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She nodded. During dance camp, he and the rest of the football team were always visible across the field. She never could make out exactly which one he was, but she knew he was there, and for what whatever reason, that was a comfort to her.
She studied his face, surprised that he looked just as good as he usually did. No bags for him, so he must have been sleeping well. Then again, he hadn’t been the one to discover his friend’s dead body. “Yeah I had dance camp and then we went to Destin,” she said.
“Oh yeah? How was that?”
He asked with a forced inflection, like a person who was trying desperately to seem interested.
“Same as it always is. I love the beach.”
Bakari nodded, and neither of them spoke of the original plan for all of the members of the Twelve to accompany the Lane family to their vacation home in Destin for a week. Everything was all set until the incident.
“Yeah. Well, I just wanted to say what’s up. You seen anybody else yet?”
She said nothing at first, but she was quite clear about who he meant and why he was asking. “Not yet. I just got here a few minutes ago.”
“Yeah, me too.”
The hallway was filling up now, and the kids were speedwalking with the sense of urgency that always preceded the ringing of the bell. Bakari looked at his phone. “Alright well, I gotta get to the other building before the bell. I’ll see you later.”
Heads turned in almost perfect unison as Bakari passed by groups of adoring girls. Bria didn’t blame them a bit. Bakari was one of the finest boys in the entire school, and as the star player for the Stockton High School Panthers, his future was very bright.
The bell rang. Bria slammed her locker door shut and hurried to get to class. Teachers didn’t usually go hard about tardies on the first day, but she hated being late. Her whole life had been a series of yelled lectures from her father the moment she started running five minutes behind. He often wondered why nobody ever wanted to go anywhere with him, and nobody had the heart to tell him it was his own fault.
Her father had lots of advice, and he was never shy about offering it. Taking it? That was different.
“How’ditgo?”Ladonnaasked her husband. “Did Bria seem okay?”
Marcus sat at the kitchen table and sighed. “We got any more coffee?”
Ladonna retrieved a cup from the cabinet and poured half of what was in her mug into his. He took it and swallowed a few gulps. “She’s distracted.”
“Of course she is.” Ladonna took a sip from her own mug, a glittery pink monstrosity with the wordsMom Fuelon the side. The girls thought it was cute and got it for her for mother’s day last year. Glitter wasn’t her style, but the mug had grown on her. “Do you want anything to eat?”
Marcus shook his head. She waited, thinking, needing to get the phrasing just right. “I really think we should have put her in counseling,” she finally said.
Marcus glared at her, and she knew it had landed wrong. “We talked about this.”
“I know, but you’ve seen her, Marcus. She’s not herself. She went through a major trauma. She probably has PTSD.”
He had the gall to chuckle. “Listen to you. PTSD. What you know about some PTSD?”
She rolled her eyes and fired back. “Anybody can get it. You know that, right? People who witness…what she witnessed…are at risk.” She still couldn’t say it out loud.
“Okay, maybe so. But why take the chance? We all agreed and we all need to stick to that. End of discussion.”
How she hated when he was right. And he was. This time. Because she had promised. They all had promised, and the other kids were probably suffering, too. If they could deal with it, Bria could deal with it. And when she really thought about it, Bria always got depressed in the summer. The weeks after their vacation were always especially hard for her. But school was back in session, and if they could just get her through this year, it might all turn out okay.
Marcus wiped a hand across his eyes. “I reiterated to her the importance of being discreet, and I made her promise to call me if anything happens. Let’s just hope she listens.”
Ladonna studied her husband. He was usually chest-out confident, cocky, and sure about things, and as a lifelong worrier, she tried to follow his lead. But she saw something at that moment that scared her.
He was deeply worried.
She thought back to that night, to the fear in Bria’s voice when she called, to them jumping in the car in their pajamas and racing to the scene. The yellow tape and police lights all around the building. Marcus almost getting arrested for arguing with one of the officers. And Bria’s tear-streaked face in the window, so close but so far away. Longing to run to her and hold her.
The body wheeled out.
Ladonna started to breathe faster, as she always did when she let herself think back to that night. “Listen,” she began. “Dance season is starting. She loves that. That should take her mind off things and get us to the holidays. And then her birthday, of course." She took another swig of coffee. "Where are we at with the car?”
