He kissed my forehead and said, “Get your kids home.”
And then he, too, vanished into the night.
Chapter Seven
Wear Something Nice
The minute I swung into King’s the next morning I knew the night’s escapade had already made the rounds.
There were twice as many kids there than yesterday. They all looked at me when I walked in and the room went wired.
“God dammit,” I muttered under my breath.
“Hey Law!” Curtis shouted from across the room.
I walked to him, ignoring the eyes that followed my progress. “How’s your head?” I asked.
“Good,” he answered, grinning at me like a fool.
“You have a headache, dizzy at all?”
“Nope, nothin’.”
“You feel dizzy, you tell someone, yeah?”
He nodded.
I turned to Martin who was standing beside him. “You okay?” I asked.
“Definitely,” he nodded, pleased as punch to be a central character in my crusade.
I shook my head, shoved his shoulder, turned and saw May bearing down on me like a storm cloud. Without a word, she grabbed my arm, dragged me across the room and into the quiet hall.
“Thought you said you weren’t partnered with Crowe?” she asked, eyes bright again, this time her excitement was mixed with a shade of anger at not being in the loop.
“Um…” I said.
“And what’s this I hear ‘bout you two havin’ a date? You go out on a date with Crowe last night and didn’t tell me?” she kept on.
“It wasn’t a date, as such,” I hedged.
“You spend time with him last night, outside of kickin’ black boy dealer ass that is?”
“Well… yeah,” I admitted.
“He get in your panties?” she was relentless.
“May!”
“Well, did he?”
“No,” I answered.
“Did he try?” she went on.
My eyes slid away. This was none of her business, of course, but one didn’t really go up against May. She might be a soft touch but she was also a mother hen and a nosy, straight-talking one at that.
“Hon,” she said and I noticed her anger was gone, “this is the best news I’ve heard all month, maybe all year.”