“And finer,” he said without missing a beat.
Navy laughed beside me and for the first time in years, standing next to my brother didn’t feel like remembering something I had lost. It felt normal. Like we still had time to figure out who we were to each other outside of phone calls, visits, and conversations watched by guards.
The family slowly drifted back toward their tables as the music picked up again, but nobody moved far. BJ kept one eye on Cev like she was afraid somebody might take him back if she stopped watching. Mike disappeared long enough to return with a drink for him, then started talking about all the places they needed to go now that he was free.
I waited until their conversation loosened before resting my hand against the back of Cev’s neck and pulling him slightly away from the noise. His expression changed before I said anything. The jokes left his face, and the look he gave me was the same one he had worn through thick glass during prison visits when we needed to discuss something without saying too much.
“You straight?” I asked.
“I’m out.”
“So answer the question, you know what I’m talking about.”
He studied me for a second, understanding what I wanted to know. Then he took a drink and looked out over the dance floor, his voice was low enough that it disappeared beneath the music before traveling farther than me. “All that shit went smooth.”
I released Cev and gave him one firm nod. “Good.”
He took a sip from his drink. “That’s all you got to say?”
“What else you want?”
“A thank you might be nice nigga.”
I stared at him and then I pulled him into another quick embrace, while our hands clasped between us. “I owe you.”
“You already know.”
I did cause he handled Rome with no questions. Whatever years prison had taken from us, it hadn’t touched that though. There were things only blood could ask of you and things only blood would do without demanding an explanation. Cev had handled what I couldn’t reach, and I would spend the rest of my life making sure he never had to question whether I would do the same for him.
Mike returned before the moment could stretch any further, pushing a fresh drink into my hand and looking between us. “Why y’all over here looking serious? This supposed to be a celebration.”
“Mind your business,” Cev told him.
“I been minding your business since before you got locked up.”
“That sound like a personal problem.”
“It’s about to be yours now that you home.” Mike draped an arm around Cev’s shoulders and pulled him back toward the group. “Matter of fact, what you doing next? You ain’t about to sit around Grandma house getting fat and asking her to wash your clothes.”
BJ shouted from across the room, “He can stay at my house as long as he wants.”
Mike pointed toward her. “See? She already starting.”
Cev laughed and slipped out from beneath his arm. “I got plans.”
I leaned against the edge of a nearby table and folded my arms. “What kind of plans?”
He gave me a look. “Why you asking like you my parole officer?”
“Because I know you. Free less than a day and already talking about plans.”
“I’m supposed to have a plan.”
“You got one that don’t involve going back?”
Navy elbowed me lightly. “Let the man breathe.”
“I’m letting him breathe baby. I’m asking questions while he do it.”
