Page 94 of Falling Into Gravity

Malik sat across from him, head bowed, phone face-down on the table between them.

They hadn’t said much since he got there…didn’t have to. Some silences in the Crescent meant comfort, others meant survival.

Today was both.

“I got the update on Plugged In pushin’ through tonight,” Malik finally said. “Zaire tryna linked me with this dude that’s tryna buy in.”

Pharoah blinked slow. His lips twisted into a lazy smile. “Tuh…told you.” His words came out garbled, tongue still heavy from the injury, but Malik had been around him long enough to decode the vowels behind the slurs.

“I know you told me,” Malik said, leaning back. “You told me before we even built the first code base, before Crescent even knew what a damn IP address was.”

Pharoah wheezed a chuckle.

“On God,” Malik said, grinning faintly. “You was the blueprint, P.”

Pharoah’s eyes glimmered with pride, the kind that lived in pain too. He didn’t move, but the weight of whatcould’ve beensat loud between them.

Malik looked away, jaw tight. “I used to watch you type so fast it sounded like rain. Like…all that magic in your fingers and now?—”

“Still…got my mind,” Pharoah said, slow and deliberate.

Malik nodded. “Yea, you still got that.”

The front door creaked open, and little footsteps came pitter-pattering across the floor. “Malikkkk!” a tiny voice sang.

He turned just in time to see Bren rushing in with a backpack half her size and her barrettes click-clacking.

“What up, big dawg?” Malik crouched down, arms open.

Bren jumped into his chest. “I missed you!”

“I missed you more.” He lifted her onto his lap and squinted. “Damn, girl, you grew! You eatin’ bricks now?”

She giggled, showing off the new silver caps on her front teeth. “Granny let me eat whatever I want. She even took me to the mall.”

“Oh, she spoilin’ you now?”

Bren nodded hard. “She said I’m her lil’ Queen Bee!”

Malik glanced up as Quesha walked in behind her, holding a takeout bag and her keys in her mouth.

Bren threw up a sloppyBwith her little fingers, grinning wide. “She taught me this too. See?! B for Bee!”

Malik’s whole body stilled.

He set her down slowly. “Go get you a juice out the fridge, lil’ mama.”

Bren nodded and skipped toward the kitchen, not feeling the shift in the room.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Malik stood up slow and sharp, jaw ticking. “You serious right now?”

Quesha rolled her eyes. “What?”

“She throwin’ up B’s now? Like that’s what we on?”

“She don’t evenknowwhat that mean, Malik. It’s cute to her.”

“No, Quesha. It’s dangerous. It’s fuckin’ stupid.” His voice rose. “You got her out here throwin’ up shit that could get herkilled.”

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