Page 48 of Ghost in the Night

The girls cackle. Myah squirms, playing with shells in the sand.

I perk up. “Nah. But … y’all don’t believe in ghosts or nothing?”

“Oh nahhhhhh. I ain’t messing with that stuff. My mama would kill me dead.”

“Hey, you ain’t wanna come in the water?” the other girl asks.

“I don’t know how to swim that good,” I admit.

The girls giggle. “Neitha do we!”

“We got beaches in New York too, though.” I grin. “Aaaaand the best food.”

Myah’s friends freeze, holding up their hands. “Oh, now you starting something!” they say.

Myah’s friends and I spend all afternoon on the beach laughing and kicking it. They tell me about their school,the teachers that sucked, the boys they loved/hated, class trips, and cheerleading. It all feels real normal. I don’t think I’ve had a normal day like that since Grandma died.

Myah’s dad drops me off at last.

“So. Tomorrow?” Myah says from the open window, her eyes saying more than her words.

I nod. “Yes. Tomorrow.”

“All right!” She grins as her dad drives off with a wave. A part of me wants to run after them. But … Dad should be at the club tonight. He never misses a gig. He’s played with the flu and a fever. Doubt he’d skip a gig just ’cause I’m mad at him.

I walk up the porch, where Lena sits waiting.

“Hey, Harmony,” Lena says, folding her hands.

“Hey,” I mumble, shouldering my bag.

“You left in a hurry this morning.”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“Well. You mind sitting for a while,” she says, gesturing to the rocking chairs.

All I want to do is sleep and get ready for tomorrow, but this don’t seem like an invitation. More like a demand. I sit.

“Well. Tell me about your day?”

I’m really not in the mood for chitchat, but I play along. ’Cause if she has something to say about my attitude, I can pop right back.

“Went to the beach. With a friend,” I say dryly.

“That girl Myah, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“And … you couldn’t bring Robby with you?”

I swallow hard. “There wasn’t any room.”

She crosses her arms but keeps smiling. “I see. It seems that Robby was under the impression y’all two had plans today. Something about building a robot? So he was pretty upset he couldn’t go with you. He spent all morning locked up in his room, crying. He’d never tell me that, but I could hear him through his door.”

My stomach drops, my mouth so dry I can’t talk.

Lena gives me a long look. She’s about to give me the business.