Page 91 of Omar

"You're not going out."

"I know I'm not. Cos your big scary boyfriend came through the door like John Wick with a zip-tie cutter and got me out of there." She looked at me. "He's serious about you, Ash. You know that?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to figure that out."

"Starting? Girl." She picked up her coffee, made a face at how cold it was, and went to the kitchen to reheat it. "The man took down three armed guards to get to me. For you. That ain't starting to figure it out. That's been figured out."

She put her mug in the microwave and leaned against the counter. Her wrists were still red. Her face was tired. But she was here, standing in Omar's kitchen in his oversized t-shirt, complaining about his cabinet organization, making jokes about box cornbread. She was alive and she was herself and that was everything.

"Thank you," I told her from the couch.

"For what?"

"For being here. For helping me get out. For answering the phone at two in the morning for three years. For everything."

"Girl, you getting sentimental on me?" She pulled the mug from the microwave. "You know I don't do sentimental before noon."

"I'm doing it anyway."

"Then do it quietly. I'm trying to drink my coffee." But she was smiling. A real smile, tired around the edges, worn through but still standing.

I picked up my own cold mug and drank it anyway.

Now she was standing in the kitchen with her red wrists, her cold coffee, her box cornbread jokes. I was sitting on the couch with my legs crossed watching her, feeling something I hadn't let myself feel in a long time.

Safe. That was the word. With Nene next to me, Omar out there handling things, Portia's food in the fridge, Kadeem running the operation. For the first time I was surrounded by people who were choosing to be in my corner because they wanted to be there.

I finished my coffee and went to shower. When I came out Nene was already looking through Omar's fridge, holding up a container of something Portia had left.

"This man eats better than I do and he doesn't even cook," she announced. "That's offensive."

"His mama cooks for him."

"Of course she does." Nene put the container on the counter. "We heating this up. I ain't eating box cornbread ever again."

We heated it up. We ate at Omar's kitchen table in the morning light, two women who'd survived something, eating Portia Baptiste's leftovers in a Bed-Stuy apartment that was starting to feel like it belonged to all of us.

Chapter 36

Asha

After we'd eaten, I checked my phone. Omar had texted at six: Heading to Ma's. Kadeem wants to do the follow-up debrief today. You up for it?

Yeah. Give me an hour.

Take your time. Ma's making food.

Nene looked at me over her mug. "What's the plan?"

"Kadeem wants me at Portia's for a follow-up debrief. More questions about Supreme's operation. Secondary holdings, guard schedules, the stuff I didn't cover the first time."

"You gave them everything already?"

"Most of it. But Devon's been cross-referencing overnight and he's got more questions based on what he found."

Nene nodded slowly. "You're really doing this. Dismantling the whole thing."

"That's the plan."