Page 114 of Wings of Ebony
“I-I’m so sorry, Rue. Y-you wanna come in?”
I cut a glance over both shoulders. No sight of Jhamal.
“Sure.”Minutes. I can give thisfiveminutes.
“Look…,” she jumps right in. “I was wrong for what I said about the watch.”
Hell, yes you were.“Okay?” I fold my arms.
“I… this is just really hard for me.” She plops on the bed.
Hard for her? Four minutes.
“Imagine everything you grew up believing being a complete lie,” she says, eyes pleading with me.
“Bri, I get that more than you realize.”
She turns to me and there’s something there in her eyes—like a twinkle of hope. “I mean, what if we didn’t out everything publicly, but, like, worked to vote out the Chancellor?”
Is she serious? Her three minutes just jumped to two.
She studies my face and I guess she gathers what I think of her ridiculous attempt at bargaining about this. “Okay, it’s justso muchto lay on people. Uprooting lives, I mean, that’s a lot to ask. What if maybe wedoout the truth, but, like, maybe Old Ghizon could be here and New Ghizon there and we could, maybe, share the mag—”
Okay, nope. Time’s up.“Stop. I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m going to tell you this quickly. You can’t see that what you’re saying is actually digging the dagger deeper?”
She twists her head in confusion.
“You don’t get it. I see you trying to work through it, but I can’t let you keep hurting me or anyone here in the process. Could you really look at those people out there and say that to their faces? After what they’ve been through? Think about that for a second. I get you’re sad.I get this is hard. But this isn’t about you, Bri. And if helping scares you or makes you uncomfortable, then fine. You are welcome to have dinner and go back home. No one’s forcing you to be here.”
“Rue, Iwannabe here. Iwannahelp. I do! Igetthat this is wrong. Ihatethat I never knew.… Now, I-I’m just not sure what to do, I guess.”
“Well, these ideas ain’t it. I was actually just looking for Jhamal. If you really want to help, then fine, I’ll give you a shot to help.”
“O-okay. I-I’m ready. Tell me what to do.”
I leave her there with a minute to spare and spot Jhamal paces from the dining hall.
“Jhamal!” I say, sounding a little too desperate, but he smiles and I don’t even care how I sound anymore. He bounds his African god–looking self over, shirtless with gilded armor, and I have to look away to remember what the heck I wanted to say.
“Jelani?” he asks. “I thought you were gone. Is everything okay?
“No, listen.” I set a hand on his shoulder and my sleeves raise. He gasps, gawking at my gleaming wrists, the moonlight glinting off their metallic surface.
I smile but think of my dad and it fades. “I finally figured out how to get them to work. Anyway, I came back because I said I’d ask if I ever needed help. And I do.”
Plates stacking and voices roar louder from the dining room window slit. “So, will you help?”
“It is not even a question, my Queen.” He puffs out his chest, as beautiful and hard as ebony. “Tell me what to do.”
I lead him back to Bri’s room and they sit, watching me pace.
Another thing I learned back home is thinking ahead. I gottathink four, five, six steps ahead because the consequences for screwing up are higher for people who look like me. No more just reacting because I’m pissed. I gotta besureI’ve thought this all the way through.
I’ve run the plan in my head a million times. No second guessing. The key to taking all of them down is bringing his dirty work to light. We need evidence.
“I need a recorder type device,” I say to their inquisitive stares. “Something that can record and play it back as a hologram.”
“A phototrifiter,” Jhamal and Bri say at the same time. They look at each other, equally surprised.
