When I think of it, Crystal saved my life. Sure, I’m broke and have no man and an uncertain future, but now I can finally live with myself.
I take her hand. “We all make mistakes.”
* * *
We get off at her bus stop, exhausted but okay. Crystal’s mom lives in a third-floor walk-up, the same place Jules picked her up from on Sunday, which was yesterday but feels like a lifetime ago. We climb a few flights of stairs to her apartment. All the lights are off except for a nightlight in the hall and one light over the cooktop. The smell of dinner lingers in the air, hamburgers maybe. After she checks on Kai, who is peacefully sleeping in a Pack ’n Play, she tiptoes into her mom’s room and emerges with a few blankets. The apartment has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a galley kitchen, and a living room. “You can take the couch. I’m in the room with Kai.”
“Thanks.” I’m so grateful to have somewhere to be. As soon as I get my finances straightened out, I’m going to get my own place. “You want to get a place together?” I ask her, “You know, after I get the money from the new guys who signed up?”69
“Maybe,” she says.
I assume her hesitation is financial and not due to the fact that she nearly killed me.70 “I’ll cut you in for a bigger share of the profits. I would rather run GoldRush together.” Even though I’ve been struggling, it really is one of the hottest new businesses in SoCal. “We’re going to make good money, which reminds me.” I pull out the Crown Royal bag. “I owe you ten grand.”
She takes the money and her eyes well up with tears. “Holy shit. I was wondering why you were carrying a bottle of booze around with you like some weird lush.”
“It’s Kobra’s money from your first date. I said I would pay you, and I meant it.”
“Are you serious about working together?”
“I need someone I can trust, someone who will shove me into an ice block if I get mixed up with any drug kingpins again.”
She starts laughing through her tears “That would be amazing.”
Then she gives me a once-over. “Are you gonna change?” she asks.
I nod. “I mean, I’m trying to. I’ve already put a lot of work in!”
She laughs. “Bitch, that’s not what I meant. I’m not letting you wear that raggedy dress one more minute.”
I laugh. “I think I’m ready to say good-bye to it, too.”
“You don’t have anything to wear, do you?”
“Just this.” I really got my money’s worth.
She heads to her closet and gets a pair of sweatpants, a T-shirt, and cozy socks. I change in front of her and she gives me an approving nod. I’ve never felt so happy to wear sweatpants in my life. She heads to bed and I sit on her couch, wrapped in clean, comfy clothes. I pull up Instagram and see more comments than I can read. Lots of congratulations on finding my mom, some questions about where the hell we are, and more.
The shot of Crystal and me at the club is probably the most popular thing I’ve ever posted. The shot is only from the shoulders up, but we look like Charlie’s Angels.
Max liked it, and it makes me smile.
Tomorrow, I’m going to track him down.
68 She had to pay because LA Metro doesn’t break hundreds.
69 I spent the last week looking for the person who tried to kill me. Now that I found her I want to be her roommate. This is Leo or Scorpio behavior.
70 Pretty sure she’s a Virgo.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
First thing the next morning, I post a pic of @BlackEinstein314 and @Mia4Realz at L’Empire Tacos, the taco truck with the longest line ever. Maybe it was only three days ago, but it feels like a lifetime. It’s the dumbest pic from that photo sesh, a selfie gone totally wrong. You can see part of the food truck, my thumb, and Max just about to take a bite of a taco.
Max, meet me at 8pm at that taco truck where the line is too long and they don’t have the kind of salsa you like. I’m ready to live up to my Insta name.
The post immediately gets a ton of likes, though the comments are varied.
DO IT MAX!
SHE CUTE MAX!
Good luck Mia4Realz. You’ll need it. (This one’s from Fay.)
Stop stalking that man! (This one’s from Crystal standing ten feet away from me. I flag for discussion in the kitchen.)
So many heart emojis!
What you need a white girl for, Max?
Maybe I should have waited a few more days to let him cool off, but there it is. I’ve played my hand. I want Max. I think he wants me. All day today, I’ll try to look casual and trustworthy, just in case he’s watching.
Feeling dreamy, I wander into the kitchen. Crystal’s mom is making breakfast and the smell of sausage fills the whole apartment. With her mom cooking and me wearing one of Crystal’s old basketball T-shirts, it really feels like we’re having a high school sleepover or something. “You must be Mia. Would you like some sausage?” Crystal’s mom asks.
“Nice to meet you, and thank you so much for letting me sleep on your couch last night. But no sausage for me. I’m a vegetarian.” #Brenda.
I zero in on Crystal. “What’s with the cyberstalking comment?”
“OMG, girl. All the posts, tagging him all over the damn place. It’s like you’re Beyoncé asking him out with 150 backup dancers. Plus you got haters.”
She doesn’t understand. “I’m risking public ridicule. It’s JumboTron-sized love. It means more that way.”
“The dude is a lab geek and you’re screaming from the rooftops after knowing him for five days.” She gives me a hard, soul-searching look. “And girl, you still got stitches in your damn head.”
“Uhhhh…” She has some good points.
“Just try not to scare him, Mia. You’re kind of an intense person, in case you haven’t figured that out already.”
I exhale and accept her wisdom. Don’t scare Max, don’t scare Max, don’t scare Max.
Crystal hands me Kai. “Will you give him a bottle while I eat?”
I hold him like a bomb, which confirms my suspicion that I have no experience with children. Crystal laughs at me. “My God. Relax.”
I look into his fat, adorable baby face. “He’s so cute…but I’m never having kids.”
“Yeah you will.”