Anger could be given a caption. And once that happened, nobody had to remember what came before it. So Nia gave Trevor nothing. No screaming. No insult.
No desperate struggle for Madison's camera. Just five quiet words. Take your hand off me. Trevor leaned closer. What are you going to do?
Nia's jaw tightened. She didn't answer. A bus groaned somewhere beyond the campus gates. Its brakes hissed through the rain, a distant sound from the Baltimore streets outside Wellington's limestone walls. For one strange second, Nia thought about home.
East Baltimore. Wet brick row houses. The little diner near Harbor Street with red neon trembling in the windows. Warm yellow light spilling from the community kitchen before sunrise. A world where people had very little and somehow still found room at the table for somebody else.
Here, everything gleamed. Glass, steel, brass donor plaques, millions of dollars in polished stone, and not one person beneath that awning would take a single step toward her. Madison moved closer with the camera. Trevor asked her again. Nia turned toward her.
Stop recording me. Madison smiled. We're in public. No, Nia said. You're recording what you're doing to me.
That wiped away Madison's smile for half a second. Trevor squeezed harder. Nia flinched. It was small, barely visible. But someone beneath the awning saw it.
An older staff member took half a step forward, then stopped. Trevor noticed. Everything's fine. He called toward the witnesses. We're talking.
Nobody contradicted him. That was when a voice came from behind the circle. No. It wasn't loud. Trevor turned. So did Madison's camera.
A black woman stood at the far end of the courtyard. For a heartbeat, Nia thought the rain had created a reflection of herself. Same face, same dark eyes, same height, but the woman walking toward them carried herself differently. Naomi Brooks was also 27. Nia's identical twin.
She wore faded navy EMT pants and an old black jacket darkened by rain. Her sneakers were worn at the edges. A battered medical bag hung from one shoulder and exhaustion sat plainly beneath her eyes. She looked like somebody who had worked too many hours and slept too few. Trevor looked her up and down.
His expression changed from surprise to amusement. You serious? Naomi kept walking. Nia's heart dropped. Naomi.
Her sister didn't look at her yet. She looked at Trevor's hand. Only Trevor's hand. Madison shifted position, delighted by the new development. Who is this?
My sister, Nia said. Ryan stared between them. Twins? Trevor laughed. That's perfect.
Naomi stopped several feet away. Rain rolled from the edge of her jacket. Your Trevor Hale. It wasn't a question. Trevor's smile widened.
So she talks about me. Naomi's eyes moved once across the group. Ryan. Derek. Ashley.
Madison and her phone. The doorway behind Derek. The wet pavement. The witnesses under the awning. Then back to Trevor.
The examination took perhaps two seconds. Something about it made Ashley take a step backward. Trevor didn't notice. You came all the way over here dressed like that to rescue her? Naomi finally looked at Nia.