Page 113 of The Prodigy

“What the hell is that?”

He set the box next to me and pulled off the top. Inside was thecutestlittle tan puppy, with curly hair and huge brown eyes. I squealed and reached for him while Jakari smiled down at us.

“You got me a puppy?” I pulled the dog into me and let him lick my cheek. “Is he mine?”

“He’s yours, baby. You said you always wanted one, so there he is.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Jakari,” I whined. “I can’t believe you got me a puppy.”

“And a hundred racks and a bottomless credit card, but nah, the puppy is therealgift.”

Laughing, I tugged at the hem of his shirt to pull him to me and gave him a long, sloppy kiss. Puppy licked the side of Jakari’s face, not wanting to be left out, apparently.

“Oh, nah,” he said, standing up abruptly. “We ain’t even finna get that shit started, little buddy. You ain’t gon be licking all on me. No sir. That’s ya mama’s job.”

I rolled my eyes playfully.

“Alright, I got some bad news, too.”

“That explains it. You were buttering me up.”

“Nah.” He returned to his spot next to me. “It’s about your moms.”

I froze. “Oh no. What did you find? Is she—”

“Nah, the bad news is that my people ain’t found anything yet.”

I let out a sigh. “I thought you were gonna tell me she’s dead.”

“Shit. My bad. Nah, it’s just…I know you said she was using, but did she do anything else that mighta put her on the police radar?”

“Like…?”

“Like maybe tricking?”

“What? No. Absolutely not.”

“Yeah, I figured. Just wanted to make sure.”

“Why did you ask me that? You must have found something.”

“Some arrests. You knew about that?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

He nodded. “We’ll keep looking. I ain’t gon stop until I get you some answers.”

“Thank you, Kari. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

He pecked my lips. “Anything for you. All you gotta do is ask.”

I looked down at my new baby. “What am I gonna name you?”

He licked my chin in response.

“Fluffy? No. Curly? Ooh, Teddy, because he looks like a teddy bear. What do you think?”

Jakari shrugged. “That’s all you.”

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