Free Nobody's Son by Zaria Garrison

straight home. Instead, she dialed Semaj’s number and asked if he wouldn’t mind having some company.
    â€œYou know you can come by here anytime,” he said as he smiled into the phone.
    â€œHave you had dinner yet? I can stop and pick up something for both of us,” she suggested.
    â€œNo, you don’t have to do that. I’ll order from Vonnie’s Soul Food, and the delivery should be here by the time you arrive. What do you want me to order for you?”
    Maneuvering through traffic Ellen tried to quickly remember what her favorite dish was from Vonnie’s. “I think I’m in the mood for barbeque ribs and a baked sweet potato,” she said finally.
    â€œThat sounds delicious. I think I’ll order the same. See you soon, sweetheart. I love you,” Semaj said before hanging up the phone.
    Ellen felt relieved that he finally seemed to be in a good mood. Although he’d apologized for his disappearing act the previous week, Ellen couldn’t help but still feel concerned about the entire situation. In all honesty, she felt the excuse he’d given her was just plain lame. When he finally called after not answering his phone for four days, he’d told Ellen that he was homesick so he went back to South Carolina for a few days. He told her that a story he was working on had triggered some memories of his grandparents, and he just felt the need to be inside their home and around their things until the feeling passed. When she’d asked what story, he told her it was a story about an elderly couple just like his grandparents who’d passed away following a bad car accident on the same day. While the story somewhat mirrored what had happened in his family, Ellen knew that he covered similar stories all the time and he’d never acted that way before. Since that time he’d been different. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was, but she was sure that he simply wasn’t acting like himself any longer.
    Semaj had been moody since the day they’d met. Ellen had often joked that he had more mood swings than a pregnant woman. One minute he was happy and acting like he was on the top of the world, and the next, he’d be melancholy and sad. They’d discussed it with their pastor during their premarital counseling sessions, and the pastor had chalked it all up to Semaj’s tragic loss of his grandparents at such a young age. She’d learned to live with it, and it had actually become a part of his charm. She was also a loner by nature, so if he wasn’t in the best mood, she’d use that time to do things for herself. But the mood he’d been in for the past week was way beyond anything she’d ever experienced with him before. He wasn’t sad or mad, and he didn’t seem annoyed or even downhearted. If she had to give it a name, she’d have to say that he simply acted lost. It was as if he was behind a brick wall and couldn’t find his way out.
    The delivery driver for Vonnie’s Soul Food pulled into the parking lot of Semaj’s apartments at the same time as Ellen, and they walked to the door together while she savored the smell of the ribs. As Semaj paid the driver, she went into the kitchen to look for drinks. As usual, Semaj had several bottles of his favorite soft drink in the fridge. She took two glasses from the cabinet, filled them with ice, and poured them both full of Mountain Dew Code Red . She took them into the dining room and sat down at the table. Semaj came over and set the plates of food down in front of them. Without a word he sat down beside her and grabbed her hand. Ellen knew that was his way of asking her to say grace. She blessed the food, and then the two of them dug in.
    â€œThese ribs are delicious,” Semaj mumbled in between bites. “It’s too bad Vonnie doesn’t cater. I’d love to have her food for our wedding reception.”
    â€œSpeaking of our