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apartment. I was slow simmering with that envelope in my back pocket, pretending like I wasn’t hurt. I couldn’t even look at him. He didn’t say a word to me either. He ain’t come home last night, he knew just what was on my mind. He knows I don’t like going through it in front of the kids, and with that stupid smirk on his face he thinks he is safe.
    As soon as Eddy took his coat off Andre was his shadow. Andre sat next to the head of the table with his father and Nina was down the other end with me. Every time Andre cut out a cookie he stared at Eddy and waited until he’d smile or nod. Nina just sat with me and smiled. She always liked when we were all together, but she’s shy. She’d just sit there and admire Eddy from afar. Every five seconds Eddy was glancing at the clock or checking his pager. I knew he was looking for an out, and he sure pounced on it when it came.
    After we took the cookies out of the oven to cool, we all went into the living room to put more candy canes on the Christmas tree. I sent Andre into the kitchen to check if the cookies had cooled so we could frost them. The boy wasn’t in there more than a minute before it sounded like he’d turned over the whole tray of cookies. I was sitting down on the couch watching Eddy and Nina under the Christmas tree when Andre ran into the room, out of breath with frosting all over himself. Nina laughed.
    “It’s not funny,” Andre cried. “A mouse jumped out at me from under the stove and ran over my feet.”
    Eddy laughed and patted Andre on the head as he walked past him into the kitchen. “Goddamn it, Andre!” he roared into the room. I looked in the doorway and he was standing there with his leather coat in his hand. Andre had knocked over the whole bowl of frosting and it had spilled down the inside of Eddy’s leather jacket. He stood there and stared at Andre, then he took three big steps into the living room toward him, Andre’s eyes looked like two full moons, the boy didn’t even have any slippers on.
    “It ran up over my feet, Dad,” Andre said as Eddy shook out his coat. Andre was damn near hyperventilating. “I’m sorry,” he squeaked. “I didn’t mean it.”
    “Don’t be sorry. Be careful! Running from a god-blasted mouse!” Eddy yelled.
    Andre jumped and ran out of the room.
    I couldn’t deal with him anymore. “Jesus, Eddy!” I said, “You need to calm your black ass down. It’s a coat. That’s your son.”
    He ignored me, staring into the hallway like Andre was still there. Then Eddy slid his coat on and just like that he walked out. I heard our front door slam and it was on. I couldn’t even see straight. If I can’t leave, then neither can he. He walked out that door and I was five steps behind him.
Reggie Graham
    Christmas Eve the Squad Six way. All of us—me, D-roc, Buggy, Sticks, Claude, and my cousin Tony—huddled up on the corner of Lothrop, hugging the block to stay warm. Sipping Hennessy and Alizé posting up on the wall in front of Sticks’s crib, getting them bags off. It was our version of spreading the Christmas cheer ’cause that’s what us Squad Six boys do: we get money. It wasn’t too late night, something like eleven o’clock, when E-Bone Battel exploded out his crib spittin’ flames. No more than two steps behind him was Miss Ruby. She was tight too. Eddy got right about to his truck when Miss Ruby jumped in front of the driver’s-side door of his beat-ass blue Bronco.
    We couldn’t call it, but they were blowing hella hard. Then Miss Ruby stopped yelling. She just stood there in front of the truck with her hand fixed high on her hip, dangling a piece of paper in his face. He bucked up and snatched it out of her hand. She stood there, arms folded. He paced back and forth in front of her, still snapping. I couldn’t make out all thebullshit he was popping off, but I caught this much through his bootleg Jamaican accent, “You think me and you are of size, huh? Woman, keep on