My mother was standing behind me with her hands on her hips. She wore a silk lavender robe that tied at her waist and stopped above her knees. When she tilted her head, a piece of hair fell in a perfect wave against her check. Her face still held the sweetness of sleep and the softness took me by surprise.

Daryl seemed to be enjoying himself because suddenly his eyes were open wide and he licked his mouth. His lower lip hung down like a fat pink worm. “Hey there, Miss Wolley.”

She looked down at him and I recognized her expression. It was the one she got when someone tried to cut her off on line at the bank. “From now on, if you want to speak with my daughter you can do so at a more reasonable hour.”

She waved at him. Maybe he thought she was waving goodbye. To me it looked like she was shooing at a gnat that was annoying her. He waved back and smiled.

She took me by the elbow and led me back to our side of the porch. She didn’t let go until we were safely inside and then pulled me towards her and whispered in my ear. Her words came out in soft little puffs that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“Stay. Away. From. That. Boy.”

I went upstairs and got into bed. I fell asleep quickly that night, and the last thought I remembered having was that maybe Daryl wasn’t that bad after all.

In fact, maybe, he was absolutely perfect.

We didn’t speak much after that night. Maybe she felt badly about it or maybe she was just tired of making macaroni and cheese—or cooking for two, in general. Whatever the reason, when she came home from work a few days later, she insisted that we dress up and go out for a nice dinner.

I wore a black t-shirt and jeans with a hole in the knee, chosen specifically because I knew it was an outfit she hated. I waited outside while she got ready, amusing myself by staring into the bark of an enormous oak tree. It was only when I got close enough that I realized it was crawling with angry and determined black ants. From a distance, it looked like any other tree.

She finally came outside smelling of peaches and looking like a flamenco dancer with her hair smoothed and tied behind her neck. We got into the car and drove in silence but I could tell she was distracted, as if she wasn’t seeing the road ahead. I stuck my finger into the hole in my pants and wiggled it around.