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“I wish I would wear some crap from Macy’s,” Coco said vehemently.
“Coco you should listen to Ms. Patterson. I think this is good information.”
“Fuck you, Roc, for getting me into this mess. And no, I’m not listening to you or her. Why should I have to tone down myself for some white ass people on a jury? Fuck them. I ain’t listening to some bougie ass wanna be white girl telling me how I am supposed to dress and look.”
“Coc…”
Ms. Patterson put her hand on top of mine, turned to me and said, “No, let her finish.”
Just as quickly as she placed her hand on top of mine, she moved it away, but she didn’t move it fast enough for me to miss how comfortable I was with her placing it there.
“I don’t need some bitch who ain’t never had a hard day in her life tell me what I need to do to beat this case. You grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth, and I was using my fingers to eat, but now I eat with platinum spoons and I ain’t gone let nobody, ‘specially some Oreo ass bitch tell me to dull my shine! Fuck dat!”
“Baby, come on don’t do that…” Roc tried.
“Mr. Elkanah, it’s okay. Let her finish,” Ms. Patterson instructed.
“Besides El, you always preaching about family taking care of family, and then you bring in some outsider to work on this case? Naw, I don’t agree, and I’m not down with that.”
Coco sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. I wanted to respond, but I was trying to be respectful of Ms. Patterson’s request for me to let Coco speak. I would deal with her later.
“Are you finished?” Ms. Patterson asked.
“I’m done!” Coco rolled her eyes.
Ms. Patterson sat up straight in her chair and moved the paperwork in front of her to the side.
“Now you’ve had your chance to speak, I will have mine. Let’s start with my name. My name is Ms. Patterson, Attorney Patterson, CounsellorPatterson, you take your pick but what you won’t ever call me again is bitch. Yes, you may have grown up hard, but you don’t know me to assume what my life was like. We both had choices. I chose to be on this side of the table, and you decided to be on that side. Shine, Ms. Jenkins is not wearing designer labels and eating with expensive cutlery. Shine is staying from behind bars. That’s what I am offering you. I’m offering you the ability to shine; to move forward from here and make better choices. I’m offering you the ability to not be locked away like an animal. To be clear, I am not on your team, you are on mine. I am the shot caller. Not you. You come to me to find out your next play, and you don’t make a play without my approval.
You can choose to be on my team and stay your ass out of jail, or you can spend the next twenty plus years watching your kids grow up through Plexiglas. That’s up to you. I can be your most prominent advocate or your biggest enemy. You choose, Ms. Jenkins.”
Ms. Patterson had the room’s full attention.
“Do you understand the gravity of what the DA is trying to do to you? Do you understand what happened in court the other day? They are trying to put you away for the rest of your life! This isn’t a game, Ms. Jenkins. We are not in high school trying to see whose outfit is the cutest. This is real life and real-life consequences if you are found guilty. A sentence on these charges will keep you behind bars until you die. They will never let you out.”
Coco sat up and looked at me then at Roc.
“Regarding your comment about family taking care of family; if you were not my brother’s girl and my family, you would be looking for another lawyer. You will not disrespect anyone I bring to the table. Do you understand me? I wouldn’t bring someone in that wouldn’t work hard for you. I suggest you fix your attitude and listen to what Ms. Patterson has to say. This is your one and only chance. If you even motion to disrespect her, or anyone else in this room again, you are out. You’ve been around me long enough to know I’m not playing with you.”
“I hear you,” Coco said while looking down examining her nails.
“Ms. Patterson,” Roc began. “First let me apologize for Coco.” He sat up straight in his chair. “I’m a street nigga despite my brother’s best efforts. I was raised in the streets; I learned in the streets, I earned my money in the streets. I figured I would die in the streets, but I didn’t. I created an escape plan through hard work and education, and I got out. They are coming for me based off some old stuff. The drugs they say they found in my house had to have been planted. We didn’t keep anything in the house even when we were still working, ever. So, we need your help. We’ve been out of the game for two years, and we don’t plan on going back. We are using our money to invest in legal and lucrative businesses. I can’t say it wouldn’t be karma if we did go to jail but this crime,” he stabbed the table with his finger. “We didn’t do.”
“You have the best there is in this room. We are going to get this figured out for you. Now let’s start from the moment the police knocked on the door with the warrant. Oh, and before you begin, from this point until this case is over, we all will refer to our clients and our clients will refer to each other by their government names and not their nicknames. We don’t want anyone associating Princeton and Deyshonda with Roc and Coco,” Ms. Patterson finished.
Averie
I didn’t make the connection between Samuel and Princeton until Princeton was introduced as Samuel’s brother. I wasn’t told if they shared the same mother or father, but the familial resemblance wasn’t immediately recognized.
Princeton wore a short temple fade with skinny sideburns and a neatly trimmed mustache. His skin was lighter than Samuel’s and showed some acne scarring and healed wounds. His eyes, the only feature he and Samuel shared, were much more welcoming than Samuel’s. He smiled with his entire face the same way his brother frowned with his whole face. He was articulate and comprehended our legal vernacular well.
Deyshonda seemed to be his opposite at first. She sat at the conference table in her waist long, human hair wig, with a crisp part. That’s how you know wigs are well-made, when the part is crisp and natural looking. She had on a Fendi sweater dress with Fendi tights and Fendi shoes. Her extra-large Chanel bag sat on the table next to her. She looked like she was uncomfortable and out of her element, while Princeton seemed relaxed. I realized that they weren’t so different. Princeton had the luxury of being around people who were legally successful. He knew how to pretend to be something that he wasn’t. He knew how to act in front of company. Deyshonda hadn’t been afforded the same luxury. All she knew was where she came from. She didn’t know how to act like anyone except herself. She was a fish out of water and used her attitude to conceal what she perceived as her short comings, when in actuality they weren’t short comings, she just didn’t know. She appeared to be tough and have it all together until I outlined exactly what the DA was attempting to do to her. She had no idea how much jail time she was actually facing.
The meeting progressed well after our roles were established and tantrums had concluded. Princeton and Deyshonda explained the situation to me in detail, holding nothing back. After our meeting, I realized that they both wanted a better life and were working towards it before the DA came after them. I didn’t feel that way before the meeting. I’d painted them both with a broad stroke, and I was wrong for that. I plan on working hard to win this case for them.
“Ms. Patterson.”
I was still in the conference room collecting my things when I looked up to see Xavier approaching me.
