Page 22 of Omar

"Three thousand away. Maybe less."

"Then keep your head down, keep saving, and get to that number. Then you get out clean and you never look back." She paused. "And if that boy happens to be part of what comes after, then that's your business. But the getting out part comes first. You hear me?"

"I hear you."

"Good. Now tell me about this woman Gloria and her salon. She got good products or is she one of them bootleg operations?"

I laughed. It came out tired but real. "Her products are fine, Nene."

"Fine ain't good. Fine is what people say when something's trash but they don't wanna be rude." She kissed her teeth. "I'll send you some of the good stuff from my supplier. She ships overnight."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know I don't have to. I want to. That's what friends do, Ash. They send each other quality deep conditioner during difficult times."

I laughed again, harder this time, my hand over my mouth so Gloria wouldn't hear me through the bathroom door. Nene always did this. Always found the exact right thing to say that wasn't the heavy thing, wasn't the serious thing, just the human thing that reminded me I was still a person with a best friend who cared about deep conditioner.

"I gotta go," I told her. "My next client's probably wondering where I went."

"Call me tonight?"

"If I can."

"Ash."

"Yeah?"

"I love you. You know that."

"I know. Love you too."

"And stay away from that boy."

I hung up and sat there for a second. Then I washed my hands, checked my face in the mirror, and went back to Gloria's salon where my two o'clock was already in the chair waiting.

The flat iron was warm. The client wanted a silk press with a trim. I got to work.

Three thousand away. Maybe less. The number was close. The plan was solid. The exit was possible.

And Omar Baptiste was somewhere in Brooklyn existing in the same borough as me for the first time in fourteen years.

I told myself that didn't matter. I told myself the plan was the plan.

I almost believed it.

Chapter 9

Omar

Kadeem was in his office when I got to APEX. The door was open. He was at his desk with a file in front of him but he wasn't reading it. He looked up when I came in.

"Close the door."

I closed it and sat down across from him.

"You bout to tell me what happened?"

I told him about Nostrand. I'd been supposed to be watching Holt, but instead I watched him push about a woman. Then I handled it.