Chapter 4 #2
Auntie Rhonda’s front door was open before I cut the engine, like she’d been expecting me down to the second and didn’t see the point in pretending otherwise.
“Don’t sit out there like you’re waiting on permission,” she called from inside, her voice carrying through the house with the same authority it always had. “If you’re here, you’re here.”
I grabbed my keys and stepped out, the late morning air still cool enough to hold on to the night. Jerome’s SUV was already parked crooked along the curb, one tire flirting with the edge like he trusted the street to adjust around him.
Inside, the house felt full in a way that had nothing to do with how many people were in it. Music played low somewhere deeper in, cabinet doors opened and shut unevenly, and Simone’s voice rose above it all, already midstory.
“You cannot tell me that man thought that was going to land,” she said, one hand braced on the counter as she leaned in, her expression doing most of the work.
“I’m telling you, he believed in himself,” Jerome replied from the table, stretched out in a chair like he’d claimed it for the day. “Confidence will take you far.”
“Not if you’re wrong,” Marcus said, standing just off to the side with his arms folded, his tone even but precise.
I stepped fully into the kitchen, letting the door fall shut behind me.
“Look at you,” Simone said, glancing over her shoulder. “On time and everything.”
“I said I’d be here,” I replied, setting my keys down near the edge of the counter.
“That doesn’t always mean anything,” Jerome added.
“It does today.”
Auntie Rhonda moved between us, sliding a mug across the counter without looking at me. “You want coffee, you pour it yourself. I’m not your waitress.”
“I know better than that,” I said, reaching for the pot.
“You better,” she murmured, adjusting something on the stove before turning just enough to give me a once-over. Her eyes lingered for half a second longer than necessary, like she was checking something I hadn’t said out loud.
“You all right?” she asked, quieter now.
“I’m good.”
She held my gaze just long enough to make sure I meant it, then nodded once and kept moving. “We leaving in fifteen,” she announced to the room. “If you’re not ready, you’re explaining yourself to me and I’m not in the mood to listen.”
“That’s a threat,” Simone said.
“That’s a promise.”
I heard Nova step into the house without knocking, the door easing shut behind her.
I didn’t have to turn right away to know it was her.
When I did, my eyes dropped out of habit, catching the details before anything else.
She had on a pair of Dunks I hadn’t seen her wear yet, one of those newer hemp pairs, the kind with that soft, textured finish that didn’t crease the same way leather did.
The color sat somewhere between sand and something warmer, neutral enough to go with anything, but intentional in a way that told me she didn’t just grab them on her way out. She rarely did.
The dress was a hoodie, oversized in a way that looked intentional instead of borrowed, the kind that hit just above her knee and shifted when she moved like it had already learned her pace. The sleeves were pushed up just enough to show her wrists, and a bunch of bracelets covered both of them.
She stepped fully into the house, nudging the door closed behind her with the side of her sneaker, her bag slipping off her shoulder and landing on the nearest chair like she’d been there all morning.
“Coffee still good,” she said, reaching for a mug without looking at me yet, “or are we pretending it is out of loyalty?”
Her voice settled into the space easy, familiar, like it belonged there. For a second, I let it. Then I remembered exactly what today was going to require of me. And who I had brought with me.
Auntie Rhonda didn’t look up. “Taste it and find out.”
Nova poured a cup, took a sip, then tipped her chin once in approval. “All right. You did something with this.”
“That’s what I said,” Rhonda replied, satisfied.
Nova leaned back against the counter, one ankle crossing over the other, her gaze moving through the room like she was taking inventory without being obvious about it. When her eyes landed on me, it was quick, easy.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
The doorbell rang. I was already moving toward it before Simone could say anything slick about it. When I opened the door, Kendra stood there with a small smile that widened when she saw me, like she’d decided ahead of time she was going to enjoy the day no matter what.
“Hello, stranger,” she said, shifting her bag higher on her shoulder.
“Hey, Ken,” I answered, stepping aside to let her in.
She paused just inside the doorway, taking in the room with a quiet attention.
“Hi,” she said to everyone, her voice warm.
“Hey, baby,” Auntie Rhonda said, crossing the room and pulling Kendra into a hug that managed to be warm and evaluative at the same time. She leaned back just enough to get a proper look at her, hands still resting lightly on Kendra’s arms. “You found us all right?”
“I did,” Kendra said, laughing softly as she lifted her phone like evidence. “GPS didn’t fail me.”
“It better not,” Rhonda replied, giving a small, approving nod. “I don’t have the patience for technology acting up when I’ve got a schedule to keep.”
Kendra smiled in a way that was open and inviting.
However, introductions didn’t line up neatly. They never did with us. Marcus stepped in first, offering his hand with a calm politeness that made people straighten up without realizing they were doing it.
“Marcus,” he said. “Good to finally meet you.”
“Kendra,” she replied, matching his tone. “I’ve heard wonderful things.”
“That means somebody lied to you,” Simone said, sliding in just over Marcus’s shoulder, her eyes already taking in details she would absolutely revisit later. “We’re going to have to get you a more accurate briefing.”
“Simone,” Kendra said, smiling like she understood exactly what kind of room she had walked into. “I’ve heard a little about you too.”
Simone paused just long enough to appreciate that. “Only a little?” she asked. “That feels like an oversight.”
“It feels like mercy,” Marcus muttered.
Jerome leaned in from the side, hands in his pockets, looking between Nova and Kendra like he had just tuned into a show already in progress.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding slowly. “I’m not going to pretend in any way, shape, or form, but this feels like a moment.”
I should’ve let that pass. “What kind of moment?” I asked anyway.
Jerome glanced at me like I had set him up.
“The kind where the girlfriend meets the female best friend and everybody decides to act regular even though nothing about this is regular,” he said, gesturing lightly between them.
“Y’all smiling, but it’s tension in the room.
I can hear it snap-crackle-poppin’ all up in here. ”
“Jerome is narrating again,” Marcus said, not even looking at him. “Please ignore him.”
“I’m not narrating,” Jerome replied. “I’m providing context.”
“You are providing commentary no one asked for,” Simone said.
“That’s how context works,” he shot back.
Kendra laughed, a real one this time, her shoulders easing as she glanced toward me like she was checking whether this was how we always were. It was.
Nova stepped forward then, not rushing, not hesitating, just moving into the space like she had always had a place in it.
“Kendra, right?” she said, her hand already extended, her tone steady.
Kendra took it, her grip firm and even. “Nova. I’ve heard about you.”
Nova’s mouth curved slightly, something amused settling just under the surface. “I would hope so,” she said. “I’ve been around long enough to earn a mention.”
Simone made a soft sound that landed somewhere between agreement and warning. “That’s one way to describe it,” she added.
Kendra glanced between them, like she was picking up on the history without trying to map all of it at once. “That usually means there’s a story,” she said.
“Oh, there are several,” Simone replied.
“Some of them even true,” Marcus added.
Nova didn’t look at either of them. She kept her focus on Kendra, composed in a way that read as easy unless you knew how much control it took to make it look like that.
“Well,” she said, a hint of humor threading through it, “you’re here now, so you’ll get your own version.”
Kendra nodded, accepting that without pressing. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Auntie Rhonda clapped her hands once, sharp enough to pull everyone back from the edge of whatever had started settling in.
“All right, that’s enough,” she said. “We are not about to stand in my living room and unpack years of history when there is breakfast waiting on us. Everybody grab what you need. We’re on the move. ”
“That’s the best thing you’ve said all morning,” Jerome said, already reaching for his keys.
“Says the person who has not contributed anything useful all morning,” Simone replied.
“I contributed awareness,” he said.
“You contributed noise,” Marcus corrected him.
“Same difference if you say it confidently,” Jerome shot back.
Things between us all picked up again, natural and practiced. Bags were lifted, phones checked, Marcus already asking about directions like he had no intention of trusting Jerome to get us anywhere without incident.
Nova turned to grab her bag, adjusting the strap over her shoulder with a small, precise movement that wouldn’t have registered to anyone who didn’t know her. I did.
She smoothed her hand once down the front of her dress, not fixing anything, just giving herself a second to settle back into place. Her mouth held that faint, easy curve, the one most people read as her being unbothered, and her eyes stayed steady, not reaching, not retreating.
That was one of her tells. That version of her that showed up when something had landed deeper than she was willing to let anyone see. Most people missed it. I never did. And I knew exactly what it meant.