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The pound cake was halfway gone by the time Gran Betty slapped a domino down so hard it made the folding table rattle. Anthony had closed the grill and made sure the old heads got back home safely. Now, it was just them.

“Twenty-five. Run it.”

Anthony groaned. “Myesa, you cheatin’. You count like you went to Crescent GED and not Crescent High.”

“Boy, please. I graduated with honors—and with yo’ dumb ass baby in my belly,” Myesa shot back.

Aku blinked, realizing that baby was Malik, and that this banter wasn’t just jokes—it was love…loud and layered.

“Y’all playin’ for real,” Aku muttered, settling into one of the lawn chairs near the table.

“You don’t play dominoes?” Anthony asked, eyes dancing.

“I mean…Malik showed me a little.”

Gran Betty’s whole body leaned back in her chair. “Oh, now I know you special. That boy don’t teach nobody nothin’ unless he care a little.”

Myesa cackled. “A little? If he taught her bones, he probably in love.”

“I didn’t say he taught me taught me,” Aku said quickly, waving her hands. “He just…we played a little…once.”

Gran Betty slapped her thigh. “Girl, that’s foreplay where we from!”

They all cracked up, while Aku sat there blushing, eyes wide, plate forgotten in her lap.

Anthony shook his head. “Ain’t no savin’ you now. Sit yo’ lil’ hot self down and lemme teach you how to not get skunked.”

He slid a few dominoes her way and started explaining the board slowly, methodically. Not like she was dumb—like he wanted her to win.

“You always been into the game?” Aku asked, lining her tiles up all crooked.

“I was born into it,” Anthony replied. “Dominoes, spades, and takin’ no shit from nobody. That’s Crescent Park baby.”

Myesa leaned forward. “What you need to know is, this game ain’t just numbers. It’s about readin’ people. Patience. Strategy. Life.”

“Everybody got the same pieces,” Gran Betty added. “It’s what you do with ‘em that count.”

Aku nodded slowly, lining up her play. She put down a double-five and looked up.

Gran Betty squinted. “That’s how you playin’? Girl, this ain’t no puzzle. You tryna win or decorate the table?”

“Let her be,” Myesa said, grinning. “She tryna learn.”

“I’m tryna survive,” Aku joked, picking up her juice. “Y’all cutthroat.”

“Exactly,” Anthony said. “You ain’t family till somebody cuss you out over bones.”

They kept playing, talking shit and counting points, smacking dominoes down with dramatic flair. Even when Aku played wrong, they didn’t make her feel dumb. They corrected her with love and laughter.

“I’m gettin’ better,” she said, holding back a proud grin after scoring her first five.

“You still trash,” Myesa talked shit, sliding another tile across the table. “But you cute trash, that counts for somethin’.”

“You talk like Malik,” Aku said, shaking her head.

“Baby, he talk like me,” Myesa corrected, then turned to Anthony. “She talkin’ ‘bout Malik like he ain’t come from my womb.”

Anthony smiled, chewing on a toothpick. “She actin’ like she don’t wanna like my boy.”

Aku raised a brow. “Who said I liked him?”

They all hollered.

“Oh, baby,” Myesa said, wiping tears from her eyes. “You in trouble.”

“Deep,” Gran Betty chimed in. “But it’s a good kind. Just don’t come in here playin’ with his heart.”

“I’m not,” Aku promised, voice soft.

Gran Betty tilted her head. “You lookin’ for love?”

Aku paused, eyes on the table. “Not right now,” she answered honestly. “Well, I was but it didn’t work out so now I’m just livin’.”

They nodded. They understood. This wasn’t a group that would ever tell a girl to shrink herself for a man. But they also weren’t blind to the way a good one could shift your whole world.

“That’s fair,” Anthony said, his tone serious now. “But just know…good men? They rare. Especially ones that’ll fight for themselves and the woman beside them.”

Aku sat back in her chair, letting that sink in. The way they spoke about Malik made her see him in a different light. Not just as a hood boy with a flag and smooth moves, but as a son, a grandson, a man carved by all this love.

She liked it here.

Even if Malik wasn’t talking to her right now…even if she wasn’t sure what came next.

The music in the background shifted again, to oldies this time…something Gran Betty knew every word to.

Aku leaned her chin into her palm, smirking at Gran Betty across the table. “Alright…I got a question.”

Gran Betty raised a brow. “You tryna ask how to beat me without lookin’ like a rookie again?”

“No,” Aku laughed. “I already know I’m gettin’ cooked next round. But…what’s up with Malik and The Wizard of Oz ?”

Gran Betty snorted into her cup. “Oooh, girl, you done poked the bear now.” Her eyes shifted to her daughter and son-in-law.

Aku looked between Anthony and Myesa, who suddenly shared this look. It wasn’t just a glance—it was a soft stare, like a memory had crawled up between them.

Anthony rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled low. “Damn. He still on that, huh?”

“Still?” Aku echoed, confused.

Myesa rolled her eyes lovingly. “Here we go…”

Anthony shifted in his chair, suddenly a little more thoughtful. “It started back when we was young. I used to call her Dorothy.”

Aku turned to Myesa, surprised. “You?”

“Yep,” Anthony said. “First time I saw her, she had on these red heels—knockoff ones, lil rhinestones glued on like they was diamonds. She walked into the gym like she ain’t have a care in the world, like she’d just landed in a place full of bullshit but still knew she belonged.”

Myesa shook her head, smiling, swooning while listening to her man talk. Their lives weren’t perfect but she knew her home had love in it.

“And I swear,” Anthony continued, “she looked at me like I was the magic. Like I was the one with the answers, even when I had none. I started callin’ her Dorothy from that day on. Said I was gon’ be her home if she ever got lost.”

The table went quiet, even Gran Betty was still for a second.

“I can’t believe he still remembers that,” Myesa said softly.

“He did more than remember it,” Aku murmured, her chest tightening.

“That’s why he say it to you?” Anthony asked, seeing her nod, he kept talking. “You must feel like home to him—even when he don’t know how to say it.”

Aku blinked. Her throat got tight. She looked away, biting her lip to keep it together.

Myesa reached over, her tone still teasing but gentle. “So…you his Dorothy now, huh?”

“I don’t know,” Aku answered, honestly. “But I felt it when he said it, like he gave me the courage to pull him from whatever. Then every time he says it, it feels like gravity pulled me into Crescent Park on a whim. I’m still tryna figure out how I got here and why I want to stay.”

“Gravity…” Myesa whispered.

Gran Betty grinned, toothpick dancing between her lips. “Baby, men like that don’t say things just to say ‘em. If he called you Dorothy, he already halfway down the yellow brick road.”

Anthony laughed. “Now you got a whole hood full of characters.”

They all laughed again, but something in Aku’s spirit had shifted.

Malik’s wink during the walk, his quiet presence, his mama’s prayers, his granny’s eyes, his daddy’s legacy…all of it clicked.

It wasn’t an obsession.

It was a metaphor passed down. A coded way to say “you feel like home.”

Maybe she wasn’t ready to follow that road yet, or maybe she was more than ready… just too afraid ‘cause it didn’t work the last time.

A car slowly crept down the street. Had Aku been from Crescent, she would’ve noticed it had been the cars’ second time, but she wasn’t from there…didn’t understand the warning signs.

Gran Betty’s hand landed heavy on her shoulder. “It’s about time to head home, my girl,” she said, her tone light but her eyes doing all the work.

Anthony cleared his throat, already packing up the table with Myesa following behind him, after kissing her cheek and making her promise to come kick it with them again.

Aku blinked, everything was moving so fast. “Um…yea - okay. Have you seen Malik?” She didn’t know why she needed to know that or why the look Gran Betty gave her, had her wanting to take Malik home with her.

Gran Betty shook her head. “Ain’t no telling where he disappeared to. I’ll have him call you and make sure you got home safe, baby. But it’s getting late and a pretty girl like you need to get your beauty rest.”

Aku nodded, her eyes scanning the thinning crowd once more. Still no Malik, so she stood to leave. The short walk to her truck had her feet moving slow like something was holding her down, pulling her back one last time to look for him.

That gravitational pull she didn’t fully understand, took her glare right to him. Sitting in the cut on someone’s ac unit, she waved him over, but Malik shook his head. Aku was trying to think quick on her feet.

“Com’ere, I still got that,” she yelled across the street.

Myesa fussed from her porch now, since she too was heading in. “Take yo’ ass home, Aku! And get yo’ ass in this house Lik!”

Aku wasn’t trying to hear that though. Instead, she marched over to Malik like she owned the block.

“Dorothy, this ain’t the yellow brick road,” he fussed, voice low when she was close enough to hear him.

Aku rolled her eyes. “You left your gun in my car, remember?”

“And you been riding ‘round with it?” His thick brow formed a v in the middle of his forehead.

“Come get it,” Aku said, spinning to walk back to her car.

Malik ran his hand down his face, agitated with her. His long legs had him at her car in no time. He went to the passenger side, moving so fast, he didn’t notice her right behind him when she should’ve been in the driver seat ready to pull off.

Aku yanked on one of his braids, tipping up to smash her lips into his. Malik stumbled, caught off guard. It didn’t take long for her tongue to find his, tangling like long lost lovers.

“Aku,” he mumbled, willing himself to pull back and get her outta there in case shit popped off.

She shook her head, her hand groping his dick that seemed to come alive at her touch. “Come home with me,” she suggested, her lips still on his.

Malik shook his head. Wasn’t no reason for him to leave the devil he knew, to walk into the den of a lion he had no knowledge of.

He’d asked around ’bout Bu with not much coming back since he wasn’t a west coast nigga.

He heard he was close with those Mexicans, but that wasn’t telling him much either—besides they banged red.

“My real house, Malik,” Aku added, feeling his apprehension about going back to the beach house. “Madison Heights.”

“Why you just can’t leave, cuh?”

The block was quiet now. Only a few shooters ducked off in the shadows.

“Just come home with me.” Her gut had her begging him when that wasn’t her. “One night, Malik.”

His jaw tightened. “Just get in the car,” he fussed, seeing the car doing a U-turn.

She crossed her arms. “Not without y— The fuck!” Aku swallowed her words when she was shoved into the car.

Malik pushed her stubborn ass in the passenger seat, running fast to get to the driver’s side. He jabbed the start button and burned rubber out of there.

“What the fuck, Malik!?” Aku yelled, looking back at her rearview mirror.

Malik didn’t say anything, just drove like he was in a NASCAR race.

“Now you can’t hear?” Her next words were caught in her throat when a string of gunshots rang out in the distance. Aku’s eyes bucked, neck twisted to look out the back window. No one was behind them, but the sound felt so close.

She could feel her heart thudding against her chest. “Malik,” she called his name, unable to fully process what could’ve happened.

Still he said nothing. He checked the mirrors every few seconds, until they were completely out of Crescent Park and on the main road. “Tell me where I’m going.”

“What the fuck was that, Malik?”

“Just tell me where the fuck I’m taking your stubborn ass!” he yelled, finally allowing his brewing anger to bubble over. “If I tell you to do something, that’s what the fuck you do.”

“Nigga, you ain’t my daddy!” Aku yelled back. “Watch how you talk to me.”

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you, Malik!”

He gripped the steering wheel so tight, his fingers started to ache. “Just tell me where I’m taking you so I can get the fuck from ‘round you.”

Instead of saying anything, she put the address to her condo in the GPS, and it connected automatically to the CarPlay.

Malik let out a slick chuckle, already tired of playing games with Aku.

His life wasn’t set up for bullshit like that.

This was a good enough reason why he needed to put some distance between them.

It didn’t matter how much she ran through his mind.

Being with him was a matter of life or death—and everyone close to him paid the price for his reckless behavior.

They rode the late night streets in silence, neither of them said a word. Aku had been texting on her phone a mile a minute and Malik knew it was about him. Too bad he didn’t give a fuck.

Malik pulled the jeep up to the curb where there was one space left to park. Her building was grand like he knew it would be. Aku was the type of girl that breathed luxury air—gentle, soft, glamourous, and perfect.

As he pushed the door open to get out, Aku’s tiny hand gripped his arm. Her soft eyes, blinked slowly. “Come in for a little.”

He could see the desperation on her face. She was trying to save him from something. “Doro

thy, the story ain’t really about Oz. She’s the main character… this your world…go in the house.” He got out, rounding the corner to make sure she walked her ass into the building.

Aku inhaled deep, still she got out. “I had a gut feeling, Malik!”

He turned around slowly, his heart racing at her words.

“It was here,” Aku pushed her hand into her belly. “It told me to get you outta there…Gran

Betty had sad eyes like she was begging me to save her only grandson. Is what I did reckless? Yes. Do I not know enough about blue and red to make those kinds of decisions? No, but do I regret getting you out of there? Hell no!”

“I don’t need you to save me!” Malik shouted.

“And I don’t need you neither, but I want you alive,” she said, tears finally falling. “And I don’t even know what that means yet.”

He grabbed his chest, his head falling back, eyes looking up at the moon. “C’mon.”