Silence. Then: “I’m on my way.”
“Get Quest too. Y’all are closer than me.”
“Already texting him. We’ll be there in fifteen.”
He hung up.
I pushed the speedometer past a hundred.
By the timeI pulled up to Grandma Rita’s estate, Justice’s Range Rover and Quest’s Maybach were already in the circular driveway. The house was lit up like a Christmas tree, every window blazing.
I was out of the car before it fully stopped. Zainab followed close behind.
The front door was open. I could hear voices inside. Laughter?
I stepped into the foyer—marble floors, chandelier, grand staircase—and found my entire family gathered in the living room. Justice and Quest on the couch. Serenity perched on the arm of Grandma Rita’s favorite chair. And Grandma Rita herself, sitting like a queen on her throne, a shotgun resting across her lap.
She was smiling.
“There he is.” She turned her clouded eyes toward me with that unnerving accuracy she’d always had. “Took you long enough.”
“Grandma.” I crossed the room and knelt in front of her, taking her hands. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“Hurt ME?” She laughed—a full, rich sound that bounced off the high ceilings. “Baby, I almost took that fool’s head off. Would’ve too if I wasn’t trying to conserve ammo.”
I blinked. “What?”
“That security system y’all got me from those King boys? Works like a charm. Soon as he stepped onto my property, my phone buzzed. Told me somebody was approaching the front door.” She patted the shotgun. “I was ready for his ass before he even knocked.”
Quest was grinning. “She shot at him twice, bro. TWICE. Said he almost pissed himself.”
“He flinched.” Grandma Rita’s smile turned cold. “Big bad man, flinching like a little bitch on my front porch. Then hestarted coughing up blood. Whatever he got eating at him, it’s eating at him GOOD.”
“Coughing up blood?” I filed that information away. I had a feeling he was sick.
“Mmhmm. I told him to get off my property before I sent him to his maker before that disease does.” She chuckled. “You should’ve seen his face. Man thought he was gonna come up in here and scare me. ME. Rita Banks. I been in these streets longer than he been alive.”
Justice shook his head. “Grandma, you’re a menace.”
“I’m a survivor. There’s a difference.”
Serenity leaned forward. “Grandma, you should’ve called us IMMEDIATELY. What if he’d had a gun? What if?—”
“Girl, please. I had MY gun. And I know how to use it.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Besides, I was in the middle of something when that alarm went off.”
“In the middle of what?” Serenity asked.
“I was about to get busy with my rose.” Grandma Rita said it like she was discussing the weather. “Had my Teddy Pendergrass and Barry White playlist going. Candles lit. The whole mood. Then this fool shows up and interrupts my evening.”
Serenity’s face went through about fifteen emotions in two seconds. Horror. Disbelief. Disgust. More horror.
“GRANDMA.”
“What? I’m old, not dead. A woman has needs.”
Quest choked on absolutely nothing. Justice suddenly found the ceiling very interesting. I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache forming.
“Can we PLEASE not discuss Grandma’s… personal time?” Serenity looked like she wanted to crawl out of her own skin.
