Page 116 of Spring Awakening

“Hey, son,” Mosi says, as soon as Zach gets in the garden. He walks towards him, clicking the barbeque tongs. “Five-five? I’m at least five-six.”

Zach laughs, holding his hands up. “My bad, Mr O.”

“When are you going to call me Mosi?”

Zach shrugs. “When Ma doesn’t throw a slipper at me for calling a grown-up by their first name.”

His mum laughs, pulling him into a hug. “Such a good boy.”

“You say it,” Zamina says, bumping into his mum.

“Say what?” Mali asks, with a frown that turns to a smile when Zach sits next to her on the bench. “Are you about to say something about marriage? Because we’ve been dating like two seconds!” She looks at him with a face that suggests she’ll stopkissing him if he calls her out and tells their parents they’ve already spoken about it. That marriage and children is on the cards for them, but not this year… next year, they’ll be ready.

“Oh, no,” Zamina says. “Unless you want to have that conversation ,darling, in which case, we have baby-name suggestions.”

Zach laughs, pulling Mali closer to him and kissing her on the temple.

“How did you get from marriage to babies?” Mali asks, leaning against him.

“Okay, okay,” Mosi says, coming over. He’s abandoned the grill already, but Mali keeps her hand against Zach’s thigh so he’s not about to go and fix it for him. “Well, you know how Mir and Zamina have a bunch of groups together? Bingo, reading, yada yada yada…”

“Uh-huh,” Mali replies.

“Well…”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Zamina says. “We’re the parents!”

His mum laughs. “Zach, Mali, I love you—we all love you—and you letting me move in here is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“Well, show that by actually moving in, Ma,” Zach says.

She sighs. “But you’re also a young couple, and you need your space. You have each other to worry about. You don’t need to worry about me; I’ll be fine. And Mosi and Zamina have a spare room…”

Zach frowns. “Okay.” He wonders if this is one of the times adults want something but don’t actually ask for it. He’s already down to do the Adebayo’s bathroom floor next weekend.

Mali taps his thigh a couple times. “Honey, I think your mum is moving in with mine.”

Oh.Zach had never thought about his mum living anywhere else. It makes sense that she might want to be around people herown age. Zach had been thinking about offering her somewhere else other than the outbuilding now he has more money, but he hasn’t had all that long to think about it since the contract came through. And, to be honest, all his thoughts have been on Mali.

His mum smiles at him. “I am. They have the space, and we love hanging out together. And just because we’re old doesn’t mean we can’t be roommates!”

“What is it you kids say now?” Mosi asks, thankfully back over by the grill. “Roomies?”

“Are you sure?” Mali asks. “You know we’d love having you here.”

Zach knows it’s true. Mali loves having family around, and though he’s not sure he’d be as ecstatic about it as she would be if her parents needed to move in, he’d do it for her.

“I am,” his mum says. “I love you both, and I’d love living with you, but I think this would be for the best. It would make me happy. I want to come and visit you guys; I don’t ever want to think I’m a burden—”

“Ma,” Zach replies, but she raises a hand to stop him.

“Those feelings wouldn’t be your fault, Zachariah. It’s just internal. You know what I mean.” And he does know what she means. He blinks. What are they going to use the outbuilding for now? He chews on his cheek.

“What about De?”

“Devon isn’t coming. He has a flat now,” his mum replies with a smile. “It’s council, and God knows how he got one, but he’s been going to some AA-type meetings. He found this scheme that houses him if he stays sober, on track, and within the conditions of his licence. He still comes round all the time.”

Zach’s been waiting for Devon to get his life together for the longest time, and now he’s missing it. He’s not sure if he can figure out how to forgive him anyway. Mali rubs her thumb across his knee, and he looks down at her. She’s so stupid pretty.

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