“I wish.”

Cryptic. Okay. “Why’d you lie that time?”

“Because I was embarrassed. It was stupid to mess up that gig over it. I been going around trying to get work, and ain’t nobody hiring for real.” His hands spoke his frustration, his fists balling and unballing with no target.

“Did your mom get laid off?” I asked, knowing how fast that could happen, how real it could get.

He shook his head. “Angie’s late, bro.”

“Late for—?” Oh. Shit. “She’s pregnant?”

Qwan shrugged hard, exaggerated. His shoulders bouncing high like he was trying to crush his own head and put himself out of his misery. Then he walked to a different section of the floor-to-ceiling windows. To be alone.

Jameer appeared at my hip, squeezing a dab of hand sanitizer into his palm. “It’s starting soon, guys. I think we better grab seats.”

The crowded foyer thinned, people grazed into the designated space.

“Go get the girls,” I said. “We’ll see you in there.” I never took my eyes off Qwan.

“But—”

“We’ll see you in there.”

The Burton Brothers bobbed closer; Jameer intercepted them and angled them toward the ladies’ room, where the girls had emerged. I couldn’t help but examine Angie from a distance, smiling at something Kiera said, looking no different than every other time I’d seen her. You never knew what was happening underneath, not with anyone.

I went to Qwan. “How?” I said.

His eyes narrowed. “Bro, it hasn’t been that long for you, has it?”

“I mean . . .” I recalled my lone condom. “Y’all ain’t use nothing?”

“Not all the time.”

Then it was MJ in my head, day one of Healthy Living. Birth control, and diaphragms, and a bunch of other stuff. I didn’t bring that up because what good would it do? Instead, I asked, “What’s Angie saying about it?”

“She scared.”

So was he. It came off him like heavy cologne. I grasped for something, anything, to comfort him. “Are you sure? Because her period’s late? I heard my mom and sister talking about monthly stuff before. Sometimes it can be off, right?”

“I—we—know that. But we’re Green Creek, D. Babies are in the water.” Qwan waved me off. “I didn’t tell you so you can try to solve it. I had to say it, is all. You’re the only one I could say it to. Let’s go do what we came for.”

He joined our crew, slid an arm over Angie’s shoulders and pulled her into him, like shielding her from bad weather. She squeezed his hand like she was grateful.

Falling in beside Kiera, my vibe was all wrong, and she sensed it. “What’s the matter?”

Everything. This wasn’t the plan. Every time I go for a moment with Kiera somebody else’s shit gets in the way. Mason at Harvest Fest. Colossus at Mama Marian’s. Now my own best friend was throwing salt in my game? I know he didn’t mean it, but damn.

I told Kiera, “I hope this was all worth the trip.”