Page 60 of Pride and Protest

“Salutations, D-baby.” Maurice slapped hands, then began a complex handshake, which Dorsey allowed himself to simply be a passenger for.

“Just Dorsey is fine.”

Maurice nodded and shifted his feet. “So.” Maurice exhaled. “My sisters. Look, each one has their own type of beauty. Janae in the boring way, Liza in the annoying way, and Deya in the dumb way, right?”

Dorsey froze. This was definitely a trap. “I honestly don’t know how to answer that.”

“Like, Liza, for example, is pretty in the way that you hate, because she gets on your nerves. You just wish she had boils and warts and shit to match her soul.”

Lord, someone help him wade out of this conversation. How was he supposed to respond? “Maurice, please help me get there with you,” Dorsey pleaded.

“Liza talks a lot of shit, but she is actually scared a lot.”

Dorsey could sense the beginnings of a don’t-fuck-over-my-sister speech.

“I’ll make this simple. My sisters think I don’t pay attention, but I saw Liza’s hand shake when you took her hand to dance. And I’ve only seen her tremble like that when Marcus Davison asked her to the prom in the school cafeteria.”

Dorsey nodded. He was getting it.

“Don’t fuck around is what I’m saying.” Maurice’s face was serious.

Dorsey returned his gravitas with a solemn nod. He would do the same for Gigi.

“You have my word, sir,” Dorsey said with formality. Maurice’s lips turned up at the word “sir.” He nodded and slipped back into the crowd.

Jennifer, who had been loitering in useless circles nearby, found Dorsey again.

“I hope he wasn’t shaking you down for money,” Jennifer said with a brittle laugh. Dorsey remembered a time when he would have laughed at that joke. But now it made him turn to Jennifer with contempt. He saw a woman trying to hold on to what felt right to her, desperately clinging to what she thought she deserved.

“Jennifer, great joke. Remind me, was that funny because they’re poor or because they’re Black?”

“Oh God, it’s her, isn’t it? Who you’ve been texting and neglecting your work for?” Jennifer’s smile tightened when Dorsey offered no answer.

“Wow. This is an epically bad idea, Dorsey.” She looked genuinely concerned. “What have these women done to you and my brother?”

“Do I need to remind you that I’m not your little brother? I know exactly what I’m doing.” Dorsey shoved his hands in his pockets. He had no idea what he was doing.

“I’m just concerned that you’re only setting Liza up to fail. Look, I think she’s fun and positively lovely. But she doesn’t belong here, and a rich boyfriend won’t make her belong. You’ve seen so many couples like this at the club—some man has a midlife crisis, dumps his sensible wife, and marries a waitress. They’re divorced in two years, and she has half of his money.”

“Am I having the midlife crisis? Areyouthe sensible wife in this scenario?” Dorsey didn’t mean for it to come out as hard as it sounded. But before he could apologize, she stomped away in anger. Dorsey tilted his head. He had been trying so hard to color within the lines since his parents died. Dorsey knew if he didn’t play the shareholders’ game, he would not hold on to the legacy his mother and father built. And now he’d just pissed off the daughter of a major shareholder.

CAT GIFS

Liza held up her phone with a selfie stick in her hotel room in front of the Philadelphia skyline. “While I’m away from Booth G, this is where you can catch up with Liza B. Thanks for all of the love you showed the Bennett clan getting ready for the gala. Now that it’s done, I get to show you around Philly. Follow me tomorrow morning for day three in the City of Brotherly Love... Okay, you all have a lot of opinions.”

@TinyTot73, that’s right. Hang on and you just might see exactly the brother I’m tryna love.Liza smiled at the heart emojis.

@SexxiKitti, I love your energy. Thanks for the support!

She caught images of her and Dorsey dancing in the comments.Oh no, not this again.

@Tomkat09, I’ve seen those pictures already, and that’s not the man I’m talking about.

Then new pictures and comments started to flow in.

Slut.

Whore.