FAVORITE LESSON

Run Little Rabbit Run Oops The Fox Caught You...Cry Little Rabbit

HAYE'S CAFE & LUNCH - UPSTAIRS STORAGE ROOM / STAFF AREA (helping cause they are short staffed)- LATE AFTERNOON

The walls are lined with brown paper bags and crates of lemon syrup. Light filters in from the small square window, dust floating through it. Kehlani sits on the deep freezer, legs swinging, blunt between her fingers. Kwn leans against the wall, arms crossed over her black Nike tech.

Silence. Tension.

KEHLANI
(low)
He's breakin' her down, K. Like... brick by fuckin' brick. Every time I see her, she smaller. Quieter.

KWN
(firm, accent heavy)
He's a proper waste man, fam. Man's got no backbone, just loud barkin'. Classic insecure ting tryna shrink her to feel big.

KEHLANI
She don't even clock it. She defends him. Said, "He's just protective." Bitch, no. That's control wrapped in affection.

KWN
(real low, intense)
That's textbook coercion, blood. He's movin' like a prison warder, not a boyfriend.

Kehlani exhales smoke through her nose. Her jaw ticks. She passes the blunt to Kwn.

KEHLANI
I want her out. But she won't let me pull her.

KWN
That's 'cause she's still in the fog. Trauma bonds are mad sticky, fam. But once she sees his mask crack? Game over.

KEHLANI
So we make her see. Loud and clear.

Kwn takes a slow pull of the blunt, exhales through her teeth. Eyes narrowed.

KWN
We use patience. Pressure. Subtle moves. Make her feel what real care is. He love-bombs and isolates. We surround her with softness. Safety. Let her clock the contrast for herself.

KEHLANI
You wanna drown his noise out.

KWN
Exactly. Make his shit feel foreign. Unnatural. Man's a parasite. He thrives on silence. We be the noise.

KEHLANI
(curious)
You ever been through it?

KWN
Yeah. Once. Some bird back in Brixton. Had me losin' myself tryin' to keep her happy. Took me months to get my head straight. So nah... I see the signs clear now. Man like John? Needs exposin'.t

Kehlani jumps down from the freezer. Her energy shiftsc calm but lethal.

KEHLANI
Then let's expose him. I'll keep pullin at her heart. You? Pull at her logic.

KWN
(smirking)
Divide and conquer. I'm on it.

They dap up. Not a regular dap something silent and solid. A pact.

KEHLANI
She means somethin' to me, K.

KWN
We know. That's why we move careful. Tactical. But no mercy.

Kwn flicks the roach into a soda can on the shelf. Her eyes narrow slightly on Kehlani, calculating. Something's been gnawing at her, and now's the time.

KWN
(quietly)
You tryna rescue her or keep her?

KEHLANI
(blinks)
What?

KWN
Don't play dumb, fam. You know what I'm askin'.
You gonna be her safe space and dip when she start healing? Or you stickin' around for the hard bits too?

KEHLANI
(tongue in cheek)
Damn, who made you Dr. Phil with a fade?

KWN
Nah, deadass, Kehlz. You always been the cocky one. Flashy. Lover girl for a weekend.
But this ain't one of your club chicks. This is Vic. You can't keep hoverin' 'round her like a ghost. She ain't a trophy. She's tired.