Page 102 of All In

“And remind me exactly where exactly ‘up the way’ is these days. Chestnut Hill? Wyncote? ’Cause it damn sure ain’t 52ndstreet.” Kormia opened her mouth, but Jackie cut her off before she could get the lie out. “Girl… go on home with your room-man.” Kormia rolled her eyes. “Mind your business.” Jackie watched her stop at the treat table on the way out and dump an entire container of Swedish Fish into her purse before disappearing through the ballroom doors. The smile lingered on Jackie’s face for another second before the quiet settled backin. Now it was just her. The ballroom. And the vision she’d somehow managed to bring to life. She wanted to be mad, because she spent weeks planning this, meeting with vendors, staying up late nights and taking phone calls from damn near every woman and Zambia’s family. Everything she poured into today stood right in front of her.Well… at least I got paid.

The thought almost made her laugh.Eighty thousand dollars.Closer to fifty after payroll, rentals, and vendor invoices. Still… it wasn’t bad. Jackie gave the room one last look. She was just about to call Najee, to ask some of his uncles men to come pack her up when movement outside caught her eye.Cash.

He was walking alone toward the side entrance. Jackie set her phone on the sweetheart table and quietly slipped through the same doors. Outside, the afternoon air was cooler than she’d expected.

Cash stood near the railing with both hands resting on the stone, staring out across the course. She walked over without saying a word and stopped beside him, close enough to be there but far enough to give him space. For a while neither of them spoke. The silence wasn’t awkward — it was earned.

Jackie looked out over the water before finally breaking it. “What does it feel like?” Cash didn’t look at her. “What does what, feel like?” She turned toward him. “To be free.”

For the first time since she’d walked outside, Cash smiled. He let out a slow breath. “Like catching my fucking breath.” He let the words settle between them before adding, “I ain’t even know I was holdin’ it.” Jackie smiled faintly. “Oxygen suits you,” she joked. Cash laughed softly through his nose. “I hope so.” Another comfortable silence settled between them. Jackie glanced over. The hard set of his jaw she’d grown used to over the years was gone. So were the lines that always seemed to live between his eyebrows. He looked lighter, even more youthful somehow. Jackie knew today had been planned down to thesecond, and Zambia detonated that shit. Now the plan was abandoned, this was the first time in as long as she’d known him, he wasn’t beholden to this invisible set of rules.

She folded her hands in front of her. “I never got the chance to tell you… thank you.”

Cash looked over. “Thank you for what?” Jackie laughed softly. “For bringing my baby home.” The words caught in her throat almost immediately. She looked down, blinking away the tears threatening to spill. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for that.”

Cash was quiet for a moment. “You don’t owe me nothin’, Jackie.”

“I do.” She met his eyes. “Now I can finally catch my breath too.” Cash shook his head.

“I just helped bring him home.” Jackie smiled through her tears. “Same difference.”

He studied her for a long moment. “How’s he doin’?” That made her smile widen.

“Good. Real good.” She laughed. “He starts University of Pennsylvania in the fall, my boy landed himself a football scholarship she smiled proudly. “And the best part? He’s just a hop, skip and a jump away. Cash chuckled. “That’s a good Jawn. I’m proud of him.”

“Me too,” she said letting out a small breath.

“And Najee,” he asked. Jackie smiled to herself, before looking him square in the eye.

“God couldn’t have sent me a better man.”

The breeze filled the silence between them.

After a while, Jackie cleared her throat.

“So…” A small smile tugged at the corner of Jackie's mouth. "What's next?"

Cash looked out across the parking lot, a quiet chuckle escaping him.

“Well..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I can't marry you no more." Jackie laughed. "And can't." He grinned.

"So... I guess I'ma have to find my own wife." Jackie looked over at him.

"I mean... now, you finally get to." Cash nodded slowly. "Yeah."

A faint smile crossed his face. "I guess you’re right." Jackie smiled back.

"I think you'll make somebody real happy one day Cassius." Cash let out a soft laugh.

"I hope so." Silence sat between them as they both looked ahead.

Then, almost too quietly— "I think a part of me will always love you though."

He never looked at her. Jackie didn’t respond either. She just looked ahead, blinking against the tears gathering in her eyes. Cash smiled to himself. “And that’s okay.”

Jackie finally looked over at him. “It is.” He looked across the parking lot one last time.