Into freedom.
For now.
18
ZAINAB
The relief washed over my entire body, relaxing muscles I hadn’t even realized were tense. My chest could finally take in full breaths of oxygen again. I was home with my family.
Well, not home home. But close enough.
Prime had rented us a castle in the Hollywood Hills while we waited for the trial. An actual castle—turrets, stone archways, stained glass windows, a bell tower you could see from the master bedroom. It sat high above the city with views that stretched from Hollywood to the ocean. Jasmine climbed the garden walls outside, and the whole place smelled like old stone and flowers and money.
Our footsteps echoed on the marble floors as we carried the Roscoe’s bags inside. Through the stained glass, the city lights fractured into a thousand colors—red, blue, gold—like we were living inside a kaleidoscope.
It was a place that made you forget you were on house arrest with a murder charge hanging over your head. Almost.
As soon as we left the courthouse, we’d stopped at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles for takeout. I had been craving something hyper-palatable for weeks. The food in jail was bland, disgusting, and void of any real nutrition. I knew Roscoe’s wasn’t exactlyhealth food, but I’d get back on my health kick after I devoured those chicken and waffles, mac n’ cheese, collard greens, and black-eyed peas.
The thought of being on house arrest until after the trial didn’t even bother me. Honestly? Maybe I needed to sit down and not do much for a while. But in the quiet moments, my mind wandered to the case. How was I going to beat this trial? The evidence against me was weak, and Yusef was my alibi. We walked in on the body together. Before that, I was at work.
Now that I could breathe, I wasn’t all that worried about getting convicted. I was more worried about how I could get to Thad. How I could shoot him in the face the same way he did my sister. But for now, I just wanted to eat with everyone. Be present. Be grateful.
“Damn, Zai, you tearin’ up those wings. A chicken would hate to see you comin’,” Quest joked as we sat around the dining table. The room had ceilings that stretched up forever and a chandelier dripping with crystals, but we’d spread the Roscoe’s containers across the fancy table.
“I’m eating for two,” I said with a stuffed mouth. Felt more like three or four. I had never been this hungry in my life.
“And what’s your excuse?” I teased back after I swallowed. He had eaten much more than me.
“Sympathy eating. I’m feelin’ what you feelin’,” Quest said, straight-faced.
“Nigga, you ain’t her man,” Prime laughed.
“We all family. I’m an empath. I can feel everyone’s energy.”
Camille rolled her eyes while Yusef and I cracked up. It felt too damn good to be around all this positive energy.
“Zai, I’m going to let you settle in for a day or two. But then we need to start working on your defense.” Camille’s voice shifted, that lawyer edge creeping back in. “Quest and I have to fly back to DC, but we’ll FaceTime.”
“Okay. And thank you—for getting me out. I missed these guys so much.” I reached for both Yusef and Prime’s hands.
For the rest of dinner, we talked and joked. I got caught up on Yusef and his therapy sessions with Sloane. Prime filled me in on everything happening with Sweet Zin. Quest and Camille talked about Banks Reserve and the new casino. It was like I hadn’t missed a beat.
But I was also missing Mehar, Serenity, and Grandma Rita. I wanted to see Justice and the girls. They had all become fixtures in my life.
But this was enough for now.
After we walkedQuest and Camille to the door and said our goodbyes, the castle felt quieter. More intimate. Just the three of us—four, counting my baby girl doing flips in my belly.
“Uno?” Prime asked, holding up a deck of cards he’d found in one of the drawers.
Yusef’s eyes lit up. He nodded eagerly, already moving toward the living room.
We settled on the plush velvet couches in front of the massive stone fireplace. The flames crackled and danced, casting warm shadows across the room. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Los Angeles glittered beneath us.
“Aight, no cheating,” Prime said, shuffling the cards. “And that means you, Yusef. I seen you hiding cards under your leg last time.”
Yusef’s mouth dropped open in mock offense. He shook his head vigorously, then pulled out his phone and typed quickly before turning it to show us:
