Authors: Carl Weber
Baby Momma Drama (43 page)
“I know, officer. I’m just having a bad day. I just found out my boyfriend is cheating on me with my best friend.”
“Is that so?” He actually looked sympathetic as he handed back my license and registration. “Look, I’m gonna let you off with a warning, but—” Something in the car caught his eye and made him pause. “Ma’am what’s that?” He pointed at my ashtray. I gasped when I saw the half blunt lying there. Once again, Derrick had screwed me over.
“It looks like a blunt,” I admitted. “But I swear it’s not mine. My boyfrie—”
He didn’t let me finish. “Have you been smoking marijuana, ma’am?”
“No. I don’t mess with that stuff,” I told him honestly. “I work at the post office. We have random drug tests.” I guess he’d used up all his sympathy with my first story, ’cause now he wasn’t hearing it.
“Ma’am, can you step outta the car, please?”
“Step out the car? For what? I told you it’s not mine.”
“I understand that, but I’m gonna have to search the car. So I’m gonna need you to stand over here.” He pointed to the spot on the curb where he wanted me to go, and then he opened my car door. I was not happy, and I let him know it.
“Go ’head. There’s nothing in my car but that blunt.”
“Well, if that’s the case, you’re lucky, because we only give citations for that amount of marijuana. Now, can you sit on the curb, please?”
I sulked over to the curb and sat down to watch the officer begin his search. After a few minutes, another squad car pulled up, and an officer got out to assist The two of them looked through the car pretty quickly, and they didn’t find anything, just like I knew they wouldn’t. I smirked at them as they headed for the trunk. I couldn’t wait to get back in my car and go home. One of the officers stepped away from the trunk and gestured for me to get up.
“Ma’am, can you please stand up and place your hands behind your back?”
“Hands behind my back? For what?” I asked as he came near.
“Ma’am, you’re under arrest for possession and intent to distribute a controlled substance.” His partner held up a sandwich bag full of white powder.
“What? That’s not mine. That’s Derrick’s.” I was so shocked, I couldn’t even cry. “It has to be his, ’cause it ain’t mine. It’s not mine.”
“Well, it’s in your car and you’re driving,” he stated with no emotion. “So I have to inform you of your rights. You have the right to remain silent....”
38
Stephanie
“Commonwealth of Virginia versus Jasmine Johnson. Possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute,” the clerk shouted as he handed the judge a folder.
A door to the right of the judge swung open. The occupants of the courtroom watched as three sheriff’s deputies escorted my sister to the front of the courtroom. She looked like shit in those orange overalls. Her hair was a mess, and you could see from her smudged mascara that she’d been crying. I’ve never felt so sorry for anyone in my entire life.
I’d gotten the news that Jasmine had been arrested late last night, when the operator woke me with a collect call. Jasmine never called collect, so I was nervous as I accepted the charges.
“Stephanie?” Jasmine’s voice was low.
“Are you all right? Did Derrick do something to you? You’re not at the hospital, are you?”
“No, I’m not at the hospital.”
“Thank God,” I sighed with relief. “So why the hell are you calling me collect?”
“Stephanie, I’m in jail. I got arrested.” Her voice cracked like she was about to cry.
“Arrested? For what? Don’t tell me. Your license was suspended?”
“I wish it was that simple.” Now she was scaring me.
“You did something to Derrick, didn’t you? Oh, my God, you didn’t kill him, did you?” I knew my sister was upset about the video, but I didn’t think she was that upset. To be honest, I didn’t think she was capable of hurting anyone enough to get herself locked up.
“No, I didn’t do anything to Derrick; he did something to me. He left drugs in my car.”
“Oh, shit. No, he didn’t.”
“Yes, he did,” she sobbed. “Look, Steph I need you to call Big Momma and see if you can get me a lawyer. Tell her I need a good one, ’cause they’re talking about giving me fifteen years.”
So now here I was the next morning, watching my sister trembling in front of the judge, waiting for her lawyer. It was obvious she hadn’t slept a wink. She sighed when a tall, wiry, baldheaded white man stepped forward.
“Robert Smith for the defense, Your Honor. Waive reading.” The judge wrote something down on the file, then turned to the Commonwealth attorney. “Mr. Green, what have you got?”
“Your Honor, Ms. Johnson was pulled over for a routine traffic violation. Her car was searched after the arresting officer found marijuana within her immediate reach. During the search of her car, the arresting officer and his partner found approximately twenty grams of cocaine.”
“This looks pretty serious; Mr. Smith, how does your client plead?” the judge addressed Jasmine’s lawyer.
“Innocent, Your Honor. There are some mitigating circumstances involved in this case that the Commonwealth is unaware of.”
“I see. Well, you’ll have to discuss that with them.” The judge looked at the prosecuting attorney. “Bail, Mr. Green?”
“In light of the amount of cocaine, the Commonwealth suggests a fifty-thousand-dollar bond, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Smith, I’m sure you have something to say about that?”
“We feel that’s excessive, Your Honor. Ms. Johnson is a citizen with no criminal record and heavy ties to the community. She’s a supervisor at the United States Post Office and is not a flight risk. We ask that she be released on her own recognizance.”
“considering the amount of cocaine in her possession, we’re not going to release her that easily, but we will reduce the bail. Bail is set at fifteen thousand dollars, cash or bond.”
The judge banged his gavel, and Jasmine’s body sagged. Her lawyer had to grab her arm to keep her from collapsing on the floor. I wanted to cry. My sister and I might’ve had some rough spots in our relationship, but she didn’t deserve this. That’s why I was glad that I’d called the right person to help her out of this.
“Where the hell is she?” I was pacing across the tile floor in the lobby of the Richmond city jail.
“Stephanie, relax. The deputy already told you it’s gonna take a while. They have a lot of paperwork to take care of before they can release her.” I nodded my head at Dylan but continued to pace.
I had calmed Dylan right after I hung up the phone with Jasmine last night. Once I explained what had happened to her, he didn’t hesitate to offer his help. The first thing he said was that he’d have his lawyer represent her. And I didn’t even have to mention bail before he started talking about going to the bank first thing in the morning. The way he was acting, there was no doubt in my mind about how much he cared about Jasmine. I mean, when it came down to it, the brother put up his house as collateral after the judge announced Jasmine’s ridiculously high bail. If it wasn’t for him, Jasmine’s ass would be sitting up in that jail cell a hell of a lot longer than this.
“Hey, Stephanie. I’m gonna go get us a couple of sodas. You wanna come?”
“No. I’m gonna wait here in case they let my sister out a little earlier.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll be back in a sec.” I watched Dylan walk out and had to smile. He was all right. Jasmine should’ve held on to him when she had the chance, even if he did have a little baby momma drama. Hell, these days it seemed like everybody had some type of drama. Especially me. But shit, who was I to criticize anyone after all the mistakes I made with Travis? I’d lost a damn near perfect man, and there was no one to blame but myself. In the two weeks since Travis had ordered me out of the house, we only spoke two times, and that was because he wanted to know when I was moving out. Malek had called with his crap a few times since then, but I let him know there wasn’t shit happening. As far as his demand for on-call booty, he hadn’t been pushing the issue. Rumor was that LaKeisha Nixon was nursing him back to health since the night he got jumped. I guess she was making him feel good enough that he didn’t need me anymore. And if he wanted to go to the police? Well, that was his prerogative. But he knew better, ’cause even if he did get me or Derrick locked up, Derrick had plenty of boys out there who’d be more than happy to finish the job for him.
So I stayed home with my kids most nights, wondering why I’d let my life become such a mess. How could I have been willing to risk everything just to mess around with Malek? I knew his ass was no good. I knew he hadn’t changed. Maybe I just got too comfortable with Travis. I got too used to being treated like the world was mine.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that a girl deserves to be treated like shit to keep her in line. I’m saying that Travis was almost too good to me. He just gave and gave and gave. He was the most generous man I’d ever known, with his money and his heart, and he hardly ever asked for anything in return. I got so comfortable with receiving things from him, I forgot to think about giving back. Not that I had a lot of money to be buying him things, but I should’ve given him my total devotion. Instead, I just coasted along, taking his gifts and figuring he was satisfied as long as I kept him well fed and well sexed. I had a lot to learn about truly being in love, and I was sorry for all I had to lose before I could start learning.
And my poor kids. Maleka had lost the only daddy she’d ever known, and T. J. would grow up never knowing what it was like to have a father living under the same roof. Sure, they’d be able to spend plenty of time with him after we finalized a custody agreement. I wasn’t about to fight over that. But it wouldn’t be the same. If I had used better judgment, they would have had both of us, together, all the time.
Thank God for my family. Big Momma offered to let us stay with her once I told her Travis wanted us out of the house. Of course, I had to listen to her rant and rave about how stupid I’d been, what a good man I’d lost. But what could I say? She was right, and we both knew it. So after she ranted for a while, Big Momma opened her heart and her home to us. I was packing a little bit each night after work, and we would be out of the house before the month was up.
Jasmine had also been really supportive through the whole ordeal. I never once heard her say “I told you so,” which is exactly what I would’ve expected from her. Well, maybe that’s what I would’ve expected in the past. But ever since she’d busted me at the motel with Malek, our relationship had been changing. She’d actually spent hours on the phone with me since Travis ended things, listening to me cry or scream or whatever I felt I needed to do. Maybe both of us were starting to realize that our lives were more similar than either of us had ever thought. After years of competing with each other for Big Momma’s approval, we finally realized it was pointless. We’d both made mistakes through the years, and Big Momma still loved us both, no matter what. We were her family, and we’d finally learned to start acting like family. It felt so good to have a sister now. That’s why I was so anxious for Jasmine to be released from the jail so we could get her home.
I walked over to the deputy behind the desk and asked the same question for the tenth time. “How long did you say it was gonna take before they release my sister?”
“Actually, ma’am, your sister’s being released right now.” He pointed toward a metal door. I looked up and saw Jasmine coming through the door with her lawyer.
“Jasmine!” I ran up and embraced her. We twisted and turned and cried for a full minute.
“Thank you, Steph. Thank you so much for getting me outta here.” She held me tight.
“Come on, Jazz. That’s what sisters are for. Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to get through my thick skull?” I stepped out of our embrace and looked in her eyes. “But it wasn’t just me.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured that.” She inhaled and braced herself for what she thought was coming. “Where’s Momma and Big Momma? I know I’m gonna hear it from them.”
“They’re at home. I didn’t tell them you got arrested.”
“Really?” She looked surprised but relieved.
“Please, you got enough stress right now. You don’t need Big Momma making it worse. I love that old girl to death, but trust me—she don’t know how to let shit die.”
“I know that’s right,” Jasmine smirked. “But if Big Momma didn’t bail me out, where’d you get the money? And who paid for my lawyer?”
“Dylan.”
“Dylan,” she repeated. “Dylan Taylor? Are you serious? He paid for my lawyer?”
“And your bail, too. He put up his house.” I smiled.
She shook her head in amazement.
“That man never ceases to amaze me. What made you call him, anyway?”
“I figured, why not? I couldn’t let you sit in jail. And he was the only one I could think of other than family who might be able to come up with the money. Besides I told you I saw him and he asked about you.”
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