“No one did, Yoshi. I had just told him and we decided to keep it a secret until we decided what we were gonna do. When he died, the decision became clear.”

“Billy, you had an abortion?” Yoshi asked in disbelief.

Billy looked at her friend very seriously. “What would you have done? Yoshi, I was a child myself at the time. With Sol and me together, we might’ve been able to do it, but just me? I wasn’t gonna be out here on welfare, barely able to take care of mine like Rhonda. The choice to keep the baby would’ve been crueler than the one I made.”

“You did what you had to do, Billy.”

“I guess.” She shrugged. “I always wonder what if, but I know I can’t get either of those lives back. For a long time after I kept reinventing myself, trying to find somewhere to belong. I can’t front, I’ve done some things that most of y’all might not agree with, but I’m still me when it’s all said and done. Everybody running around thinking they know what’s up with Billy, when Billy doesn’t even know what’s up with herself.”

A heavy silence hung between the two friends, which Yoshi decided to break by asking, “So how many women have you slept with?” Both of them nearly fell over the rack of dresses laughing, drawing the attention of the store manager, as well as the rent-a-cop playing the front door.

“We better pay for our shit and go, before Roscoe P. Coltrane locks us up for shoplifting.” Yoshi nodded over at the security guard. “Plus, we gotta head over to the electronics store to meet Rhonda and Reese.”

“Ain’t no need to rush. You know them hos ain’t never on time,” Billy said.

“I know. Reese is slow as hell and Rhonda is always getting caught up with her bad-ass kids.”

“Cut it out, Yoshi. Them kids is all right.”

“Billy, are we talking about the same kids? P.J. is sneaky-ass hell to be so little and Pooh is hardheaded. Alisha is another story altogether.”

“She’s a preteen, she’s supposed to be feeling herself.”

“Fuck all that, the little bitch is straight-up grown,” Yoshi declared, placing the items on the counter. As she waited for the girl behind the register to finish ringing up her purchases, she noticed that a guy standing two registers down was staring at her. Yoshi, being who she was, turned around and looked him up and down in a stink way. He finished paying for his stuff and made his way toward her. She immediately dipped her hand in her purse to retrieve the razor she carried in case he wanted trouble.

“Excuse me,” he said, slowing his approach. “I don’t mean to stare, but don’t we know each other?”