Page 20 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

My arms are still in padded cuffs, but I’m able to pull myself into a sitting position in the bed. I’m in new clothes, a cream satin pajama set that feels cool on my skin.

“Nan, right?”

She nods once, busying herself with a tray of fruit, water, ice, and cups.

“How… how long was I out?”

She grabs the bowl and fruit and sits down before holding a strawberry to my mouth. “A week.”

“A week?!” I shriek around the bite of strawberry.

Her eyes dance with amusement as she gestures for me to grab the bowl. She unhooks one of my arms, since she’s deemed me docile, and I begin to feed myself.

When we meet each other’s gazes, I see how much her son and grandsons favor her. It makes me wonder about Pooh’s father, and Rico and Fredo’s mother.

“So does everyone in your family just have honey brown eyes?” I blurt. I could have sworn shit like that is recessive.

Nan’s lips spread into a bright smile, as her gaze turns sharp.

“So,” she begins, her English getting better by the second. “You’ve met Pooh Bear, then?”

I stick an entire strawberry into my mouth to avoid answering, but judging by her raucous laugh, that’s answer enough.

Rico

It only takes a week of calling for Ju to hit me back.

She’s out of breath, breathing hard into the phone before the background noise cuts off.

“I’m sorry I’m just getting back to you,” she huffs into the receiver. “I had a virtual interview with the dean of KSU’s School of Medicine and I needed to prep for it. Is everything okay?”

“I mean, yeah. Besides Mars asking for you. You never hit me to buy you a flight to come out here.”

“Yeah. I wanted to come for the holidays, but I have to stay and work for my professor. Most students have to do a year of research before KSU even thinks about admitting them. It’s a feat for me to be Black, a woman, and get accepted straight out of undergrad. But I should know before my spring break. Can I come then? It’s the first week of April.”

I lean back in my chair, going over the logistics in my mind. “Yeah. I could send Nan down to Placencia that week.”

“Do that for sure.”

“Ay, that’s still my grandmother,” I chuckle.

“So you know how she is. Once you get her to leave, book my flight. We’ll either be celebrating or drowning my sorrows.”

“You gon’ get it. Yo ass too damn smart to trip up now.”

I can hear her green ass smiling all the way from here. “You know I get hives when you’re too nice to me. Tell my baby I love him.”

“He’s the one who actually wants to talk to you. Why you ducking him?”

She’s quiet for a while, but not long enough to lie. Eventually, she sighs. “All he does is ask me when I’m coming back. You know how sucky it is to disappoint a five year old? Especially when his evil great-grandmother is telling him I all but abandoned him.”

“Well, did you? Is he still coming to live with you and your mother while you’re in medical school? That was the–”

“I know… I know what the plan was, Rico. I think Mars is where he needs to be.”

I click my tongue as a smile plays on my lips. “Nan still got you all the way fucked up. I bet you still haven’t told anyone about Mars. Not even Bleach?”

“Don’t fucking call her that,” she hisses.