Page 111 of Not the Plan

There was an awkward silence. Karim glanced at the phone to be sure it did say “Mo.”

“It’s over, huh?” Mo asked.

“Yeah.”

There was some background noise on Mo’s end, like a TV with a game on.

“Did I…um…text you at a bad time?” Karim asked.

Mo cleared his throat.

“No. ’S okay. Sounded important.” The TV went off.

Karim wasn’t sure what to say and thought to just thank Mo for calling at all, but then Mo cleared his throat again and spoke.

“She ask for anything?”

“No, I got everything I wanted, don’t have to do anything. I’m totally free.”

“Good.”

“But I’m not happy. I feel…” Karim swallowed hard. “Like I failed.”

“Normal.”

“That’s normal?” Karim asked.

“Yep.”

Karim waited for him to elaborate, then remembered who he was talking to. Mo was never one to elaborate. He took a breath.

“So you’re telling me it’s normal to feel bad after getting divorced, even if I really, really wanted—well, needed to get divorced?”

“Yep,” Mo said.

“But I am happy. Well, relieved. I just didn’t think I’d feel this…”

“Empty?” Mo asked.

“Yeah,” Karim said.

They sat in silence another moment, and Karim realized that was fine, good actually. He didn’t need his eldest brother to say anything. He sighed. Mo grunted. It made Karim smile.

“How’s Maddie?” he asked.

Mo grunted again, and Karim could tell it was a different grunt, a happy one.

“First place. Science fair,” Mo said.

“Excellent,” Karim said. “Tell her Uncle Karim’s proud of her.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks for the call.”

Mo grunted again and hung up.

Karim put the phone down on the coffee table and returned to the sliding glass door. Only then did he notice how dark it was outside. The twinkling of the city lights made Midtown Sacramento brighter, prettier than it had been in days. But if the night was coming to life around him, that meant it was much later back in Detroit. He hadn’t meant to reach out to Mo so late. But his big brother had called when he’d needed him. Karim caught his own lopsided smile in his reflection in the door. It was definitely the first time he’d smiled in the past two weeks.

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