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“What’s this?”

“Mr. Samson said you might be hungry, so I stopped before I joined you here.”

Oh.

Taking the bag, I peer inside. A plain bagel with a plastic knife and a packet of butter instead of cream cheese. Next to it is a tall fruit cup filled to the brim with cut strawberries and whole blackberries.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Where’s Adonis?”

“He had to go to the office.”

It must be a cold day in hell because I feel empty instead of relieved by that.

An odd sense of abandonment grows into a lump in my throat. He didn’t even say bye.

Chapter 21

Poison

ADONIS

Si: What happened to just keeping her alive until her brother worked his shit out?

Me: That ain’t got shit to do with what I asked you

Si:

Si: Nah, let’s talk about it. You said you weren’t trying to make this a 5-star stay, now this woman got your chest hurt trying to make sure she’s okay

I throw my phone across my desk, just to pick it back up again to see the next message he sends.

Si: Her memory seems fine to me. She remembers she don’t likeyou

Me: She said that?

Si: Why? You care or something?

Me: Si, stop fucking with me.

Si: This shit never happens, gotta enjoy it

Me: I should have sent her to Alonzo

Si:

Si: You know that’s a sore spot. You ain’t shit

Me: He’s your twin, get over it

Si: Since you wanna fuck up the mood, I got you

Si: Gaps in memory are normal for anyone who experiences prolonged exposure to trauma.

Me: How do we fix it?

Si: It’s not that simple. You can’t force those gaps to close because it’s inconvenient they exist. There’s a reason her body is protecting her by forgetting. It’s up to her if she wants to work on getting those memories back. And even then, it’ll only happen if she’s in a supportive environment.