“Yeah. He, umm . . . he actually wants to be my manager.”
I keep my eyes on my faux Timbs. I just have to tell her that I took Supreme up on his offer. Just spit it out like I’m in the middle of a freestyle in a battle.
Before I can say anything though, Aunt Pooh goes, “You took him up on it, didn’t you?”
My entire face gets hot. “It’s nothing against you, Aunt Pooh! I swear it’s not. I still want you to be a part of all of this.”
“Just not as your manager.”
I swallow. “Yeah.”
Aunt Pooh slowly lets out a sigh. “I get it. It’s cool.”
“Wait, what?”
“A’ight, maybe not cool, but I understand,” she says. “I’ve got too much else going on to help you the way you really need.”
Here’s an idea: “You could just let that stuff go.”
“I don’t know enough about the music business either.” She totally ignores what I said. “I’ve had folks hitting me up about the petition, and I ain’t got a damn clue what to say or do. This could either make you sink or swim, you know? I don’t wanna mess that up.”
Aunt Pooh’s not one to front, but maybe she fronts with me more than I realize. “You sure you okay with this?”
“I can help you out, even if I’m not your manager,” she says. “I can be on your team. Help you put together songs. Make sure you ain’t rapping stuff that makes white ladies shit themselves.” She playfully ruffles my braids.
I snicker. “Whatever.”
She holds her palm out. I slap it, but she pulls me across her lap and plants the longest, sloppiest kiss on my cheek, like she would do when I was little. I crack up. “You gotta come up with a title for me, superstar.”
“Head Aunty in Charge.”
“You know damn well Jay ain’t gon’ be cool with anybody else thinking they’re in—”
Something catches her eye again. That same black car with tinted windows is back in the parking lot. The driver turns the engine off and the car sits there, facing us.
Aunt Pooh stares at it. “Bri, promise me something.”
“What?” I say with my head still in her lap.
She won’t look away from the car. “Promise you gon’ get outta the Garden.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Promise that you gon’ do whatever you gotta do to make it. Promise like it’s the last thing you’ll ever promise me.”
“Now look who’s getting all sentimental,” I tease.
“I’m serious! Promise!”
“I . . . I promise?” I somewhat say, somewhat ask. “What’s got you talking like this?”
She makes me sit up and nudges me off the car. “Go home.”
“What?”
“Go ho—”
Two black vans screech into the parking lot. Cops in SWAT gear rush out, guns pointed in every direction.
Twenty-Six
“Bri, go!” Aunt Pooh yells.
I’m stuck. The SWAT team swarms the projects, going after the Garden Disciples. All around, people run and scream. Parents dash for their kids or carry them as quickly as they can. Some kids are left crying by themselves.
Aunt Pooh drops to her knees with her hands behind her head. A SWAT team member rushes toward her, gun pointed.
Oh, God. “Aunty—”
“Go!” she yells again.
Somebody grabs my arm.
“C’mon!” Curtis says.
He pulls me with him. I try to look back for Aunt Pooh, but the stampede makes it impossible.
Along the way, something . . . weird happens with one of my shoes. Like it’s off balance. It forces me to limp as I try to keep up with Curtis. He leads me to the apartment where he lives with his grandma. We don’t stop until we get inside.
Curtis fastens every lock on the door. “Bri, you okay?”
“What the hell’s happening?”
He lifts a blind to peek out. “Drug bust. I knew something was about to go down. That black car kept circling the parking lot. Looked like an undercover.”
Drug bust?
Shit.
I rush over to the window and lift a blind myself. Curtis’s grandma’s apartment faces the courtyard, and I’ve got a clear view of everything. If Maple Grove was an ant bed, it’s like somebody just stomped on it. SWAT team members knock down apartment doors, and Garden Disciples rush outside or get dragged out with guns pointed in their faces. A few brave ones make runs for it.
Aunt Pooh lies flat on the courtyard, her hands cuffed behind her back. A cop pats her down.