Page 73 of The Do-Over

I never went to another dance class. But it was replaced with soccer, music classes, gymnastics, any number of things I never took to. One humiliating experience after another, one failure after another.

The difference between Lilah and me was I understood other people were laughing at me; she didn’t. I couldn’t let her do this.

“Lilah, do you think this is a good idea?”

Her face scrunched in concentration. “You don’t think the whippoorwill call is good enough? I thought about doing a peacock and a great horned owl and a cardinal.”

I held out a hand to her. “Come here.”

She sat next to me on the couch. Her warm little body curled next to my side and my heart climbed into my throat.

“I think you sounded great. I love that you know all about birds, but I’m not sure other people will like your bird sounds—”

“Calls. Bird calls.”

“—calls, sorry, the way your dad and I do.”

She pushed back from my side. “So?”

“So? If you do this in front of the entire school, they might make fun of you.”

Her shoulder lifted and fell. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I don’t care if they say things. Daddy says I should always be me.”

“Kids can be very mean.”

Her little hand patted my knee as if to comfort me. “I can handle it.”

With that, she climbed off the couch, settled again on the floor at my feet, and handed me the comb. She practiced her bird calls the entire time I worked the tangles out of her hair.

TWENTY-EIGHT

“You can lead a horse to water,

or you can drag it inch by inch.

Either way, it’s gonna get thirsty sometime.”

—MIMI

Bria had been avoiding me. I’d called, I’d texted, I’d made Mathias go with me to the fast-food place she worked at, but she was always too busy to talk. She was as slippery as a snake coated in baby oil, as Mimi would say. It hadn’t escaped my notice, and I was worried.

When I brought my concerns to Stella, she’d explained that Bria had taken a third job. “Her grandmother asked her to send more money to help with her brothers.”

“She can’t work three jobs. That’s ridiculous. When is she supposed to sleep or eat or study?”

Stella smiled sadly. “This is the way it is, Perci. Some women get overwhelmed and get back in trouble. Other women like Bria, they work themselves to death trying to make up for their failures. It’s a lot of pressure they put on themselves.”

So, I decided if I couldn’t go to Bria, I’d have to bring her to me. I had to resort to trickery, but it was for her own good, which was why I was sitting in Stella’s tiny office on a Tuesday night. But I had such exciting news for her, I wanted to tell her in person.

“She said she was coming, right?” I asked.

Stella didn’t lift her face from the paperwork she was filling out. “Yes. For the twelfth time. She’s coming.”

“Okay. Good.” I pulled out my phone and puttered around on it, checked the time, crossed my legs, and tucked the phone back in my purse.