Page 45 of Ghost in the Night

“Thanks, chat, for asking,” I mumble. “I get it though.”

“Did you talk to your aunt yet about moving in with her?” Truth asks.

“Nah. She don’t really have the space for me either. And … I don’t know.”

Kiki and Truth huff, falling silent, looking as depressed as I feel. We haven’t all looked this sad since Grandma died. And I really don’t know what to say when everything I’ve ever known has been snatched from me. It’s like I’ve been pickpocketed and didn’t know until it was too late to do anything about it.

New home. New school. New friends. Well, not really. Can I even call Myah a friend?

“What are you gonna do?” Truth asks.

After seeing  Jabari’s brother last night, it feels silly thinking about myself when a family just lost their whole world.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Yo.” Truth breathes in deep. “I know this is wack but take it easy on your pops, aight?”

“What? Why?” I snap.

“My mom said it’s mad hard trying to keep a spot in Harlem that you can afford. And everywhere is madexpensive. And your pops is a forreal Harlem dude, born and bred. He probably wasn’t trying to leave either.”

“Yeah,” Kiki says. “Though it’s wild messed up he didn’t tell you what’s up, he also lost his moms. He must be so sad. Just like you. But trying not to show it.”

Everyone in the house seems to freeze as soon as I enter, dressed and ready for another hot day.

“Oh! Morning, Harmony,” Lena says, holding a pot of coffee.

“Morning,” I mumble back. If ghosts are real, I don’t want Grandma popping up on me, telling me I’m being rude.

Dad is at the kitchen table, eating cereal. Doesn’t look like he slept much, and I feel a little guilty for yelling at him like I did. He lost someone too—his mom. But he shouldn’t have lied to me. That much I know.

“Hey, Mony love,” Dad says, but I say nothing. Grandma gotta be mad at him too.

Dad saw me fill out the application, refresh my email amillion times waiting for a response, and the whole time, he knew we weren’t going back to Harlem. Or maybe he wasn’t paying attention at all? Maybe he had no clue how important any of this stuff was to me? My stomach feels queasy, and I wish Grandma was around to give me some of that pink stuff to keep me from throwing up all over myself.

Dad shoots Lena a nervous look. “Uh, Harmony,” Dad says. “Can we talk? I think maybe we should—”

My phone rings and I look down at the unfamiliar number. I’d rather talk to a telemarketer than Dad, and that’s saying something.

“Hello?”

“Hey, girl.” It’s Myah.

She’s not someone I want to talk to either, but anyone is better than Dad.

I step out onto the porch for some privacy. “Hey. What’s up?”

There’s a brief silence before she clears her throat. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything. We cool?”

I sigh. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Okay, cool, ’cause we heading to the beach today.”

“The beach?”

“Yeah. It’s on Tybee Island. Some of my friends from school are going, and we got room for one more in the car if you want to go.”

The beach sounds like everything I need in my life right now.