Lying on the sidewalk with his life seeping away, Butta thought back to a conversation he’d had with Sincere. It was when he first came home from prison, before Sincere and Kisa moved back to New York. During the conversation, Sincere had tried to convince Butta to move down to Charlotte. Sincere’s attempt proved futile, as Butta told him, “I was born in Harlem. I was raised in Harlem. I’m gon’ die in Harlem.”

There was no doubt that Butta had meant those words; he just hadn’t meant for them to come to fruition so soon.

What up, Sin?” Kisa answered her phone.

“This is my fourth time calling you. Where you at?” Sincere questioned frantically.

Kisa heard the urgency in his voice. “I’m uptown. I just dropped Arnessa off at her car. What’s wrong?”

“Go back, get her before she pulls off, and then come to St. Luke’s.”

“What happened?”

“Mannie is dead, and Butta’s been shot. He’s in critical condition and is in surgery.”

“Oh God,” Kisa exclaimed. “When?”

“I don’t know everything, just get her and get here. You strapped?”

“Yes.”

“Kane, you gotta be on point for real, ’cause I don’t know what the fuck is going on.”

“I got it, Sin, I got it. I’m on the way.” She pressed the end button as she turned her Mercedes G wagon back onto the one-way street where she’d left Arnessa only moments earlier. Arnessa’s vehicle was still parked in the same spot on the left side of the street. The car that was driving ahead of Kisa pulled alongside Arnessa’s SUV. It slowed to a complete stop when Kisa saw a black handgun emerge from the driver’s window. She could tell by the size of the hand and wrist that the person holding the gun was female but not much else.

Out of natural reflex Kisa grabbed her Glock .380 from her purse. She threw her car in park and quickly got out of the truck. Just as the unknown female was about to squeeze the trigger, Kisa let off a shot. It hit the rearview mirror, knocking it clean off. The driver was so startled that she dropped her gun and sped off.

“Kane!” Arnessa called out to Kisa from behind. She was standing on the stoop of a gray brick tenement building with Tasha next to her. “Who were you shooting at?”

“Someone I thought was about to shoot you. Where were you?”

“I went upstairs to Tasha’s for minute.”

“Get in my car. We gotta get to the hospital. Butta’s been shot.”

Arnessa heard Kisa’s words, but they didn’t sink in right away. Seconds later they clicked, and she felt as if her world was coming apart. Don’t flip out, she told herself. “Is he alive?”

“Yes. Sincere said that he’s in surgery.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. All I do know is that Butta was shot, and Mannie’s dead.”

“Mannie’s dead?”

“Yes, Nessa, now come on—we have to get there.”