TWENTY-ONE
That was so cool, Mama!” Robby says for the millionth time, after recounting every detail of the night. Lena holds his hand as the doors of the ambulance shut and they speed off.
Standing beside me, Dad shakes his head. “She’s never gonna let that boy out of her sight after this.”
“Maybe she will,” I sigh.
A crowd forms around the house, police tape blocking everyone off. A handcuffed Britney was whisked off by the police in one car, Jabari in another. I wish I could see him reunite with his mom, but just knowing it’s about to happen makes me smile.
Myah shivers, rubbing her arms.
“You okay?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “I guess.”
“You guess?”
She looks at me, tears in her eyes. “I almost got us killed! Thinking I can talk to ghosts. What was I thinking?”
I grab her hands. “Hey! You were thinking like you always think. You’re always trying to help people, make people feel better. And because of that you saved Jabari. Just ’cause you can’t talk to ghosts don’t mean you don’t care about people.”
Myah nods and grips me into a hug. “Thanks, girl. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Yeah,” I sniff.
At that moment, Mr. Horton comes running through the crowd and Myah jumps into his arms. Someone must have called him.
I turn to Dad. “Wait. How did you know where to find me? Kiki and Truth didn’t know where the house was.”
Dad sighs. “Let me see that camera bag.”
I frown and give him my bag, hoping he won’t be too mad about the broken lens. He digs around the bottom, pulling out a round metal disc.
“What!” I cry. “You’ve been tracking me this entire time? So, you don’t trust me at all, do you?”
Dad waves the disc in the air. “The tracker is for your camera so we won’t lose it. I know how much it means to you.”
He bends down to meet my eyes. “Harmony, I trust you. I always have. But I’m still your father.
And a father worries sometimes. I wasn’t following your every move, but when I wanted to know where you were, I checked.
And you were always exactly where you said you were.
That made me trust you even more. Mony, parents …
mess up. A lot. We’re just kids in bigger bodies, still trying to figure stuff out like you.
Which is why we know what it’s like to need our parents.
I needed my moms, bad. And with her gone …
Even if we didn’t lose the apartment, I don’t think I could’ve stayed in our place with her not being there. Or being there … in another way.”
I gasp, gripping his arm. “So, you do think Grandma’s a ghost, don’t you?”
He rubs the back of his head. “I don’t know.
And I don’t know if I can take seeing her as a ghost. Still, I should have talked to you more about Grandma and how I was feeling.
Then, I would have known how important it was for us to stay there.
Losing your mother, then my mother, it’s a lot for a man to take. ”
I never thought about it like that. Dad lost two people he loved in our spot. It was probably hard for him to stay. But he was willing to stay for me.
“They say when a lot of people are sad, it makes the ghost stay earth-side,” I say. “ ’Cause sometimes they can’t move on. So maybe it’s better we not be around for a little while and let Grandma have some peace.”
Dad smiles and hugs me. “It’s just you and me, Mony love. And I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
I wipe my eyes. “How was playing at the museum gala?”
He laughs. “I didn’t play a single note.
Once Kiki and Truth called me and we figured out Robby was missing, Lena and I booked it out of there.
I had just pulled up to Calhoun Square when Myah came running out the house.
But I’m not gonna front, I just had a … feeling all night. And what did Grandma always say?”
I smile. “Trust your gut.”
A plainclothes police officer approaches us. Now I gotta start explaining what I was doing in that house and maybe even get in trouble for breaking in or something. I hold my breath and wait for the damage.
But then the officer takes my cell phone out of his pocket.
“Is this yours?” he asks.
“Oh! Yeah,” I say. I forgot all about it in the scuffle.
The officer opens the screen and presses stop on the voice note.
My phone had recorded the whole thing.