MADDIE
“What the fuck do you want me to do with it?” João growled at Imani.
We sat in Imani’s living room while Mrs. Abara, her mother, checked out Alec, Oliver, and Blaise. The girls chatted quietly to themselves by the door, probably waiting to be picked up by their boyfriends.
“Get rid of him?” Imani said, like it was obvious.
“You want me to take care of another”—he glanced over at Mrs. Abara and lowered his voice—“body for you? I already told you that I wasn’t doing this again. We can’t be doing your dirty work after you kill a man.”
Imani crossed her arms and glared at João, who matched her stare.
“Another successful night with the Redwood Girl Gang,” Nicole said, slinging her arm over João’s shoulders.
“Get the fuck out of here,” he said to her between gritted teeth, shoving her back a couple of feet. “And don’t pick up a fucking water pressure again. Shit’s too messy to clean up from the carpet.”
“So …” Imani rocked forward on her heels and batted her lashes. “You’ll clean it up.”
After glaring at her for another moment, João shoved by her to the front door, slipped out into the night, and slammed the door behind him. Imani dusted her hands off and smirked as she turned toward us.
“Told you that I have him wrapped around my finger,” she said. “He’s whipped.”
Allie snickered, then sat down beside me. “How’re you doing?”
“Okay. Glad that Spencer is finally gone.”
“That asshole deserved more than what we gave him,” Nicole said.
Someone banged on the door, and Imani walked over to answer it. Callan Avery stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and scanned the room, his gaze landing on Sakura, who stood with her hands full of his gardening supplies.
“Damn, Avery!” Blaise called. “Should’ve seen your girl earlier.”
Callan grabbed the supplies from Sakura, jaw clenched hard. “You could’ve hurt yourself, Sakura,” he scolded, his gaze dropping to her belly. “Or the—”
Sakura slapped him in the center of the chest, cheeks reddening. “Shh.”
“Or the what?” Nicole asked.
The girls all looked at each other, then at Sakura, who blushed even deeper. Callan blew out a heavy sigh and exited the house with all the gardening supplies to put them into his car.
Sakura rocked back on her heels. “You girls promise not to say anything?” she whispered.
“Come on. We basically just kill—” Imani stopped short and glanced over at Mrs. Abara, who arched her brow hard at her daughter. “We basically did all that bad stuff tonight, which definitely didn’t involve murdering anyone …”
“Yeah, we won’t say anything,” Vera said.
Sakura gulped, then pulled up her baggy sweatshirt enough for us to see a small bump.
“Shut up,” I said breathlessly, my eyes widening. “You’re not pregnant.”
“Holy shit,” Allie said beside me.
“You guys can’t tell anyone!” Sakura begged. “Please.”
“How many months?” Imani asked.
Sakura smiled. “I’m due a few weeks after graduation.”
Nicole shrieked. “Oh my God. I’m so excited!”
“Me too!” Vera grinned.
Callan cleared his throat by the door. “You told them?”
“Avery, why haven’t I heard about this?” Blaise shouted across the room while Mrs. Abara checked him out for potential head injuries. “I should’ve been the first person to know. We’re besties.”
The disgusted look that crossed Avery’s face nearly made me shit myself. I bit back a snicker and turned back toward Sakura, who had pulled her sweatshirt back down to hide her bump. If she was due at the end of June, that meant that … they’d been banging for a while.
“Sakura wants to keep it a secret,” Callan said, eyes narrowed at his nephew. “If you tell anyone, Harleen, I’m not afraid to kick your ass like your father should’ve a long, long time ago. So, keep your mouth shut.”
Blaise held up his hands in defeat. “I won’t say anything. But Vera might.”
“I will not!” Vera said, crossing her arms and turning toward Sakura. “I promise, I won’t.”
After Sakura smiled, Callan grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the house. I loved having Sakura around, but I didn’t want her to get into any trouble or put herself in any danger for us anymore with the gang-related activities, especially if she was having a little babe.
When the door closed, Nicole clapped her hands together. “We have to have a baby shower for her in the spring! We can rent out Grand Hall by the beach and throw her a huge bash with all these cute lil’ baby gifts.”
“I want to decorate too,” Allie said.
“Do you think they know if they’re having a boy or a girl?” Imani asked.
“If she doesn’t know now, she’ll tell us when she does,” Vera said.
“I hope it’s a girl,” I said.
“Oh my God,” Oliver said, rubbing his forehead. “You’re all giving me a headache.”
“Cover your ears then,” Blaise said. “They just saved all our asses.”
When the boys began arguing with each other, I glanced over at Alec, who Mrs. Abara was checking out for injuries. He winced when she gently moved her fingers over the egg forming on his forehead.
“All right, boys, you all look fine to me.” Mrs. Abara said after a couple of moments. “Just make sure that you go easy tonight and tomorrow, Alec.” She glanced over at me. “Make sure he doesn’t go to hockey practice. He needs to rest.”
“Thanks,” Alec said, leaping up. “Because I have something to take care of.”
Before he could run out of the house, I grabbed his elbow. “Where are you going?”
“I need to see Sandra.”
“Why?”
“Because if I find out that bitch did this …”
“No,” I said, yanking him back toward me. “The only place we’re going is home.”
“But—”
“I said, no. You need to rest. You can talk to Sandra tomorrow at school.”
“Maddie …”
So he couldn’t argue with me anymore, I grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door. I didn’t care who he wanted to see tonight for whatever reason. My boy needed rest, and I wouldn’t let him do anything else after the day he’d just had.