EPILOGUE
Reno and Trina were lying together, on the lounger, on the patio of their suburban home.
Sophia was gone with her man. Carmine was spending the night with Lucky at Sal and Gemma’s.
Jimmy and his daughter Madison were in Seattle spending the weekend with Tommy and Grace and their family.
And with everybody gone, all they could hear was the beloved sounds of silence all around them.
“It’s Friday night,” Trina said, “and you’re here with me.”
“Every night I’m going to be with you, Tree,” said Reno. “You still don’t believe me?”
A few months ago and Trina would not have believed a word that came out of Reno’s mouth about spending every night at home with her.
But since all of that turmoil and craziness, she believed him.
He’d been home every single night since that time.
It was as if he realized how much he had to nurture what mattered most to him in this life.
“I’m glad you let Latoya go back to the convent. They used her.”
Reno nodded. “I know it. That’s why I let her go. But those other assholes? No way.”
“And the way Hammer Reese stepped up and found that video. How on earth did he find it? And how were they able to encrypt it so they could see what was on it?”
“Hammer’s the Feds. They can get into anything they want to get into. But he did a solid for our black asses.”
Trina laughed. “Your Italian ass ain’t black.”
“I’m blackish. I have a black wife. My children are half-black. What more you want from me?”
Trina laughed.
“But Hammer’s alright,” she said. “He and Amelia are always having their issues, but he comes through when you need him most.”
“Yes, he does,” said Reno.
Then silence returned. Then Trina smiled. “Wanna dance?”
Reno knew they had no music. But when he looked into her beautiful, smiling, hazel eyes, he knew they didn’t need it. “Absolutely,” he said as he stood up, helped her up, and then he pulled her into his arms.
And they danced. Not to music. Not a sound of music was anywhere. They danced to the rhythm of their heartbeats. They danced to the rhythm of each other. And what they both loved the most was that they were lovingly in sync.
After all that hell, they made it to the other side.
It was, for a change, just perfect.