Titon

Nina felt a tenseness to her muscles that made her feel more like realistic doll on the tattered chair than a woman of flesh and bones, her brain a violent whirl of stupidity, trying to organize her chaotic life. She had dropped Evan off at his babysitter's house a few hours ago after feeding and bathing him. Everything that belonged to them; clothes, bags, toys, was neatly packed in their suitcases. She didn't bother with cleaning up the place. After all, she wasn't the one to wreak havoc in the poor house. Sighing, she dialed a number and put it on speaker.

One ring, then three. No one picked up.

Nina dialed another phone number and on the second ring, her call was answered.

"Jeanne, it's Nina."

"Duhh I knew who was calling. What's up? How's Evan?"

Jeanne was Nina's long time best friend. They met in highschool the year Jeanne's family immigrated to the US, around five years ago and they instantly liked each other. Jeanne was like a snapshot out of time, with her bouncy, curly hair and glowing mocha skin while Nina was the 'It girl' with massive golden ringlets that tumbled down her shoulders and her blood-red signature lipstick, among other things.

"Enzo threw me out of our house." She sniffled. "We've got nowhere to go Jeanne. My savings won't last us a year—"

"What the hell! Okay. Just calm down, and tell me what happened."

Nina narrated the whole situation to her best friend, adding a little sugar and sprinkles by telling Jeanne her suspicion that Enzo found another woman who told him to kick them out or that his buddy Titon, who never really liked Nina, put him up to this. She was desperate, cold, and worried.

"That fucking bastard! That selfish, narcissistic son of a gun! And you... What the hell was going on in your mind when you decided to blurt out the truth when you know he has a short, explosive temper huh? Get your ass straight to my place and tell Evan I'll be getting him his favorite ice cream. I've got to go, boss is here." Jeanne hung up.

A deep sigh of relief escaped Nina's breath. She knew she could always count on Jeanne.

•••

Lorenzo reached his loft in Manhattan midtown feeling a little lighter than a couple of hours ago. Venting out to a stranger— acquaintance — was like a breath of fresh air in his favorite season, winter. There was something about Riona that drew him to her. She had a way of moving that honest people do, with the spark of a child and a smile that went all the way through her core. Speaking of a child, "Little Evan." He watched his feet take steps across the gray concrete stones as he trudged at a sedate pace.

The door to his loft was the gray of unfurnished silver framed with a varnished plank of wood around the outside edges. He unlocked it with his set of keys and entered. Titon, Lorenzo's longtime and trusted friend was standing in the hallway holding a wooden platter with a piece of warm bread and a hearty slice of roasted pork. One of his bristly eyebrows rose in question at Lorenzo's lateness. It was thirty minutes past midnight.

"Don't give me that look Ti." He warned his friend.

"Look? What look? This one?" He screwed up his face attempting to cheer him up. Titon could sense something was off.

"Would you like some homemade bread with pork? I'll bring the butter."

"Thank man. I'm starving." Lorenzo snatched the platter from Titon's hand and bit into the thick slice of roasted pork."

"I guess I'm gonna have to serve me another plate then." He muttered to himself.

Once done, he sat beside Lorenzo in the dining area and enjoyed his meal. Titon didn't want to squeeze information out of his friend about what happened at Nina's even though his curiosity was eating him up. He trusted that Lorenzo would open up to him when the time was right. Even if the time would be the following morning.

"No can do. The suspense would have already killed me by then." He thought to himself.

Second ticked by as they ate in silence while occasionally glancing at their phones whenever a notification popped up and finally, Lorenzo was done with his food.

"You should definitely start up a culinary business. A restaurant or something." He complimented Titon's cooking skills.

"Been thinking about it, but I'll stick to YouTube for the time being. Until I save up enough for whatever I decide to venture on." He licked his fleshy, pink lips.

Without thinking, Lorenzo blurted out everything from when Nina told him about the truth to leaving Riona's home. He now wondered which step to take with the townhouse now that it would be vacant pretty soon.

"We both know that I had my suspicions about that woman so I won't rub it in your face yelling an I told you so. What's bothering me is, why would she tell you the truth now? Why risk her son's future? Who is Evan's real father?"

"Beats me man. But I don't give two shits about her."

"What about Evan?"

"I— I don't know."

Titon ruffled his teutonic-gold hair that now stood in every direction. Little Evan had rubbed off on him in a familial way. Hell! Titan was envious of Lorenzo's little family ever since Evan was born and was even his godfather! How could they both separate themselves from his life? He'd said to himself that Evan was born with a hurricane for a soul and made a promise to Lorenzo to train him for a quarterback position when older just like he was before retiring due to an injury. A boy like Evan, a golden baby, frenetic and fractious with His father's eyes and golden ringlets like his mother wasn't one to be forgotten. He made it his mission to find his biological father with or without Lorenzo's permission or assistance.