Chapter Eleven Before the Storm
Sometimes peace will take you right back to the battlefield.
“Mama, please can I go? Everybody in the class gon’ be there!”
Bunny bounced in the hallway, shoes on the wrong feet, birthday gift clutched in her hands like a trophy.
Sunni sighed, twisting the gold hoops into her ears. “You sure it’s a real invite? Not just some made-up party in the backyard?”
“Yes ma’am, see?” Bunny waved a wrinkled, glittery invitation. Hot pink. Smelled like bubblegum. “Nia from my class. Her mama said she got a bounce house, a unicorn cake, and even a petting zoo!”
Sunni squinted at the address. Something about it itched at the back of her mind—2383 Larkspur Lane, Tipton County.
Arlington.
She almost said no. Almost made up an excuse about gas or time or how the other kids might be tired.
But then she saw the look on Bunny’s face—joy, pure and loud and untouched by grown-folk pain.
“Alright,” Sunni finally said. “We all goin’. Load up.”
Her new Tahoe sparkled in the sun, dark blue with black rims—a gift to herself after the promotion. Leather seats, cooled air, quiet ride. It was the first big thing she’d ever bought on her own, and every time she drove it, it reminded her she could.
The kids piled in like they were on a road trip. Natty with her backpack full of dolls. Prince on aux. Dexter already trying to connect his game to the Wi-Fi hotspot. Kane in the passenger seat, chewing gum like it had secrets.
“You sure this ain’t too far?” Kane asked as they crossed into Tipton County.
“It’s just Arlington,” Sunni said, one hand on the wheel. “We ain’t moving in. We droppin’ Bunny off, maybe stay a little, then head back.”
But as they turned down Larkspur Lane, something in her chest shifted.
The trees looked familiar. The curve in the road. The stop sign by the mailbox that tilted sideways like it never got fixed.
And then she saw it.
His house.
Right across the street.
Same gray siding. Same black shutters. A new car in the driveway. A little pink bike on the lawn.
Sunni’s breath caught in her throat.
Kane noticed first. “Mama…”
“I see it.”
Sunni’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Her heart beat louder than the music. Her peace, hard-earned and carefully guarded, now sat parked across from the last chapter she ever wanted to re-read.
“Mama, look!” Bunny squealed. “That’s the house with the bounce house!”
Sunni pulled into the driveway, forced a smile, and put the Tahoe in park. “Y’all stay in your lane, okay? Be polite. No wandering.”
Bunny nodded and grabbed her gift. “Yes ma’am!”
Sunni helped Natty with her shoes, trying not to look across the street. Trying not to breathe in memories that smelled like barbecued Sundays and betrayal.
But Kane was watching. Watching her mama carefully fold her face into something strong. Something steady.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
Sunni nodded once.
But her eyes never left the house across the street.