"You know I gotchure back, man," Yonnie said, straightening the lapels of his suit jacket. "I was just laying low, trying to stay out of a married man's way, can't have D coming for me. The sister might cut my heart out, some of the places I had in mind to take you, boss."
Carlos pointed at Yonnie and walked away from him, smiling. "You ain't right, motherfucker. First of all, I ain't married."
"Like hell," Yonnie scoffed, teasing Carlos without mercy.
"You're married right here," he said, slapping his chest. "Y'all mighta had a little spat, but at the end of the night, I'm dragging your ass home. Don't front."
"That's cold. See, you done got brand new on me and left a brother at the hands of old ladies, broke down Guardians, and a buncha kids. You wrong, man. Damali ain't the one you gotta worry about, no way."
"I know," Yonnie said with a wink, offering Carlos a hint of fang. "Rider's still got an itchy trigger finger, broke-down or not. So, I figured, why rub salt in the wound? We men. Shit happens. I stay on my side of town, he can stay on his."
"But meanwhile," Carlos said, folding his arms over his chest, "you need to get a brother outta here."
"Damn, this is smooth," Carlos said with deep appreciation, running his hand down the side of Yonnie's black Alfa Romeo 8C. The bloodred interior felt like a kid glove against his palm, but the chrome grill was off da chain.
"We can't be rollin' up to no club raggedy, my brutha," Yonnie said, pleased that Carlos liked his ride. "Need to get you suited up right, too." He waited until Carlos nodded and smiled.
"Hook a brother up, then," Carlos said, opening his arms wide.
"Don't get used to this, though," Yonnie cautioned, losing his smile. "For real, man. Not like this."
"You worry too much." Carlos let his breath out hard.
"Yeah, I do," Yonnie said in a serious tone. "I'm not playing, man. Later on, when I gotta go eat, you gotta go home. Feel me?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel you, man. But that's later, this is now. Relax."
When she heard a Jeep pull into her driveway, Damali ran for the door. She was all prepared to do battle about saying what she meant and meaning what she said, but when Rider staggered out of the vehicle, she stood very still on the porch.
"Yo, que pasa?" he said, laughing and stumbling once, and holding out a bottle of Jack Daniel's toward her. "Housewarming present. I forgot to leave it earlier."
She smiled through the worry. "How about if I go get two glasses and we - "
"Glasses?" Rider said, making a face and then grinning. "Sis, why stand on ceremony? This is a new-house party, right?"
She didn't answer, but simply walked over to the wicker slider and flopped down. She didn't know what to say to Rider, hadn't since Tara went off with Yonnie in a cloud of smoke months ago. Rather than speak, she watched her Guardian brother unscrew the top with care, but declined the first swig from the bottle. This was not how she'd planned to spend the first weekend in her place梔ead drunk on the front steps.
"Aw, c'mon, D," Rider said in a wistful tone and plopped down beside her. "It's just me and you here, kiddo."
She begrudgingly nodded, accepted a small sip, and handed the bottle back to Rider. "I think you should slow down," she said gently, watching him turn the bottle up and guzzle almost a pint of its contents.
"Yeah, maybe you're right," he said, wiping his mouth on his jacket sleeve. "I've already slowed down in every other way, so, yeah." He proceeded to take another liberal swig of booze and gave her a jaunty smile. "But not tonight."
"What's on your mind, big brother?" she asked softly.
He looked out at the stars and nodded in the direction of Carlos's property a half mile away. "Can't you smell it?"
Damali cocked her head to the side and sniffed. The slight hint of burning ash filled her nostrils. She knew Yonnie's signature blind. "Vamp transport."
"Wasn't Tara's."
Damali fell mute for a moment as Rider took a more careful sip of Jack Daniel's and set the bottle down on the porch floor. "I know."
"Yep."
"I'm sorry."
"Yep." Rider's gaze went back to the horizon.