Harmony tuned out Aaliyah's mellifluous voice concentrating on Lela's clamorous knocking on the bathroom door, "How long has she been in the tub?" She pulled another Styrofoam container out of the paper bag and added it to the collection on the granite countertop.

It was the deal of a lifetime that Alyssa discovered and would remind everyone of that fact. A four-bed, two-bath townhouse with Brazilian wood floors, crown molding, and a garage; that was rent-controlled as long as they stayed in school and kept a 3.0 GPA. 

Safiya scooted back on the countertop, "About an hour." She counted the time on the digital clock above the TV in the living room. "Yeah, close to an hour." She balanced the orange plate on her lap.

"Is that kind of...long." Harmony crumbled the paper bag and then tossed it in the trash.

Safiya stopped twirling the Lo Mein noodles around her fork hearing Lela's voice ask Are you still alive, in the background. "Alyssa's soaking. Let her soak." She stuffed the wad of noodles in her mouth.

Lela shuffled back to the kitchen, "She's alive." She retied the strings to her green and purple floral shorts. "I think I heard her breath." She squinted at Safiya.

Safiya stopped chewing. "What?" she mumbled through her full mouth.

"Should you be eating that?" Lela looked at Safiya sideways then turned her eyes to Harmony.

"What?" Harmony shrugged scooping fried rice onto the yellow plate. "It's just a little Lo Mein." She stopped scooping, her hand slowly traveled up to her mouth. "Oops. I got seafood. Spit it out! Spit it out!"

Safiya dropped the half-chewed glob of noodles onto the plate as Harmony quickly removed the plate from her hands.

"So, you're keeping it," Lela reached for two eggrolls.

Safiya took the eggroll Lela handed her, "Yes." She answered slowly.

"Con...grat...u...lations?" Harmony quizzically spoke throwing Safiya's masticated dinner in the trash.

"Congratulations for what?" Alyssa entered the kitchen as lilac hung behind her like Pigpen's dirt cloud.

"Oh! You don't know." Lela gasped grabbing a plate out of the cabinet. "Fiya here is knocked up."

"What!" Alyssa harked dabbing the damp spot her wet ponytail left on her dark gray sweatshirt. "When did this happen?"

"What?" Safiya's eyebrows bunched up chewing on the last bit of her eggroll. "When I found out or when I told them." She pointed to Lela and Harmony standing by their little island.

"It doesn't matter." Alyssa swept her moist feet across the cold hard floor. "Who's the father?" She took the plate Lela and Harmony assembled line to her.

Safiya kicked her dangling feet wildly, "How do you know it's not Garner's?"

"Because...you've only been with him for a month." Alyssa dumped a heap of orange chicken onto her plate. "And you're too absent-minded to notice you missed your period in a month." She shoved a spoonful of rice in her mouth.

Harmony nodded sipping on a glass of iced lemonade.

"She's right," Lela said. "You're always using my tampons because your Aunt Flo surprised you."

Safiya rolled her eyes at Alyssa when she wasn't looking, holding her tongue because she didn't know how fragile her friend was.

Safiya stopped kicking her legs as they eagerly glued their eyes to her tightly sealed mouth. She pulled her lips apart slowly like a Band-Aid on a fresh gash. "I didn't know this at the time..."

"What? Is he married?" Lela laughed.

Safiya bit on her bottom lip looking down at her pink cotton dress.

"He's married!" Harmony's eyebrow flew up along with her voice's octave.

Alyssa's fork clung to her plate, "How could you? Does girl code mean anything to you?"

"I said I didn't know," Safiya yelled hopping off the countertop. "The second I found out I broke it off." She withheld that tidbit about them having sex early today but they didn't need to know that. She took a deep breath, "It's—" She took another breath, this name was going to knock their bras off. "It's Carter Russell."

"Stop lying!" Lela shouted slapping her hands on the frigid countertop. "Sex in a blazer Russell?"

"My Russell!" Harmony articulated with her hand on her heart.

Safiya frowned as a possessive cord in her heart was plucked by Harmony's words. She shook it off.

Harmony continued, "Professor Russell!"

"His wife is my therapist." Alyssa fumed. "Bitch!"

"Look!" Safiya pointed her finger at Alyssa like it was a finely sharp butcher's knife. "I'm trying to be nice to you....but you're making it pretty damn hard."

Alyssa folded her arms; narrowing her eyes, "Don't try. Let it rip."

"This isn't the time." Harmony held out her arms like a referee at the World Series game. "How was therapy?"

"I'm not talking about that." Alyssa pushed her plate away, her plate barely touched. "I'm moving on."

"Moving on." Safiya mouthed to Lela.

"Moving on? What does that mean?" Lela asked. "Detective Jensen already found him?"

"No." Alyssa plucked a still-warm highball glass out of the dishwasher. "I'm just not talking about it. End of discussion." She glared at them with the gleam of a drill sergeant flickering in her eye.

The girls looked at each other as Alyssa filled her cup with the faint yellow liquid. Safiya feigned a look of bewilderment. Lela gestured for Harmony to inquire more. Harmony nodded away the plea as Lela sighed her disapproval, so they all could hear. "Okay. Change of subject." Harmony twirled one of her curls around her finger. "I have a sister. Ariel O'Connor."

"Say what now?" Samuel's voice boomed through the kitchen causing them all to leap out of their skin.

"How'd you get in here?" Alyssa shouted gripping her stomach.

"Key." Samuel dangled the silver key in Safiya's face.

"Next time call before you come over!" Alyssa shot darts from her eyes and then ran up the stairs.

A wide-eyed, open-mouthed Samuel furrowed at the girls, "I never call."

"She's adjusting." Harmony snatched their spare key out of his hand.

"I'll go check on her," Lela affirmed. Safiya trailed behind her.

"So, what's this about Ariel O'Connor." Samuel stole a chunk of orange chicken from Alyssa's plate and tossed it in his mouth.

"I met Laurent today." Harmony swung open the French door of the fridge. "Apparently, she's my sister." She kicked the door closed. "I haven't met her...."

"This is a problem." Samuel stroked his forehead.

"Nothing's going to change." Harmony smiled lightly sitting the pitcher on the countertop, "You're still my brother." She punched him in the shoulder.

Samuel fell over gripping the countertop. He took labored breaths.

Harmony rubbed his back, "What's wrong?" She didn't see the 5'11 boulder-bodied, quick-talking college-sophomore brooding. No, before her eyes were the little boy that trailed behind her with the Radio Flyer begging to be pushed; the soft-spoken boy that climbed into her bed during rainstorms because the thunder frightened him to the core.

Samuel kept his head down counting the flicks of black crystals in the tan granite countertop. This was worst than when he pulled all her doll heads off and fed them to Rascal, the dog next door, or when he dyed her hair orange while she slept because she snapped his Grand Theft Auto game in half. "Ariel and I.... made out."

"What!" Harmony slapped his arm.

"We kissed." He grabbed her wrist stopping her assault on his throwing arm. "Once. That's it. I was drunk." He let her wrist go and stuck his finger at her. "Stop." 

"No making out. No hooking up." Harmony pushed his finger out of her face, replacing it with hers. "We're a family. My sister is your sister."

Samuel shrugged, "Got it." He stole another one of Alyssa's orange chicken chunks. "Handshakes and hugs." He tossed the chicken in his mouth forging toward the living room.