All She Can Take

Epilogue

While she spent over three months in a halo vest locked in her mother's house, she had a lot of time to think and most of it centered around her future for once instead of her past. She had a few options now that Kru was no longer a threat hanging over her head. She could leave and go to Massachusetts and work with Nissan, but that would mean leaving AJ behind, and her heart never let her do that. She could stay and continue to work at Ito but working under a new chef and hoping he wasn't crazy wasn't on her list of wants while she healed and tried to put the pieces of her life together.

Her mind was not made up until she traveled back to Fort Greene to attend a vigil for Ahsan a few months after his death. They had finally determined that Ahsan's death was not an accidental overdose. Luke was arrested after Ahsan's phone was tracked to his home. He was also later spotted on security footage pulled from Ahsan's dorm.  Being Kru's pet dog finally screwed him over and a life sentence came down on him quickly. 

She could only imagine the grief his parents must be experiencing. At the vigil, she largely tried to give his parents space, holding herself at least partially responsible for his death so she was surprised when they approached her after the service. His mother, whom she never met, bent down to Sid in her wheelchair and wrapped her arms around her, and surprisingly thanked her. Reassured her that it wasn't her fault and that she had appreciated her trying to give them a clean slate. A chance to start over. They decided they wouldn't stay. They were going back to Lebanon permanently and hoped that she would keep the businesses but gave her their blessing to do with it whatever she'd like.

Six months later, Land & Greene opened its doors. They worked with non-profits throughout the city to fund the paid culinary apprenticeship program that she designed in between physical therapy sessions. Young people aged eighteen through twenty-four got the chance to be paid to learn how to be amazing chefs and she got to be her own boss. It was insane how life could be so beautiful right underneath the ugly. All you had to be willing to do was face it because in the end life demanded to be dealt with whether you wanted to or not.

She pushed through the doors of the second kitchen space to a flurry of activity. Sid spotted Phil reaching to grab a bottle of vanilla extract off of a shelf, the bottom of his shirt riding up to reveal the smooth brown skin on his pelvis. As she walked up behind him she resisted the urge to touch him there and instead rested a hand on his shoulder. His eyes met hers and he smiled before leaning in for a kiss. She offered him a quick peck.

"Don't y'all start that shit. I hate to see it. Breaks my goddamn heart." Frenchie piped up from her place at a counter packing the last of what looked like a long row of boxes. Sid giggled and ran over to Frenchie wrapping her in a bear hug.

"You was supposed to be my girl." Frenchie teased.

"Get over it, French. I won. Done deal." Phil tossed over his shoulder.

"I'll always be your girl," Sid whispered to Frenchie and winked.

"Don't tell me that shit." Frenchie pouted and Sid laughed. Frenchie tried to play broken-hearted but she knew better. There was no shortage of beautiful women sniffing about her at any given moment. She was more than fine.

"I thought you just sent a shipment out on Friday." Sid leaned against the counter next to Phil and watched him work.

"We did. Another huge order came in Saturday morning. The biggest one so far and they paid us double to get it out quick." Phil measured out some flour and sifted it. His technique was much better than when she watched him whip up Brothercups in her kitchen. He'd finished pastry school two months ago and got right to work perfecting his CBD-infused treats and shipping them all over the country. What started out as a small operation had quickly grown with him and Frenchie spending countless hours churning out batches of kush-ladened chocolate, brownies, and cookies.