The nephew grew and stopped asking. Stopped asking was peace. Patrice noticed and did not mark it. Marking was a shrine. She cut slices. Slices were policy. Derrick said grace short. The short held. Dayton texted or did not. Either was a full day. Full was the win. She ate. The game was a game. The kids were kids. The chair was under a cloth. The cloth was correct. She did not lift it. Lifting it would have been a scene. Scenes were retired. Retirement held. The pie was sweet. Sweet was only sweet. She wanted only sweet. She had it, on a plate, in a ugly room, with the names known and not used as knives. Known was the grace. She took it.
Lorraine retired the envelope under the towels. The papers went in a file that matched Patrice’s file without either of them planning the match. Match was accidental and correct. She told Imani where the file was. Imani said I don’t need it. Lorraine said then it sits. Sitting was the lesson traveling to Dayton. Lessons could travel without a scene. They traveled. The shift continued. The first of the month continued. Continuation was the adult version of a chair that did not have to be explained again.
Patrice’s work gave her a small raise. She spent none of it on a trip to Dayton. Spending it on a trip would have been a hunger. She spent it on a better knife. The knife cut pies clean. Clean cuts were a policy you could hold. Derrick said the knife was serious. She said pies are serious. He smiled. The smile was ordinary. Ordinary stacked into a year. The year did not have a uncut pie. That was the measure. She told June the measure. June said you are impossible and correct. Patrice said I’ll take correct.
Derrick stood in the back of another ceremony, a pinning, left when Lorraine’s text said now. Now was a boundary. He honored it. He told Patrice he had left at the text. She said good. Good was old and still the right size. Imani sent a photo of the pin to both. Both. The word again. Patrice did not print it for the fridge. Fridges were for people who lived in the house. She saved it in a folder. Folder was honest. Honest was the campaign. The pin was Imani’s. The pride was allowed to be quiet. Quiet pride was the opposite of a table announcement. She preferred it. Preference was a life.