“Word on the street Spirit gon’ be back full-time soon. I know y’all history complicated, but… I love you, and I want you to be happy one day. Get that shit right if that’s who you want. Fuck the time. Fuck the past. Man up and handle it.”
“I hear you, but I gotta handle this shit with Monshay first. If I go after Lovelynn, I can’t miss. And I can’t do shit for her locked up.”
“And I don’t expect you to.” Rolani pushed up from the couch.
“One minute remaining,”the automated voice cut in.
“Aight, I gotta bounce,” Robin said. “But real shit, Ro—if this Kennedi woman is really the one, don’t let her slip. You deserve that. We both do. And Monroe needs to see what a real partnership looks like.”
“I hear you.”
“And yo—tell my baby I love her. I’ll call her tomorrow.”
“I got you.”
“Love you, bruh.”
“Love you too.”
The line went dead.
Rolani slid the phone in his pocket and headed upstairs.
Monroe’s door was half-open, her ceiling of clouds and LED lights illuminating the room and the posters on her wall. She was curled on her bed, tablet in hand, braids splayed across her pillow. When she spotted him, her face transformed.
“Unc Ro!” she squealed, dropping the tablet and sitting up.
He sat at the foot of her bed, tugging playfully at one of her braids. “You miss me?”
“Duh.” Her nose scrunched, but her smile faltered quickly. “She’s not coming back, huh? Daddy’s being too chill about it, and he’s avoiding me.”
“Roe, I pray you never know that bone-tired feeling, so I can’t even say one day you’ll get it. But...” he paused, selecting his words carefully. “You know how your mama is. But you got us, shorty. You’re not alone. Ever.”
Her little shoulders slumped. “But why won’t she get it together for me? I know I can be annoying and too smart for my own good, but I’m...I’m her kid. That’s a given.” She laughed a little, but the sound held no humor.
He looked at her then, seeing questions in her eyes that no fourteen-year-old should have to ask. He reached out, pulling her small frame into his arms. “It ain’t you, Monroe. Don’t ever think it’s you. Grown folks got their own battles, but that doesn’t mean you’re not loved. It doesn’t mean it’s your fault either. You the smartest, funniest, toughest kid I know. Don’t ever let anybody make you question that.”
She nodded against him, arms squeezing tight.
“I’ma figure this out,” he promised, voice low, more to himself than to her. “Me and your daddy both. You gon’ be good. That’s on me.”
“And on Pearl,” she said, finishing.
“Especially on Pearl.”
When she finally let him go, her smile was smaller but steadier. He kissed her forehead and stood. “Oh, and that one last thing you wanted? I may be very close to securing that.” Monroe’s eyes went wide.
He pulled up a picture of Kennedi. “Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
She squeezed them shut, grinning.
“Okay, open and tell me your first impression.”
Monroe peeked through one eye before a wide smile formed on her face.
