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“What’s your favorite dessert?”

“Liver and onions”

I made a face “Ew! I don’t want that!”

“Then you better run fast One… two… three… go!” she shouted

I took off running toward the water as the sun began to get sleepy and the sky looked like cotton candy My ars allowed I fell into the water It hitaround as the waves splashed against hed and danced and felt Mama’s love as the water moved with us

Maybe Graht Maybe Mama was a part of the ocean That made me happy because thatinto the water Plus, Grams said I could see Mama when I looked at myself, too From my natural coiled hair to my brown skin Every piece of me looked just like Mama, even my eyes and nose

We stayed in the water for a long ti toward the shore that we stopped our splashing He seemed tired and a little sad, but he’d looked that way for a while now, ever since Mama became a part of the ocean

Grams said he was sad because he lost his soul h they weren’t married like Kevin and Catherine, Grams was convinced that a soul mate could be a person’s best friend And when a person lost their best friend, it felt like their own heart stopped beating for a while, too

I hoped Kevin’s heart would beat again

I didn’t like hi sad

Kevin wasn’t wearing any shoes as he walked through the sand His white button-down shirtsleeves were rolled up, and his hands were slipped into the pockets of his blue pants He gave me a kinda-smile A kinda-smile hen a person tried to turn their lips into a full sh, and it fell down into a kinda-frown

Grams and I stood in the water as Kevin’s kinda-smile looked our way

“Is everything okay?” Grams asked

He nodded

Grams raised an eyebrow “And Catherine?”

His kinda-frown turned into a full frown “Won’t be a problem anymore”

“I’m sorry,” Grams said

“I’ave me a real smile “Hey, kiddo I have a question for you”

“Shoot, buckaroo!” I shouted as the waves knocked me back and forth