Page 57 of Falling Into Gravity

“And I swear,” Anthony continued, “she looked at me like Iwas the magic. Like I was the one with the answers, even when I had none. I started callin’ her Dorothy from that day on. Said I was gon’ be her home if she ever got lost.”

The table went quiet, even Gran Betty was still for a second.

“I can’t believe he still remembers that,” Myesa said softly.

“He did more than remember it,” Aku murmured, her chest tightening.

“That’s why he say it to you?” Anthony asked, seeing her nod, he kept talking. “You must feel like home to him—even when he don’t know how to say it.”

Aku blinked. Her throat got tight. She looked away, biting her lip to keep it together.

Myesa reached over, her tone still teasing but gentle. “So…you his Dorothy now, huh?”

“I don’t know,” Aku answered, honestly. “But I felt it when he said it, like he gave me the courage to pull him from whatever. Then every time he says it, it feels like gravity pulled me into Crescent Park on a whim. I’m still tryna figure out how I got here and why I want to stay.”

“Gravity…” Myesa whispered.

Gran Betty grinned, toothpick dancing between her lips. “Baby, men like that don’t say things just to say ‘em. If he called you Dorothy, he already halfway down the yellow brick road.”

Anthony laughed. “Now you got a whole hood full of characters.”

They all laughed again, but something in Aku’s spirit had shifted.

Malik’s wink during the walk, his quiet presence, his mama’s prayers, his granny’s eyes, his daddy’s legacy…all of it clicked.

It wasn’t an obsession.

It was a metaphor passed down. A coded way to say “you feel like home.”

Maybe she wasn’t ready to follow that road yet, or maybe she was more than ready… just too afraid ‘cause it didn’t work the last time.

A car slowly crept down the street. Had Aku been from Crescent, she would’ve noticed it had been the cars’ second time, but she wasn’t from there…didn’t understand the warning signs.

Gran Betty’s hand landed heavy on her shoulder. “It’s about time to head home, my girl,” she said, her tone light but her eyes doing all the work.

Anthony cleared his throat, already packing up the table with Myesa following behind him, after kissing her cheek and making her promise to come kick it with them again.

Aku blinked, everything was moving so fast. “Um…yea - okay. Have you seen Malik?” She didn’t know why she needed to know that or why the look Gran Betty gave her, had her wanting to take Malik home with her.

Gran Betty shook her head. “Ain’t no telling where he disappeared to. I’ll have him call you and make sure you got home safe, baby. But it’s getting late and a pretty girl like you need to get your beauty rest.”

Aku nodded, her eyes scanning the thinning crowd once more. Still no Malik, so she stood to leave. The short walk to her truck had her feet moving slow like something was holding her down, pulling her back one last time to look for him.

That gravitational pull she didn’t fully understand, took her glare right to him. Sitting in the cut on someone’s ac unit, she waved him over, but Malik shook his head. Aku was trying to think quick on her feet.

“Com’ere, I still got that,” she yelled across the street.

Myesa fussed from her porch now, since she too was heading in. “Take yo’ ass home, Aku! And get yo’ ass in this house Lik!”

Aku wasn’t trying to hear that though. Instead, she marched over to Malik like she owned the block.

“Dorothy, this ain’t the yellow brick road,” he fussed, voice low when she was close enough to hear him.

Aku rolled her eyes. “You left your gun in my car, remember?”

“And you been riding ‘round with it?” His thick brow formed a v in the middle of his forehead.

“Come get it,” Aku said, spinning to walk back to her car.

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