“I’m okay. My food just didn’t agree with me.” Arnessa smiled weakly.

Kisa instinctively knew that Arnessa was lying, not to mention that her hands were trembling. “Mrs. Spencer, I know you have another meeting. I’ll take care of the check,”

Kisa suggested, wanting her to leave quickly so that she could find out what was really up with Arnessa.

“Thank you, Kisa,” Mrs. Spencer said, getting up from the table. “Arnessa, I hope you feel better. Talk to you soon, ladies.”

“Bye,” they said in unison as they watched her walk away. As soon as Mrs. Spencer was out of hearing range, Kisa turned to Arnessa. “What’s up with you?”

Still in disbelief, Arnessa shook her head. “That was Nomie on the phone. She said Cenise got knocked for trafficking coke.”

“Are you serious?”

Arnessa nodded.

“We can go to the airport and take a flight to Atlanta and get her out.”

“She not even in Atlanta, yo; she some place I’ve never heard of called Green something, South Carolina.”

“Greenville?” Kisa’s eyes widened, hoping that she hadn’t heard correctly.

“Yeah, that’s the place.”

“Oh no!”

“Why you say it like that?”

The waiter walked over to return Kisa’s credit card; she signed the receipt, giving him a generous tip. “I don’t want to scare you or jump to any conclusions,” Kisa told her as they got up from the table, “but that is the absolute worst state to catch a drug charge in. Niggas be getting ten years for an ounce of blow.” Kisa dialed a number as they walked out of the restaurant and across the street to the parking garage.

“What it do, mama?” Kennedy answered.

“You in Charlotte?”

“Yeah.”

“You still cool with that bondsman chick?”

“Who, Dreann? Yeah, we straight, why?”

“Hold on, Ken,” Kisa said as she fished through her purse for the parking stub. Once she’d located it, she handed it to the young parking attendant who was openly admiring her.

“You gorgeous, yo; what’s your name?” He moved in close. Something he shouldn’t have done.

Kisa couldn’t stand for strangers to get in her personal space. That type of thing made her extremely uncomfortable, “I’m telling you now, get out my face and go get my fucking car before it be a problem,” she said, staring him down. Sensing her seriousness, he walked away mumbling obscenities. Kisa returned to the phone. Kennedy was laughing, “What’s so funny?” Kisa asked.

“You,” Kennedy replied. “You always breaking on people.”

“Whatever, that bum-ass nigga was all in my face drooling. Anyway, I need you to check with your girl and see if she do bonds in South Carolina.”

“Who in the world got locked up down there?”

“Cenise, Arnessa’s little sister.”

“The one that was at my wedding?”

“Yeah, her last name is Binds. Find out what her charges are and the amount of her bond, and we’ll put it in your account.”

“I’m on it.”

A half hour later Kisa was sitting on a stool in Butta’s kitchen when Kennedy called back. “Kane, Cenise’s charge is felony cocaine trafficking, two hundred to four hundred grams. Her bail is a hundred stacks. I already gave Dreann the ten percent. I’m going to ride down there with her to pick her up.”