One Way or Another by Rhonda Bowen Page A

that story.”
    Adam narrowed his eyes at her curiously, seeing through her hostility. “No,” he said after a moment. “It’s more than that.”
    â€œIt isn’t,” Toni said.
    â€œYou’re lying,” Adam said simply.
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œBecause I live with teenage boys who lie to me every day. I know what it looks like.”
    Adam watched as Toni deflated a little before him, the fight seeping out of her like a balloon with a leak.
    â€œDoes this have something to do with Jasmine’s baby shower?” he asked.
    â€œWhy would you ask that?”
    â€œYour brother told me you got into a fight about it this morning.”
    â€œDo you guys talk about everything?” Toni asked incredulously. “You’re worse than girls.”
    â€œYou didn’t answer my question,” Adam said, ignoring her tangent. “Is this because of the drama between you and Jasmine?”
    â€œNo.” She folded her arms stubbornly. He peered at her and she sighed. “Maybe.” When he kept staring, she rolled her eyes. “Why does it matter anyway?”
    â€œBecause I don’t want you to do this because you’re mad at Jasmine,” he said. “ ’Cause next week when you’re not mad at her anymore, you’ll back out again.”
    He trained his eyes on her to make sure she understood. “You want to bail on me? That’s fine. But these boys are depending on you. If you say you’re going to do this, you’ve got to do this for real. One hundred percent. No halfway. It has to be for the boys.”
    Adam watched Toni chew on her lip. He knew he was taking a risk in even considering letting her come along. And even as he stood there watching her contemplate what he said, he couldn’t help but contemplate whether this was really what God wanted him to do.
    â€œIs Jerome going?” she asked.
    Adam nodded. “Yes.”
    She looked down at the ground for a moment, then back at Adam. “Okay.” Adam caught the resolution in her eyes as she spoke. “I’ll do it. I’ll go. For real.”
    â€œYou sure?”
    â€œI’m sure.”
    â€œWhy?”
    She shrugged. “I like Jerome. He’s kinda grown on me.”
    Adam stared at her for a moment, to make sure she was serious. “Okay,” he finally said.
    â€œOkay,” she echoed. They started walking down Winslow Street, away from Jacob’s House.
    â€œSo you gonna tell me what I have to do?” she asked after they had been walking for a bit.
    â€œOnly if you tell me what that Jerry Springer moment at Trey’s the other night was about.”
    She didn’t miss a beat. “None of your business.”
    â€œOkay,” Adam said, not fazed. “Maybe tell me then why you’re so exhausted.”
    Adam expected her to give another dismissive response. But when she paused a bit before answering, he glanced over at her. She was biting her lip again. That was her giveaway—the thing she always did before she went and did something totally out of character. Like answer honestly.
    â€œI have trouble sleeping.”
    Adam’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
    Toni shrugged. “I just do,” she said. “I never really sleep through the night.”
    That would explain a lot of things. Like why she was on edge all the time.
    â€œHas it always been like that?” he asked.
    Toni kicked a twig off the sidewalk with her shoe. “Not always, but for long enough. Ever since ...”
    She paused as she seemed to rethink what she was going to say. “Just a really long time.”
    Adam wasn’t quite sure how to respond. He didn’t know much about Toni. She was Trey’s sister, and he had been best friends with Trey for almost four years. You would have thought they would have met at some point during that time. But Adam had come to realize that Trey and Toni lived extremely