Jannie didn’t move.
“Jannie,” Ali said, going over and grabbing the remote.
“Don’t,” she said. “I want to know how bad it really is.”
Ali hit the power button and the screen went dark. Jannie glared at him and then at me before jumping up and leaving the room.
“What’s with her?” Ali said.
I gazed after Jannie as she stormed through the kitchen. My grandmother popped up from behind the counter.
“I’ll ask later,” I said, and then I went into the kitchen, where Nana Mama was finishing dinner preparations.
She patted me on the back. “Hang in there. The truth will out, son. It always does.”
“I know,” I said, but there was little conviction in it.
Nana Mama motioned me into her arms. It was still a miracle to me how such a tiny old woman could radiate so much positive energy.
“Don’t let them get you down,” she said, rubbing my back. ?
?When they hear your side of what happened, old Lester Dolt and Chuck Fraud will be singing a different song.”
I laughed and looked down at her. “Lester Dolt and Chuck Fraud?”
“That’s what I call him and the political reporter guy.”
“But Lester Holt is not a dolt.”
“And Chuck Todd’s not a fraud,” Nana Mama said. “But calling them that when all the news is depressing gives me a reason to smile.”
I gazed into my grandmother’s eyes and saw both confidence and fear.
“You are one complicated old lady,” I said, touching her cheek.
“I should hope so,” she said, pulling away. “Dinner in fifteen minutes?”
“What’s cooking?”
“Chicken roasted in Nana’s special herb rub. Go on, wash up. Bree texted she’ll be home any minute.”
I was about to head up the stairs when Bree came through the front door. There was strain everywhere about her, and she dropped her gaze and hesitated before coming into my arms.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Bree said. “It must have been awful.”
“Sobering,” I said. “Thirty-one times. I had no idea.”
Bree lifted her head to look me in the eyes with cold curiosity. “And the nine dead and the eight wounded?”
“I remember each and every one of them,” I said. “You can’t forget things like that. Ever. Even when they were righteous shoots.”
She studied me, her eyes welling with tears, then hugged me tight.
“Jesus,” she said hoarsely. “They want to tear you apart.”
“They better pull hard,” I said, and I kissed her head.
CHAPTER