It felt like the thing it actually was, someone giving a damn about his life and being willing to act on it rather than just express it. No, he said it's not overstepping. Good. She faced forward again. It's black tie, by the way.
I have a suit. One suit. Is that a problem? Absolutely not. She said in the tone of someone who had decided it was absolutely a problem and was equally absolutely not going to say so.
Clare, the suit is fine. Marcus, he let it go. He would find out what she meant later. The fact that there would be a later was something he was only beginning to understand was no longer guaranteed to alarm him. That Friday evening, Linda called him while he was making dinner.
She had a voice like a woman who had earned the right to say exactly what she thought, which she exercised without restraint and without apology, and Marcus had always found it both exhausting and deeply reassuring. I heard you're going to Claire's event, she said. News travels, Marcus said. This is four blocks. Marcus, news travels in about 11 minutes.
He could hear her smiling. I think it's good. You need to get out. I get out. You get out to work and to pick up Jallen and to the grocery store.
That is not getting out. That is completing a circuit. She paused. Diane would not want this for you. You know that.
He gripped the phone a little tighter. I know. She was not a woman who would want you eating by yourself in that kitchen every night. I'm not alone. I have Jallen.
Jaylen is nine. He loves you, but he cannot have a conversation about your feelings. That's not his job, and it shouldn't be. Another pause. She seems good.
Marcus Clare, she looks at you like you're a whole person. He didn't say anything. I know that's been rare, Linda said. More gently. I know people look at you and they see the list first.
Single dad, black man, maintenance worker. They see the categories and they think they know the story. Her voice was warm, but she doesn't do that. I watched her face when she talks about you. She sees you, the actual you.