Roman wakes at Jealousy 'Jae' Lawrence's apartment after spending the night together. Their intimacy has deepened: Jae intuited Roman's desire for pain and dominance, an intimacy he typically reserves for professional dommes, and they used a safe word, 'flame.' Roman reflects that Jae differs from his usual types yet reaches him emotionally, making him feel safe and trusting in a way that sex with professionals never has. They part affectionately, with plans to talk later.

Driving home at sunrise, Roman passes the burned-out stash house Khalil destroyed on his orders. He calls Dante and instructs him to set up a 2 P.M. meeting with Torrent at Trout's. Dante warns him about the bombing, hinting he suspects Roman's involvement, but Roman cuts him off. Roman reflects that Khalil never said whether anyone escaped the blast, and he didn't ask. He rationalizes that Splodie's death gives him leverage over Yellaboy, reframing tragedy as opportunity.

At home, Neveah confronts Roman with their mother Bonita's cold case file, obtained directly from the cold case detective. She reveals that Bonita was having an affair with a man named Lawrence Lee, and that their father caught Bonita with him in a hospital parking lot. Neveah pushes a photograph of the driver's seat of Bonita's car toward Roman, pointing out the seat was reclined at a sixty-degree angle, the way their tall, back-damaged father drove, not their mother.

Neveah concludes that their father was the last person to drive Bonita's car, implying he killed her after discovering the affair. Roman refuses to accept it, shouts at her to stop, and storms upstairs, slamming his door. Neveah, calmly devastated, extinguishes her cigarette by squeezing the ember between her numb fingertips.