Come on, Iris. We don’t need to know what sex positions you used⁠—”

“Speak for yourself,” Ava said eagerly as she leaned forward. “I want to know.”

“I honestly don’t remember,” I said, sitting on one of the mismatched chairs at my Facebook Marketplace kitchen table. “I fell asleep in his truck, and the only thing I remember after that is you pounding on my front door.” I glanced around, confused by the bright sunshine streaming through the window. “Why are you two here so early? What time is it?”

“Early?” Ava said with a laugh. “Girlfriend, we don’t get up early on a Saturday morning. It’s after one o’clock.”

“In the afternoon?”

“No, Central Texas is now home of the midnight sun,” Mary Ellen said. “Of course in the afternoon.”