She didn’t even flinch when she said it.

I took a breath and asked her, “You all right?”

She blew it off. “That was years ago, man. I mean, you gotta get over it and move on. But that stopped me from dealing with my baby’s father. He’s in jail now.”

“What, he had something to do with Quinton’s death?” I asked her.

She nodded. “You know, man, they was out there selling that stuff. So I told my baby’s father I wouldn’t tolerate that shit no more. But he didn’t wanna listen. So he ran out there with his other women or whatever, and he finally got his behind locked up.”

That was all normal in Gary. After my senior year of high school, we had overtaken Washington, D.C., as the number-one place in America for a young black man to be sent to the cemetery with a bullet hole in him. That was a part of the streets that I was not happy to return to.

“So, how are you making out?” I asked Theresa. “And what’s her little name.”

She smiled into her baby’s face and said, “Kiearra. She just turned two a couple of weeks ago.”

“She can’t walk?” I asked. Why was she in a stroller at two?

Theresa laughed and said, “Yeah, she can walk. She’s just slow sometimes, so I put her in the stroller when I’m in a rush.”

“Oh. And how’s the rest of the family?”

Quinton had a big extended family with plenty of cousins.

Theresa answered, “Everybody’s doing their own thing now. It’s best that way. I mean, when you try to help too many family members out, you just end up with a lot more stress than you need. So I just decided to keep everything simple, find my own little place, keep my job and day care right, and do what I gotta do.”

Amen to that! She had the right idea. I understood just what she was talking about. I had the same philosophy; out of sight is out of mind, and the less you help, the less they think about getting help from you.

“So, how long are you in town for?” she asked me. “I see you got your luggage and everything out here.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I just figured I’d crash at my mother’s tonight instead of at a hotel.”

Theresa looked puzzled. “She doesn’t live over here anymore, does she?”

“Nah, she’s out in the suburbs now, but I just wanted to come back and walk around out here to see the old neighborhood, you know.”

Theresa nodded. “Okay, well, you look good.” Then she smiled. “I guess so, right, with you being a big-time model now and everything. So, you’re leaving tomorrow then?” she repeated.

“Either tomorrow or Thursday,” I told her.

She paused for a second. “Well, give me a call, you know, if you decide to stay longer. Today was my day off from work, too. I work downtown now, so I probably wouldn’t even have seen you.”