He threw his hands up again, like he knew I wasn’t going to budge another inch.

“You do you, P. We here if you need us. Let me throw you a bone by changing the subject.”

I laughed helplessly at Nesto’s usual directness. “Sure.”

He looked back toward the kitchen to where Ari—one of Nesto’s original two employees when he first got to Ithaca, and who was now an assistant manager at the restaurant—was standing.

“Ari wants to ask you if you would be his mentor. Nothing too deep, just some advice on school, for now. He’s working on getting fully matriculated and wants advice on classes and such.”

The warmth in my chest at what Nesto said was a surprise.

“Really? I thought he wanted to be a lawyer? I’m an economics and public policy guy.”

Nesto shook his head, glancing over his shoulder, before leaning in close. “That’s the thing, he’s getting interested in the stuff you do. He read your dissertation paper on distributive justice and he’s been all over it. Also he’s obsessed with your Twitter game.” He shook his head with a baffled look on his face, like he was talking about a deep and dark world that he had no clue why anyone wanted any part of.

“Ari’s deep into Black Twitter now, follows all the dudes you’re on there pontificating with. It doesn’t matter though.” He lifted a shoulder and smiled wide. “Whatever he ends up doing, I think it’ll be good for him to have someone he can talk about stuff with.” He flattened his lips, worry furrowing his brow. “He’s on his own out here. All his family is still in Congo, other than his uncle, who as far as I can tell is a raging homophobe. And that’s a problem, since Ari’s been making noise about coming out to him.”

He looked toward the kitchen again. “No pressure man, of course.”

I shook my head, already feeling really compelled to do this for Ari. He was such an impressive young man, and had overcome so much. He’d come to the States on his own as a refugee from Congo when he was a teen and ended up in an immigrant detention center for almost two years before they let him go without ever giving him a reason for why they detained him in the first place. I nodded at Nesto and lifted my hand toward where Ari was busy checking things off from a clipboard.

“I would be happy to. I’m not sure how useful I’ll be, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”

I noticed that Yin, who like Ari had been one of Nesto’s original employees, was standing a lot closer to Ari than a coworker would. Yin was petite, his delicate features serious as he worked with Ari, who towered over him. Ari was a lot taller and bulkier than Yin. His ebony skin a contrast to Yin’s milky complexion. Their bodies were comfortable next to each other though.