“I wanted to talk about where we stand with each other, since things have changed.”

“Chaz, you just don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” he questioned, puzzled.

“Nothing has changed. The only thing that happened today was Ria proving herself to be more psychotic than we thought; by taking lying to another level, this time about a pregnancy. That doesn’t change the fact that you fucked her. It definitely does not change the fact that you hurt me in ways that you will never know. You betrayed me, Chaz. You’ve destroyed our boundaries.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you, Kennedy, but it didn’t happen the way you think.”

“You don’t know anything about the way I think! If you did, you’d know I don’t give a fuck how it happened, or why it happened, and I’m beginning not to give a fuck about you.”

Chaz knew by the iciness of her words that Kennedy had put the wall back around her heart—the wall that had taken him so long to penetrate. He knew that he could very well be on the verge of losing her, and that wasn’t an option. Chaz walked over to her. “I know what I did was beyond foul.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m so sorry for hurting you. That’s something you never have to worry about again.”

Kennedy stared downward quietly. She longed to believe him, but she couldn’t trust his word, and she didn’t know when she would be able to again.

“Look at me,” he told her.

She raised her eyes to him.

“You know I love you. I want to come home so we can get through this.” He leaned in to kiss her, and she turned her head.

Kennedy removed his hands from her face. Looking him directly in the eye, she spoke, “I love you, too. That will never change, but I can’t let you back in. The best thing for us right now is to remain separated.”

The next day Kennedy took the first flight to Charlotte. She didn’t even bother to pack a bag. Upon landing, she rented a car and drove straight to Carolinas Medical Center, where she found out that Big Ma had been released earlier in the morning. Kennedy made her way over to Big Ma’s, not far from the hospital.

Kennedy saw her mother, Kora, and her aunts Klarice and Janice on the porch drinking coffee. They all stared curiously at the unfamiliar car. When Kennedy got out, all were pleasantly surprised to see who it was. Kora came down from the porch, meeting her daughter on the walkway, “Hey, baby girl,” she said gleefully.

“Un-uh, don’t ‘hey, baby girl’ me.”

“What’s got your panties all twisted?”

“All of you people who didn’t call me to tell me Big Ma had a heart attack.”