Page 24 of A Vicious Rumor

She looked up at me with wide eyes. "Thank you," she said, taking it from my hand. I tossed her the bagel and it landed in her lap.

"Don't," I said to her. "I don't really want to talk. I just know this place doesn't have any food."

"Okay," she said quietly, her face a little crestfallen.

There was nowhere else to sit, so I just stood at the kitchen counter, drank my coffee, and ate my bagel. The two of us ate in silence for a while, but finally Coco couldn't help herself.

"What'd you do yesterday?" she asked.

I didn't respond.

"Was the couch okay?" she asked, trying a different question.

I sighed. "Fine," I replied, hoping some sort of response would get her to stop.

"Sorry that it's not much," she replied.

"It's fine," I replied, finishing the last bite of my bagel, and wadding up the wrapping. I threw it into the waste basket, grabbed my coffee, and headed for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Coco asked, standing up and looking concerned.

"Out," I replied, letting the door close behind me.

I jumped in the Jeep once more and pulled out of the driveway. I didn't really have a destination. I just didn't want to be around Coco. When I'd driven out here yesterday, I'd done so with the intent to hate her, but the more time I spent with her, the more uncertainty grew around that decision.

So, I just needed to spend less time with her.

I weaved the big Wrangler in and out of the side streets, exploring the area a bit more. There was a lot of history in Anacostia, it being so close to the city. There was, of course, the Community Museum, where I'd met Lily all those years ago. There was the Frederick Douglass house up on Cedar Hill, and of course, there was what was known as the Big Chair, which was exactly what it sounded like. It was a chair the size of a literal building, built by a defunct furniture manufacturer. It'd always been sort of ironic to me, that their advertisement had become famous enough to be declared an Historic Landmark, and yet, they still went out of business.

After an hour of driving around aimlessly, I found myself on the corner of Maple View, facing the Starbucks where Lily worked. I pulled the Jeep into the nearby parking lot and sat in the car, trying to decide whether to go in or not. As I thought about my decision, my mind flitted briefly to my old life, and I wondered what the guys were up to.

I opened my phone, but before I could open Instagram to check their feeds, I was bombarded by a news story I wished I could have just ignored.

"Stone Builders Caught Up in Chinese Drywall Scandal" was the headline. I cringed. It didn't sound good. I scrolled down, thumbing through the article.

"A class action lawsuit has been filed against Stone Builders, alleging that the developer knowingly used faulty drywall in its homes in order to cut costs, while telling consumers that the product was manufactured in the U.S."

"Fuck," I cursed.

"Remediation costs per house can be as much as $40,000, and there's no word on just how many homes were affected."

I cringed. This was bad, like really bad. If it was true, and deep down I knew it likely was true, the business was basically all but done for if it didn't find cash, and fast.

As I went to shove my phone into my pocket, the corner of a piece of cardstock slid against my thumb. I pulled it out and sighed.

It was an address.

An address I knew was bad news.

But, one that had money attached to it.

And, right now, more than anything, that's what my family's business was going to need.

I put the Jeep into drive and backed out of the parking lot, heading in the opposite direction.

LILY

The growl of an engine momentarily drew my attention away from the customer in front of me. I looked out through the window to see Tyson's big blue Wrangler pulling into the parking lot. I tried to calm the butterflies that started fluttering in my heart. It wasn't like me to get so excited, especially not over a boy.

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