Page 36 of The Last Man on Earth
“Going back to school makes sense, though,” I say. “You seem real smart.”
She looks away while the night buzzes and hums around us.
The she asks, “Do you miss her? Your fiancée?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“You don’t really talk about her.”
I ease closer to her, just enough to be able to deny my intent if she asks. “She was a one-night stand I seeded up. I stuck around because I ain’t want my son to be from a broken home. That’s all.”
“Seeded up?”
“Yeah. That’s how I talk.”
“I see.” She swats a mosquito away. “So you don’t love her?”
I hesitate before I answer. “What does it even mean to love somebody?”
Her eyes lock on mine. “If I knew, I would have been in love by now.”
The words sit between us. I stare at her face, what little of it I can see in the sliver of moonlight, and my hand twitches with the urge to cup her chin and pull her to me. Real quick, before I can help myself, I lean closer, just close enough that my lips almost graze hers.
Her eyes flick down, then back up, and it feels like we’re both holding our breath.
But at the last second, I stop.
I clear my throat. “Do youwannafall in love?”
Her voice comes back barely louder than a whisper. “I do. But I don’t know if it’s in the cards for me.”
I take a breath. “Same.”
Whether she means to or not, her hand brushes mine before she rolls onto her back, breathing deep, eyes shut tight like it’s gonna help her fall asleep faster. I don’t even try to fake the funk, I just stare at the outline of her face in the moonlight, trying to figure out why I punked out when I should have kissed her.
DAY FIVE
Chapter 18
Villain
I use a littleless toothpaste today. Usually I do the little pointy mountain peak thing they be doin’ on the commercials, but now I see how wasteful that shit is.
After I get myself fresh, I sit down with Ari for breakfast. Today, it’s artisanal crackers that she divided into quarters like that’s gonna make us forget we’re only eating five crackers each. We got dried apricots, too, and cranberry juice. I didn’t even know we had that.
We eat in silence for a while, the crunch of the crackers loud in the quiet. Then she tells me, “I saw the black box yesterday.”
I look over her, cute and bright in her yellow dress. “How that happen?”
She swallows a dry ass bite of crackers. “I went in there to look at it. It’s intact and bolted to the plane. In the tail area.”
The apricot tastes sour in my mouth. “Why, though?”
Her eyes flick toward the trees, then back to me. “Just in case there was something to your theory.”
“Oh, word?” I grin at her. “So you listenin’ to a nigga now, huh?”
She rolls her eyes. “I need a screwdriver. Or maybe pliers. Maybe both.”
