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“Yeah. I’m gonna get out of here for a little while. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Pops turned his attention to me.

“You straight?” he asked.

I felt like he had been asking me that more often.

“Yeah, Pops.”

He nodded, but his eyes stayed on me a little longer than usual. I stood and walked over to Ma, bending carefully to kiss her forehead.

“Love you.”

“Love you too. Be careful driving.”

I went over to Maylee and leaned down to look at the baby.

“He still looks like an old man.”

“MJ!” Maylee gasped.

Ma started laughing before catching herself and pressing a hand against her stomach.

“Boy, get out of here!”

I laughed and backed away.

“Aight, aight. I’m gone.”

I hugged Aunt Tori, dapped Pops up, and headed toward the door.

“MJ.”

I turned around to the sound of Pops voice.

“Make sure you get some sleep,” he added.

I nodded and walked out before he could say anything else.

The hallway was quieter than Ma’s room. I headed toward the elevators, pulling my phone out again as I walked. There wasn’t another message from Tahari. I didn’t know what had happened between the time he left the hospital and now, but something had changed. He wouldn’t have asked me to meet him outside otherwise. I pressed the elevator button and waited.

Whatever Tahari had to tell me, I was about to find out. And depending on what it was, I had a feeling that my entire night was about to change.

By the time I made it through the hospital doors, Tahari’s Chevy Impala was pulling up to the curb. I headed toward the passenger side and climbed inside before he could even put the car in park.

“What’s going on?” I asked while shutting the door.

“Ghost called me.”

I turned toward him.

“When?”

“Earlier. He wanna meet tonight.”

“Where?”

“At this fairground my pops used to take us to when we were little.”