Larceny (28 page)

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Authors: Jason Poole

BOOK: Larceny
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Prosecutor: Well, no. Actually, Your Honor, I'd like to ask that they stay until the end of the trial.
Judge: Ms. White, I'll hold these charges, but if you can't get me a credible witness, then I'll have to strike them.
Michelle: Excuse me, Your Honor, I'd like to file for a mistrial on the basis that the government has no physical or material evidence that can convict my client. In all actuality, Your Honor, this is a waste of time and a defamationof Mr. Price's character.
Judge: I agree with you in part, Ms. Robinson. If the government cannot provide anything else, I may just consider your motion, but until then let's proceed.
Prosecutor: Your Honor, I'd like to call my witness to the stand who will show that Mr. Price was the perpetrator in the murder of D.C. Detective Anthony Bridges. I'd like to call Tameeka Gonzales to the stand.
 
Damn, Meeka was gonna fuck the whole thing up. She was a hot snitch-ass bitch, just like her man. She walked to the stand all fat and pregnant.
 
Prosecutor: Ms. Gonzales, will you please state your whole name and occupation?
Meeka: My name is Tameeka Marie Gonzales, and I work for Geico Insurance.
Prosecutor: Ms. Gonzales, do you know the defendant, Mr. Jovan C. Price?
Meeka: Yes, I do.
Prosecutor: And how do you know him?
Meeka: Through my fiancé, Bilal Davis.
Prosecutor: Ms. Gonzales, did Mr. Price enter your home on May 19, 1994?
Meeka: Yes.
Michelle: Objection, Your Honor!
Judge: Overruled.
Prosecutor: Can you tell me what he was doing there?
Meeka: He was talking to Bilal about something.
Prosecutor: Do you know what they were talking about?
Meeka: No.
Prosecutor: At any time did you see Mr. Davis go back and forth upstairs?
Meeka: Yes, I did.
Prosecutor: Did you see Mr. Davis give Mr. Price a gun?
Meeka: No, I did not.
 
At the moment, I was shocked that Meeka didn't tell. Damn, Meeka was a soldier. She was keepin' that shit on the street. It was Bilal the whole time who snitched. Meeka was willing to do some time for her nigga, and he was the one who snitched. Damn, that's fucked up. I shoulda known Meeka was down. She came from a family of hustlers, and they taught her well. Damn, I respected that shit to the fullest degree.
 
Prosecutor: Excuse me. I'd like for you to repeat that answer.
Meeka: No, I did not see Bilal Davis give Jovan Price any gun. Matter of fact, I didn't see Bilal Davis give Jovan Price anything.
Prosecutor: No further questions.
Judge: Okay, now would the defense like to cross-examine?
Michelle: Most definitely, Your Honor. Now, Ms. Gonzales, did you purchase a .357 Desert Eagle from a gun shop on Marlboro Pike?
Meeka: Yes, I did.
Michelle: And where was that gun kept?
Meeka: Upstairs in my bedroom.
Michelle: Now, at any time did that gun ever leave your home?
Meeka: Yes, it did.
Michelle: When was that?
Meeka: Right after Jovan Price left the house. Bilal was mad that Detective Bridges had arrested his carriers with his money. This was the second time Mr. Bridges had done that, and Bilal was mad at that. He said he was gonna kill Detective Bridges.
I tried to stop him, but he knocked me down and took the gun and left. Before he left, he told me that if I called the police, he would also kill my family and me.
Michelle: Thank you, Ms. Gonzales. You've done a wonderful job.
Your Honor, surely this is grounds for a mistrial. Not only that, but a judgment of acquittal would be the proper channel according to the law.
Judge: Now, Ms. White, if you can't come up with something else, I have no other choice but to rule in favor of the defense, but, Ms. Robinson, there isn't enough material to put in for a judgment of acquittal. We still have the grand jury testimony of Bilal Davis, and according to the law, a grand jury's testimony can still be used, even if the person is not present. It's more like a last will.
Michelle: I understand, Your Honor. A mistrial would be fine, and if we have to come in here again with the boxing gloves on, then we will.
 
Damn, fuck a mistrial! I needed that judgment of acquittal. If I got a mistrial, that meant I had to stay in jail until another trial, and that may take about a year. Who knows? I might not even beat the next trial.
 
Prosecutor: Your Honor, before you rule, I have another witness, a surprise witness.
 
Who the fuck could that be? A surprise witness. Now they puttin' shit in the game.
I leaned over and said, “Hey, Michelle, what the fuck is going on?”
“I don't know, Jovan. This is all new to me. Hold up. I'ma try and do something.”
Michelle: Your Honor, we've already heard everything about the case. Another witness wouldn't help the government. I ask that you don't let the government proceed, and that you go ahead and rule for a mistrial.
Judge: Now, Ms. Robinson, you heard the government. They don't just have a witness, but a surprise witness. Now, Ms. White, if this witness doesn't help your case, not only will I rule, but you're putting me in a spot that I may have to rule in favor of judgment of acquittal.
Prosecutor: Okay, Your Honor, but I believe this witness will do very well. Matter of fact, I think this witness can bring back those charges that were stricken. I'd like to call to the stand Sonya Chanel Duncan.
 
What the fuck! Man, I knew Sonya wasn't going out like that. I was fucked up. I told this bitch everything, and this bitch done flipped the script on me. Naw, not Sonya. I loved this woman. Damn, it seemed like everything I loved turned into hate.
 
Prosecutor: Ms. Duncan, please state your full name and occupation.
Sonya: My name is Kia Lynett Daniels, and I'm currently unemployed.
Prosecutor: Hold up! Your name is what?
Sonya: My name is—
Prosecutor: Yeah, I heard that, but this isn't what we talked about.
Sonya: You asked me my name, and I told you.
Prosecutor: You're supposed to tell the court how Jovan Price committed these murders.
Michelle: Objection, Your Honor! Apparently the government's witness is a surprise to the government.
Prosecutor: Your Honor, I'd like to strike this witness. Michelle: Before you strike the witness, Your Honor, may I have permission to cross-examine? Maybe there's something the court needs to know.
Judge: Somebody do something in here. I'm totally confused.
Michelle: Ms. Daniels, who are you?
Sonya: My name is Kia Daniels. I had my name changed in 1993 when I was released from Danbury Federal Prison for women.
Michelle: And why were you in prison, Ms. Daniels?
Sonya: I was convicted in 1989 for being a drug carrier.
Judge: Ms. White, you just called a convicted felon as your Defense and you didn't even know it?
Prosecutor: Apparently not, Your Honor. I don't know what the hell is going on.
Judge: Ms. White, I won't tolerate that language in this court. Furthermore, your case is weak. It doesn't even hold enough merit for a mistrial. The fiancée of Bilal Davis just proved to us that his testimony was a lie, and now this witness here just proved to us that the government will try anything to convict someone, even if he is innocent. I have no choice but to rule in favor of a judgment of acquittal. The defendant, Jovan C. Price, is cleared of all charges brought against him, and it is further ordered that he be released from this prison immediately. Court is adjourned!
Michelle: Thank you, Your Honor.
Jovan: Thank you, Your Honor. You've handled this case fair and just.
Judge: Now, Mr. Price, I think in the near future that you should be careful about the people you meet.
Jovan: I sure will, Your Honor.
Everyone in the courtroom was clapping, and Sonya got off the stand and left. I wondered where she was going and what the fuck she was doing up there in the first place.
 
 
Sonya
 
This time when I entered the courtroom, I sat way, way in the back so no one could see me. I saw that Jovan kept looking back for me, but I had on a disguise. I was dressed as an old woman. I wanted to help my man, show him that I was down.
The purpose for my disguise was for Meeka. If Meeka had fucked my man around, I was gonna follow her out of the courtroom and put a knife right in her neck. When I saw that she didn't snitch, I knew my baby was coming home. I knew I would hear the judge say that she may rule for a mistrial and not the acquittal. Shit, if Jovan got a mistrial, that wasn't nothing. That only meant he had to stay in jail and wait for another trial, and that may take at least another year. Fuck that. I needed my man home now! This was my fiancé. I couldn't let him go out like that.
When they called for a recess, I went into the ladies room and took off my disguise and found the prosecutor in the hallway. I told her I hated Jovan for what he did, and that he had a child on me and I knew everything he did. She instantly told me to testify. I knew if I got up there and told them my real name and how I went to jail, it would fuck the whole trial up and cripple the prosecution so much that the judge would flip the fuck out and rule for an acquittal.
I had to do it. I had to do something to free my man. I couldn't be a witness for his defense. They wouldn't have believed me because I was his fiancée and they knew I would lie for him, so instead I turned it around and still lied. The best lie ever.
 
 
Jovan
 
On my way outta the courthouse, I was still looking for Sonya, and she wasn't nowhere in sight. Fuck it. She mighta left, rolled out. I was still fucked up as to why she got on the stand. Was it to help me or ruin me? As Michelle, Mark, and I walked out of the D.C. Superior Court, Michelle gave me a hug and told me I owed her some money. I told her to put it on my tab.
“So, Jovan, what are you going to do now?” Mark asked me.
“I don't know yet. Maybe I'll go back to school, Maybe I'll just chill,” I told him.
“Well, whatever you do, you know you gotta be smooth about it.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Hey, Jovan, let me tell you something so you'll know lawyer strategy and stay two steps ahead,” Mark said.
“What's up, Mark?”
“I always knew that Bilal and you were friends. I just didn't say nothing.”
“Get the fuck outta here! How you know that?” I asked him, amazed that he knew of our friendship.
“You gotta finish law school to learn that, Jovan. Look, you need a ride?”
“Naw, I think I'ma go catch a cab, walk around a little, get some peace of mind and fresh air.”
“Okay, buddy. I'll see you around. Take care, and finish school, man.”
“Okay, Mark.”
As Mark left and got in his car, I took off my tie and glasses and started walking down the street. Damn, I'd done killed six mu'fuckas—well, seven—who truly deserved it, and I got away with it. Damn, I lived a lie—a good lie, my best lie ever.
As I got to the curb to hold my thumb out for a taxi, a black limousine pulled up. The light was green, but the limo stopped. As the window rolled down, I still wasn't paying attention, until I heard a voice.
“Looking for somebody?”
Sonya was smiling the brightest smile I'd ever seen. I immediately jumped in the limo, and we started kissing as the limo pulled off. She told me what she did for me, and I knew I had the perfect one.
“Baby, we lived a lie,” Sonya said to me.
“I know, Sonya. A good lie.”
“Naw, boo, a bad lie.”
“Yeah, baby, a vicious lie.”
I put my finger on Sonya's lips to tell her to keep quiet, and I said to her, “It was a cruel lie, Sonya, but yet it was told in silence!”
CHAPTER 26
Two Years Later
After they left the courthouse, Jovan and Sonya went past Grandma's and got the suitcases with the three million, sold the 850 BMW, but kept the jewelry. Then they went to Sonya's and got all of her things, sold her car, packed up, and headed to Atlanta.
Now they were Mr. and Mrs. Jovan and Kia Price, the proud parents of an eighteen-month-old boy named Jovan Jr. They had a seven-bedroom house worth seven hundred thousand, and three cars: a burgundy Range Rover 4.6SE, a green 500SL Mercedes-Benz, and the new black 600S V12 Mercedes-Benz coupe.
Jovan went back to school for two years. He passed the bar exam in Atlanta, and now he was the youngest person ever to have his own law firm.
Kia was doing modeling and had a string of hair salons all over Atlanta.
 
THE END

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