Anita and my mom traded looks. Here it came. “So, Carla,” my mom began, but just then our food came, and we had to figure out who got what. Everything, burgers, salad, sandwich, seemed to have bacon and avocado on it.

We settled in to eat. Anita and my mom were so much alike. Despite two small kids and a job, Anita never had ragged-looking nails or run-down heels. She’d gained maybe two pounds for each baby and she thought she was fat. She made special pop-up cards for each of her students who had birthdays. For Halloween and Christmas, she practically bought out the craft stores. She and my mom had a hot thing going on Instagram. And she made the whole enterprise work. I was happy for my sister, and in awe of how she could power through obstacles. But I didn’t want to be her.

“Have you talked to Aaron yet?” Anita asked. Finally, down to the real business of the evening.

I found some watery alcohol at the bottom of my drink and slurped it. “Nope.”

“You have to, sooner or later.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Come on,” my mom said. “You have to give him a chance to explain. It was only—”

“A blow job in a bathroom? I don’t think that needs a lot of explanation.”

For a moment I was sorry I’d said it, then I thought, why not. They both looked pained. My mom addressed someone in the vicinity of the ceiling, asking where she went wrong with me. Then she said, “So all right, he’s a man. He’s not perfect.”

Anita said, “You need to keep some perspective. Honestly, worse things happen at bachelor parties.”

“I guess that makes it okay, then.”

“Sweetheart,” my mom said. It seemed they were going to tag team me. “You have to grow up enough to see the big picture.”

“I saw plenty in the bathroom, thanks.”

“Aaron’s such a good, steady guy, and he works so hard.”

“And he’s totally hot,” Anita said. She was cutting her bacon-avocado burger into quarters. I wish for once she or my mom would just chow down on their food. “If you kick him to the curb, he’s not going to be alone long.”

“Especially if he keeps dropping his pants.”

“Really, Carla, you’re going to have to get over that. If there had been an extra female in the Garden of Eden, the original sin would have been Adam screwing her.”

I couldn’t remember hearing my mom say “screw” before. She seemed to realize what she’d done and reached up to smooth her ponytail. “I just mean, he’s a normal man. And aside from that, he’s smart and good-looking and employed. You heard that last part, right? Employed?”

“You’re saying, what, he’s a good catch?”