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“Congratulations.”
The server delivers our onion petals and we dig in.
“Are you going to give up your apartment?”
“I haven’t said yes. I’m afraid it’ll be too much for Letti. You know she blames me for her mom dying. I guess she overheard a fight that happened before her mom died and she’s a smart kid. Worked out that I was the other woman. And I can’t make her understand that I didn’t have prior knowledge about her or her mom. The moment I found out, I stopped seeing him. We didn’t get back together until after Alisha passed. I want her to accept me. Anyway, enough about my troubles. Tell us how things are with you and your man.”
“I don’t even know where to start.” I switch to water. It’s too early to be drunk.
“Pam filled us in on the attack. Are you okay?” Concern from Karma surprises me.
“Mild concussion. My head is still tender, but I’m okay. Adam being violent isn’t new. His having another daughter is, though.” I dig right in and fill them in on all the crazy between bites of my turkey and bacon club sandwich.
“Good thing you have a hot ass biker to protect you,” Rosie says.
Pam has been quiet for most of the meal, which is unlike her.
“Are you okay?” I call her out on the spot.
“I don’t want to drop my problems on you with all that’s going on. It’s nothing major, but since you asked, I had an appointment this morning. I have a lump on my left boob. Link and I were fooling around last month when he felt it. They want to do a biopsy. I don’t like to talk about it, but breast cancer runs in my family.”
“You’re going to be okay, honey.”
“You can’t promise that,” she whispers and swipes away a tear. “I finally have everything I want and now I may not be here to enjoy it and watch my babies grow up.”
“Have a little faith. You’ve not come this far too, to merely come this far.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Karma lifts her glass.
We order another round of drinks. My plans of not getting drunk fly out the window.
“You don’t even have proof if it’s cancerous yet and if it is, you’ll fight this one day at a time. You’ll beat it like every other curve life has thrown at you. I’ve never known anyone stronger. Never, honey.” I hug her shoulder and press my lips to her temple, trying not to cry.
All I can think about is how if Pam has cancer, I don’t know what my brother would do without her. She’s his soulmate. The mother of his children. The woman who has stood by him through the good and bad. Who loves every side of him, including the parts that are ugly. News like this always comes at the worst possible time.
“Promise me that if something happens to me, you’ll look after my babies.”
“I promise, but it’s not one I’ll have to keep.”
“I’m with her. You can’t go borrowing trouble by thinking about what if,” Rosie blabs.
“Does Jules know?” I press.
“Yeah. We had a fight about who’d take the kids. You or her because we know Link won’t be able to manage.”
“You’re not going to have to worry about it.”
“Let’s talk about something else,” Karma suggests. “Like how fucking fine Prodigy is and how cute your babies will be.”
The mention of babies perks Pam up and she digs her little black baby pool betting book out of her purse. I pacify her this one time.
Karma and Rosie place their bets.
“You guys are so ridiculous. Are there any open months for Ember and Smoke?” I grin and Pam slaps me on the hand with her notebook.
“Oh, now you want in on my fun, huh?” She smirks and flips through the pages.
This lunch is exactly what I needed to raise my spirits and distract me from worrying about what Adam might be out there plotting. Other than the bad health news Pam shared. I can’t believe she hadn’t told me or Link. I can respect her privacy about it. We all process things in our own way. I can’t imagine all the terrible scenarios she’s been conjuring. Or how scared she must be.
