Terrence popped the hush puppy into his mouth and chewed slowly, whether to fully savor it or to delay answering, I didn’t know.

I put my elbow on the table and chin in my hand to wait out his response. When he didn’t answer right away, I sipped at my sweet tea without breaking eye contact. I was in no hurry and could wait him out, no problem.

Luckily, he wasn’t a stubborn person and always caved pretty quickly.

“Look, I love her with all my heart. But we both know how she is. She’s not going to do something that doesn’t benefit her in some way, especially if she could get in trouble for it. Telling the cops might make her feel important, but she doesn’t get anything out of it. With Amir, she wouldn’t even get that satisfaction. But you? You needed that info, would likely do anything to get it. You were the clear choice for her.”

My mouth hung open so long Terrence was probably thinking of balling up a piece of bread and using it for target practice. “So what? She wanted to blackmail me for the information? Over sushi?”

“Blackmail is such a strong word. It was like, a business lunch. She wanted to negotiate with you.”

“Dude, I remember the phone call. She made it very clear that lunch was on me, and from what I remember of her, that was just the beginning of her demands.”

Terrence, with the weakest, most pathetic protest, said, “She’s a good person, I swear.”

“Yeah, well, I thought Derek was a good person and he proved me wrong.”

Terrence looked at me sharply. “How much do you know about what he was up to?”

“You mean with his food reviews? All I know is that we weren’t the only restaurant he attacked, but we were definitely his biggest obsession. I mean, with the other places, he’d eat there a bunch of times, release a couple of nasty reviews, then move on. For us, it was one nasty post after another. Why? What do you know?”

“Not much,” he said cautiously. “At least, nothing for sure. But I think he had a hustle going with the health inspector.”

Interesting. This backed up my suspicions. “What makes you say that?”

“The health inspector is Mr. Long’s best friend. Every place that Derek went after got a visit from the health inspector, and there was talk of ‘big fines’ that had to be paid. Or else.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve heard these claims, but how do you know about it?”

Terrence shrugged, looking uneasy. “After Janet and I got engaged, she urged me to reach out to him. Mend walls or whatever. She thought he was the only person who deserved to be my best man. And honestly, I hoped she was right. Despite all his BS when we were in college, I still missed him.”

“So what, you two went fishing and hashed out your problems or whatever?”

He laughed. “We smoked weed and played video games like the old days. It was great at first. But then he started talking about some of his, uh, shadier side hustles. Tried to get me involved. It wasn’t long before I saw that even though we were doing what we’d always done, we were now very different people. So I told him that he’d always be my boy, but I didn’t see us doing this again. Made me sad, but I wasn’t prepared for Derek’s reaction.”

“Let me guess, he accused you of thinking you’re too good for him?”

He nodded. “Went on a huge rant about how everyone thinks they’re too good for him now. He brought you up and uh, it wasn’t all that flattering. Also he’s still pissed that we went on those dates.”

I groaned. “Him and Janet both. Did you explain to them that it was weird and felt wrong and like kissing a sibling?”

He grimaced. “Damn, you don’t have to put it like that. Anyway, he called me a liar. Said I’d always been jealous of you and him and that he’d show us all.”

“That’s a pretty vague threat. Do you think he meant it? Like he actually had some kind of revenge planned against us?”

“It’s hard to say, honestly. Old Derek, of course not. But New Derek, well . . .” He eyed me, wondering how to continue. “Look, you keep saying Derek was a completely different person, but I don’t think you really get how much he’d changed. The year you two broke up, you didn’t notice him becoming . . . moodier? More short-tempered?”

I’d put that time in my life behind me and didn’t enjoy dredging it up again. “Um, I guess? There was a lot wrong with him at the time. He became more possessive, needier. I thought he just didn’t like the idea of me going away to Chicago while he was stuck at Shelbyville Community College. Why? Was there something more to it?”

Terrence bit his lip. “There’s no way to ease into this, so I’m just gonna say it. He had a drug problem.”

I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. We smoked weed like, once or twice in high school. He refused to try anything stronger since he knew how I felt about that stuff after my cousin.”

“Yeah, well, he fell in with a bad crowd from Shelbyville. We were in different programs, and I was busy with the track team and the Black Student Union. He was always after me to hang out, but I told him to join a club or get a job if he was so bored. I regret that now. Should’ve seen that he wasn’t adjusting to college life as well as I was. I mean, Janet and I had just broken up, and I was free, you know? I wanted to see what else was out there, what the world had to offer. I was having the time of my life. I thought it was just a stoner crowd he fell in with. Turned out to be much more than that.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared at him, hoping things would start making sense.

He continued. “And then Derek’s mom got sick again. He stopped hanging out with those fools and got a job on campus, but it wasn’t enough, so he dropped out and got a full-time job.”

“At Callahan’s Pharmacy. I remember that.”

“Yeah, but it still wasn’t enough. So he started dealing on the side.”

I gasped. “That’s ridiculous. I would’ve known.”

“How would you have known? You think he would’ve told you? If you didn’t notice, why would he tell you something he knew you’d disapprove of?” He let a beat pass. “Seriously though, how could you not have known?”

I buried my face in my hands. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything about anyone, it seems. We were so close and I loved him so much and then suddenly I just . . . didn’t. I had just started my senior year when our relationship imploded. I was busy studying for exams, applying for scholarships, researching the best schools for restaurant management in Chicago. He didn’t want to hear about any of that. He didn’t want to be there while I was stressing out about my future. Everything was always about him! His worries, his needs, his dreams. You remember how he was. It was his way or nothing. I couldn’t live like that anymore.”

Terrence frowned. “He used to complain that you were abandoning him when he needed you the most. I kinda agreed with him.”

“What? I thought you were on my side! You were the one who told me I needed to see what else was out there before settling down with Derek.”

“Yeah well, I always thought you’d come back. And that you and Derek would work things out when you did. Kinda like me and Janet. But you never came back. Not really. And Derek just got worse and worse. I couldn’t stand seeing him like that, but he wouldn’t stop and he wouldn’t get help. Then after that girl OD’d last year, I knew he and I were done. I wasn’t involved in any of his dealings, but knew if I stuck around, I’d get dragged into it.”

“The girl that OD’d? What girl?”

Terrence’s forehead furrowed as he stared at me in disbelief. “You didn’t hear about that? It was all over the news. Plus, I figured your family would’ve told you about it. Don’t your aunties live for gossip?”

Vague recollections of my grandmother on a tirade about idiots with drug problems came back to me, but I assumed she was talking about my Tito Jeff, Tita Rosie’s estranged husband. Besides, I was deep into my problems with Sam, and small-town gossip was the least of my worries.

“Never mind that. Who was she?”

He shrugged. “She wasn’t from here. She didn’t have any people here, either, as far as I know. You wanna know more about her, you should ask Adeena.”

I tilted my head in confusion. “What? Why her?”

“Because Adeena used to work for her.” At my blank look, he said, “The dead girl was the original owner of Java Jo’s.”

Chapter Thirty-four

When it became obvious that I had no idea what he was talking about and that my best friend in the whole wide world had kept this enormous secret from me, he quickly changed the subject. But every attempt to continue the conversation died as thoughts like How could Adeena not tell me about this? Sure, it’s not like I was ever begging her for news from home, but this was huge. This was definitely something she would’ve told me. Right? ran through my head.

Flashbacks to her discomfort and anger when I spoke dismissively about substance abusers after the cops found those pills in my locker. How strange she’d been when I asked about school. Her sudden need to settle down in Shady Palms instead of breaking out in the world.