Page 2 of Kisses Behind The Spotlight 2: Finale

“Stop! Please stop!” I screamed as one of the officers yanked me towards a police car.

My heart pounded in my chest as I helplessly watched the brief assault. I dug my feet into the ground to slow the officer down, but he just dragged me along the cemented parking lot. When the officers were satisfied, or maybe exhausted, Xain was lifted off the ground. Relief spread through me until he opened his mouth to taunt them.

“Pussies didn’t even draw blood, and yo’ boy back there bleeding out!” Xain gloated, smiling as they pulled him towards a car in another direction.

Until that moment, I thought my crazy matched Xain’s, but it was evident that he had me beat by a long shot. I couldn’t swoon hard enough about the way he crashed out about me.

The other officers placed us under arrest while the extras helped the officer who had the gash in his forehead and the other one who Xain tackled. We were all placed under arrest and stuffed in the Hillsborough County jail. I’d done some wild stuff in my life but never anything that had me standing in the middle of the dingy-ass processing room while the officer who looked like she didn’t practice good hand hygiene ran her hands through my braids to search for contraband.

Jameera’s face was scraped. Whichever officer slid her face across the concrete like that needed their ass beat. She hadn’t stopped crying since she got the call about her dad, and looked like a raccoon by the eyes from all that crying when we got to the jail. I, on the other hand, shook my head from side to side before smiling for my mugshot. If my mugshot wound up somewhere on the internet, I was going to look the fuck good.

Walking out of the jail and into the cool morning air was refreshing. I put my hand over my brows and scanned the sunny parking lot for either my Auntie or Vincent, but I was surprised to see Stepp exit a black Suburban and open the rear door for us. Jameera was no longer crying, but my girl was still distraught after spending the night in jail. Plus, the ointment covering the exposed abrasions from beneath her eye to her chin made the damage more visible. I wrapped my arm around her waist and nodded towards the awaiting truck.

“Hey Stepp, it’s been forever.” I greeted the tall, light-skinned nigga with dreads.

He used to work with Vincent before he retired, and was in charge of switching shifts with Xain to watch me when they snatched me up a few years back. But that was water under the bridge. Stepp was always the nicer of the two; he made my time in the hotel feel like a vacation and fed me whatever I wanted.

“And now I’m picking y’all up from jail. Who would’ve thought that?” Stepp laughed and opened the rear passenger door for us.

“Oh shit, Jameera. Did they look at your face?” Stepp inquired, helping her into the truck.

“They did, but that cheap bandage tape didn’t stick and kept falling off,” she advised him between sniffles.

Stepp closed the door and went to the driver’s seat.

“Where is Q?” Jameera turned to Vincent. She sat across from him while I made my way back to the third row.

“Q doesn’t have a bond. He will have to stay in jail until he can go before the judge on Monday because they want to extradite him to New York for a felony assault warrant. He told me to tell you not to worry about him. He’s good. Worry about checking on your father. I got a lawyer who’s going to work on everybody’s charges. Don’t sweat that shit.”

Jameera’s sniffles grew into a low cry as she followed me into the back of the truck. I pulled her into my arms, and she laid her head on my shoulder. My girl was traumatized.

Duke ambled out of the jail after a few minutes and slipped into the passenger seat.

“Where is Xain?” I inquired.

Vincent turned in his seat to look at me. His brows dipped into a deep, confused V.

“He also doesn’t have a bond. They charged him with resisting arrest with violence and battery on a LEO.”

“Oh,” I commented to stop any further confusion.

Vincent turned back around in his seat and told Stepp to drive. His phone rang as we pulled off, and he passed it to me. A picture of my Auntie Anila and their son Van covered the screen as it vibrated in my hand.

“Hello,” I answered the FaceTime call.

“Are you okay?” She fretted.

“I’m fine. Please don’t tell me you called my mom? I don’t want her to worry. It was only a few hours.”

“I was too scared to tell her, so I didn’t call,” she replied.

“Good. Vincent said he has a lawyer working to get the charges dropped, so she never has to know.”

“Your secret is safe with me. I told Vincent to bring you home with him, so do not put up a fight. I need to lay eyes on you. I haven’t seen you since we got back from Miami anyway.”

I wanted to put up a fight. The flight was long, our day was longer, but I obliged. “Okay. I’ll see you when we get there.”

“Okay. I love you. Try not to get into anything else tonight.”