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IMANI
Forty-five minutes later, João and I each sat on a swing at the park while Ana climbed up ladders and slid down slides, giggling with the other kids and having a good time. I pumped my legs back and forth slowly, gliding in the air, while João sat there.
“I heard what happened,” I said to João, not making eye contact with him.
João looked over at me briefly, trying to keep a blank face. But then he frowned, and I caught his bottom lip trembling. He quickly glanced away and back at Ana, who didn’t have a clue about what her mother did for a living or how it was tearing João apart.
She stood on the tallest part of the playground and waved to us. “João! Imani!”
I waved back enthusiastically while João gave her a curt nod.
“You don’t have to talk to me about it,” I said, slowing down on the swing. “But I wanted to let you know that I’ll be here to listen to you whenever you need it. I’m definitely part of Poison now, so you’d better get used to it.”
“You’re not part of Poison.”
“Actually, I am,” I said with a smirk, knowing that this was annoying him.
João rolled his eyes, but I didn’t miss the small smile on his face. “You’re not part of Poison until you kill someone.”
A laugh escaped my lips. “Kill someone? You’re kidding me.”
I didn’t believe for a moment that João, Landon, and Kai had killed anyone. Maybe João and Landon together—I hoped not—but Kai? Come on; he was the nicest one of all of Poison.
Besides, I’d never even heard rumors about Poison killing people. They beat people up, stole shit from the rich, and sold drugs to their victims. Not murdered people in cold blood. And I definitely would never do something like that.
“Whatever.”
“João! Why is your name written on the inside of the slide?” Ana said once she emerged from the tunnel slide. She ran over to us, cheeks flushed red and nostrils flared, trying to get as much air into her little body as possible. “Can I carve my name into it too?”
“No, Ana,” João said. “That’s another João.”
Ana arched a brow and pressed her lips together. “There isn’t even another João in this town.”
“Go play,” João ordered.
When Ana ran back to the slide, I glanced at João. “You definitely carved your name into that slide, didn’t you?”
“That used to be my favorite place to hide,” he said, actually smirking a bit.
“This is the ritzy Redwood playground. What were you doing here?”
“I told you that my dad was loaded. We used to come here all the time.”
“Right …” I said, kicking some wood chips at him. “He must’ve not taught you any manners if you carved your name into the plastic.”
“He didn’t have any fucking manners. Looks like I became him, huh?”
“You’d be him if you didn’t care about anyone or anything,” I said, softly. “But you do.”
“I don’t give a fuck about you,” João said without looking at me.
I rolled my eyes, but I felt hurt on the inside. “I’m talking about Ana and your mom. Not me.” But, damn, did I want to be talking about myself too.
We fell into an awkward silence, and the sounds of Ana giggling drifted through my ears. Wind whipped some hair into my face, and I pushed it away, pissed off at this wind already today. Why the hell was it so cold in this town, anyway?
“I’m afraid for my mom,” he finally said, leaning against the swing with his arms crossed, not making eye contact with me once. “Since Ana’s diagnosis, she’s taken it so bad. She overworks herself and sells her body and …”
He shook his head and turned his back to me, so I couldn’t see the tears in his eyes, but I knew they were there; I had seen them after he talked with his mom too.
“And I haven’t seen her smile, like really fucking smile. It’s been so fucking long, and I’m terrified that something’s going to happen to her.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, moving closer to him and taking his hands in mine.
“I don’t need your pity,” João spit back, trying weakly to pull his hands away from me.
But I refused to let him. All I did was hold them tighter.
“You’ll fix this,” I said.
He might not believe that anything good could come from this, but I would do anything to make his and Ana’s lives better. Anything.
