Candace felt a swell of sympathy for the man. Not a big one—he was still a racist asshole—but it was there. He seemed to be having some sort of enlightening experience at the moment, plus, he was her boo’s dad. Her racist asshole dad.

“Well, Mr. White, your life matters.”

His head snapped up. He and Ari stared at Candace with those wide, matching green eyes. He went white. Ari went red.

Candace pushed to her feet. “I know that. I knew it when I jumped in front of you.”

Mr. White’s jaw tightened.

“I knew it, even though I also knew how you felt about Black lives mattering.”

“Candy,” Ari started, but her dad gestured for her to be quiet.

“Even though you told your boys to shoot me like some big-ass bird. Your life has always mattered. I just want mine, and the lives of people like me, to matter too.”

Clearing his throat, Mr. White nodded tightly. “I’m s-sorry it took you . . . jumping in front of a bullet for me to realize what should’ve been clear. You’re a hero.”

“Yeah. But there are plenty of normal Black folk out there. Their lives matter too. What I did doesn’t make me special or better than them, if that’s what you think.”

He was clearly uncomfortable with the current conversation. “Ari has been talking about it for some time, being a good alline.”

“Ally, Dad.”

“Yes. And I . . . I’m an old fool. And I . . . hope you can accept this old fool’s apology.”

Ari smiled then, wiping at her face and sniffling. Girl was such a crybaby.

“I accept. If you do more than say you’re sorry. If you start acting like my life matters. Like Black lives matter. If you listen to Ari when she talks about this stuff. I mean really listen. If you show me you mean you’re sorry.”

He nodded again, his jaw tight. Probably didn’t like the ifs, but Candace didn’t give two good goddamns. “And if you promise not to tell anyone what happened.”

His brow furrowed. “What did happen?”

“As far as anyone is aware,” Ari said, “Candace was at the protest. Turns out she was close to the bank and caught the thief’s stray shot.”

“Some bystanders saw Freefall pull you and a couple other guys out of the building.” Candace smirked. “I missed the whole thing since I was being hauled away to get help.”

“Huh . . .” Mr. White rubbed the side of his head. “It’s best if my recollection of the events faded. From a bump on the head.”

“It’s best.” Ari kissed her dad’s forehead. “Besides, even if you told anyone, they probably wouldn’t believe you anyway. Candace was with me at the protest. I brought her to the hospital, so it’d be your word against ours, and I’d gladly say you were lying.”