Now that I’m out of danger, Beverly should be the one I hand this off to, but I don’t want to lose the opportunity to look first. Especially if it could cast doubt on Jamal’s innocence.

I pull up to my house, see Mama’s pacing out on the stoop. She must know what happened if she left work and has been waiting on me.

“Answer your phone, girl.”

“I was at school.”

“School’s still in session.” Mama’s lips quirk to the side. “But here you are. They called to say you were absent…and I spoke to Beverly.”

Damn. I bite my lip.

“She said you almost got arrested out by the Pike.” A flash of the officer’s gun on me takes over my thoughts. My heart speeds up. Mama doesn’t look like she knows about that. Beverly must’ve kept that part from her. Shame also runs through me that after all my Know Your Rights workshops, the sight of the gun threw everything I knew out the window.

“Why can’t you stay out of trouble? I don’t need you getting into any, not now. Go find yourself a hobby or something.”

“I’m on the school newspaper.”

“One that pays and keeps you out of trouble.”

“I’ll look.” I mean it. We can’t keep up with the bills only with Mama’s wages.

Mama gives me a hug when I reach her. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry, Mama. I just had to look. See it for myself.”

Mama squeezes my hand, then shakes her head. “Dr. Scott from the community center called. She was asking if you doing a workshop tomorrow—there were a couple of calls. I said you’d probably cancel.”

I pause. I should. I’ve got so much going on, but I’ve never missed doing a monthly workshop in over a year. Even if nobody shows up. Daddy said to do something. I can do this.

“I’ll call her back and let her know it’s still on.” I rush in the house before she asks me more about the Pike.

Upstairs I search through Jamal’s room for his iPhone charger for Angela’s phone. Then pull out the burner, see if Jamal sent another message since I deleted his last. Nothing.

I go online for how to crack the most common phone passwords. Clicking on a page about password generators, I review the list of password structures. Graduation, anniversaries, pets, kids, and birthdays are the most common.

I check Angela’s social media for anything like those I can play off. Her birthday stands out first, July 14. Like the date in Jamal’s notebook. I enter several number iterations, then use 0714.

Angela’s home screen pops up, and my eyes widen. I study it for a moment, make sure this isn’t a dream, before adjusting the settings to airplane mode with location services off.