Chapter 1Crawfish Season

It was crawfish season again.

I pulled up my ex's contact and texted him: "Get back together?"

He replied: "No, I'm seeing someone new."

"Stop using these childish tricks to try and win me back. It's stupid."

I slowly typed back: "Oh."

"Then do you and your new girl want some crawfish?"

* * *

"I'm downstairs at your apartment."

I spoke quietly into the phone. "I brought fifteen pounds of crawfish."

The sound on the other end of the line abruptly stopped.

Caleb seemed to be in disbelief, or maybe he just thought the whole thing was absurd.

Then I heard him take a deep breath. Lowering his voice, he asked through gritted teeth, "What did you just say?"

"Repeat what you just said to me!"

I hadn't realized Caleb was already going deaf at such a young age.

I paused, then quietly repeated myself: "That crawfish place we always go to is running a special. Buy five pounds, get two free."

"And so you bought ten pounds?!" Caleb's voice suddenly spiked. Even through the phone, I could hear him losing his mind. "Maya, are you crazy?!"

I silently pulled the phone a little further away from my ear.

I waited a good while. After Caleb seemed to have calmed down slightly on his end, I brought the phone back and carefully asked, "So, do you and your new girl want to eat some crawfish?"

"Get lost!" Caleb roared his final sentence into the receiver and hung up cleanly.

I stood downstairs outside his apartment complex, holding the massive bags of crawfish. I looked up at the floor where he lived and let out a deep sigh.

Well, this was a disaster. I'd calculated everything, but I hadn't calculated that Caleb would have a new girlfriend.

I had no idea how long it would take me to peel these fifteen pounds of crawfish by myself.

I sat on the planter outside Caleb's building for a while, feeling a bit lost. For a moment, I didn't know what to do.

I opened my contact list, wondering who I could ask to help me polish off this mountain of food.

But at this hour, everyone had just finished dinner. They wouldn't have the stomach space.

I sighed again, stood up, and grabbed the four huge bags, preparing to head to the complex entrance to call an Uber.

I hadn't walked far when I bumped into Caleb. His face was ashen. I had no idea when he'd come downstairs.

He stood stiffly in front of me. He didn't speak; he just stared at me coldly, staring inexplicably for a long time.

I blinked, hoisted the bags of crawfish, and asked, "Fresh out of the pot. Want some?"

Caleb's face was dark. He took two bags from my hands and turned to leave without saying a single word.

"Wait a second!" I couldn't help but call out to stop him.

Caleb turned sideways to look at me. His lips were pressed tightly together, but his eyebrows raised slightly.

Caleb and I had been together for four years. I knew all his little habits intimately.

You could say I knew him too well. He didn't even need to speak for me to know what he was trying to convey.

Just like right now. He wanted to say, "Spit it out, I don't have all night." But he was too lazy to open his mouth. A cold stare and a raised eyebrow were enough for me to understand.

I paused for a moment, then quietly said, "Five pounds of crawfish is thirty-five dollars."

Caleb's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. I met his gaze in silence.

After a long moment, I heard Caleb let out a cold laugh. "Fine! Fine!"

"Maya, you really are something else!"

"If I ever pay any attention to you again, I'm a dog!"

After Caleb Venmo'd me the money, he didn't look at me again and quickly walked away.

Before he left, I saw him angrily kick a trash can on the street.

The trash can sustained minor injuries; Caleb sustained major ones.

He curled in on himself for a second in pain.

But he insisted on acting like nothing happened, limping away into the distance.