Eventually, a Thai restaurant was selected, and Jodie placed the order for the three of them. Mitch tried to ignore her withering glare when he said that he was only interested in a side of white rice, and eventually reached a compromise by getting some red curry sauce as well. Most of the totes were stacked next to the couch, with the exception of the ones that contained clothing, which were brought up to Jodie’s room. Somehow, she’d exercised enough restraint to not ask about or trash talk Calvin; instead, she informed them both of the progress being made to get ready for the brewery’s opening while they ate around the coffee table and half paid attention to some awful horror film that played on the TV.

“It should be after Graveyard Smash. Mid November, I wanna say.” she noted.

“That’s not too stressful?” pressed Mitch, incredulous that this endeavor had been less about being a business owner and more about burying herself in work to avoid grief.

“Of course it is!” Jodie threw her arms wide open. “But you know me. If I’m not doing a million things at once, I will cease to function. And besides, that’s what co-owners are for. I’ll do the behind the scenes stuff, and they handle the initial whirlwind of PR and whatnot.”

“Do you ever take a vacation?” Avi asked between mouthfuls of pad kee mao.

“Never! But! I’m going with Dad to Santo Domingo this Christmas!” she responded enthusiastically. “Gonna meet a whole lotta family that I didn’t even know existed. Apparently I’ve got like 50 cousins or something wack like that.”

“Is it your first time going?” Avi set his fork down, giving her undivided attention.

“It is!” confirmed Jodie.

“But you’re mostly going to get drunk on the beach,” Mitch smirked.

“That is also true!” Jodie nodded. “Ideally, I’ll be blacked out for a week, which will keep any awkward interaction down to a minimum. It’s a shame that Mitch refuses to come and pretend to be my boyfriend so that everyone can see what a good Christian girl I am.”

“I get fucked up when I meet like, one new person,” he scoffed, then added, “And how would that work when I’m clearly your dad’s boyfriend?”

“Oh, you and Victor?” Avi perked up, “Because I’m pretty sure that Victor wants me.”

“Don’t come for my man, Avi,” warned Mitch.

“Are you both done? Because he’s right next door, y’all can go sleep over there,” Jodie deadpanned, her thumb hitched in the direction of Victor’s half of their duplex. “I’m sure his girlfriend would be stoked.”

“Nora’s cool with it, I’m sure,” Mitch said dismissively, glad that Jodie was to his right so that she couldn’t punch that arm. She did, however, wad up a napkin and throw it at the side of his face.

“Gonna start charging you both rent,” she sulked, much to both Mitch’s and Avi’s amusement and dismay.

Later, while Jodie and Avi were fully engaged in conversation about the school, Mitch excused himself to scrape his untouched rice into the trash, and retreated into Jodie’s bedroom. He dug through the totes that were set down by the laundry chair, until he’d come across his most prized possession: a gray plush rabbit, lumpier in some parts than others and nearly worn down to the stuffing.

“Hi Cendre.” His voice trembled, and he turned the stuffed animal over to determine if it’d remained undamaged. After he was satisfied with his examination, he kissed the top of its head between the floppy ears and held it close to his chest. With his knees at risk of buckling, he collapsed onto the bed then crawled under the covers. Burying his face in the matted fabric, he allowed hot tears to freely spill and be absorbed into the little rabbit’s body. A sob tore out of his throat that was followed by another, but was muffled so that no one else could hear him.

This needed to get purged out of him once and for all, and the last thing that he wanted was witness to his shame, or the consolation that inevitably accompanied that. “I’m sorry,” he murmured between hiccups, although to whom the intended recipient that statement was for was anyone’s guess.