𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

002.

Chapter Two

As Amari arrives home, she feels the fatigue weighing on her. She just wants to plop down to n her bed and fall asleep.

She ended up looking after the girls her entire workday until their nanny showed up to take them home.

She was confused about why the nanny wasn't with them in the first place but she kept that question to herself.

She heard movement in the kitchen. She quickly pulled out her small blade and entered the kitchen. To her surprise, her brother was in the kitchen cooking.

"M'Bele?!" Amari said.

"Hello, Amari," M'Bele said as he continued moving around in the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" Amari asked as she placed the blade and her purse on the island counter.

"Don't you think this place is a little bit too much for you, Amari, I mean why does one person need a house of this size?" M'Bele asked as he ignored Amari's question.

Amari rolled her eyes.

"This place is only 981 square feet, M'Bele, it's not too much for me. Now, answer my question, what are you doing here?" Amari replied.

"Working," M'Bele answered.

"What? Working? Aren't you supposed to be the guard of M'Baku?" Amari asked him.

M'Bele raised an eyebrow at her.

"You must be exhausted. Of course, I'm here to guard M'Baku as he visits the Wakandan International Outreach Centre. So, I'm working," M'Bele explained.

Amari's face looks shocked for a second like she couldn't believe she didn't know that M'Baku was her. Then she composes herself.

"Oh, I did not know he would be visiting the centre," Amari said.

M'Bele snorted.

"Are you sure you work there?" M'Bele asked his older sister.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amari replies.

M'Bele shook his head.

"Nothing, but I'm pretty sure they announced his visit, Amari," M'Bele said as he turned off the stove and plated the vegetable stew.

Amari crosses her arms.

"Okay, I don't pay attention at work to the announcements but I haven't seen him at all today so I didn't know he was here," Amari told her brother.

"That's because he was busy getting a tour of the city and meeting city officials," M'Bele said as he placed a plate in front of Amari.

"Oh," Amari said as she took a seat at the island.

They talked as they ate. M'Bele asked Amari about her life here in the states. Amari asked M'Bele about everything back home. It was a good conversation until M'Bele had to leave and decided to bring up if Amari still had feelings for M'Baku.

"I do," Amari answered.

With that, he leaves her townhome. Amari doesn't know what to think. The man who she still loved was here. Her knees give out and she collapses on the floor. Tears begin to well up in her eyes. She feels a heavy weight on her shoulders. She doesn't know how she will react to seeing M'Baku again.

The last time she saw him was when he announced that he had taken a wife and it wasn't her. Amari was so embarrassed that day. She has been by his side since they were kids and everyone thought that they would get married one day but the council decided that she wasn't the right woman to be chieftess, so, M'Baku had to pick another woman who the council approved of. That happened to be the eldest daughter of elder Jabali, Inira.