Chapter 79
The afternoon sun was bright over the 7th District when Elijah pulled his car into the parking lot of the school, the black paint gleaming under the light and the tinted windows casting dark shadows across the interior.
He had spent the morning at the territory handling the remaining members of the south side gang and reviewing the reports that Rena had prepared, but now his mind was focused on something simpler.
Amy was already waiting at the front gate when he pulled up, her black hair catching the sunlight and her school bag slung over one shoulder while her phone occupied her other hand.
She looked up when the car stopped, and a smile spread across her face as she opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat.
"Finally," she said as she buckled her seatbelt. "I thought you were going to be late."
"I said I wouldn't be late," Elijah replied as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. "And I wasn't."
"You were cutting it close."
"I was exactly on time."
Amy made a face at him but didn't argue, and she spent the next few minutes scrolling through her phone while Elijah drove toward the address Lisa had sent him earlier that morning.
Lisa's apartment building was on the edge of the 7th District, a modest three-story structure with faded paint and a cracked sidewalk that had seen better days but still stood strong against the elements.
Elijah parked in the visitor's spot and sent her a quick message, and a moment later she emerged from the front door with her dark hair loose around her shoulders and a smile on her face that made his chest tighten the way it always did.
She was wearing a simple dress in a shade of blue that matched her eyes, and the fabric clung to her body in a way that was neither too tight nor too loose but somehow perfect for the afternoon ahead.
She walked toward the car with the easy grace of someone who knew she was being watched and didn't mind at all, and when she opened the back door and slid into the seat behind Amy, the scent of her perfume filled the car.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi," Elijah replied.
Amy turned around in her seat, her purple eyes studying Lisa's face with an expression that was somewhere between curiosity and approval. "You're the girlfriend," she said.
Lisa laughed, the sound bright and warm in the confined space of the car. "I'm the girlfriend," she confirmed. "And you're the famous Amy I've heard so much about."
"Famous?"
"Elijah talks about you all the time."
Amy glanced at her brother, her eyebrows raised. "Really?"
"Really," Elijah said as he pulled the car back onto the main road. "I tell her how annoying you are."
"Liar," Amy said, but she was smiling.
Lisa leaned forward between the front seats, her chin resting on the headrest of Amy's seat. "Your brother talks about you constantly, and he never stops worrying about you, and he always makes sure to mention how beautiful you are, which I can see for myself now."
Amy's cheeks flushed slightly at the compliment, and she looked down at her phone to hide her embarrassment. "He's just saying that because he's my brother."
"I'm not," Elijah said.
"He's not," Lisa agreed. "You're genuinely beautiful, and you have this amazing energy about you that I noticed the moment I saw you. Your brother is lucky to have you."
Amy's flush deepened, and she mumbled something that might have been "thank you" or might have been nothing at all, but her smile remained firmly in place.
They drove through the streets of the 7th District, as Lisa filled the silence with stories about her day.
She talked about the professor who had fallen asleep during his own lecture, which had caused the entire class to sit in confused silence for nearly ten minutes before someone finally woke him up.
And another about the coffee shop where she had stopped this morning, and the barista who had spelled her name wrong on the cup, and the way the warm drink had felt in her hands on the cold morning.
Amy listened with growing interest, occasionally interjecting with her own stories about school and teachers and friends, and the two of them fell into an easy rhythm that made Elijah's heart feel fuller than it had in weeks.
"So," Lisa said after a lull in the conversation, her voice taking on a teasing tone that Elijah recognized immediately. "Your sister is really cute, Elijah. Like, really cute. And she has a beautiful body too."
Amy's face turned bright red, and she buried her face in her hands while Lisa laughed from the back seat. "Lisa!" Amy protested, her voice muffled by her palms.
"What?" Lisa asked, her tone innocent in a way that was anything but. "I'm just being honest. You have an hourglass figure and amazing curves, and any guy who doesn't notice that is blind."
"Please stop," Amy begged, though she was laughing now despite her embarrassment.
Elijah kept his eyes on the road and his expression neutral, but he was listening to every word the two of them said as they continued their teasing and their laughter and their easy conversation.
The conversation moving to the things they wanted to buy at the mall, with Lisa describing a dress she had seen in a magazine and Amy talking about a pair of shoe.
The colors they wanted for their nails, with Lisa favoring a deep red and Amy leaning toward a soft pink.
And the pictures they would take together, and the poses they would strike, and the memories they would create.
The mall in the 7th District was a sprawling complex of connected buildings with glass walls and wide walkways and fountains that sprayed water into the air in graceful arcs.
Elijah parked the car in the underground garage, and the three of them walked through the entrance into the bright, airy space beyond.
The next few hours passed in a blur of shops and changing rooms and bags that grew heavier with each passing hour.
Lisa dragged Amy into a clothing store that sold dresses in every color imaginable, and Amy dragged Lisa into a shoe store that smelled of leather and polish.
They tried on clothes and posed for each other and demanded Elijah's opinion on every single item, and he gave it honestly because he knew that lying to them about how they looked would only lead to disappointment later.