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I rubbed my ring finger absently, looking down at its emptiness.
“Were you feeling anything else?” I asked quietly.
“I was also upset because we learned something new in math and I didn’t understand. My teacher showed me once, but I still didn’t get it. I asked for more help, and she told me I’d have to figure it out at home or sign up for the morning tutoring before school started.”
Now that pissed me off. Her math teacher had been acting like she had a stick up her ass all year. I’d sat in on one of her classes after Alisia got her report card and had a C in math. My baby was a straight-A student. If she was struggling in a subject, I always helped or got her a tutor. I wanted to see if it was a problem with Alisia’s comprehension or the way she was being taught. I considered getting her put in another teacher’s class but decided that would teach her it was okay to give up when things didn’t come easy to her. Now, I regretted not following my first mind and having her transferred.
She and AJ went to a private school, and even though I believed the experience was worth it, there were times when the students and teachers made me question that decision. Ironically, her math teacher was Black, and I was expecting her to be an ally.
“Anything else, sunshine?”
She scratched her nose and considered my question. “Some girls were bullying me. They said I was being dramatic because I asked for more help, and then they said I was stupid. Everyone laughed and the teacher didn’t even tell them not to say that. I was embarrassed and hurt. I told them to leave me alone, but on the way to STEM class, they kept calling me stupid. So by the time I got into my next class, I just… exploded. You know Mr. Brady has that rule about having your notebook and pencil out and ready when the bell sounds, but I was so upset and thinking I forgot. He tried to give me a mark for not having my stuff out and I yelled at him.”
Not needing to hear anymore, I stood and pulled her into my arms. Alisia wasn’t a big crier, so when I heard her sniffling and felt her shuddering against me, that infuriated me even more. I didn’t know who I was more upset with—those ignorant ass children or the adult who condoned their behavior. Either way, I was going to handle all of their asses first thing in the morning.
“First, you are not stupid. I’m sure you’re smarter than every one of them combined. When people envy you and have no real reason to, they say untrue things to make themselves feel better about not liking and envying you. Second, I’ll take care of your math teacher. If I can, I’ll have you transferred to another class. If I can’t, I’m going to make sure she understands just who your mother is in the morning. I can promise you, you won’t have any more issues out of her or those kids. And third, it was rude to take your feelings out on your STEM teacher. Your feelings were valid, but you should have processed them a little better. Exploding when you have big feelings is something we can work on, and I’m not upset with you. We just have to find a way to settle them before that happens. But you’re going to have to apologize to him tomorrow.”
She nodded her agreement and held me tighter. I didn’t even know what to say about Darron, so I didn’t touch that subject. Besides, what was going on with her at school was more important to me anyway. Once she was empty of her tears, I wiped her face and asked her how she wanted to spend the day. She told me it didn’t matter as long as she got to spend it with me.
I hate preparing for and going to trial because it makes my workdays longer. Since court was over for the day, I made up in my mind to do whatever she wanted to lift her spirit.
We ended up dressing more comfortably and going to her favorite restaurant for an early dinner. After that, we went to Paint a Piece and painted two plates before doing a little shopping. By the time we made it back home, she had a smile on her face, and keeping that smile on her face was what mattered most to me.
Eleven
Amaru
It was taking everything inside of me not to show how I was feeling on my face. Eric, the fast fashion mogul, had been released and asked for a little time to smooth things over with his wife before he came in to talk to me. That was okay because his first court date was sixty days away. It was hell getting him a bond because of the amount of money he made. Though this was his first time being arrested, because of his status, the prosecution argued he could flee the city to avoid his charge. It took some convincing, but eventually, the judge agreed that his business was too profitable for him to up and leave.
He was sitting in the conference room telling me about his encounter with the victim, Mia. Or, at least, the version of their encounter that he wanted me to believe. I was confused by all the different paths his story was taking, and that only meant one thing—he was lying.
“Eric.” Tossing my pen down, I bobbed my head silently, asking my floor assistant to leave. She was transcribing the interview, but I needed to be one hundred with Eric, and that required us to be alone.
“Is something wrong?” he asked as Finola closed the door behind herself.
“Yeah, you’re not telling me the truth. How do you expect me to defend you with a lie? The prosecution will be able to easily poke holes in your story. On top of that, if you’re telling me all these different stories, if Mia gets up there and tells the truth, I will be ill-prepared to defend you against it.” He sighed and ran his hands down his face. “Now I need you to tell me how you know this girl and what the hell happened that night.”
Girl.
As in sixteen years old. Just four years older than Alisia. All night, I tossed and turned thinking about what I’d learned about the victim. Had a man even had anaccusationagainst him of rape when it came to Alisia, he’d be dead from a bullet between his eyes. Yet here I was, sitting across from Eric, trying to make sense of what I’d learned over the last couple of days.
“And what I say stays between us, right? Client confidentiality?” I nodded. “Okay. I was having an affair with her mom. No one can know about that. I don’t need it getting to my wife.” I remained quiet, unsure how he thought Mia’s mom wouldn’t find out about this when the trial started if she didn’t know already.
I started shuffling through the papers to find out who Mia made her first outcry with. It wasn’t her mother. It was her sister, and that’s who took her to the police station. Apparently, Mia made her sister promise not to tell their mother out of fear of what might happen if she knew the truth. I continued to read and listen to Eric’s version of the truth.
“I’d stopped by there to take Cheryl out. Because the date wasn’t expected, she told me her youngest daughter would let me in so I could wait for her.” He shifted in his seat. “We had sex.”
“You had sex?” I repeated. “Consensual sex? Though no sex with a minor is technically consensual. Even if Mia said yes, that’s still statutory rape. Are you telling me she said yes?”
“I’m telling you she didn’t say no.”
My head tilted.
This nigga fucking raped her.
There was no way in hell I’d defend him in court. It was hard enough not lunging across this table at him. My legs shook as I dropped my arms, gripping the edge of my seat.
“So Mia did not consent?” I confirmed.
