Page 52 of City of Gods

“Now why the fuck would I do that?” I laughed.

“You really didn’t have to do that. He wasn’t even fighting back after a few minutes.”

“I know. Y'all need to train that boy better. He’s an assassin. I’m a surgeon. No way in hell I should have been able to knock blood out of that boy.”

“You were furious, Bakari, and you caught him off guard.” She pinched my hand and I chuckled.

“All these excuses for why your big brother got the shit beat out of him by a doctor.”

“Okay, Dr. Breeze.”

We talked in between stretches of silence until we both fell asleep from pure fucking exhaustion. I needed my strength for whatever was getting ready to happen.

Twelve

“What the fuck do you mean she’sgone?” My voice came out loud and barbed with anger.

Zee groaned on the other end of the phone. “I’m guessing Father hasn’t called you yet.” A second later, my phone chimed with a call from my father.

“That’s him right now. Let me call you back, Zee.” I ended the call and answered my father, my heart pounding in my ears, waiting for him to speak.

“Your mother is gone, Sanai.”

“Is she dead?” I rubbed my forehead and stalked back and forth, catching glimpses of myself in Bakari’s mirror.

“Not dead. Just…gone. I came home last night after I took Eli home and made sure he was set up okay and all her shit was gone. Her side of the closet was cleared out. Her cars were gone…everything. Someone told her we knew.”

“Notsomeone. If you were with Eli and Zee didn’t say shit, then it had to be Kenya. She was the most pissed off about it after Eli. She warned her.” My hands were slick with sweat and my fingers trembled with anger.

“We don’t know that, Nai. Things are tense right now and jumping to conclusions about your sister isn’t going to help.” I wasn’t trying to hear his stern, fatherly voice right then.

“No disrespect, Father, but that’s bullshit. We need to contain this problem now. I don’t have time to hand out the benefit of the doubt to anyone.”

“I’m calling a meeting. Afamilymeeting, Sanai. I want you at the church now. Leave your boyfriend at home.”

“Please spare me that bullshit,” I scoffed. “I’ll be there.” I ended the call and caught Bakari’s eyes in the mirror, watching me.

“She’s gone?” His features were schooled except for a single raised eyebrow. I knew after last night something would snap in him and a part of him would die with Rob. Looking into his eyes told me the truth I’d already suspected. A part of him was ice-laden and empty now.

“Yeah, she was warned. Had to have been. She packed up and left. I gotta meet my family at the church.”

“You gonna be okay?” he asked, walking over to me.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Times like this is when I fall deeper into my cover. It means nothing to anyone if they see me and my family heading into the church after what happened last night. It’s not unusual for us to pray for people or hold vigils.” I shrugged and looked at myself in the mirror.

Bakari placed his hands on my hips and pulled me against his hard body. “Be careful. Your mother is rogue. She’s about money and power. She’s a fucking killer. Don’t think she’ll show grace because you’re her child. Watch your fucking back.”

“I will. You do the same.” I turned to face him and placed my palm on his cheek. “I’d feel a lot better if you laid low until we found her.”

“Nah. I’m not about to do that. I need to go to the Temple. I can’t be in the hospital today. I want to open the Temple and help some people. Since we didn’t open last night, the ER was flooded. So many people got put behind bars. So much money lost.”

“No criminals to serve, no money to be made, huh?” I asked, understanding the need to keep the cash flow going.

“Yeah. We don’t only help people without bias, Sanai. We make millions of dollars. Tax-free. Don’t mistake my morality for stupidity. There’s a reason the Godwins run Bellmore.”

“Because you…fundBellmore?” My hand dropped to my side as more pieces of Bakari Godwin clicked into place. He stared at me for a few beats then winked.

“The money we make from the Temple trickles back through the city. We keep Bellmore pristine. Keep the politicians happy. Keep our lovely city in the sunshine so nobody has to worry about the dirty underbelly. If anybody destabilized us, then everyone would see how fucking broken Bellmore is. Funding for schools and museums gets pulled. We tank and turn into an inner city.”

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