Page 138 of When a Soul Cries

Quietly.

But she laughed.

For a few seconds, the room wasn’t so damn heavy.

---

Long after Sol went to bed, I sat alone in the living room.

I couldn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I heard her.

*He raped me, Rome.*

I rubbed both hands down my face.

Mack was dead.

Probably the only reason I wasn’t doing something tonight that would fuck up every legitimate thing Kai and I had built.

My eyes moved toward the hallway.

Sol and Halo were asleep down there.

Safe.

At least tonight.

My mind drifted to Eastview.

We had held the ribbon cutting days ago, and tenants were already moving in. Families had started filling those apartments. Kids were running through hallways that had been empty weeks earlier. Mothers were carrying boxes into homes they could actually afford.

The additional income-based units and resources for single mothers had been finalized too.

I’d pushed hard for that.

Harder after meeting Sol.

At the time, I hadn’t wanted to admit why.

I hadn’t even known if I would ever see her again.

But standing at that ribbon cutting and watching a mother cry when somebody handed her keys had made me understand something.

Sol wasn’t the only one.

There were women all over Crestmont one missed paycheck away from disaster.

Mothers skipping meals so their children could eat.

Women sleeping in unsafe places because the safe ones cost too much.

I couldn’t fix everybody’s life.

But Eastview could change some.

For the first time tonight, that gave me a little peace.