Page 101 of Falling Into Gravity

Solar had on a velvet wrap dress and was dancing with French in the center of the lawn like she was still 22 and high off the fact that she’d bagged the finest, slickest nigga in the city. French wore a linen shirt halfway open and kept whispering in her ear like they ain’t been married twenty-plus years and had three kids already. Frenchy and Apollo were on joke time as usual, running the card table and talking big trash while Kiyah sat nearby, recording them for a TikTok she promised was going viral.

“Aye! Frenchy!” Aku called, “You ever gon’ stop cheatin’?”

“I don’t cheat,” he called back with a grin. “I just win aggressively.”

“Boy, please,” Apollo added. “You stole fifty dollars out Mama purse last week to cover ya L’s.”

Solar spun around mid-dance and pointed. “I was wonderin’ why I was short at the hair store. I thought I was trippin’.”

“Oh,nowhe quiet,” Aku laughed, shaking her head.

In the corner by the fire pit, the icons were chillin’.

Luna looked like Grammy gold in a silk two-piece with her curls up in a goddess bun, earrings as big as her legacy. Javen sat beside her in designer joggers and a fitted cap pulled low, rubbing her feet like he didn’t used to truck 300-pound linebackers for a living. Qamar was pouring up champagne, arm around his Siasia, whose camera hung from her neck like always, ready to catch every soft moment. Tiny sat curled up under Mav’s arm, legs crossed, skin glowing like money and melanin. Little Lunar leaned against the grill, nodding to whatever song was playing and laughing at something Kamari said while chewing on a rib.

“I’m just sayin’,” Aku said, dipping her head closer to Ahvi, “you been lookingglowy. Your titties sittin’ different. You pregnant?”

Ahvi almost choked on her lemonade. “Girl, no! Damn!”

Aku cracked up. “Don’t ‘girl’ me. I’m tryna sync our belly bumps. We supposed to be pregnant together!”

Ahvi shook her head, smiling. “You tryna make a mom group or a rap group?”

“I’m tryna raise a legacy, hoe,” Aku giggled. “Kamari need cousins. Malik got me lookin’ at strollers and shit.”

“If I pop up pregnant right now, Lunar gon’ faint. That man already paranoid every time I cough. Plus, I’m finally livin’ and just want to run my restaurant and fuck my man. Kamari already be blockin’.”

Tiny looked up from her glass and chimed in, “Let that manthinkit’s food poisoning. Then hit him with the stick like ‘Surprise!’ I need another grandbaby.”

Siasia added, “I told Qamar I was pregnant by sending him a Pinterest board.”

Qamar groaned, “Still not over that shit.”

Everyone cracked up.

Just as Aku leaned into the conversation to ask Ahvi what kind of vitamins she was taking, her phone started ringing.

She looked down…Malik.

She stepped away, smile fading fast, and answered. “Hey?—”

But it wasn’t Malik’s voice…

It was Zaire - panicked…breathless. “Yo—it’s me. It’s Z. Malik’s in the hospital. Some niggas jumped him…bad.”

The world came to a screeching halt. Her ears popped and her smile fell.

“What?”

“He’s at St. Mercy on Crenshaw. He unconscious, but they say he breathing. I ain’t wanna scare you but… they fucked him up, Aku. They did him dirty.”

Her breath caught - mouth open but no words came out.

She turned fast—almost dizzy. “Mama!” she screamed out. “Mama?—!”

Solar and French snapped to attention, rushing toward her.

“What? What’s wrong?” Solar asked, grabbing her arms.

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