Page 55 of When a Soul Cries

But truthfully, I was tired.

So damn tired.

“Rome.”

He looked at me.

“I’ll pay you back.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “For what?”

“The tow.”

He stared at me for a second before shaking his head. “We can argue about that shit another day.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Before I could respond, he turned slightly and started making the call. I looked away. For once, I didn’t have enough energy left to fight somebody for trying to help me.

By the time the tow truck pulled away with my car, I felt numb. Rome opened the passenger door of his car and looked at me. “Come on.”

I stayed where I was. “I can get a ride.”

“With who?”

I stared at him.

He raised an eyebrow and waited.

I sucked my teeth. “You always gotta have something to say?”

“Get in the car, Sol.”

I rolled my eyes and climbed inside.

---

The closer we got to my house, the quieter I became. Rome didn’t know that every turn toward home made my chest tighter. He didn’t know I was sitting beside him calculating money in my head—toe, repairs, rent, food, daycare. Everything needed money. Everybody needed something, and I didn’t have enough of anything.

The music played quietly through his speakers. Rome had tried talking to me twice, but after getting one-word answers, he’d finally stopped. I appreciated that more than he probably knew. I stared out the passenger window, watching the streetlights blur past until his voice finally broke through my thoughts.

“You sure you good?”

I looked over at him. Rome kept one hand on the wheel, his eyes mostly on the road, but I could see his jaw working slightly like he’d been debating whether to ask me that question for the last few minutes. There it was again. *You good?* I was starting to hate those two words because everybody kept asking them, and every time, I kept lying.

“Yeah.”

Rome glanced at me briefly. The look lasted maybe two seconds, but it was long enough for me to know he didn’t believe me. Still, he didn’t press. He gave a small nod, turned his attention back to the road, and said, “Aight.”

When he finally pulled up in front of my place, I unbuckled my seat belt quickly. Halo was inside, and right then, she was all I wanted. If I could just get through that door, put my hands on my baby, feel that she wasn’t burning up anymore, maybe I could convince myself for five minutes that everything else wasn’t falling apart around me.

I reached for the door handle. “Thank you.”

Rome looked over at me. “For what?”

“Dinner. The tow. The ride.”