a bad vibe

Jama wasn't sure if she liked the looks of this, but then again she wouldn't breath a word. Not even to Halie's mum, but there was Halie with her cousin.

"Dusty, you're never late." She gave him a dead stare.

He'd started helping at the cash register and cleaning up when she was on maternity leave.

"Sorry." He was serious, for the most part. But the seventeen year old did have his charm. And it didn't hurt that he knew a good many of the local footballers.

 He went to get ready for work. Jama poured a juice for Halie.

"When did this happen?" Jama didn't let up her dead stare.

"What?" Halie looked at her blankly as she patted down her shirt, looking at the obvious. "I thought you knew, about the baby?"

"Yeah." Jama winced. "No, I mean, you and my cousin?"

"Cousin?" Halie looked at Jama as if she might have a bad taste in her mouth. "Just now." She said about knowing Dusty.  Halie shrugged as if there was nothing to know.

"Just now?" Jama's small lips were a straight line. "You've been wanting a boy all summer." She could read Halie like a book.

"No, I haven't." She was defensive, naturally, as if Jama might spoil her methods of getting the guy.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Jama sighed. She knew enough about Archie. She'd seen how Halie was around Archie's friend Jax. Of course, Jama wouldn't bring up the fact, she thought the two just might be into each other. It was quite a bromance those two had going. Inseparable on the weekends. Jax had Archie working for him on the weekends with his dogwalking service. Neither paid Halie any mind.

"Just don't hurt Dusty." Jama warned. "He hasn't had a lot of girls." In fact, she'd never known him to talk to a girl. "He's family." She sighed. Halie was practically family too.

Halie nursed on her juice.

"You, still in touch with that boy of yours in America?" Jama reminded her, he was the father of his child.

Halie only nodded as if she had no intention of knowing Dusty. As soon as he came out of the kitchen, she couldn't take her eyes off of him.