“You will. Give it another month and you’ll be complaining about twelve-hour shifts just like the rest of us.”
“I already complain.”
“You ain’t earned it yet.”
By the time we reached the elevators, I felt lighter than I had when I’d walked into the hospital. The weight from the nightbefore hadn’t disappeared, but for the first time since everything happened, it wasn’t sitting on my chest quite as heavy.
“You good to drive?” Nia asked as the elevator doors opened.
“I am.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I promise.”
She studied me for a second before nodding. “Alright then, text me when you get home, and don’t make me call looking for you.”
“I won’t…”
We said our goodbyes, and I stepped onto the elevator alone. By the time it reached the employee parking garage, I was already digging my keys out of my bag.
A black SUV caught my attention the second I stepped off the elevator. It was parked about three rows over with its headlights off, and although there wasn’t anything unusual about that, I found myself slowing down anyway. My eyes stayed on it for another second before the engine came to life, the headlights flipped on, and the SUV eased toward the exit without ever coming my way.
I stood here watching until it disappeared before letting out a quiet laugh at myself. After everything that had happened, my mind was looking for danger in every black SUV that crossed my path. Atlanta was full of them, and I needed to realize that not every person behind the wheel was a killer watching my every move.
“Girl, get it together,” I muttered, shaking my head as I unlocked my SUV.
I climbed inside, tossed my bag onto the passenger seat, and started the engine. One last glance in the rearview mirror showed nothing but rows of parked cars behind me. Satisfied, I pulled out of the parking garage and headed home, forcingmyself to stop thinking about a black SUV that probably didn’t mean a damn thing.
4
VICE BLACKWELL
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Sam lying on that hospital bed. Then I'd hear the doctor's voice all over again.
"We're sorry... We did everything we could."
Bullshit.
Somebody out there was still breathing, but my cousin wasn't, and the more I thought about it, the harder it became to accept this bullshit.
I got dressed in silence, throwing on a black suit.
By the time I made it downstairs, Mace was already waiting. One look at him told me he hadn't gotten any sleep either. His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw was tight, and although he looked the same as he always did on the outside, something about him felt... off.
"You ready?" he asked.
I grabbed my keys off the table before shaking my head, no. "I ain't ready to bury my cousin, man."
He looked down at the floor for a second before saying in a low tone, "Me neither."
The drive to the church was quiet. Normally Sam would've been blowing my phone up before I even left the house, askingwhere I was or complaining that I was running late. Today, my shit was dry, and that pissed me off more than anything else. It was a reminder that I'd never hear my cousin’s voice again, never tell him to shut the hell up, never watch him get on everybody's nerves just because he could.
I'd spent my whole life believing family would always be here.
Now I was on my way to bury one of them.
Neither one of us said much during the drive. There wasn't anything left to say that hadn't already been said at the hospital. Sam was gone, and no amount of talking was going to change that. All it did was give me more time to think about the people responsible, and every mile we drove made me want them that much more.