Page 120 of The Wright Man

Cap stiffened. Angelica tilted her head, confused. "Her?"

"The girl. The one they said he trafficked. She's alive. She came forward."

Silence fell like a weighted blanket.

Cap's mouth dropped open before he shut it with a hand. Angelica blinked like she was trying to process the words in slow motion.

"She's giving a statement," I went on, voice steady even though I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. "She wants to testify. Says she wants to set the record straight. An—uh, my lawyer's getting the paperwork together for the appeal."

Angelica's hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears so fast it made my throat ache.

"You did it," she whispered. "Maleek... you did it."

"Didn't I say I would?" I grinned. The kind of grin I hadn't let loose in years. Not half-smirks or polite nods—this one was real. The kind that used to live on my face when Mama was still around. When life didn't feel like a series of losses waiting to happen.

Cap stepped back and sniffed hard, eyes shiny but refusing to break. "When's he coming home?"

"Soon. We still gotta go through the process. But it's coming. It's happening."

Cap exhaled like he'd been holding his breath since the day Kareem got sentenced. He nodded once, firm and slow, then reached out and gave me a hug that nearly cracked my spine. "We throwin' a damn block party when that boy gets home. I'm talking ribs, dominoes, a whole-ass DJ. And I'm pouring brown liquor with both my sons. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout."

I laughed, but my eyes were still locked on Angelica. She hadn't moved. Just stood there, staring at me like I was something worth looking at again.

Like maybe she was proud of me.

"Daddy, go on inside," she murmured without looking away. "You're gonna miss your lemon squares."

"You sure you want me to leave y'all alone with all this tension?" he said, eyebrows raised.

"Cap," I warned, grinning.

He waved me off with a cackle. "Fine, fine. I know when I ain't wanted. Thank you again baby girl, I'll call you before I leave."

He gave Angelica one last hug and me one last nod before heading back up the porch.

And then it was just us. Me, her, and all the things we weren't saying.

"He knows he's coming off at least three of those, right?" I asked as we walked side by side toward her car, still grinning from the high of everything that had just happened.

Angelica didn't miss a beat. "You're gonna need every bit of your military training to get them from him. He's slept with a fork under his pillow before."

I laughed. "Maybe I'll just have you bake me my own batch and save myself the trouble."

She gave me a side-eye smirk but didn't argue. Which meant she would. She always did love spoiling me when I actually asked for something.

We hit a moment of silence. Not the awkward kind. The full kind. The kind that only shows up after something beautiful cracks open in front of you and you need a second to sit in it.

Then she said it, soft but steady. "I'm proud of you, Leek."

I looked at her, caught completely off guard by the weight in her voice. "Angel..."

"I mean it." She stopped, turned to face me, eyes shining again. "Not just for everything you've done for Kareem. But this gym. Taking care of your mom's house. Your whole military career. All of it. You're everything I knew you could be and then some."

I opened my mouth, and nothing came out.

I couldn't speak past the sudden swell in my throat. Couldn't explain the way her words reached places I didn't even realize were still broken. I just smiled. Not the performative kind. Not the tight-lipped one I gave strangers. The real kind. The kind I only ever seemed to find around her.

I scratched the back of my head, suddenly aware of how sweaty I was again.