9. Alisha “Kitty” Quinn #3
“I’m not in the mood for a riddle right now.” I snapped.
“You don’t know Yin at all.” Yang’s voice held something dark.
“My brother wouldn’t blame him. Those two have been friends for a long time and if a bullet didn’t come between their friendship, do you think this will?
Nothing else matters right now but Yin and what he thinks.
The minute he opens his eyes, he and Squirrel will be high-fiving as if nothing ever happened. ”
I said nothing.
“It’s not his fault, you know?” Yang asked, softly.
“As much as those two love each other, things are going to happen—bad things. Yin isn’t a cop and while he’s lethal in the octagon, he doesn’t think like a cop.
He thinks like a fighter. That’s not the brain space this situation needed.
And as much as they love him, they can’t protect him from everything.
And why did you have to snap at Tha’lab? ”
I frowned but busied myself drinking.
“You’re jealous.” Yang cleared his throat. “And that’s fine but alienating the people who have Yin’s best interest at heart isn’t the way to go about that. You feel this way because you don’t trust Yin.”
“What? What does trust have to do with anything?” I pushed.
“If you trusted him enough, you’d know that Tha’lab or any other woman could walk in front of him naked and you’d still be the only woman he sees.”
“What are you saying?”
Yang signed and stood to tower over me.
“I’m saying, Yin is loyal and won’t walk away from his friends because you are butt hurt.”’ Yang explained, his voice tired, wary. “He knows how to judge people. Tha’lab or Squirrel aren’t going anywhere. So, either learn to get along, or once your life is back on track, you can get to stepping.”
Before I could say anything else, Yang walked away, his large back straight, his hands stuck in his pockets. Sam jogged up to him and the two of them disappeared into Exodus’ room.
Yang’s words echoed through my head.
He hadn’t been hurtful.
He hadn’t yelled or screamed—just dropped a few truth bombs on me that broke me.
There, I sat with my face in my palms, sobbing, the pressure of it all descending on me like a tidal wave carrying bricks.
“Look, little brother.” Yin was saying when I opened the door a crack to watch them all swarm around his bed.
“By like seven minutes.” Yang reminded Yin.
The room erupted in laughter.
“I’m okay.” Yin continued. “It was just a scratch. I slept for so long because they had to be careful with the pain meds they have me on and they made me sleep. Squirrel?—”
“Here.”
“Don’t look so down.” Yin told his friend. “I’m still standing right? Well, more or less—you know what I mean.”
“Yeah—maybe I shouldn’t be here.” Squirrel told him. “You could’ve?—.”
“Eh!” Yin growled now. “None of that.”
“Nobody blames you for what happened.” Mama Tan’s voice was soft as she patted the firefighter’s shoulder. “Accidents happen all the time. We can go on and on about what could have happen, or we can accept what did happen. Yin is still here, isn’t he?”
Squirrel rested his head on Mama Tan’s shoulder.
“Xiè xiè āyí.” Squirrel released on a tired breath.
“Does this boy not know I will fight him?” Mama Tan asked. “And win.”
They laughed.
“Xiè xiè Māmā.” Squirrel amended.
“That’s better.” Mama Tan told him.
Walking away from the door, I sat by myself. I wasn’t sure for how long, feeling an overwhelming shame descending on me.
I wasn’t used to this kind of friendship—all my friends slowly vanished from my life.
I wasn’t sure when that happened, but slowly over the years, I’d descended into the kind of life where it was work, home, sometimes the library then home.
The calls for girls’ nights dried up, the invites to go thrifting became a memory and the mornings to go brunching floated away like leaves in a small breeze.
“You don’t think he wants to see you too?” Tha’lab asked. “Why are you sitting out here looking like your dog died?”
“I think he’ll be very ashamed of me when he finds out what I did.” I managed, sniffling. “I don’t know how to face that.”
“He is going to be mad.” Tha’lab nodded. “But if you knew he was going to be angry, why did you do it in the first place?”
“You’re not helping.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
I eyed her.
“Why don’t you let him make that decision?” She wanted to know.
Glancing up at her, she was wearing a brown hijab, hiding her hair. It flowed over her black top.
“Why are you being nice to me?”
“Because as much as you’ve been terrible to everyone.” She replied, adjusting the gun on her hip. “And we all want to throw you a beating?—”
Tha’lab sighed as if changing her mind on what she was about to say.
“And I could react how you think I should, this isn’t about you.” She tried again. “Hell, it’s not even about me. I don’t know why you dislike me so much, Alisha, but I’m not the enemy. Frankly, I don’t care why you dislike me. What’s happening right now, is about Yin, not you.”
Before I could react, she turned on her heels and disappeared down a set of stairs I hadn’t noticed before.