Yeah.

“This one’s like a story,” Ralph explained. “We’re both in love with the same woman, and it’s causing a rift between us.”

“Got it.” The van, visible in my rearview, fell behind a few car lengths, and my gut twisted with the possibility of Kiera and Angie at each other’s throats. Colossus was trash, a fact that had been well established and documented. Was that enough to form a bridge between the girls, or an octagon around them?

“That line,” Bobby said. “‘She slayed me, but you betrayed me, I don’t know which is worse . . .’ I wrote that, Del.”

“Okay.” Both brothers watched me, eager. They wanted my approval. Flatly, I said, “It’s fire.”

With thirty minutes of driving left, upon the announcement that the next track was “Blood Ain’t Thicker Than Booty, Part 2,” I decreased the volume and asked, “I thought you two were church dudes, born and bred. These songs raunchy as hell. How and why?”

Bobby said, “We know what’s up.”

In that moment, I knew what Qwan meant when he said some half-ass, untrue boast about my sexual conquests sounded sad. “Try again. For real, where y’all getting this stuff from?”

Ralph, a little more honest than his brother, said, “We listen to other music. If we like it, we kind of imitate it.”

“‘Blood Ain’t Thicker Than Booty,’ though? Who are you imitating with that?”

“Everybody,” they said together. Which was a glum assessment on the state of urban music.

Ralph said, “We’re getting good enough to make songs that can sound like anybody.”

“Why don’t you make them sound like you?” I asked.

They sort of shrugged. Kind of their own answer. They were still figuring that part out.

“Our music’s gonna be fire one day, Del. Everybody gonna be listening. Watch!” Bobby said, real slick.

Ralph smirked and nodded, still clutching his bag to his chest all weird.

I decided I did not want to know what that was about, and switched for the AUX input to radio.

“Hey! We still got seven more songs to—”

“Radio!” I said.

He pouted, and finally flung his backpack aside. I thought I heard it swish.

We got off the highway, and my phone navigation guided us into the heart of downtown Richmond. Plenty of traffic accompanied us into the city, which was already showing signs of seasonal cheer in the form of red “Happy Holidays” banners adorning lampposts and the “Come See Us on Black Friday” signs in stores.

We found a campus parking deck, and a couple of empty spaces. We all spilled out of our vehicles. Everyone who entered the van still appeared to be alive. There was no blood. Angie and Kiera, both smiling.

The entire group gathered at the van’s rear bumper and moved in the direction of the parking deck elevators with only me and Qwan dragging. I sidled up next to him. “What happened?”

“What you mean?”

“Angie and Kiera. The Colossus thing. What happened in that van, Qwan?”