“Oh, Shimmy. Oh, thank God.” “Jazz?” “Where are you?” “I’m staying with a—with a friend,” I said, sitting up in bed and feeling groggy. Tyler had disappeared to parts unknown; his condo was silent. “What’s going on?” “It’s your apartment,” Jasmine said. “It burned sometime last night. The firefighters—they said that if there had been somebody in the apartment at the time of the blaze, they wouldn’t have survived.” “Shit,” I said, rubbing my curls and suddenly, nastily awake. “You’ve got to introduce me to your friend,” Jasmine said. “I’m going to give him a big kiss on the lips for saving your life.” “Did they say what started the fire?” I asked, getting out of bed and setting out my clothes. “No,” Jasmine said, “but it was a total loss. Did you have anything important in there?” “Just a good portion of my wardrobe,” I said, eyeing my clothes critically. I’d just been downsized. “Nothing that can’t be replaced.”
