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The gunshot cracked through the fairground before I could finish. Ghost’s body jerked. For a second, I didn’t understand what had happened. Then he stumbled backward as his knees buckled beneath him. I turned toward the sound. MJ stood near the old Ferris wheel with my gun raised. My heart slammed against my chest. I looked back at Ghost.

He was on the ground beside the backpack, staring up at me with an expression I’d never seen on his face before. The money had spilled out when he fell, loose bills scattered across the cracked pavement. I couldn’t move. I had spent weeks telling myself that I wanted my brother dead. And now that he was lying in front of me, all I could see was that little boy from the fair. I lowered my gun. And the money that sat between us, the same money that he had chased all his life, was completely fucking useless.

Chapter 26

MJ

Ilowered my gun as Ghost hit the ground. Headshot. All those years Pops spent taking me to the gun range had finally paid off. He always made sure I knew how to handle a firearm, and judging by the way Ghost dropped, I hadn’t forgotten a damn thing that he taught me. I stepped from behind the old Ferris wheel and made my way toward Tahari, who was still standing in the same spot. His gun hung at his side, and his eyes hadn’t left his brother.

“Damn, MJ,” he said when I got closer.

“What?”

“I was talking to him.”

“And I said I would let y’all talk. That conversation was getting too fucking long for me.”

Tahari looked at me.

“That’s still my brother, nigga.”

“And that’s the nigga who shot my pops, tried to kill my sister, and followed my girl home. What the fuck you thought I came out here for?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Besides, he went for his gun. I wasn’t going to wait around to see what he planned on doing with it.”

“I saw him.”

“Aight then.”

I looked down at Ghost. He was lying beside the backpack he had brought. His eyes were open, and blood started to spread across the cracked pavement beneath his head. The gun he had reached for was still tucked into his waistband. I didn’t feel the need to say anything else about him. Tahari knew what Ghost had done, and he knew how I felt about it before we ever left the hospital. I had agreed to let him talk to his brother, but I hadn’t promised to stand around all night listening to that nigga explain himself. Tahari rubbed a hand over his face before looking down at Ghost again.

“You good?” I asked him.

“Hell nah.”

I nodded.

“I figured.”

He looked at me.

“You ain’t feeling nothing behind this shit?”

“I feel like I ain’t gotta worry about somebody trying to hurt my family no more.”

Tahari held my gaze for a moment before looking away. I knew he was going through something I couldn’t understand. Ghost was his brother, and regardless of everything that had happened, they’d grown up together. He had memories with him that went back further than any of this bullshit. But that wasn’t my relationship with Ghost. I didn’t know him as somebody who had looked out for me when I was younger. I didn’t have good memories of him to hold on to. All I knew was what he’d done to the people I loved. And I wasn’t sorry that shit was over.

I glanced at the backpack lying beside Ghost. Some of the money had spilled out when he fell, leaving stacks scattered across the ground.

“You gone take that money?” I asked.

Trigga looked down at it.

“Nah.”

“You sure?” I asked.