Page 42 of When a Soul Cries

“I know,” I muttered.

“No, listen to me.” Her tone became gentler. “Halo is okay. She saw the doctor. She’s home. She’s comfortable. And when she wakes up, her mama will be there. You ain’t did nothing wrong.”

I swallowed around the lump forming in my throat and blinked toward the ceiling for a second, refusing to let myself get emotional in the middle of my damn job. “Okay.”

“You hear me?” Zari asked, her voice softer now. She wasn’t fussing anymore. I could tell she was trying to make sure I actually believed what she was saying instead of just agreeing so she’d leave it alone.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, shifting my purse higher onto my shoulder as I continued toward the doors.

“Say it like you hear me.”

I rolled my eyes, but a small smile finally broke through. Leave it to Zari to irritate the hell out of me and comfort me at the same damn time. “I hear you, Zari.”

“Thank you.” The satisfaction in her voice made me picture her sitting there with that smug little look on her face, like she’d just won an argument I didn’t even realize we were having.

For the first time since we’d gotten on the phone, some of the tension left my shoulders. I made it through the automatic doors and stepped outside, breathing deeply when the evening air hit my face.

I should’ve ended the call there. Instead, I stayed on the phone because there was something else sitting on the tip of my tongue, something I hadn’t planned on telling her. I adjusted my purse and walked toward the parking lot, biting the inside of my cheek.

“So…”

The word dragged out longer than I intended, and Zari caught it immediately. “So what?”

I hesitated, already wishing I could pull the word back into my mouth. “Nothing.”

“Then why you said ‘so’?” she asked, and just from her tone, I knew I’d gotten her attention.

I frowned, imagining the nosy look probably spreading across her face right now. “Damn, can I finish?”

“You the one stopped talking.”

I shook my head, already regretting opening my mouth. “I met somebody today.”

The line went completely silent. I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the screen to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. “Hello?”

“Hold on.”

I put the phone back to my ear. Zari’s voice was different now. Fully awake. Fully interested. I could practically see her sitting up straighter wherever she was.

“What the fuck you mean you met somebody?”

A laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “Why are you acting like that?”

“Because you just casually slid ‘I met somebody’ into the conversation like you told me you bought some damn bread.” She paused for half a second. “Who?”

“A dude.”

“No shit, Sol. I figured you wasn’t talking about a stray dog.”

I laughed harder, shaking my head as I walked. “His name Rome.”

“Rome?” The way she repeated it made me picture her sitting there with her face twisted up, one eyebrow probably halfway to her hairline.

“Yes. Rome.”

“Hmmm.”

I frowned. “What the hell does ‘hmmm’ mean?”