Page 73 of Bro Code

“Manman said you had a nice dinner together,” she said, cupping her hands to light one.

Louis scoffed a laugh. “Sure, it was fine. Better than last night.”

She tossed the lighter on the table. “That’s good.”

They sat quietly while she pulled on the cigarette. Louis scrubbed his hair. He’d been trying to work out all day how he wanted to say this, and decided that probably the best thing to do was just say it.

“I’m sorry I left you here to deal with all this on your own.”

Chloé didn’t answer right away. She pulled on the cigarette and sent the smoke up to the stars. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not really, though. I feel like I should never have left. It was selfish. I just…took off.”

She sighed. “You know, for a while, I thought so too. I was pretty mad. I was jealous that you were going to see the world. But you know?” She gestured at the view with the cigarette. “I like it here. It’s my home. This is where my friends are, this is where my job is. I like my job. I like the island. I don’t mind living with Manman and Papa, most of the time. And, okay…” She dragged on the cigarette again, and spoke around the smoke. “Yes, it’s been hard since Manman started going through all this. But I don’t resent you, or anything. You never fit in here. You had to leave, this place wasn’t good for you. And you’re sending us money. I appreciate that.”

She blew the smoke and they sat in silence for a while. Then she turned and held the cigarette out to him. Louis gave her a disapproving eyebrow, then sighed and took it.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to come back.”

“Well, this house is harder for you. I don’t blame you.”

He nodded, coughing and waving away smoke. It had been years since he’d smoked, and he wished he hadn’t. “I’ll try to do better. I’ll come back.”

“That would be nice.” She put out two fingers for the cigarette and he handed it back. “It doesn’t have to be all the time. Maybe Christmas? Lots of people come back for Carnival. And you know we have Kreyol Pride now – maybe you can come to that next year.”

“Maybe you could come to Montreal.”

She laughed and leaned forward to ash over the balcony rail. “And freeze my ass off? In the snow? No, thank you.” She studied the glowing tip of the cigarette, and sighed. “But I’ll try and do better too. It’s not like I’ve been staying in touch, either. I only called you because I needed help with Manman.”

“That’s okay. You’re busy.”

“We’re all busy, Louis.” She eyed him. “It’s no excuse.” She pulled on the cigarette again, then declared, almost triumphantly, “I’m going to watch hockey.”

Louis laughed. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Why not? I’m curious! People go crazy when we show it at the bar. There must be something about it.”

Louis held out his hand for the cigarette again. “I mean, I think so.”

“It seems so out of character for you. I thought you were into nerd stuff. Whatever happened to Star Trek?” She ashed it again and passed it.

“There’s no rule that says you can’t like hockey and Star Trek.”

“Who’s your team?”

“Canadiens.” He dragged on the cigarette.

“I still don’t understand why you chose Canada of all places.”

He lifted one shoulder, blowing smoke. “They like hockey and they speak French. I think I just wanted to go somewhere that felt like a million miles away from here.”

“I can see that.” She put out her hand and he passed it back. “If I came for a visit, I suppose it would be a good excuse to buy a cute winter outfit.”

“It doesn’t snow all the time, Sé. The summers are nice.”

She stubbed the cigarette out in the flowerpot and leaned back in the chair with her hands behind her head. Louis crossed his feet on the balcony rail and closed his eyes. The breeze was warm, and he could hear music from a car stereo parked down the hill.

He thought about five years, maybe eight. He thought about Manman’s treatment plan. He thought about Papa. He thought about Riley, and how much he was looking forward to seeing him, and the thought of that made him warm all over.