Amber cups her hand around the side of her mouth, so Bo can’t see her lips, like it would prevent her from hearing. “Bo likes to rescue ugly animals.”
“Ugly animals deserve love too!” Bo kisses Gregory’s forehead. I can’t lie. That is the cutest shit I ever saw.
“So, Yamilet, what is Cesar gonna do when your mom wants to go see one of his games?” Amber asks.
I shrug. “Who knows? He’ll probably come up with some overly complicated scheme and pull me in on it at the last minute.” Cesar doesn’t admit to his lies, even if he’s about to be caught up. Instead, he comes up with elaborate ways to cover his tracks.
“His twin is on the team.” Bo puts finger quotes on “twin.” “Maybe she won’t notice he’s not there if David has anything to do with it!” She laughs.
“Don’t be giving him ideas.” I know it’s a joke, but I wouldn’t put it past Cesar.
“You know who else is on the football team?” Amber wiggles her eyebrows at me. “Your not-so-secret admirer.”
“Oh my God, my soul literally departed from my body out of secondhand embarrassment.” Bo shudders.
“I thought it was kind of sweet,” Amber says. “Sorry for butting in. You kind of looked like you needed some help. If you want to go to homecoming, you can tell him your plans got canceled.”
I think about it for a minute. School dances when you’re in the closet are a nightmare. You’re expected to have a “straight date.” And if you dance with another girl, it’s supposed to be for attention. Attention is the last thing I want if I’m doing gay shit like that.
“That’s okay. I didn’t want to go anyway,” I say.
“Well, I didn’t want to pressure you, but we usually don’t go, either. Want to ditch together?” Bo asks, and Amber claps her hands.
“Sure, yeah, I’d like that.” I feel myself blushing and I don’t know why.
It’s about an hour before we finish the entirety of the junk food we bought. If I don’t leave soon, I’ll be walking home from my stop in the dark. I know the logical solution would be to let Bo drop me off at home, but after seeing this house, that’s definitely not happening. I ask her to drop me off at the light rail again. On the way home, I distract myself from thinking about Bo and my not-crush on her by finishing my homework for the week. Who knew denial could make me a star student?
When I get to the corner of our street, I see there’s a car in our driveway I don’t recognize. And when I get inside, someone else’s backpack is on the kitchen counter. It doesn’t sound like anyone is in the house, though, so I drop my bag on the stool next to the mystery person’s bag. Then I see them through the window.
Cesar is standing in the backyard with Jamal, his friend from Rover. It gives me an uneasy feeling to see someone from our old life here. I never really got to know Jamal, but we were on a “nod when you see each other in the hall” basis. I liked him because he always seemed to have Cesar’s back when I wasn’t around. I know of a few times Cesar got jumped and Jamal hopped in to help. A lot of girls liked Jamal, but he never paid any of them any mind. He’s tall and thin, and he stands all proper, always tucking in his button-down shirts. If he wasn’t Black, he’d fit right in at Slayton.
I hear my mom’s car pulling in the driveway. Jamal should leave soon, because Mom doesn’t like when people she doesn’t know come into the house. Especially when she’s not home. I start walking to the back door to warn them. Before I get to the door, Jamal hands something to Cesar. I squint and lean forward, but I can’t make out what it is. Takis? Money? Something worse?
I’ll ask Cesar about it later, but now I need to warn them about Mom, or she’ll kill all three of us. When I reach for the handle, Jamal reaches for Cesar’s hands, and they kiss.