Blend

OVERTIME | goodbye

IT'S WELL past two in the morning by the time I make it back home, exhausted.

After waiting with Ace to be cleared from the hospital, I drove him back to his Uncle's, where they invited me to stay for some celebratory pizza and wings. Ace looked so happy to be with his Dad's family. How could I just leave? And when his mother called, no one could hear anything but her sobs on the other line. We heard how sorry she was that he got caught up in something so unfair. How sorry she was that she wasn't there for him. Didn't take long before he started crying, too. Peewee and I took our exit shortly after that, promising to meet him at the station tomorrow.

The second I step inside my house, the lights flip on.

Mom's standing there in her robe and pink bonnet, angry as hell and channeling her south L.A. upbringing. Dad stands beside her with his arms crossed—more confused than anything.

"Young lady," Ma says, "You mind telling us why we had to learn from your Uncle Raymond that you were on the nine o'clock news, climbing into an ambulance with Ace Jones?"

"And why you are only now getting home?" Dad adds, checking his Apple Watch. 

Oh, right. I had forgotten about the news cameras. They were everywhere by the time we came outside to leave for the hospital.

Peewee whistles slowly, her eyebrows rising. She repositions herself behind my parents, knowing you don't stand between a Black mother and her child. Even in death. "Good luck explaining this away, Dev."

My shoulders sag and I ache for a hot, relaxing bath. It has been a fucking day. I want nothing more than to collapse into bed and sleep for an entire year.

For several moments I just stare back at my parents. They mean well, I know. They're the coolest parents in the world. Wouldn't trade them. And it makes me sad that I felt I couldn't open up about everything I've been going through since I first spotted the dead. That I never gave them the chance to support me.

"Dad. Mom." I clear my throat. "I have something to confess." They just wait, blinking back at me, surprised by my formality. The good news is that I no longer dread the words that are about to come out of my mouth. "I inherited Aunt Atheena's sight. Which means that I've been seeing the dead since I was a kid but never told you because I was afraid you'd think I was crazy the same way you do her."

My dad's eyes bug out. Mom shifts from anger to awe.

I continue, "Also, since Saturday night, Penelope Adams has been hanging around. I've been trying to help her find her real murderer. As of tonight, we finally did. We solved the case and Ace Jones won't have to take the fall anymore."

They remain silent.

"There are a hundred other things I want to tell you right now but I'm so tired and today was a day, so can we continue this conversation over breakfast tomorrow?" When they don't reply, I push through them for the stairs. "Oh, one more thing. I've chosen a major. I want to study Criminal Justice. Not sure where the road will lead with that, but I'd like to honor Penelope's life by finishing what she started."