“It’s the first day of summer break,” he reminds me unnecessarily and for maybe the tenth time since he woke up.

“I know.” I take a few gulps of the strawberry smoothie I prepared for breakfast, sliding a small cup of it to him. “Drink up so we can take your mom to the airport.”

“Yuck.” He scrunches his face and turns up his nose.

“It doesn’t taste bad, and it’s good for you.” I glance at my Apple watch to see if we’re on schedule. The name Joseph S. Allen in the subject line of an email captures my attention.

I click the message open and lean against the counter to read from my wrist.

Reminder! The Joseph S. Allen Community Service Award for your outstanding leadership in education is coming up soon. Details below.

I was surprised when I received the email. Does Mrs. Allen know? Our parents were adamant about putting distance between the two families. Seeing Mr. Allen a few years ago when I first moved back to Atlanta was by chance, and I wasn’t sure he’d recognize me, much less cross the street to shake my hand. He invited me to coffee and spent an hour listening to my plans to start a private school, Young Leaders Academy of Atlanta, serving low-income and at-risk middle school students. He was an important man. I’m sure he’d had better things to do than spend time with me, the kid of a family he had fallen out with.

He’d asked about my family, and I’d found creative ways to ask about Kimba without being too obvious or pathetic. When he died, I’d risked the censure of Mrs. Allen by going to the funeral, but I had to pay my respects.

And I’d hoped to see Kimba.

“I’m ready,” Aiko says, rushing into the kitchen and grabbing a banana from the bowl on the counter.

Things have been weird between us. Not hostile, just uncertain in this limbo where we know our relationship is over, but Noah doesn’t yet. I’ve been sleeping in the guest bedroom. After we decided to end it, it felt wrong to sleep in the same bed. Actually, it felt right not to, further confirmation that we’re doing the right thing. Noah goes to sleep before we do and I’m up before he is, so he hasn’t noticed the change.

“Mona promised to make sure you boys don’t eat junk the whole time I’m gone,” Aiko says, kissing Noah’s forehead.

Mona and I reconnected by chance at a teacher’s job fair. I was recruiting for YLA’s first year. Once we got past the shock of seeing each other again, I realized she was exactly the kind of educator I wanted to build with.