Page 114 of The Prodigy

“So that’s why you told me to look for a place that takes pets. I didn’t even catch that.”

“You been hanging with Jaz too much.”

“Shut up. You know, your sister might not be book smart, but she’s people smart.”

“If you say so.”

“I’m serious. She was putting out fires today. We stopped by the barbershop after we left the salon and your uncle was there having a fit about something. Jaz smoothed it over.”

His eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

“Some guy was arguing with your uncle about something. Jaz said the guy had just been in last week mad. Anyway, she got your uncle to calm down and she talked to the customers and made up some shit on the spot to keep them from wondering if something was gonna pop off.”

“Who was the guy?”

“I don’t know. I think she said his name was Shaka.”

Jakari’s entire face changed. It was like the sun had set behind his eyes. It startled me.

“What’s wrong?” I said. “Is everything okay?”

“Nah. But it will be.” He bent down to kiss my lips again. “I gotta run out, but I’ll be back soon. Go ahead and start looking at places.”

I watched him grab his wallet and keys off the dresser.

“What’s the budget?”

“Ain’t none.”

And then he was gone.

I stared at my puppy and felt a sense of dread creeping up on me.

Something was wrong.

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