“Shut up!” I said, then I put my hand on the window like Mama Pearl did. He lay his hand up against mine. It was about a fingernail bigger on every finger. “Love you, man.”

“Love you too,” I said, about to cry again.

“Bye, baby,” Mama Pearl said.

As we’re walking away, I heard somebody holler, “Fe Fe!” It was Stacia walking fast down to where we were. My whole body tensed. I wasn’t sure if I needed to protect myself. She was with some big dude. When I looked closer at his features, I could see that he had a Buchanan face. It was like she’d forgotten that the last time she saw me in the playground she tried to beat me up. “Hey!” she said, with a nice, big smile. I couldn’t pull one up to match hers, but I came up with a pleasant expression and gave her a dry “Hey.”

“This my brother Ed. Me, Moon, Jet, and Ty stay with him now. In Indiana, girl!” Her hand clamped on her hip as she rolled her neck. She was a Stacia in a relaxed, fun-loving mood.

And she wasn’t skin and bones anymore. She had the body she’d been waiting for since the day I met her. I thought it was just because we were growing up, but then, as we talked more, she placed a hand on her stomach a few times. One of the times, she saw me looking down at her hand rubbing her belly. She made a funny face, like I caught her doing something shameful, so she said, “I’m pregnant.”

Mama Pearl couldn’t help yelling out a “Lord, have mercy!” and Stacia’s brother looked off to the side.

“I’m gonna have it,” she told me, proud of her decision.

I didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t even thirteen. I nodded, then said, “Congratulations,” because she was so happy about it.

She gave me an enthusiastic thank you. The truth was that I felt strange about the whole thing. I hadn’t thought about having children; I hadn’t even had my first childhood boyfriend. She cut into my thoughts and asked about Precious. I told her that she was good, and that I’d tell her that I saw her. Then Mama Pearl said we had to go, and just before we walked away, I blurted out, “Tonya got taken away from her mama.”

Her face eased into a blank expression; it looked frozen, but then I saw something else in it: the look you give your mama when you about to tell a very important lie. One that your life depends on. She reached for her stomach again, and this time, her hand remained there.