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For a few seconds, neither one of us said anything. There was too much between us for a phone call, and I wasn’t about to try to fix any of it over one.

“You remember that fair Pops used to take us to?”

Tahari went quiet again.

“Yeah.”

“Meet me there.”

“When?”

I looked at the time.

“At ten.”

“Aight.”

“And Tahari?”

“What?”

“Come by yourself.”

There was another pause, and I could tell that he was really considering what I had requested. There was some time between now and then, and the only thing that I had to do was make a stop at the UPS store before heading that way.

“Aight,” he finally said.

I didn’t even offer a response; I just ended the call. I didn’t know if mentally I was prepared to sit in his face, but I did know one thing… I was fucking tired of running.

TRIGGA

The call ended, but I kept the phone against my ear for a few seconds longer. Out of all the places Ghost could’ve picked, that was where he wanted me to meet him. I lowered the phone and stared at the screen until it went dark. I hadn’t heard his voice in weeks. I tossed my phone onto the nightstand and looked beside me. Maliah was asleep. She’d been out since we got back to my apartment. Mr. Browne had practically put us out of the hospital himself, telling us Eternity and the baby were good, and we needed to go get some rest.

Maliah had fought him on it at first, of course. She wanted to stay with her mama, but eventually even she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t exhausted. Last night had taken everything out of her. She was curled up on my side of the bed wearing one of my T-shirts; the blanket was pulled halfway over her. Her hair was all over my pillow, and one of her hands was tucked beneath her cheek. I stared at her longer than I meant to. Ghost had tried to take her away from me. That was the part I couldn’t get around, no matter how many times I reminded myself that he was my brother.

I could’ve lost her. Not because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and not because something happened that nobody could’ve prevented. It was simply because my brother decided she needed to die. Every time Maliah got quiet behind the wheel or checked around herself more than she used to, I thought about it. Every time she woke up beside me and I got to reach over and touch her, I thought about how close I came to not having that anymore.

Ghost had brought all of that to our door. And he was still my brother. That was the fucked-up part. There had been a time when there wasn’t much I wouldn’t have done for Ghost. Before Maliah. Before the Brownes. Before everything got so twisted that I couldn’t tell where my brother ended and the nigga he’d become started. I remembered sitting in Ms. Gia’s living room while she begged me not to hurt him. Promise me. And I’d looked that woman in her face and told her I wouldn’t.

I knew I was lying when I said it. At the time, I didn’t give a fuck either. All I could think about was Maliah. Now, staring at her asleep in my bed, I still didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do when I saw him. I only knew this shit had to end tonight. I eased out of the bed without waking her and headed into the bathroom. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, then stood in front of the mirror for a moment. There wasn’t anything to figure out. Ghost had asked for me. So, he was getting me. I went back into the bedroom and changed quietly. I dressed in black sweatpants, a black T-shirt, and a black hoodie. Then I opened the drawer of my nightstand.

Both of my guns were where I had left them. I stared down at them for a second. Ms. Gia’s voice came back to me. Promise me. My jaw tightened as I grabbed both guns. Both went into the waistband of my sweats. I secured them before pulling my hoodie down over everything. When I turned around, Maliah hadn’t moved. I walked back to bed and stood over her. For the first time since Ghost had called, some of the anger in me loosened. She looked peaceful, and I wanted her to stay that way.

She’d had enough. Her entire family had. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. Maliah stirred beneath me, her face turned slightly toward mine.

“Baby?” she mumbled.

“Go back to sleep.”

Her eyes never opened completely.

“Where you going?” she asked in a groggy tone.

“I’m coming back.”

That seemed to be enough for how tired she was. She made a soft sound and settled deeper into my pillow. I stayed there another second. Then I kissed her forehead again.

“I love you.”