Page 121 of Falling Into Gravity

Malik had never been poured into like this before. Not by no woman…not like this. It was like every time Aku opened her mouth, she spoke life into him. The kind that touched places he didn’t even know were starving. Affirmation wasn’t just her love language—it was her instinct. She made him feel seen - whole. Like he was more than the bruises and the hustle and the past that wouldn’t let go.

And when she saidBlack man? That shit hit different. Like a blessing. Like a crown. Like she was reminding him of who he was and who he could be—all in the same breath. It didn’t just boost him. It charged him. Gave him superpowers he didn’t know he had.

“What should I wear?”

“Something blue,” she laughed, wiping her face. “I’ve been so damn emotional lately.”

“Been? Oh, you ain’t always emotional?”

Aku pinched him. “Don’t play with me, Malik.”

chapter 21

. . .

Malik’s button-up was stiff.

He kept tugging at the collar, wishing he had just worn his hoodie like usual. But Zaire said first impressions mattered in boardrooms, said this was how things changed, said this waspower. Malik wasn’t so sure. From where he sat, all it looked like was a bunch of white boys with soft hands and unbothered lives tryna make something out of him that he wasn’t.

The conference table was long and expensive, real mahogany or whatever white folks thought was luxury this year. Everything smelled like lemon polish and central air.

He cut his eyes at Zaire. He came along to make the introduction since these were his people.

Malik sat stiff in the leather conference chair, thumb tapping his knee under the table. His rib brace itched under his shirt, but he didn’t adjust it. He didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of thinking he was uncomfortable.

Across from him sat three white dudes, all grinning with that eager, friendly confidence that made him itch. They looked like they’d never had to run from anything but a networking event that went too long.

Zaire was off to the side, trying to play middleman. “These are the guys I was telling you about,” he said. “This is Brady, Todd, and Hunter.”

Of course one of them was named Hunter.

Brady leaned forward, arms on the table, eyes lit with excitement. “Malik, man—first of all, Plugged In? Brilliant. We’ve been tracking user traffic, engagement, the encryption layers…it’s solid work. You built a gem.”

Malik nodded. “Appreciate it.”

Todd jumped in next. “We’re thinking scale. Bigger network. Nationwide, maybe even international integration. There’s a void in the encrypted community-based app space. You’ve got something that could replace the traditional social web for underserved communities.”

“Underserved?” Malik repeated, eyes narrowing slightly.

Brady caught the shift. “We mean under-resourced - left out of the traditional tech ecosystem.”

Malik smirked. “Nah, you meant poor Black folks.”

Zaire shifted in his seat, feeling this was about to go left.

Hunter cleared his throat. “We’re offering resources, though. Expansion. Capital. A proper backend team, a UI overhaul, a brand pivot. We’re here to water the tree.”

That’s when Brady echoed it: “It’s a shared evolution. You built the seed, we water the tree. Help it grow faster.”

Malik blinked once…twice.

He pinched the bridge of his nose to stop all the vile shit that sat there, itching to come out.

The only tree he had, Aku was already watering it - consistently, with joy. She fed the roots, not just the branches. He didn’t need no synthetic-ass water from people who didn’t even know what a drought felt like.

He leaned back, slow. “And what happens when y’all don’t like how the branches look?”

Brady blinked. “I’m sorry?”

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