Page 75 of When a Soul Cries

That was the part that kept bothering me.

Sol had been laughing with me, answering my calls, letting me pick up Halo, and never once made me think she was drowning. I had assumed she was tired. Busy. Stressed in the regular way people got stressed when life refused to slow down.

I never imagined she was scared of losing her home.

My jaw tightened.

Sol shifted against me.

I immediately relaxed my hand.

“You okay?”

She gave a weak nod.

Liar.

I didn’t call her on it this time.

There was a time to fuss, and there was a time to shut the hell up and let somebody fall apart.

So I stayed quiet.

The apartment felt different at night. Smaller somehow. The refrigerator hummed from the kitchen. Every now and then, a car passed outside, headlights briefly sliding across the wall before disappearing.

Halo was asleep.

Thank God.

That baby had already had enough for one day.

The doctor’s visit.

The fever.

And Sol had been dealing with all of that while an eviction notice waited somewhere in the middle of her life too.

I looked down at her.

“How long?”

Her eyes stayed closed. “How long what?”

“You been this scared?”

She didn’t answer.

That was enough of an answer.

“Sol.”

“Zari, please.”

“I ain’t fussing.”

Her eyes opened slowly.

They were red.