“You can come back for commencement. This is the fucking murder capital, and you got me out here inheriting beef over you. Niggas around this bitch don’t have a code. They wolves out here, Aria, and you laid up with one like I didn’t teach you better,” Nahvid scolded.

“I can’t just leave without telling him.” Aria’s feelings were so hurt she could barely manage the words. A goodbye? To her man? She had just let him in. Now, Nahvid was pushing him out of her life, and she regretted playing hard to get at all. She had wasted time, and now she was out of it. They were ending against her will.

“So tell him,” Nahvid said. “Take the driver out front. Go pack your shit. We’re out of here first thing in the morning.”

2

Morgan stood in front of the full-length mirror. Her chest filled with so many things. Pride. Sadness. Disbelief.

“I did it.”

“You did it, Mo,” Ethic confirmed. His voice came from the doorway, and she lifted her eyes, meeting his gaze through the reflection. He was so proud. She could feel it. She wondered if he would be proud if he knew that Bash’s family had helped accelerate her way through college. If he knew they had changed her grades, cheated for her on exams, elevated her GPA. He leaned against the frame and she turned to him, the long hunter-green gown hanging so long it touched the floor. Graduation. She had made it to commencement. It felt like a hard-earned win.

Ethic was silent, and he bit into his bottom lip, then pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You look so much like her.” His voice held nostalgia, and Morgan’s heart dipped. “But you’re not like her, Mo. You made it. It was important to me that you make it.”

She nodded. “I did, didn’t I?” she asked. There were so many times she thought she wouldn’t. So many obstacles had stood between her and the finish line, but she had endured. She had struggled through a suicide attempt, through loss, through heartbreak, through sleepless nights, and through raising twins to make it to this point. Even with help, finishing school had seemed impossible some days. Morgan had fought for this.

He gave one nod. “A man is proud of his daughter many times in a lifetime. I’ve never felt this, though, Mo. This type of pride is just for this moment with you. You’ve given me a feeling that no one else has before. I love you, Mo. I’m a fucking proud man today.”