That October Night

Chapter 39

TOBIAS' BIRTH HAD STALLED enough time for things to return back to normal--well something like that. For one, Raymond and I had a mutual understanding of our feelings. We were in love, but there was absolutely no way that our relationship would flourish if I kept picking at my now five-month virulent wound.

And although every time I caught even the slightest feeling that Raymond was near and was tempted to run into his arms and rip off his shirt, we were surprisingly mature about the whole situation.

I'll tell you one thing: being mature was sometimes a bitch.

Secondly, my friends were doing nothing more than giving me ample reasons to miss them when I finally do leave. We had a few game nights here and there. Kat finally made the first step with her business after she talked it over with her fiancé who was majoring in business. As a thank you gift, she made me the first person to model one of her dresses that Malik did a fire photoshoot of.

Being friends with gifted people was a blessing.

The big bomb drop was that the gang and I got into a fight with Lola for taking cocaine. She ended up in the hospital because of it. Her reason for doing it was that she felt like a zombie with no purpose or motivation in life. We told her to get her shit together because she had the rest of her life to figure out who she was.

Despite telling her what she needed to hear in his blunt Malik fashion, it was obvious that Lola still had a place in his heart. Even Carlos wasn't oblivious to that fact.

Hakeem and his Abuelita taught me how to prepare some finger-licking tostones and empanadillas. I still needed work with the empanadillas, but who knew fried green plantain would be so flavorful?

Yum!

My mother conspicuously cleared her throat as she gave me an urgent stare. With the way Chris and my father were staring at me too, she must have said something important.

"What did I miss?"

"If you weren't so indulged in that tostoses-"

"Chris, it's pronounced tos-to-nes," I grinned, taking another cheerful bite. My Spanish was getting decent if you asked me.

"-tos-tos....whatever, Tweets." Chris dismissed that subject with a hyper wave. "Mums just said we're not moving anymore. Ever."

"No fricking way! Please say that again so that I know that this is real." Throughout this whole back to normal kinda thing we were pulling, I kept thinking that it was only a matter of time for my parents to tell us to pack yet again so that we could get moving.

So you can imagine my surprise now.

My mother gave me a light tap. "Hush child. You're going to wake Toby. Would you like to put him back to sleep if he wakes up?"

I hesitated at the thought. Tobias, who was only two weeks old, was already dominating the whole place like the prince he was. His talent was keeping everyone on their toes, sleeping for hours, and crying.

That baby had about twelve different cries. All for different reasons.

"No way, mums."