Chapter Seven Small World, Big Trouble
Kane had been good for months.
No attitude. No slamming doors. Her grades even came up, and she started helping Bunny with her spelling words like she actually cared.
Sunni noticed the difference.
“She just needed time,” Lisa from the support group had said. “Sometimes the strongest ones break the quietest.”
It was true. Kane wasn’t loud with her grief. She wore it like a hoodie—zipped up, head down, nobody allowed in.
But something in her had shifted lately.
A glow. A light behind the eyes. A flicker of teenage joy.
Sunni watched her one Saturday afternoon as she paced the kitchen, phone in her hand, biting her nails.
“Who got you actin’ like that?” Sunni asked, half-teasing.
“Nobody,” Kane said, rolling her eyes.
“Is it a boy?”
“No! It’s just Minnie Girl.”
“Minnie Girl?”
“My new friend from school. She funny. Like, wild funny. But smart, too. Got seven brothers and sisters. You’d like her.”
Sunni smiled. “I already like her name.”
“Can I go to the movies with her today? Her sister’s pickin’ us up later.”
Sunni paused. It had been a long time since Kane asked to do anything outside of school or church. She wanted to say no—the mama in her always leaning cautious now—but instead, she nodded.
“You got a ride home?”
“Yeah, her sister said she’d drop me back after.”
“What’s her name?”
“Ion know… something like Kiki or KeKe or somethin’ like that.”
Sunni raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“Okay,” she finally said. “You got your phone on?”
“Yep.”
“Be home by ten. You hear me?”
Kane grinned. “Ten sharp, I promise.”
The movie was funny. Dumb, but funny. Kane and Minnie Girl laughed so hard they nearly got kicked out for throwing popcorn.
They shared a frozen Coke and a big bag of sour gummies. Kane hadn’t laughed like that in months—not since the day she found out her father had faked his funeral.
It felt good. Like being a kid again.
After the credits rolled, they waited outside the theater. The summer night air was sticky with bugs and car exhaust.
A white SUV pulled up.
“There she go,” Minnie said, waving. “That’s my big sis Keisha.”
The name hit Kane like a slap.
Keisha.
The woman from the photo. The one who came to see Mama at her job. The one with his other kids.
Before Kane could react, Minnie opened the door and jumped in.
Kane followed slowly, heart thudding like a drum.
“Hey girl,” Keisha said, looking at Minnie through the rearview mirror. “Y’all have fun?”
“Yes ma’am,” Minnie said.
Keisha glanced in the backseat and froze for half a second. Just enough for Kane to notice.
“Kane… right?”
Kane didn’t answer.
The whole ride was quiet.
Not awkward—tense.
The air in the car shifted. Keisha’s hand gripped the wheel tighter. Kane stared out the window like the stars might save her.
Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of Sunni’s house.
“This where you stay?” Keisha asked gently.
Kane didn’t look at her.
She just nodded.
“Tell your mama I said hey.”
Kane opened the door without a word.
Walked up the driveway.
The SUV didn’t pull off right away.