“Alright, son. Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready,” Rami answers, sounding a little bored.
“Yes, these briefings can go on a bit,” Omar says, smiling proudly. “But you look so handsome in your new combat gear.”
“Baba…”
“What?” he says, shrugging innocently. “Can’t a father be proud of his son?”
“And you do know that you can say no at any time,” Anders continues with an anxious look. “I’ll be proud of you, even if you never kill another person.”
Rami lets out a long sigh. He’s reassured both fathers that he is perfectly fine, but they’re still a little nervous around him.
“Dad, this is not like the stalking. I’m actually really, really good at this. You can trust me.”
Anders makes a face. When Rami raises his brows, his dad explains, “I’m just weirded out that this is basically a hobby for you. That it doesn’t live under your skin like it does for me.”
“What are you saying?” Uncle Hopper says, sidling up next to his nephew. “You don’tneedto kill people?”
Rami, used to his Uncle Hopper popping up in unexpected places, lifts a shoulder. “I can take it or leave it.”
Hopper and Anders share a look and Hopper shakes his head. “Yeah, I don’t get that at all.”
“Right?” Anders throws his hands up. “Where did I go wrong?”
“Habibi,” Omar says patiently. “You just told our son that it is fine if he is no longer interested in taking lives. Stop making him feel like he’s wrong for notneedingto kill. You know that I don’t either, yet I make a very effective operative.”
“Whatever. You like it.”
“Of course I enjoy it, my darling. But I can stop at any time.”
“Disappointments, both of you,” Anders mutters.
Omar and Rami crack up. The thing is, he’s not even exaggerating. He’s genuinely disappointed that they don’t share his love of murder.
“At least I’ve got Hopper,” he says, kicking the rock at his feet. “And Silas.”
Silas, sitting quietly in the back, nods.
Hopper slides his arm around his buddy’s shoulders. “Damn skippy.”
Rami shakes his head as he checks his weapon. “Are we going to kill this motherfucker, or are we going to stand around talking to each other?”
Omar snorts. “Habibi, look. He’s more like you than you thought.”
“Fine,” Anders says, partially mollified. “I do appreciate the initiative.”
RAMI
I lie back, letting my boyfriend wet my hair. He grins at meas he massages the shampoo in, and I think about everything that’s transpired over the last six months. For one, he and Silas are practically best friends. They seem to just get each other. He’s also gotten closer with the Wildlings, and now even our cousins in Seguin come into town for haircuts from Truett.
Maverick and Oak are still mostly on the outside as far as things with Wimberley are concerned, but they seem okay with knowing that Dad’s military career never fully ended. Mav won’t be satisfied with that forever though.
Then there are the things Truett’s done for Dexter. None of us knew we had a hot cousin until Truett convinced him to start growing his hair and get his eyes fixed. Sheesh.
Today, however, we’re celebrating six months since my first gala. A lot of things went wrong that day and the next, but a lot of lessons were learned too.
After months of Suzie’s mentorship, I am now the proud owner of a nonprofit consulting firm, built to help NGOs and charities utilize their social media platforms to gather as much money as possible. Maverick, Maya, and Oak have joined me, and I think we each bring unique strengths to the firm.
