Page 26 of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

Feyi immediately smacked his arm. “Never repeat that blasphemy!” she scolded, and Alim laughed, a deep low wave rumbling through the room. Feyi didn’t dare to look at him. It was safer to keep her eyes on the drawings, the leopards and ghosts, the crashing aliens. “This is incredible,” she said. “I’ve never seen one of her originals so close, especially one this size. I didn’t even know she let individual collectors have them these days. Unless you got it way back when, at the beginning?”

Alim came up next to her and looked at the drawing fondly. “No, you’re right. Only museums and permanent collections now, but she and I made an agreement.”

Feyi raised an eyebrow. “What kind of deal did you cut?”

“Only that I’d never sell it,” he answered, and Feyi glanced at him.

“That’s real,” she said. “I’ve been so worried about who’s going to end up with my work, it feels too close to just let it be in anyone’s house, let alone some old white collector type, you know?”

He nodded. “You want it to be with its people. Whoever those turn out to be.”

Feyi didn’t dare look at him again. His body was too close to hers. “Exactly,” she said, keeping her eyes on the drawing.

Nasir came and joined them. “Dad, don’t start the whole art tour. We can do that another time, it’s not going anywhere.”

Alim smiled at his son. “You heathen,” he teased.

Nasir rolled his eyes and turned to Feyi. “Come on, lemme show you to your room.” He grabbed her bags, then turned to his father. “Lunch soon?”

Alim sat down on one of the couches and flipped open a book, reaching for a pair of gold spectacles. “Three o’clock, but you’re never on time,” he said, then looked up at Feyi. “Make yourself at home, yes?”

She nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Blake.”

He had returned to his book, but as Feyi followed Nasir out of the room, she thought she heard him say, “Call me Alim.”

When she looked back, he was reading as if he were already alone.

• • •

Nasir led her up a polished staircase and into a hallway lined with a stretch of floor-to-ceiling glass. Everything was jungle outside the window, cawing sounds and the rustle of branches and leaves.

“This is almost like being outside,” Feyi said. “Low-key makes me a little nervous.”

“Oh, there’s a glass walkway on the third floor that connects to a guest tree house,” Nasir told her. “I used to hate walking on it, I felt like it was going to break at any second, and you know I don’t fuck with heights like that.” He slid open a sleek wooden door and stepped to the side. “This is you.”

Feyi laughed out loud as soon as she saw the room. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she said. “This is like a whole-ass apartment!” The space was sprawling, marked by a platform king bed in the center, canopied with gossamer curtains. The entire outside wall was glass, looking out into a landscaped garden exploding with flowers, birds, and butterflies. A small stream sang through the garden, rippling over stones. Feyi walked over to the bed and ran her hands over the flax linen sheets, her fingernails golden against the olive green. “Nah, man. You did not adequately prepare me for how off the charts this place is.”

Nasir grinned as he set her suitcase on a luggage rack. “I wanted to surprise you,” he said. “Besides, if I had even tried to describe it, you would’ve thought that I was bragging or some shit.”

“Facts,” she answered, staring at a line of sculptures installed on one of the walls. There were about five fencing masks in various states—pierced through with long feathers, smudged with black, covered in gold, dripping with tendrils. “I would not have believed a single word out of your mouth. That, for example”—she pointed at the masks—“is an entire Allison Janae Hamilton set. Do you know how wild it is to have them all together?”

Nasir laughed. “I see having you visit is going to be an entire art education.” He came up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling his face into her neck. “How come you never took me to an exhibit when we were in New York? You don’t want me to be cultured?”

Feyi giggled and placed a hand on his cheek. “Maybe I was shy about that part of my life. Like I know you said you were collecting, but … I don’t know.”

“Well, we can fix it when we get back. You know I’m down to do anything if I get to do it with you.” He raised his head. “Except running. You cute, but you not that cute.”

“Fuck off.” She laughed. “I gotta shower and get changed.”

“Aight, aight.” Nasir let go of her and headed for the door. “I’ll be back in a few. Wi-Fi password is on the desk.”

As soon as he left, Feyi pulled off her headwrap and grabbed her phone. Joy had told her to text first instead of just calling.

“I might be with Justina,” she’d said, “and she getting kinda possessive.”

“Why is it always the married ones who be wilding?” Feyi had asked. “Doesn’t she have a whole husband?”

Joy had just shrugged. “Lesbians,” she said, as if it explained everything.