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Malik gives a low whistle. “Auntie Delta ain’t wrong, but I don’t think the feds care about the fact that we’ve had this land for a century.”
“Nope. They certainly don’t care about how we’re the only Black family in the state that owns such a large piece of coastal land.”
Plunging the mop in the bucket, I clean the Airstream’s floors in smooth, practiced sweeps. Then I roll the bucket to the front door and shoo Malik outside.
I grab the handle of the sloshing mop bucket and lift it. Focusing on the next trailer, I’m not even paying attention when a blurry toddler streaks across the yard toward me. I hear a joyous shriek of laughter just before the kid barrels right into my legs. It takes all my strength not to let the mop bucket tip over onto him. He has sandy brown hair, bright red cheeks, and wears the cutest bright-yellow fleece onesie that I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Malik jumps in and lifts the boy up and out of danger. The kid laughs and bends backward. Malik grips the kid and gapes.
“Ethan!” A harried-looking young woman wearing an oversized white T-shirt and teeny black shorts appears. She sees her son in Malik’s arms and flushes. “Oh my goodness. Ethan, what kind of trouble did you get into now?” She hurries to scoop her kid out of Malik’s arms, looking apologetic. “Sorry. He’s a handful.”
Ethan drops his red sneaker on the ground. My stomach twists as I bend down to retrieve it. It’s so tiny!
“Oh, shoot.” Ethan’s mom holds out her hand expectantly. “Thanks for grabbing that.”
I drop it onto her waiting palm. Sucking in a huge breath, I give her a tight-lipped smile. “He’s adorable. How old is he?”
She jiggles Ethan on her hip and puts the little shoe back onto his bare foot. “Eighteen months. I love him, but god, he’s always into something these days. They don’t tell you about that in sex ed class. They just tell you about having a little angel baby,” she jokes. “Ethan is always moving around, always getting in something. But he’s cute.” She touches her baby on his nose. He laughs and puts his thumb in his mouth.
“He sure is. If you ever feel like you want a night alone, come knock on my door. I live just over there.” I gesture to the trees behind us. “I love kids!” My eyes connect with Ethan’s. I think of how much I mean what I just said and hot tears prick my eyes.
Ethan’s mom gives me a strange look and mutters her thanks. Then she turns and hurries back to her rented trailer.
Wrinkling my nose, I sigh. “I just freaked her out, didn’t I?”
“Yup.” Malik rocks on his heels. “You have baby fever something fierce. You better get on CupidsArrow and find yourself a man to father your kids.”
I heave a sigh. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course.” Malik slides me a sneaky grin. “I love a secret.”
“Malik, I want a baby so damn bad. Did I tell you how much the sperm bank quoted me?”
His eyebrows lift. “No… Dare I ask?”
I give a humorless chuckle.
“It’s pretty damn expensive for the sperm bank to match me with a sperm donor. Like fifty thousand dollars for them to match me and get me pregnant.”
“Whoa! I went into the wrong line of work.”
“Yeah, seriously. And get this. I asked if they have donors that would not be sickle cell carriers, since I already know that I’m a carrier. And the doctor told me that they could do it, but the bank’s fees would almost double. Can you imagine?”
Malik sucks his teeth. “I’m telling you. You just get drunk one night with those Billion Dollar Bennetts and see if you don’t get yourself knocked up. I’m betting that River’s got real good genetic material.”
I roll my eyes, turning away from my little brother. “Yeah right. Like River is just going to sleep around without using protection. Not very likely.”
“I think it’s more likely than you think.”
I slip my arm around Malik’s waist. “You’re crazy. Now come on. You sit and keep me company while I do the other trailers. I want to hear about how your art is going.”
Malik gives me a squeeze and grabs the mop bucket. We start walking toward the next rental.
Five
River
At ten minutes to ten, I pull my truck into a grass clearing off the little two-lane highway tucked in the flat stretch of land below South Shore. I park next to a dozen other vehicles, most in varying states of old and decrepit. The beach sits on my left, looking peaceful in the night air. To my right, the ground rises steeply and then levels out, leaving a natural bluff.
