Major Crimes by Aime Austin

Author:Aime Austin [Austin, Aime]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781644140901
Publisher: Moore Digital Media

Eighteen

Sarah

April 22, 1973

I’m not sure if I ever believed in God, but right now I was praying that Wayne Cooley would answer the door. It had already been a couple of minutes without any response. I pressed the buzzer a third time for good measure. Finally, I saw him running down the stairs in shorts and socks. He pulled open the glass door to the building. He stood on the inside, I on the outside when no immediate invitation was forthcoming.

“Sarah? Is that you?” He looked at his wrist, then realized it was bare. “What time is it?”

“It’s late. I know. I’m sorry,” I blurted. I didn’t want to answer the time question because it wasn’t a decent hour for company by any polite standard. And if there was one thing I knew about the Cooleys, it was that they followed all the rules of etiquette spoken and unspoken. “I just didn’t know where else to go.”

Wayne’s face was a squint of confusion. “Go?”

I hoisted my duffle so he could see it. “Dad kicked me out.”

“What?” Realization dawned. He stepped back and motioned me inside. “Come on upstairs.”

I followed him up the steps all the while looking around. It was a new brick apartment building in Brooklyn. I wondered if there were other Negroes here. Or why he was living on the westside. I didn’t ask anything about any of that, just watched him fiddle with a key and the door. After I dropped my duffle, I walked into the living room. There was a woman sitting on the plaid couch. She had a glass in her hand. Probably had beer in it. She looked very comfortable. In an instant I understood why he’d taken so long to come down, why he had no shoes, why he had no watch. Oh, God. This was a very bad time to have come.

“You have company,” I sputtered as I tried to back out of the apartment, but Wayne grabbed my arm. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered for his ears only as he steered me back inside and closed the door behind us.

“Mary, this is Sarah. She’s my sister’s best friend.”

“Hi. Um. You have the same name as his mom?” It was probably the stupidest question I could have asked.

This much younger Mary put her glass down on the table. “Wayne, I’ll go. This doesn’t appear to be a good time.”

“You don’t have to—” Wayne protested.

She waved a hand. Interrupted before he could say more. “Call me later. I’ll get a bus. Don’t worry.”

Before I could object or Wayne could get words out convincing her otherwise, Mary put on a rain jacket and slipped rubber galoshes over her shoes. She picked up an umbrella I hadn’t seen and let herself out. After his door closed a second time, I spun on my heel at a loss for what to do.

“I didn’t mean—”

His wave was as nonchalant as Mary’s had been.

“She’s just a girl. We’ve been dating a couple of months. She’s not as important to me as you are.

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