Leftovers! Malcolm didn't think he deserved a medal for the way he treated Cookie during their short time together, but he didn't expect such vitriol, either. "Cookie," Malcolm said evenly. "I've never said anything mean or nasty about you. I'd appreciate it if you'd do the same."

"You're right, Malcolm. I'm sorry." Cookie really was, too. Poor Malcolm was the only person in this love rectangle who hadn't done anything wrong, although Lucious might think otherwise. "I just don't understand how you went from wanting me to move with you to D.C. to hooking up with this sorry bitch." This was news to Anika. She knew they'd briefly dated, but she had no idea Malcolm had fallen so hard for Cookie, and not so long ago.

"Yeaaaah, it wasn't even two years ago that you were strung out on Cookie's nookie." One would think Lucious would've been angry at remembering that Malcolm had slept with his wife, but could Cookie help it if her pussy was platinum grade? "My baby's lovin' cures ALS, and it turns war heroes into punks. Ain't that right, Malcolm?"

Malcolm shrugged. "I saved your wife's life, Lucious. It was the least she could do."

"Awww, shit." Hakeem grabbed a chair as Rhonda sat Andrea and her baby carrier on the ground. Jamal stood frozen, watching the dual furor forming in both of his parents clashing with the calmness of Malcolm and Anika. It was a highly volatile mix. Andre sat back down and put his head in his hands. We're all going to jail, he thought glumly.

"Cookie," Anika added with the tone of voice only a debutante could have. "I remember correctly, you were sleeping with Lucious when he was my fiancée, and I left him. You were the side chick, not me."

"Bitch," Cookie spat, visibly trembling with rage, "you didn't leave Lucious until I exposed your ass for the backstabbing tramp that you are. Before you ran off and fucked Billy Beretti. Remember that, Malcolm?" Malcolm's jaw twitched, which neither Cookie nor Lucious missed. "Back when you were one of the ones who helped protect Empire during that breach that your woman caused?"

"Was that before or after Lucious sent Camilla away and lied to Hakeem about the money she took from you?" Malcolm fired back, just as smoothly.

"Don't put my name up in your beef, bruh." Like Cookie, Hakeem couldn't believe his ex-future stepmother turned ex-future baby mama and ex-stalker was Malcolm's wife. But Anika's crazy ass was Malcolm's problem now. "You'll look up and get your feelings hurt," he added, savoring the nervous look on Anika's face.

Cookie couldn't throw Hakeem up in Anika's face without hurting her youngest son. So, like Anika's teaching certification, Cookie chose an alternate route. "Let's get something straight, Boo Boo Kitty. You were never Lucious's chick. Not the main chick, the side chick, the back chick, nothing. You were just keeping my spot warm until I got back." Cookie sat back smugly as Anika lowered her eyes. "My sacrifice made you and everything that you are. Don't forget that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know. It was your fo' hunnit thousand that built Empire," Anika mocked Cookie's woe-was-me speech. "I'm sure you killed about fo' hunnit thousand with all the drugs you flooded into your community, too."

Cookie stood up so fast that her chair overturned. "Yeah, and it was my fo' hunnit thousand that got your ass teaching at LaGuardia High School," she hissed. "So check your tone, little girl."

"Cookie," Lucious warned. They'd agreed to keep that a secret, but Cookie was on a tear now, especially with the shock written all over Anika and Malcolm's faces. "That's right, bitch. We got your little packet when you needed your work history verified. I'm sure the letter of recommendation me and Lucious signed is still in your files."

Anika turned to Lucious, disbelieving. "Don't look at me," he shrugged, digging the knife in deeper. "I didn't write it. I just signed it."

"Tryin' to make amends for your bougie, ungrateful ass," Cookie continued as the truth began to sink in. "Drug money started Empire, bitch! Your entire work history after college is because of us. And the only reason why your young, dumb ass is at LaGuardia is because of the donation we paid to make them choose you."

Four hundred thousand dollars. All this time, Anika thought that it was her education and her work experience that sent her to the performing arts school. And yet, Anika remembered being confused when she got the call that she'd been accepted in the school's lone teaching spot when her last letter of recommendation had yet to be written. "La-GWAR-dee-ah," Anika replied softly. It was the only thing Anika could say in the face of such overwhelming shame.

"Huh?"

"La-GWAR-dee-ah, Cookie. Not La-GARD-dee-ah. If you're going to brag about how you bought my job, at least pronounce the name of the school right."

"Whatever the fuck you call it, it was me and Lucious who got you there," Cookie growled. "So you need to show a little more respect when you're in front of your superiors." Cookie gestured to her husband and sons.

"Superior what, Cookie?" Malcolm cut in, baffled by Cookie's behavior, her mood, her logic – hell, by Cookie, period. What happened to the warm-hearted, humble woman he once loved up in the Berkshires? Yes, Cookie dealt drugs to keep her family going, but he'd never heard her brag about it before. Was this what money did to Cookie? Or was this what Lucious did to Cookie? "You were a drug dealer, and you got caught."

"Superior everything, Malcolm." Cookie gave Malcolm a smile that belied every warm, wet and intimate moment they'd spent together before Cookie dropped his pathetic ass. "I bet you waited a whole lot longer than one weekend to ask Anika to move anywhere with you, didn't you?"

"You're right, I did," Malcolm admitted. "But that's what happens when you raise your standards."

Chairs overturned and silverware clattered to the floor as Andre, Jamal and Hakeem rushed to keep Malcolm and Lucious apart. "Say somethin' to my wife again, motherfucker! Say somethin' to my wife again!"

"Cookie, what the hell is your problem?" Malcolm half-yelled, ignoring Lucious's warning. Most men bowed down to Lucious when they learned Cookie was his wife. But Malcolm wasn't most men. "Look, you were right, okay? You never needed me to take care of you. I was wrong to even ask you to come with me. But everything worked out, right? You're back with Lucious, I'm with Anika. If you can't be happy for us, keep your smart-ass comments to yourself!"

Had it been any other woman in the world, Cookie would have been happy for Malcolm. Malcolm was a wonderful man who had always treated Cookie well. But Anika? How could Malcolm walk by her so proudly? Lucious took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down, but Andre still stayed close. "If this was back in the day, I'd put a bullet in your dome for talking to my wife like that," he said, his voice low and cold and promising that he could still go back to the old Lucious if need be. "Don't make me go back to the old me, motherfucker."

"What, you need a piece or something?" Malcolm mocked. "I got a Glock in my truck. We can go get it right now, you bastard!"

"No!" Anika rushed past Hakeem and Jamal and began to push Malcolm back to the best of her ability. If Malcolm said he was going to give Lucious his gun, that was exactly what Malcolm would do. And then what? "Stop! Stop! Cookie, say something!" But Cookie just gave her cat-with-the-canary smile and shrugged. Lucious was defending his wife's honor, like a man was supposed to do. If Malcolm got his dumb ass popped, he would just get his dumb ass popped.

"Malcolm DeVeaux!"

The voice had an instant reaction on not just Malcolm, but the Lyons, Anika, and everybody at Chef's Table. Striding towards the table was a diminutive older woman who cut a swath 10 feet wide as she stridently marched towards her target. "Good evening, Master Chief," Malcolm mumbled, dropping all bravado and suggestions of his potential death.

"Don't you 'Master Chief' me, goddamn it! What's the hell is wrong with you?" The woman shoved Malcolm on the shoulder. "You just got here and you're already getting into fights? Some things never change, do they? Don't make me call your grandfather!"

"I'm sorry…who are you?" Jamal asked. There wasn't anyone at the table who wasn't wondering why this wispy white woman was having such an effect on Malcolm, Anika included.

The elderly woman drew herself up to her full height, which barely cleared five feet. "I'm Master Chief Mary Sharp," she said firmly.

Now Anika knew what the deal was. "You're Malcolm's grandmother!" Anika remembered the name from her student teaching recommendations. Malcolm told her that his high school mentor had married his grandfather shortly after Malcolm became a Navy SEAL.

"Call me Mary, please." Mary stepped forward and grasped Anika's hands. "And you must be Malcolm's wife, Anika."

"Wife?" For all of Cookie's ride-or-die love for Lucious, she looked absolutely shocked. "You wifed this bitch?" she demanded to know, sounding almost betrayed at such a stunt.

Before another potential murder could break out, Mary whirled around. "Who are you supposed to be?" she asked coldly.

Lucious wasn't about to disrespect an old woman, but he wasn't so sure about Cookie. "This is my wife, Cookie, ma'am," he said hurriedly, rising to his feet. "And I'm Lucious Lyon. CEO and founder of Empire Enterprises."

"You say that as if I should be impressed," Mary took a few steps back to examine the woman who had called her new granddaughter a bitch. "Ah, yes. Cookie Lyon. They say television adds 10 pounds. Looks like in your case, it takes them away." Rhonda's jaw dropped as Mary turned back to Malcolm and Anika. "Anyway. Malcolm, I came to tell you all that we're going to have to reschedule this dinner. Commander Wilshire's daughter has been in a car accident, so the rest of us are going to go over to CUMC to make sure everything is okay and start planning for the upcoming week. That's when you'll meet the new cadets."

"I should come, right?" Malcolm asked, shrugging his coat back on.

"I'd stay away. The commander has enough on his mind without worrying about his new cadre member. And so do I." Mary smacked Malcolm on the arm again, and Anika hid a smile. Watching her husband being beaten up by an elderly midget was rather amusing. "So you behave, you hear me? No fighting, no loud arguments in public, and no shootings or volunteering to get shot." Mary shook a look in Lucious's direction that made him feel like a little boy who'd lost his lunch money.

Now Malcolm smiled. Hearing Mary say it all out loud made him feel like a first class asshole, especially in front of his wife. "Yes, Master Chief," he promised.

"Why do you call your grandmother 'Master Chief'?" Hakeem wondered out loud as Mary made her way to the back room to inform the rest of the early-arrived cadre about the change of plans.

Malcolm cut Hakeem a look that told him that he didn't want to talk about it. "Long story."

Anika slid her hand into the small of Malcolm's back. Malcolm looked over at his wife and smiled, appreciating the small gesture. The last time he told her a "long story," they were back in the hospital talking about a miserable young man who did all he could to be thrown out of his high school military academy. It wasn't a time that Malcolm spoke of very often.

"So. You're married." While Mary had been berating Malcolm, Rhonda had taken out her cell phone to check the marriage certificates for the state of New York. Sure enough, Malcolm and Anika's island marriage had been confirmed and made official in the state of New York five weeks ago. She slid her phone to Cookie, then watched as Cookie tried to mask the hurt and shock from her face. "When's the baby due?" Cookie asked as she discreetly handed the phone back to Rhonda.

Anika didn't miss a beat. "In May, if everything goes well."

"May?" Malcolm asked, hoping that he'd just heard what he thought he heard. "You're pregnant?"

Anika smiled shyly. "I wanted to make sure before I told you. I have another doctor's appointment next week, but…yeah." Even though they were married, Anika couldn't stop herself from blushing. "I guess it happened on our wedding night."

For a moment, Malcolm had no response. Not even two months ago, Malcolm had a pretty girlfriend and was hanging out in the Cayman Islands without a care in the world. Now he had a wife and a baby on the way. Without thinking, Malcolm let out a war whoop so loud and sharp everybody stared and the back banquet room began to empty. Most of the Columbia University cadre had never even met Malcolm before, but everyone one of them responded to the navy call: "Hoo-yah!"

"What now, Malcolm?" Mary asked, irritated as she confronted her husband's hot-headed grandson for a second time. "Did you sign up to be an archery target?"

"Malcolm," Anika warned, but Malcolm didn't care. He'd deal with Anika's wrath later. "We're having a baby!" he announced proudly to the small crowd that had just gathered.

"Malcolm!" It was too late. For just a few minutes, Lucious and Cookie Lyon didn't exist in Malcolm and Anika's world. The cadre shut the Lyon family out while making a circle around the couple. Just like with the Military Ball months before, Malcolm was introducing Anika to this person and that. "My wife, Anika," he said over and over proudly. A baby! He never knew how much he wanted a child until right at that moment.

Anika felt so happy at being accepted by a group of people who weren't Empire assholes that she could cry. Even Andre, Rhonda and Jamal came over to congratulate the happy couple. "Get all the sleep you can now," Rhonda teased, handing Andrea to Anika to hold. "In about two months, you're going to wish you could sleep on your stomach or your back." Anika looked at the beautiful little girl in her arms. Without even knowing anything about their baby, Anika was filled with love for the child she was carrying.

"Do me a favor," Andre requested, exchanging a hug and some dap with Andre. "Try to have a boy. Then your son can marry our daughter & maybe our families can be cool from now on."

"Like Romeo and Juliet? Didn't they die?" Jamal joked.

When Mary reached for Anika's hand, Anika could no longer hold back her tears. "Congratulations, my love," Mary whispered, looking down at the baby girl in Anika's arms with great longing. A woman didn't make Master Chief with children back when she enlisted 38 years ago. Hell, they rarely pulled it off now.

Watching the newlyweds together, Lucious couldn't help but smile. He was still working to be a better man, just like Cookie constantly pushed him to do. When the crowd finally began to disperse, Lucious stood and stepped forward to shake Malcolm's hand. "Congratulations, Malcolm. Really," he added when Malcolm didn't move. "Welcome to the club, man. Fatherhood…it's a trip."

Malcolm gritted his teeth, but he shook Lucious's hand after seeing the serene look on Anika's face, cooing at Rhonda's daughter. That's about to be my wife, he thought, still disbelieving. If Lucious was willing to let bygones be bygones and Rhonda could pry her daughter out of Anika's hands, so be it. "Thanks, Lucious." It did make Malcolm feel a little better.

"I still remember the day Cookie told me she was pregnant," Lucious said, smiling tenderly at his scowling wife. Cookie wasn't nearly as sentimental as Lucious was. "Happiest day of my life. We wanted a baby so bad."

"At 15?" Anika knew Cookie got pregnant when Lucious was just 15, and they married shortly before Andre was born, but she had no idea that it was planned. "Why?"

"Because it was the only way the courts would marry us." Cookie said defensively. "Not everybody goes to overseas boarding schools, Boo Boo Kitty."

It took everything in Cookie's soul not to curse Anika out. She didn't care what the rest of these navy people thought about her, but the look of confusion and disdain on Anika's face at the thought of being pregnant and in love at just 14 was something that Cookie could barely stand. Doctor's daughter. Second-generation debutante. And now the wife of a Navy SEAL. Malcolm's wife. Malcolm, who had made her feel so beautiful and so perfect so long ago, as if she could have been more than a thug's wife. Malcolm, who had wanted to take care of Cookie, to take her away from Lucious. To rescue her. No wonder he loves Anika so damned much, Cookie thought bitterly. Malcolm liked his women weak and clingy and needing to be saved.

But maybe there was something to be said for being taken care of. Cookie stared at Anika through narrowed eyes. Anika would have a glorious first pregnancy, unlike Cookie's. She would spend every day gliding around work on feet that didn't ache and swell from carrying so much weight on a still-growing body. Her childbirth would be smooth and her body would return to normal almost immediately. She would never pray every night that her husband wasn't shot to death over some drug deal gone sour. Anika would never be locked in a cage with her breasts still leaking milk. She would never lie bleeding while others screamed for help that came way too late. Anika would never be robbed not only of her baby, but the chance to ever have another. Just as Cookie was born to be the wife of a dope-dealing thug, Anika was born to be a war hero's wife.

In Anika's place – as the wife of a man who would spend his next few years correcting cadets on their pushups – Cookie would have been miserable. So why was Cookie so irritated at Anika's Queen for a Day act when she was surrounded with her own family, which included a beautiful new granddaughter? Malcolm was right, Cookie said to herself over and over, closing her eyes and trying to check her anger. It had all worked itself out. But sometimes – and she would never say this out loud, to anyone – sometimes, Cookie was sick of being Mrs. Lucious Lyon.

"Cookie." Lucious shot Cookie his best git-cho-ass-over-here look, but Cookie refused to budge. Anika looked so beautiful with a baby in her arms, even if it wasn't Anika's baby. And Malcolm was beaming as proudly as if Andrea was his child, not Andre's. They made a beautiful couple, and no doubt they would make a hundred beautiful babies in every color of the rainbow. From a fake-ass Halle Berry to a fake-ass Buckwheat. "Congratulations, Anika," Cookie said, barely getting the words out as she reached for her third glass of wine.

"Thank you, Cookie." Anika's words were so dry and sarcastic that anyone would be able to detect the tension. "Any motherly advice on this joyous occasion?"

Three sons and only 12 years of having raised them. Cookie looked over to the one son that she hadn't raised, the one who hadn't joined his brothers in the celebratory circle. The one who was staring out into the parking lot as if none of this was affecting him. "Yeah, I got some advice." Cookie strolled over to Anika, smiling sweetly as she removed her grandchild from Anika's arms. "Try not to kill this one."

You're my wife, Anika. So hold your head up high.

The words rolled through Anika's head as Cookie quietly removed her grandchild from Cookie's arms.Anika couldn't hold her head up, not anymore. Not in front of her husband's grandmother and his co-workers, who all just learned from Cookie that Anika had had an abortion. Anika didn't even know Hakeem told his family that she was pregnant. Why, when he had denied it to her face and slammed the door?

Anika longed to cut Cookie down to size. There were so many things Anika could have said that made her abortion look like something that deserved the Presidential Medal of Freedom. About Cookie's 17 years in prison, her ex-drug dealing days, about being dumped by Lucious again and again and again. But the cruel smirk on Cookie's face juxtaposed with the baby in her arms dared Anika to even breathe too much air. "Excuse me." Anika still had Malcolm's keys in her purse, and she wanted nothing more than to run and hide in the truck until Malcolm came to take her home.

Mary stepped in front of Anika's body, forming a barrier between herself and the exit door that led into the parking lot. "Don't you move a muscle," she ordered quietly, her back turned to Cookie. "Don't you give the bitch the satisfaction."

But Anika was no sailor, and she wasn't a member of the Columbia's cadre. She wasn't required to take Mary's orders just because she was Malcolm's wife. "Excuse me, please." Unlike Mary, Anika had to push her way through the crowd to run to the parking lot. She was crying even before she even left.

"Anika, wait!" Rhonda called, but Anika was half-running, half-tripping. "Anika! Be careful!" Rhonda turned to her mother-in-law. "That was low, Cookie. Even for you." She left to catch up with Anika, which didn't surprise Cookie. She didn't expect Rhonda to have any family loyalty. What surprised Cookie was that Jamal followed Rhonda, stopping to give his mother a look of pure repulsion before he left.

Malcolm wasn't sure how to react. He didn't even know what to think. Cookie's bombshell was certainly news to the Columbia University cadre, but it wasn't news to Malcolm. Was Cookie really throwing in Anika's face that she'd had aborted Lucious's child? Was Malcolm supposed to be outraged because Anika wasn't a virgin or something, while Cookie had been pregnant before she was old enough to drive?

Taking deep breaths, Malcolm slowly pulled out a chair, sat down and leaned back as lazily as if he was a guest as Sunday tea. "Spill it, Cookie," he finally said when he was able to speak.

"Spill what?" Lucious asked, wary of Malcolm's lackadaisical attitude.

"Whatever dirt you've got on Anika. Let's hear it. Get it all of your chest. Right here." Malcolm waved his hands. "In front of God and my co-workers and everybody."

"Not us, Malcolm," a large red-headed male spoke up. "Let's go, guys. Give Malcolm and this loudmouth wench some privacy." One by one, in a show of solidarity, the ROTC crew filed out, denying Cookie her audience. Mary stopped long enough to stare hard at Cookie. "You disgust me," she informed Cookie, as calmly if she was telling Cookie the time.

"Go to hell, you white bitch," Cookie muttered back. She'd made a complete ass of herself, she knew. And she knew Lucious was going to give her hell when they got home. But she'd be damned if she backed down now.

Malcolm waited until his fellow cadre were gone before he spoke again. "As I was saying, Cookie. Tell me what you want me to know. All of you. Let's get it all out in the open. All this stuff that's supposed to make me stop loving my wife. Lucious, I know you've gone some kinky bedtime stories."

"Not any that I'm gonna tell you." Lucious had enough kinky bedtime stories to write a book, but Cookie had made such a fool out of herself that Lucious knew he would come off looking even worse.

"Andre? Hakeem?" Malcolm said pointedly. "Anything I need to know?"

"Andre ain't got a damn thing to say," Andre wished for the billionth time that night that they could just leave. Hakeem was staring long and hard at his mother, who was wise enough to keep quiet about his relationship with Anika.

"What about you, Cookie?" Malcolm prompted when Cookie didn't say anything. "What, nothing to say? You've been running your mouth all night." Malcolm paused to let a long moment of silence drag by. "Funny how you're such a bully with my wife," he continued when Cookie refused to speak, "But you won't pop off with me. Will you?"

For once, Cookie didn't know what to say or do. 99% of the time, Lucious would've come to his wife's defense by now, whether she was right or wrong. He'd beaten men bloody for way less than this. But when Cookie looked to Lucious, her husband didn't move a muscle. For the first time in a long time, Lucious was furious with Cookie. Cookie didn't love Malcolm – of that, Lucious had no doubt. So why the hell was Cookie so mad?

"Cookie," Malcolm said again, only this time his voice was lower and not nearly as nice. "This is your last chance to say something. Because once we leave this place, I don't ever want to hear from you again." Cookie had broken something in Anika, and Malcolm knew she would never be the same.

Cookie looked into Malcolm's eyes and saw nothing but hatred there. She never thought he could look at anyone in such a way. "Your tongue game sucks," she said cutely. And Malcolm laughed outright, long and loud, because they both knew she was lying.

Jamal joined the family again, his face somber. "Is everything okay?" Malcolm asked, rising to his feet. "Is my wife okay? Where's Anika?"

"She's in your truck with Rhonda. They sent me away." Jamal smiled. "I think they're just talking, mother to mother."

"Well, they're missing a mother. Cookie." Lucious gave his wife a long, hard look. "Go out to Malcolm's truck and apologize to Anika."

"Lucious, with all due respect," Malcolm spoke up before Cookie could protest. "I don't want Cookie anywhere near my wife."

"No, it's okay." Normally, Cookie would've told Lucious to go to hell. She was a grown woman, not a child to be scolded. But there was something about Malcolm's words that were making Cookie lean in Lucious's direction, albeit grudgingly. It was that underlying idea that Anika was somehow better than Cookie somehow, like Anika was too special and delicate to be around a woman like Cookie.

"Cookie." The threat in Malcolm's voice wasn't so subtle anymore. "I swear to God, if you hurt my wife again, me and you are gonna have words. Count on it."

Cookie looked over at Lucious one last time, disbelieving that Lucious would let another man talk to her like Malcolm just did. "It's getting dark," Lucious said coldly. "Hurry up so we can go home."

Anika had already strapped herself into the driver's seat by the time Rhonda and Jamal made it to the truck. She had tried to turn the ignition – let Malcolm find his own way home, for all she cared – but her hands shook so badly that she could barely manage to turn the heat on.

"Anika, wait! Anika, hold on!"

Anika sighed deeply and unlocked the power doors from her side. Rhonda climbed into the passenger's side of the truck. "Wait…let's just talk before you take off, okay?"

"Where's Malcolm?" Anika asked, wanting only for Rhonda to close the door and stop letting the heat out.

"I don't know. He was still sitting down when I followed Rhonda out. Look," Jamal said awkwardly. "I'm really sorry about what my mother said. Okay? What she did…that wasn't right."

Anika took her eyes off the steering wheel and looked over at Jamal. She'd underestimated this man. In fact, she'd misjudged most of the Lyons. The only one who had truly mistreated her was Cookie. Even Lucious had gone out of his way to make amends. "Thank you, Jamal."

"Take care, Anika."

For a long time, Rhonda and Anika just sat in silence. It was hard for Rhonda to see Anika so defeated when she had been so happy just minutes ago. Rhonda knew Cookie just well enough to like her, but she'd been the source of Lucious Lyon's judgmental opinions for over a decade. She knew what Anika was going through. "You know, there's this saying about how nobody can make you feel inferior-"

"-without your consent," Anika finished dully. She'd heard it so many times before. "Eleanor Roosevelt."

"Right. For a woman who was so smart, that's the dumbest shit I ever heard." Rhonda got comfortable in the passenger's seat of Malcolm's truck. "It's like sticks and stones, you know? 'Words will never hurt me.'"

"Well, whoever still says that nowadays definitely doesn't know the Lyon family."

Rhonda squeezed Anika's hand, wishing she had a tissue so Anika could wipe the tears falling from her face. "I know you might not believe this, Anika," Rhonda said with a small smile, "but there used to be a time when Lucious didn't like me. He just started treating me right when I got pregnant with Andrea."

Anika had to laugh. Andre and Rhonda had only been married for about three or four years when Anika started dating Lucious. She had sat through many a Rhonda rant. "No telling what she's telling Malcolm right now," Anika said, looking towards the restaurant. Everything Anika had worked on so hard for over a year was gone in minutes. Her self-esteem, her pride – even her job and her man. Would Anika never stop reliving her past? "He doesn't know…"

"What, about the abortion?"

"That it was Hakeem's baby. He thinks it was Lucious's baby."

"You don't owe Malcolm an explanation. It's not his business," Rhonda said firmly. "It was your choice, not his."

Anika laid her head on the steering wheel. "Rhonda, Malcolm's going to leave me over this. I know he will. He'll never understand…"

"Oh, Anika. No, he won't. Did you see him in there?" Just thinking about how giddy and proud Malcolm looked brought a smile to Rhonda's face. "He's crazy about you."

"He was ready to take Cookie to live with him in D.C.!"

"Well, that was just crazy."

They laughed together softly. Anika sat up, feeling a little better. "We just got married, Rhonda. We didn't even plan it. Isn't that crazy? One day, we're talking about beach workouts, and then the next day, we're husband and wife. Doesn't that sound crazy?"

"Like I said, he's crazy about you." Rhonda thought about how proud Malcolm looked when he stood before the Lyon family, his wife by his side. Anika had been misused by so many of them, yet she still stood tall. And LaGuardia…like it or not, Anika had won. So had Cookie. There was enough glory to be spread around. "So, you're a teacher now?" Rhonda asked.

"Yeah. Can you believe it?" Anika still couldn't believe it sometimes. She never thought she'd love anything more than making music. "I teach music at a performing arts school."

"LaGuardia? Isn't that the school on Fame?"

Anika laughed. "La-GWAR-dee-uh, dammit!"

As the two of them got comfortable reliving their high school days - Anika in Sweden and Rhonda on Swedish meatballs - there was a knock on Rhonda's side of the truck. Anika froze when she saw Cookie at the window. "It's okay, Anika." Rhonda said quietly, turning her face so Cookie couldn't read her lips. "I'll stay with you." Rhonda rolled down the passenger's side window. Anika fixed her eyes on the steering wheel. "What's up, Cookie?" Rhonda asked. "Are you leaving?"

"No. I want to talk to Anika for a minute."

Something in Cookie's voice irritated Anika to no end. Even though Cookie was standing out outside of Malcolm's truck wanting to talk to Malcolm's wife, there was something in her tone that made it more of an order, not a request. "What is it, Cookie?" Anika asked tiredly, resigned to the fact that she was never going to get any peace with Cookie on this earth.

"Ain't you gonna get out of the car?"

"For what? It's cold." Anika looked over at Cookie and tried to hold her gaze. But it was hard. Cookie's eyes were like looking into the sun. Eventually Anika blinked and had to look away. "Haven't you said enough to me tonight?"

"Goddamn, Boo Boo Kitty, calm down. I just wanna talk to you for a minute."

"About what? What could you possibly have to say to me, Cookie? Because I'm pretty sure 'I'm sorry for embarrassing the shit out of you in front of everybody' isn't a part of it!"

"Will you stop acting like a whiny bitch?" First Malcolm, now Anika. Was everybody losing their mind talking to Cookie like this? "Or at least let me in the car," she comprised when Rhonda and Anika just stared at her. "It's freezing out here."

With a smirk, Anika looked Cookie dead in the eye, then rolled up the window. The sight of her own daughter-in-law snickering with Anika shot a rush of anger through Cookie's body. Once again, Cookie was trying to make things right, but Anika had her high-yellow ass so high on her shoulder that the girl could smell her own shit, which certainly didn't stink. And of course Anika could only pull a stunt like this with Rhonda by her side. "Open the goddamn door!" Cookie screamed, and she kicked the front tire on Rhonda's side to underscore her demand. She didn't need anybody to have her back like Anika's weak ass did.

"Cookie! Are you crazy?" Rhonda screamed. But Cookie just slammed the palms of her hands against the window in response, taking pleasure at the way they both jumped. "Look, Anika." Rhonda volunteered hurriedly. "I'll get in the back. Can you unlock the back doors from your side? Please, Anika?" she added in a whisper when Anika didn't move. "Just let her say what she has to say so we can all get the hell out of here."

Anika didn't answer, but Rhonda heard the click of the doors and climbed out of the front passenger's side. "Watch out, Cookie. There's a little patch of ice down there," Rhonda warned, though she wouldn't have cared if Cookie broke her neck or not.

Cookie took Rhonda's place in the front passenger's seat. Anika wouldn't even look at her. She was rummaging under the car seat instead. "Anika…" God, this was so humiliating, being sent out to apologize like a little child. But at least Cookie was being made to apologize in private. "Look, about back there…"

In a flash, Cookie's forehead was touching the barrel of Malcolm's Glock, while the back of her head rested on the ice-cold window. Anika's face was peaceful, but her eyes were completely blank. Once again, Cookie had taken all Anika had worked for and ground it to dust, like it was nothing.

"Anika," Rhonda whispered, too terrified to move or scream for help. "Don't do this. Please, don't-" The familiar click-click filled the air, and Rhonda felt sick enough to vomit. She'd heard it so many times in her white trash upbringing, where there was never enough money for food, but always enough for guns. Locked, cocked, ready to rock.

"You know, Cookie," Anika told Cookie, her voice so pleasant that it made Cookie's blood run cold. "I used to have this fantasy that I would kill your family in front of you and then kill myself. Just so you would suffer for the rest of your life." Anika gave a Cookie a smile that was bright, cheerful, and absolutely terrifying. "But since I have a baby on the way, I think I'll just take you out instead."

TBC