I wanted to hold that close. Thank God
I still had the “you don’t want to come
in the bathroom now” excuse going on.
Eventually she tired of shadowing me.
Stuck her nose in a book, kept it there.
I HAD MY CELL
With me, set on vibrate,
so no one but me would
know when it rang. I hid
out in the bathroom for
more than an hour, expecting
the buzz against my thigh.
I had almost given up by
the time it came. When
it finally did, it made me
jump. Good thing I was
only pretending to need
the toilet. I spoke in a low
whisper, hoping Simone
had, indeed, vacated the
hallway outside the door.
“Where are you?” It came
out a serpentlike hiss.
He was down the block.
Luckily, Walter was at
his day job. Tanya and
the sisters were crashing
around in the kitchen,
baking cookies. Leaving
was a piece of cake.