Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Nika frowned. “That’s recycling. Now why are you coming after me, when I’m trying to save the planet for the future kids in the world?”
Kaoru had been silent most of the time as he stood near the wall, but finally he spoke, “Newspaper?”
"Yep," Deja chuckled. "She uses sheets of the newspaper and then puts them in bags and throws them away because she don't even want to flush the toilet too much, so she can keep the water bill down."
"I flush the toilet sometimes. Shoot. You’re just jealous my bill is never three figures like yours." Nika now sat on the side eating a muffin the staff had put out.
"Nika is so cheap," Deja continued, "that she reuses tomato sauce.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean she reuses it?”
“When her kids eat spaghetti or anything with sauce, she'll scoop whatever's left on the plates right back into the jar for later."
“Ewww.” I scrunched up my face in disgust. “Come on now, Nika.”
Zo stopped rolling the joint. “Hold on. When I came to your house three years ago and you gave me that lasagna. . .that wasn’t reused tomato sauce? Right?”
Nika held out her hands. “When you cook the sauce again all the germs go away.”
Zo looked like he was about to vomit.
“Nika!” I widened my eyes. “You and I would be fighting in the street. I’m talking fists and hair dragging all over the block.”
“Girl, if you can’t twerk, you damn sure can’t fight.” Nika waved me away. “Now none of my kids or me have ever gotten sick, and neither any of my dinner guests.”
Deja sucked her teeth. “That’s why you will never find my sexy ass eating anything out Nika’s house. Girl, I won’t even have a glass of water. If I’m thirsty, I would rather almost die from dehydration and have the ambulance come get me, because only God knows what she done did to the water. Might have got it out the back of the toilet bowl or something, thinking she saving money on the water bill.”
“Now, that’s just crazy.” Nika rolled her eyes. “You’re doing too much.”
Zo still had not returned to rolling the joint. “I almost died. I’m basically a survivor of some sort. I need a pinned ribbon to put on my shirt.”
"And speaking of her making lasagna.” Deja finished a braid and placed it in front of me. “Do you know that Nika uses her dishwasher as an oven?"
I blinked. "Now I know you are lying to me. Right?"
Shocked, Kaoru spoke again, "How is that even possible?"
“Okay. When I explain this to you, you’re going to be like. . .Nika, you are so fucking genius.” Nika put the muffin down and faced Kaoru. "The dishwasher has a heat cycle for drying. So you just put your regular dishes in there, but then you put your lasagna, chicken, or your pot roast on the top rack. Make sure the pan is covered in foil so it doesn’t get wet during the washing process. And when the dry cycle comes on, boom, the food gets cooked."
There was a beat of silence.
Then everyone burst out laughing.
Zo shook his head. "You are absolutely insane."
"I'm resourceful," Nika corrected.
Zo was laughing so hard he had to put the weed paper down.
Even Rin, who'd been leaning against the wall the entire time staring at Deja, had a faint smile on his face.
Actually, it wasn't faint anymore. He was fully smiling now. And it made him look less bored and more. . .dangerous.
I smiled despite myself. This was exactly what I needed.
Distraction.
Laughter.
Normalcy.
Below us, the movie was almost done. I could hear kids laughing down in the theater. The sound of it made my chest ache.
So far, everyone on the island was happy and safe.
The kids’ laughter rose some more.
I swallowed.
Kenji wanted kids. He'd told me that with the afterglow of fire play in his eyes.
I wasn't sure if I was ready. We'd never had a real conversation about it—the kind where couples sat down and talked timelines, plans, and whether their love was stable enough to build a life inside of.
And then there was the Kiko chick. The woman who might already be carrying his twins. A truth that sat in my chest like a splinter I couldn't reach.
But right now, with the children laughing below me and my man somewhere in Tokyo walking into God knows what. . .none of that mattered.
I wanted to give him a child.
The feeling hit me so hard my hands went still in my lap. I wanted to carry something of his inside me. I wanted to watch him hold a tiny-mixed version of us and see the Dragon disappear from his eyes.
My mind tried to build the picture. Him in a doorway. Me in a bed. A tiny hand wrapped around his finger.