Youngblackgirls will see me and realize they have just as much value as everyone else. That they can make it no matter the color of their skin.
I literally cannot think of a better thing to be seen for.
fourteen
Zhuri
“Holyfuckingchaos,Batman!”I yell, narrowly avoiding Asher and Lev wrestling in front of the door, as I step into Cameron’s penthouse.
“Wolfe! Morozov!” Cameron shouts after they knock over a lamp. “Do I have to separate you two? Goddamn.”
“Sorry, Cap,” Lev laughs, Asher standing up beside him and dusting himself off.
“Co-captain,” I chime, carrying my tray with me to where I see Bet and Sid in the kitchen. I lay the tray down and let out a breath. “Holy shit, it’s crazy in here.”
Sidney chuckles. “Team dinners are always a shitshow.”
“Is it too late for the girls to decide we want no part of this?”
“Far too late.” Sid claps a hand to my shoulder. “You’re already here. Besides, Blake and Addie are at basically every dinner. Reggie’s wife, too. It’s for the team, but it’s not exclusive to the team necessarily.”
“What did you bring, Z?” Bet asks, pointing to the tray I haven’t taken the foil off of yet.
“Oh, I went with dessert. Made some chocolate chip cookies earlier.”
Nico walks into the kitchen excitedly now, watching as I finally pull the foil from my tray. “Cap, please tell me those are nut-free.”
“Co-captain,” I sigh, on the verge of giving up correcting everyone. “They don’t have any nuts in them, though.”
“What about the ingredients?” Sidney asks.
“I didn’t check,” I admit. “I didn’t think about potential food allergies. Shit.”
“It’s fine, Zhuri,” Nico shrugs. “Not the first dessert I have to skip, and sure as hell won’t be the last.”
“Do you have a nut allergy?”
“Tree nuts,” he nods. “I have an Epi-Pen, but I prefer not to use it.”
That pulls a laugh out of me. “Noted. Sorry about that, though. I’ll make sure everything is good next time.” I look over at Sidney again. “Any other allergies or dietary restrictions I should know about?”
“Addie is vegan, so she usually ends up bringing her own food just to be safe. Lev won’t eat anything that has so much as been in the same room as a mushroom.”
“So what you’re saying is next time I should make stuffed mushroom caps specifically for Lev?”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I hear Lev yell across the living room, apparently overhearing our conversation.
I’ve never really spoken to Lev before, and I’m surprised by what I hear.
“Lev is Russian, isn’t he?” I ask. “He doesn’t have an accent.”
“He’s lived in the US since he was five,” Sid answers. “He was born in Moscow, but grew up in Chicago.”
“Bruno!” I hear Lina yell across the room.
“Sorry, Bradford,” Bruno chuckles. “Wasn’t trying to spill my beer.”
I close my eyes and groan. “We’re not making it through the night without at least one teammate casualty.”
