Za shakes her head, playfully.
“And brag he did,” Sol clarifies. “Apparently you’re about to go on tour and abandon London.”
She laughs lightly. “That’s one way to put it.”
Amin folds his arms. “Six months, yeah? That’s serious.”
Za shrugs, but there’s pride in it. “Serious enough.”
Sol looks at Jabari. “You didn’t tell us she was leng.”
Jabari gives him a flat look. “Relax.”
“It’s alright,” Za smirks. “I can handle myself.”
“Oh, I can tell,” Amin says smoothly.
Sol leans in conspiratorially. “You got a number?”
“Solace,” Jabari warns.
“What?” Sol shrugs. “I’m networking.”
Za laughs properly this time, and the sound is easy.Finally,I breathe.
“Everybody!” Mrs. McKingsley announces from behind us. “We are going back to the house. Food is ready. Come, come.”
Jabari sighs under his breath.
Za’s mum nods approvingly. “Yes. We celebrate properly.”
Sol perks up. “Free food?”
Amin elbows him. “You have no shame.”
My mum steps forward, placing a gentle hand on Mrs. McKingsley’s arm.
“Come now, Taniza,” she says warmly. “Let the young people have their fun. They don’t want hang ‘round us old folks.”
“But what about?—”
“Christ woman,” Za’s dad drags. “Let the kids alone and let them be. They got their own lives to live.”
Oh?
I lean into Za, “Did your dad actually speak up?”
Her eyes widened. “I… I’m shocked myself.”
“Hmph!” Mrs. Kingsley huffs. “Don’t call the Her eyes land on her daughter and there is tension beneath the surface.
“Chinaza.”
Za nods in acknowledgment. “Mother.”
Mrs. McKingsley squints at Jabari like she knows exactly what that “fun” might entail.
“You behave,” she says pointedly.
