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"You know what's interesting? She was less inclined to do so than I was."
"Yeah well, we haven't exactly been taught that feeling our feelings is a safe space. But in the interest of making my therapist happy, thank you for coming to get me. I was scared."
I gave her a soft smile. "That's fair. And if I were you, I would have been scared too. Sorry if we came off a little heavy-handed."
"No, you were great. Lance was the heavy-handed one. You don't actually think he would kill him, do you?"
I watched her closely for a moment. She really had no idea. Okay then, this is going to be entertaining to watch over the next several years. "Probably not on purpose.” It's not how Lakewood rolled. But truth be told, I had also underestimated him. So I didn't think he would have murder-murdered him, but accidental murder? Sure. It was possible.
"Wow, he really needs some anger management classes."
I choked on a laugh.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
I studied her. She was smart, but Lakewood was right. She was a kid. She didn’t see it. "The way you two dance around each other is funny."
"We do not dance around each other. He's a pain in the ass. And who assigned him as my big brother anyway? Because I don't need a big brother."
I grinned at her. "Well, you have one now."
"You don't count. You don't know me nearly as well as he does. Sometimes I just want to put a fist to his face."
I assessed her. "Do you even know how to make a fist?"
"How hard can it be? Men do it all the time."
I winced at that. "I hope that is something you do not practice. However, if you want to learn, I can have one of the boys start working with you on self-defense."
Her eyes went wide. "Oh, like Krav Maga and shit?"
"Yes, I have a trainer. It's actually not the worst idea in the world for you and Gwen to get some basic self-defense training."
"Oh my God, yes. Dad would never let us do anything like that. He said that we were girls, so we should be ladylike. I don't know what he thought was going to happen, but I guess he didn't want us to be seen as angry black females, so he really prided himself on instilling extra femininity."
"That is so bullshit."
"Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong, but he's also not entirely right."
What the hell did I know? And why had I never asked Gwen about any of this?
"Okay, in that case, let me be a good big brother. Would you like to learn?"
"How to take care of myself? Yeah. I guess I wouldn't feel so helpless, like having to call my big sister to come and rescue me."
I nodded. "Okay, that is something I can definitely help to take care of."
"You're serious? You'll teach me?"
"Um, not me personally, but yeah, we can figure something out."
"Oh my God, that is actually really cool of you."
The elevator reached the top floor, and I got my eyes scanned to open the doors. When asked for additional identification due to the weight of the elevator, I had Morgan come over for a thumbprint. "Well, it's a little late,” I said, “so I don't know if Gwen is still up. But you know where the guest room is, right?"
"You mean one of the five?"
"Yes. Just pick one. Micah is in one of them, so you might want to knock before you walk in because God only knows what he might be doing in there."
