“You helped him?” I said slowly, and Xoey nodded. “Helped him exactly how?”
“I got to be the chef,” she proudly answered with a smile. “I can’t cook for shit, but that doesn’t stop my creative juices from flowing.”
The elevator door opened, and we stepped inside. Xoey pressed the button for our floor, and we rode up in silence.
“If I asked you to do something for me, would you?” I asked softly.
Xoey looked over at me, but I kept my eyes facing the door. There was very little Xoey would tell me no to, but I had never stepped into a space like this before. I knew my friend was a killer; she’d never hidden that, but I wasn’t her friend because of it. I was friends with Xoey because she was a good person —funny, intelligent, and kept a smile even when shit was going bad.
“Like?” she asked, and I sighed. “I can’t do what you need done unless you tell me what it is.”
“I-” I started to speak, but the elevator doors opened. On the other side of the doors were Legacy, Glover, Mercy DeCorte, and Diara LaBlanc. They started talking excitedly, but Xoey held up her hand.
“Give us two seconds,” Xoey said, then pressed the button to close the elevator. She kept her finger on the button and turned to look at me. Her dark eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head to the side. “What do you need me to do?”
“It’s nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t even worry about it. Forget I brought it up.”
“You technically didn’t bring anything up, which is why I’m asking for more detail.”
“Xoey-”
“No,” she said, cutting me off. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
“It’s nothing, just forget about it, please,” I pleaded with her. It was a spur-of-the-moment thought. Even though I told Mama Diamond that I was going to divorce Grant, I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. His family, mainly his brother Quincy, wasn’t going to let me go that easily. They wanted to control Amethyst, and I was the only way they had to do it. Plus, Luther had already threatened to kill everyone. He wasn’t blowing smoke up my ass with his threat either. Now that I’m thinking about it, I didn’t want to involve my friend. I said I trusted Amethyst, and I had to follow through. He may not have told me what he had planned, but I knew he had one, especially since he’d set their family church on fire. “I was just having a moment and had a thought. It’s over.”
A slow smile spread across her face before she nodded and moved from standing in front of me. She moved her finger off the button, and the doors immediately opened.
“Damn, what kind of secret conversation were y’all having?” Mercy asked as she stepped onto the elevator.
“Yale wants me to kill someone,” Xoey answered, and I looked up at her, shocked that she knew what I wanted without me having to ask. It was also a little scary. She shrugged, then smiled. “I’m going to do it too.”
The elevator grew quiet, and they all turned to look at me, surprised.
“I didn’t say that,” I said, shaking my head.
“You didn’t deny it, though,” Mercy smirked. “Friend, are you trying to get one of the twelve to come out and play?”
“Nah, this wouldn’t be a Twelve type of thing,” Xoey said, shaking her head. “It’d just be Xoey.”
“Oh hell,” Diara sighed and shook her head. “That’s the worst.”
“I know,” Xoey laughed. “It’s great, right?” She put her hands in her pockets and smiled. “I have all kinds of ideas in mind. I may even ask Mommy to join me, and we all know how Xia St. Thomas gets down.”
The elevator doors opened, and she got off. We followed her, but my attention went to Legacy, who was quieter than usual.
“You okay?” I asked Legacy as I looped my arm with hers. Even though she was taller than me, I kept up with her with no issues. “You’re quiet.”
“I’m good,” she replied with a shy smile. I didn’t believe her; something was bothering her. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“You sure?” I asked, and she nodded. “Oh, do you have a secret boyfriend or something?” The thought of the flowers on her car popped into my mind.
“No, why?”
“Flowers were sitting on the hood of your car,” I replied, and I felt her stiffen. “You didn’t know?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Maybe someone left them there by accident?” she laughed, and her smile seemed forced. “More than likely that’s what happened.”
“You sure?”
