Page 4 of Butterfly 6, Phase 1

Ethic shook his head sternly. “It’s not about what I want you to say. What do you know?”

The lost expression on her face as she searched his eyes for answers was a display of pure confusion and fear.

“That reaction. That right there. You don’t know anything. You say nothing. You don’t know how to answer that question because you were not there. You have no idea what happened to the Fredricks. The last time you saw Bash, you two decided not to see each other anymore. You left, moved back home for a bit because your family is going through a medical emergency, and you haven’t heard from him since. You can’t tell them what you don’t know, Mo,” Ethic reminded. “Don’t make up any extra details. Don’t say more than what’s necessary. All you have to do is tell your truth, which is that you don’t know anything. When you try to make up things to cover other people, that’s when the story can be broken down into lies. Don’t lie. Your truth is you don’t know. I have a safeguard that will turn suspicion away from you, but we’ve got to play this correctly, though. Everybody has to approach this with precision. Everyone is trained for this except you, but you can’t run from it. Your face is all over the news as a person of interest. If you act guilty, you are guilty. An innocent woman would be concerned that her ex-fiancé is missing. An innocent woman is insulted and angry that her name is in the news as a person of interest. You don’t know anything, and you’re distraught over your daughter and the fact that they’re keeping you from her. They touch one hair on your head and let them know that you’re coming for badge numbers. Be powerful. Be assertive. Be certain. Control the room. Move with privilege because I’ve raised you with privilege, Mo. You aren’t the average Black woman. It’s time to exploit your money and your power.”

“My power?” Morgan questioned.

“Me,” Ethic informed. She nodded as she tried to retain everything he was saying.

“Your body will be in flight mode. You will be scared. Tuck that, Morgan. I need you to fight. I don’t know how they’re going to spin this, but know that I’m coming for you. They’ll try to stall me out. They’ll try to interrogate you as long as possible before bringing your lawyer in. Not one word until he arrives. You know nothing. You understand me?”

Morgan was trembling, but she nodded. “That entitlement that you walk around with is your superpower right now, Mo. Your answer to everything is I want my lawyer. I don’t know, and I want my lawyer. I can’t be here right now. My daughter is sick, and I want my lawyer. Say nothing else until Einstein enters that room. Don’t mention Bash putting hands on you. Don’t mention anything other than you decided to remain in the States and he wanted to go back home to London, so you both decided to end the relationship. Be concerned and gracious, but stern about not having the information they’re looking for.”

Morgan was skeptical. “But what about Yolly? She needs me. They need to run tests and…”

“We’ll stay here. We’ll take every test and wait for the results over the weekend. I’ll call and have Einstein set up a time to be interviewed when we’re ready. On our time. The interrogation will be difficult. They will be aggressive. You have to be ready, Mo.”

“I can’t leave, Ethic,” Morgan stated.

“Then we’ll get you ready here,” Ethic asserted. “This isn’t going to go away on its own, Mo. And you can’t be questioned without being prepped. They eat girls like you alive every day. All it takes is one slip of the tongue to give them what they need to lock you up. To lock me up. Messiah. Meek. Isa. You cannot crack. You won’t crack. If you listen to me and do everything I say.”

Morgan loved every single person he had mentioned, and their freedom rested in her ability to perform.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Ethic reassured.

“It doesn’t feel like it,” Morgan answered. “Everything is falling apart.”

“I’m never going to let anything happen to you, Morgan. If anybody has to sit down for this, it won’t be you,” Ethic stated. Morgan ached because she knew that she was the one who had brought this problem to their doorsteps. There were so many moments where Morgan felt like she wasn’t enough over the years. She had questioned her value to Ethic. She had doubted that he could love her as much as Eazy and Bella, but he had proven time and time again that he would lay down his life for her. She was old enough now to know her actions should never lead to his consequences.

“I got you, Mo,” Ethic asserted. “You worry about Yolly. It’s my job to worry about you. Let’s go see what’s going on with her. We’ll deal with that tonight. I just needed you to know what was at stake.”

“Everything,” Morgan replied. “Everything and everybody is at stake.”

Chapter 2

11 PM

“Cry” by Koryn Hawthorne

This hospital was the hardest place for Ethic to be. Love had died here. Alani had barely made it out of this place. Nannie had clung to life. Even he had been a resident after being shot. The way his chest tightened when he entered was a trauma response he couldn’t calm. No matter how in control he appeared on the outside, his body gave a physical response to the sights, sounds, and smells of this building. He was a man triggered as Morgan walked him to the room where Yolly was being monitored. She paused at the door.

“I just need a minute,” she whispered. “Messiah’s in there…”

“If you can’t control the room with a man who loves you, you can’t control the room with men who seek to destroy you, Mo. Your mother ran everything and everyone, Morgan. Don’t get me wrong, Benny Atkins was the king. He had a whole city and an army to protect everything he had built, but at any given time, Justine could tap those red-painted fingernails against her throne, and any nigga standing in front of her yielded, including your old man. Including me. You lead with your heart, and that is beautiful. You love so hard, Mo, but you’re not a little girl anymore. You’re building your own army, and you’ve sparked a war between two kings. They both serve you well. Differently, but I acknowledge the allegiance they have for you. You just don’t know that you’re the one in control. In every room. Start with this one,” Ethic stated. “Your baby is in there. You can’t avoid Messiah, so you have to learn your power, Mo. The type of men you choose don’t follow just any command. They’re used to being the ones with all the control. The heart tips the scales a little bit when you come across a woman that feels like life. We live in death. We deliver death. We don’t fear death. We expect it even. So, a woman who introduces you to what it’s like to live…” Ethic paused as his mind drifted to Alani. He shook his head, still in disbelief at how lucky he was. “That woman controls every move on the chessboard, whether we like it or not, in moments we know it or not. That’s why the queen must be protected at all costs. Raven never mastered that, but you are your mother’s daughter, Mo. Come.”

Morgan’s chest was crushed by the weight of the world. She couldn’t understand why he looked at her mom with such respect and admiration. Queens don’t leave their children to fend for themselves, Morgan thought. There was so much to unpack in her psyche regarding her mixed emotions about Justine Atkins. She had been so young when her mother had died, and she had so many questions, but her entire system was overstimulated. Morgan couldn’t even form the questions to ask. Instead, she trusted the one man in her life who had never let her down. She followed Ethic into the room without argument.

Messiah glanced up, and Ethic approached Yara’s bedside.

Ethic took Messiah in, and the hold he had on those bedrails was so tight that Ethic knew Messiah was near the edge. His shoulders were hiked up so high that Ethic could practically see the devils sitting on each one. The boy in Messiah was threatening to spill out. The part of him that was vulnerable, the part that was terrified, the part that just needed help.

Through all Messiah’s missteps and all his betrayals, Ethic just couldn’t part ways with him. Much like Morgan, they weren’t blood, but they were family.

“I don’t know what to do, OG,” Messiah admitted as stubborn emotion clouded his vision. “Look at her, man.”

Ethic pulled Messiah in by the back of his neck, and Morgan gasped as Messiah reluctantly retreated into Ethic’s embrace. Messiah’s arms hung at his sides as Ethic whispered sternly into Messiah’s ear. His words weren’t audible, but the impact they left were visible as Messiah nodded and sobbed while Ethic held him.

Morgan wiped away tears and walked over to the other side of Yara’s bedside to allow them time to have their moment. She knew the type of restoration that took place in Ethic’s embrace. Messiah needed healing. She wanted that for him despite the turmoil between them.