Free Man Candy by Melanie Harlow Page A

you
    could?”
    “More about her life—her childhood
    growing up in Hamtramck, what it was
    like being the daughter of immigrants,
    why she waited so long to get married
    and start a family. She was over forty
    when she had me, which I didn’t ever
    think about before, probably because
    anything over twenty-five seemed
    fucking ancient anyway, but now I
    wonder about it. And when my father left
    her alone with a baby, what was that like
    for her?” I took another drink before
    going on. I’d never said these things out
    loud before, but it felt good, actually.
    “Was she angry? Hurt? Did she miss
    him? She never talked about him, and I
    had zero memories of him, of course, so
    it wasn’t as if I missed him and asked
    questions. But what was he like? What
    made her fall in love with him?”
    “I bet he was handsome.” She said it
    nicely, possibly the only reference she’d
    ever made to my looks without making
    fun. “He must have been.”
    “Maybe. Guess we’ll never know,
    since there are no pictures.”
    “Really? Are you sure about that?”
    I shrugged. “None that I ever saw. I
    haven’t gone through every single box in
    the attic, so I guess it’s possible, but
    there wasn’t anything in her bedroom or
    any other areas of the house. I don’t think
    she was sentimental about him.”
    “Still. He was her husband and the
    father of her child. Hard to imagine not
    keeping any evidence of his existence,
    even if it was just for your sake.” She
    put a hand on her chest. “I mean, I’m the
    least sentimental person I know, and I
    think I’d secret away some thing.”
    “Maybe I’ll look around up there,” I
    said, although I wasn’t entirely sure I
    needed to see a picture of the man who’d
    abandoned my mother when there wasn’t
    anything I wouldn’t give to have her
    back. “I have to get all our stuff out of
    that house anyway. I’ve been putting it
    off, to be honest.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “Because there’s so much up there,
    and the vast majority of it is useless old
    shit that should be thrown away, and it’s
    hard to make myself do it.”
    “Want some help?” she offered.
    “Like I said, I’m not sentimental at all.
    I’ll be ruthless. It could be one of our
    dates!”
    I smiled at her. “That will not be one
    of our dates, but thanks for the offer. I
    might wait until my condo is ready,
    anyway. That way I’d have a place to
    keep things if I wanted them.”
    “Alex said it will be ready in about
    a month?”
    “Looking to get rid of me?” I gave
    her the side eye.
    “Definitely.”
    “Well, I talked to the guy yesterday,
    and he told me three more weeks at
    least. Apparently there was something
    wrong with the electrical.”
    “Where is it?” she asked, tucking her
    legs underneath her.
    I told her about the condo I’d chosen
    in a renovated skyscraper, its downtown
    location, and the awesome view I’d
    have of Comerica Park. “Although I’d
    rather watch from inside the park. I can’t
    wait to go to a game.”
    “I noticed you wear a Tiger hat in a
    lot of your Instagram pics,” she said,
    pouring herself more wine.
    “Wow, you’re really into me on
    Instagram, aren’t you?” After elbowing
    her gently, I took the bottle from her and
    poured myself more too.
    She elbowed me back. “Be nice. Or
    no dates.”
    “Oh, no. We already sealed the deal
    on those. You are stuck with me on
    several future occasions.” I set the bottle
    down. “So do you want to tell me about
    these rules ?” I made little air quotes
    around the word rules, so she’d know
    what I thought of them.
    She sat up straight, ignoring my
    sarcasm. “No sleepovers. No excessive
    cuddling. No getting mad if I don’t call
    or text back some days, no leaving things
    at my apartment, and no talking about
    feelings, ” she finished, rolling her eyes.
    I nodded slowly, like I was taking it
    all in. “OK, define excessive. Like, if I
    do this…” I took her wine glass and set
    it on