Lorraine met Patrice a year later, at Imani’s request, in a hospital cafeteria on Lorraine’s break. Imani sat between them and hated the between and did it anyway. Patrice said, “I am not here to be a mother.” Lorraine said, “Good.” Imani said, “I have one.” They all nodded. Nodding was the dialect. Patrice asked about the nursing list. Lorraine answered. Derrick was not there. His absence was correct. The cafeteria was not a table he got to narrate. They drank bad coffee. Imani said the coffee was a crime. They laughed once. The laugh was small and clean. Clean was enough. Patrice drove home and told Derrick the crime joke. He smiled. The smile was not a victory. It was a report. Reports were allowed.
The second Thanksgiving the pie was cut in the kitchen again. Vanessa brought a extra chair by habit and took it back to the basement herself. The take-back was the apology continuing. Derrick said grace and did not add a name. Patrice had said no names unless all the names. All the names would have been a scene. They were done with scenes. Dayton had its own day. Imani worked. Lorraine slept after a shift. The money had gone on the first. The first was written. Written held. Kids ran through. The game scored. Somebody cheered. The cheer was for a play, not for a secret. Patrice could live with a cheer that was only a play. She ate pie. The pie was sweet. Sweet was allowed to be only sweet.
Mama’s ledger stayed in Vanessa’s closet, not as a weapon, as a file. Vanessa told Patrice where it was. Patrice said she had the carbons. Vanessa said then the ledger can sit. Sitting was the lesson Vanessa was learning late. Late was the family style. They were all late. The chair had been the on-time thing. Patrice did not thank her every visit. Thanking every visit would have made a shrine. She thanked her once, in a parking lot. Vanessa said don’t. Patrice said I already did. They left it.
Imani’s nursing list became a application. Derrick asked if he could pay the fee. Lorraine said the fee was small and yes. Yes was new from Lorraine. He paid it with Patrice at the table. Showing. The rule. Imani sent a one-line got it. One line was her coat. He did not ask for more lines. More lines were a hunger. He was not hungry for a performance. He was hungry for a fee that cleared. It cleared. Patrice said good. They did dishes. Dishes remained the grammar.