Through the Fire by Donna Hill Read Free Book Online Page B

something.”
    “Shoot.”
    “Well, the holidays will be coming up before you know it, and Taylor and I were planning on spending them in New York with my folks. We figured since Jamel will be out of school, he could spend the two-week break with you. I mean if you don’t have any plans.”
    “No, no plans. Sure he can stay.” He swallowed. “That would be great, Max, really.”
    She exhaled. “And I was hoping we could…all get together while we were there…for dinner or something.”
    “All…as in?”
    “In me, you, Taylor, and Jamel…and whoever you’re seeing.”
    “I’ll have to let you know on that one, Max.”
    “Fine. But at least think about it.”
    “Yeah. No doubt.”
    “Um, Jamel is going to have a baby sister or brother in about six months,” she said in a rush.
    If he’d been standing he would have fallen. A hundred thoughts flew through his head at once, the main one being that he never imagined Maxine as the mother of any child other than his. It was still hard for him to think of her as someone else’s woman—wife, even after all this time and everything that had happened between them.
    “Q?”
    “Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” He paused. “Congrats, Max. I’m…happy for you. Feelin’ okay?”
    She giggled. “Just the usual, hungry, tired, and sick.” She laughed again. “But Taylor is thrilled.”
    I bet he is, Quinn thought not unkindly. He’d never had that experience with her, with any woman. A flash of jealousy reared its green head, and the old anger that he’d felt toward her for keeping the knowledge of his son from him resurfaced—the years he’d lost.
    “Anyway, it was good talking to you, Q. Here’s Jamel.”
    If there was one thing he remembered about Maxine, she knew how to drop the bombs.
    “Hi, Daddy!”
    At the sound of his son’s voice, all thoughts of worry and regret drifted to the background, at least for the time he listened to the escapades of a six-year-old who still didn’t have a care in the world. But after the conversation, Quinn grew increasingly restless, pacing the confines of his duplex apartment like a hungry, caged tiger. It was nearly midnight. He was too wound up to sleep and couldn’t stand the silence of being with himself any longer.
     
    The avenues were still teeming with activity even on a Wednesday night. He drove aimlessly for a while with no particular destination in mind. He stopped for a light and noticed the sign for Encore. People moved in and out, laughing and talking, some forming a short line to get in, and he wondered if Rae was inside.
    He parked the Jeep two blocks away and walked back, figuring that would give him enough time to change his mind, but he didn’t, and found himself seated at a table shortly after. The club wasn’t as crowded as it had been on the weekend, only a few tables were filled asothers sat at the bar. He placed an order for his standard Jack Daniel’s and a plate of buffalo wings and was served promptly.
    A small jazz combo held center stage, playing a medley of John Coltrane tunes and not particularly well, in Quinn’s estimation, but who could? He took a sip of his drink and finished off the last of the wings.
    He scanned the crowd, and periodically watched the door, hoping that he’d spot Rae, and hoping that he wouldn’t. He didn’t know what to say to her. Yet he needed to talk to her, tell her about Maxine and her news, how it made him feel. He frowned at a sudden realization. He’d never told Rae about Jamel, about Maxine…about much of anything. It was always easier to listen to her, go along with the program when he felt like it, and keep himself to himself. Sure he talked, but not about his life, or any of the people in it. Just about things—all the things that weren’t important.
    “Shit,” he mumbled under his breath.
    “Handsome fella like you shouldn’t be talkin’ to himself. Need to have a fine woman sitting here witchu,” came a raspy voice, reducedto a hoarse