Take care of each other. This meant many things. It meant staying out of trouble, for Supreme ruled by fear. If the children laughed too loud, he yelled “Shut up!” and they froze, a silent dread passing among them. If they broke the rules, they would surely get the belt. Chanel had softened Supreme, just as Joanie’s urn had tempered Chanel. In the absence of these matriarchs, a new order would come. Supreme summed it up in two words, writing in black marker on the wall near Dasani’s bed: “King Me!”
