Hi there! đ In addition to posting another excerpt from my second novel, I’d like to announce my giveaway of the audiobook codes for a free copy of Least Wanted.
Here’s a link to the previous chapter.
Check out the excerpt and enter the contest through this widget (which you can also find after the sample chapter)! Enter today! It’s easy! đ
Having dispensed with that, let’s move on, shall we? đ
Here’s another chapter for your consideration.
CHAPTER TEN
Tinaâs indifference and bravado were absent in the Patuxent Detention Centerâs visiting area the following day. She sat hunched in a chair across the table from me, wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans. She looked at me with wide, fearful eyes.
âI brought these for you,â I said, handing over three young adult books Iâd picked up at Books-A-Million in the Laurel Shopping Center, not far from my Main Street office.
âThanks.â Tina set them on the table, without looking at them. âWhen can I leave?â
âIâm not sure,â I said. âThereâll be an emergency hearing tomorrow before a masterâas I explained before, a masterâs like a judge and decides certain kinds of cases. Anyway, heâll decide whether to release you to your fatherâs care. I hope I can get you out, but it may be tough.â
âWhatchoo mean, you hope?â Her voice rose a few anxious decibels.
âI mean youâre facing some serious charges here. They may find youâre a potential danger to the community, especially since youâve already been charged with assault.â
âBut I dinât do nuthinâ.â
âBut they think you did and that may be enough for now.â
Tina paused, her eyes filling with tears. âI swear, I dinât do it. I wouldnât kill anyone. Why they think Iâd kill my own moms?â
âI donât have the file yet. Iâll get it first thing tomorrow, when they hold your hearing. Iâll meet with you before we go into the courtroom.â
Our meeting would be a rush-rush affair. Iâd probably get an incomplete file and ten minutes tops to confer with her before the hearing. I could picture how it would go downâme, trying to discuss Tinaâs case and calm her nerves, while my stomach churned.
Iâd take a standard approachâemphasize the good stuff about Tina, in hopes that the master would allow her house arrest with some kind of electronic monitoring. Not that I trusted Tinaâs father to keep her home, but the only alternative was detention in an overcrowded, understaffed facility.
âLetâs talk about last Wednesday,â I said. Shanaeâs body had been discovered Thursday morning by a neighbor, and from what William Jackson had told me, it appeared sheâd been killed Wednesday night. âDid you see your mother at all that day?â
âOnly in the morninâ. I was staying clear of her, âcuz she was all up in my business. So most oâ the day, I was witâ Rochelle.â
âRochelle? The one you defended in that fight at school.â
âRight.â
And leader of the Pussy Posse, I mentally noted.
âWhen you say your mom was âin your business,â what do you mean exactly?â
âShe always bitchinâ at me. Like I can never do nothing right.â She paused, then said, âShe used to, I mean. Sometimes, when she like that, I jusâ wouldnât go home. Or Iâd wait for her to go to work first.â
âI take it she worked most nights?â
âYeah, mosâ nights.â
âHow about last Wednesday? Was she supposed to work?â
âI dunno.â
âWhere were you that day?â
âAt school, then I went to Rochelleâs.â
âLetâs try that again,â I said, recalling Alice Fortuneâs story that Tina hadnât been at school all that week. âAnd make it the truth this time. You skipped school that day, didnât you?â
Tinaâs mouth dropped open. âHow you know that?â
âNever mind how I know. You skipped school all week, am I right?â
She looked up at me with wary eyes. âYeah.â
âWhat were you doing?â
âJusâ hanginâ witâ Rochelle.â
âSo she was skipping, too? Every day?â
She nodded.
âWhat did you guys do?â
âHung out at her place, watched TV, went to the mall. Whatever.â
She must have been talking about Iverson Mall, which wasnât far from her house.
âWhy didnât you go to school?â
She shrugged. âJusâ wanted to take a break.â
âWhat did you do Wednesday? The mall or her house?â
âWe was at her place. I did go by my house that morning to get some stuff, âcause I wanted to stay at Rochelleâs again that night. I figured Iâd slip in while my moms was asleep, but she wasnât.â
Tinaâs mouth curled down at the sides. âShe see me and, suddenly, she be all in my face, yellinâ anâ callinâ me worthless anâ shit.â Tears began to flow down her cheeks again and she swept them away with the palm of her hand. âLike she so much better,â she added, in a tight voice.
âDid your mother ever hit you?â
âSometimes, when she been drinkinâ. She was a lot meaner that way when she was on crack.â
âBut she kicked that habit, right? And stayed clean?â
âI dunno. I guess so.â
âDid she hit you that day?â
She shook her head.
âTina, did you love your mother?â
She shrugged again. âI dunno. I guess. Ainât you sâposed to?â She turned a puzzled, anguished gaze my way. âI do know I dinât kill her.â Her voice cracked with sorrow. âEven if she dinât love me, I wouldnât do that.â
Her sorrow and frustration felt real to me, and Iâve dealt with my share of liars. Losing her mother was bad enough. Feeling like Shanae hadnât loved her must have been a crushing blow, made worse by her own ambivalent feelings.
âTina, she was probably under a lot of stress, not only about you, but about money. Her job. Iâm not trying to make excuses for her, but maybe she just wasnât good at expressing her love.â
Another shrug. âWhatever.â
âSo that night, what did you do?â
âLike I say, jusâ hung out in Rochelleâs room watching TV. Some friends came over.â
âYou didnât go anywhere?â
She shook her head. âNaw.â
âAnd Rochelleâs mother didnât mind your staying over?â
âRochelleâs mother donât care about none of that.â
It was time to ask the $25,000 question. âIs it true that Rochelle is the leader of a girl gang called the Pussy Posse?â
Tina froze. An eye twitched. âWho toleâ you that shit?â
âA reliable source.â
She paused. âI ainât never heard of them.â
âAre you sure? Was the purse snatching an initiation rite for getting into the gang?â
Tina worked her mouth a bit. âI dunno âbout no gang.â
âThis is important, Tina. I need you to be honest with me,â I said, as forcefully as possible. âI heard Rochelle heads a gang called the Pussy Posse. Is this true?â
Tina shook her head. âI dunno.â
Realizing that this dance could go on forever, I dropped the subject for the time being.
âYou ever do drugs, Tina?â
âNaw,â she said, her head bowed.
âEver drink?â
She shook her head, eyes glued to her lap.
âLook at me,â I said, putting some steel in my voice. âI get the distinct feeling youâre not being straight with me. If Iâm going to be your lawyer, you gotta be straight with me.â
âThat ainât the way I heard it.â
âThen you heard wrong. When I ask you a question, I want to hear the truth. If itâs the ugly truth, so be it. But if you lie to me and Iâm blindsided because of it, youâre not doing either of us any favors.â I paused to take a breath and looked at Tina, who still wouldnât look back. âNow, gang or no gang, were you and your friends drinking or doing any drugs that night?â
âAh-ight. We was getting a little high, yeah. But we just did some weed is all. Really.â
If that were trueâand that was a big ifâI could believe she hadnât killed anyone that night. Unlike a drinker, a pot smoker was far more likely to steal a bag of Cheetos from a 7-Eleven than beat someone to death.
âAnd did anyone other than the girls and Rochelleâs mom see you there?â
She fidgeted in her chair. âNaw. They the only ones know where I was.â
âHow about Rochelleâs neighbors? Did any of them see you or stop by while you were there?â
âI dunno. I donât think so.â
Splendid. My clientâs alibi could be backed by some friends, one of whom was the reputed head of a girl gang, and all of whom were stoned at the time and might have any number of reasons to lie for her. I made a mental note to verify Tinaâs story with Rochelleâs mother. Tina had already lied to me about being at school and smoking pot. I figured on talking to Shanaeâs neighbors, too, in case anyone saw or heard anything that night.
âDo you know of anyone who would want to hurt to your mother?â
âI dunno.â She shrugged.
âDid she have any boyfriends?â
Tinaâs mouth twisted into an ironic grin. âLittle D werenât exactly a boyfriend. He just a friend, but heâd come by a lot to see her.â
âWhatâs his name?â
âLittle D.â
âDo you know his full name?â
âAll I know is, Little D. He drive a sparkly green car with fancy wheels.â
âSo . . . do you want to tell me anything else about that night before I go?â
âNaw,â she said, her eyes downcast.
âYou never saw your mother that night?â
âNo.â Her voice was firm, unequivocal. âI was keeping clear of her. I swear.â
âAnd you definitely didnât kill her?â Even though sheâd already answered, I had to ask again.
âNo! I did not kill my own moms.â Her voice was harsh with indignation. Tears welled. She was either giving me an Oscar-worthy performance or she was just a confused and upset 13-year-old, being wrongfully held for the murder of her own mother.
She swallowed and fixed a solemn, wide-eyed gaze on me. âSo, my hearing tomorrow, right?â
âYes. Theyâll bring you to the courthouse and, like I said, Iâll get to see you before court starts.â
âAnd then I can leave this place?â She shivered and lowered her voice.
âIâll do my best, but I canât make any promises. This is murder weâre talking about.â
âPlease. I gots to get outta here.â Tina barely whispered, her voice ragged with emotion. Her expression radiated pure fear. âIâm scared. Eâryone here so mean. Girls walkinâ âround here with shivs made of toofbrushes and shit. Anâ the guards donât do nothinâ.â
âHang in there, Tina. Iâll do everything I can to get you home.â
Even as I said it, I wondered what the word âhomeâ meant to her. Did she really have a home with her father? I had reservations about Rodney Fisherâs abilities in that role. Yet, I doubted she was better off in here. It was well known that juvenile detention facilities were poorly run and could be as dangerous as the worst streets of Baltimore. It was a depressing dilemma. It was my duty as her advocate to get her out, if I could, regardless of Rodney Fisherâs failings as a father.
* * * * *
Back at the office, thoughts of home led to a memory of a day at the beach with my parents. I couldnât have been much older than seven. As we traipsed across the hot sand, my motherâs wavy blonde hair and tiny blue bikini turned lots of heads. She wore bright red lipstick, Jackie Oâstyle sunglasses, and an infectious smile. My dad unfurled the blanket and planted a tattered pink umbrella in the sand with the authority of Admiral Perry staking a claim on the North Pole. He stripped off his yellow T-shirt to expose a pale, but healthy-looking set of pecs.
âWell, kid,â he said. âReady to hit the water?â
I shook my head no, knowing how cold that first contact would be, but he grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Carrying me kicking and squealing the whole way, he ran for the surf, plunged in, and waded to a point where he dropped me.
The shock from the cold water was like a slap. It may have been only a few feet deep, but I floated free. Murky sounds burbled around me. Instinct kicked in and I pushed to the surface, gasping for air as I broke through, my fatherâs laughter ringing in my ears.
* * * * *
Recalling the beach, with my parents alive and happy, caught me short. Grief washed over me in a way it hadnât since theyâd died in a plane crash when I was nine. I closed my eyes, willing the image to dissolve. When I opened them, I was surprised to find my cheeks wet.
Backhanding the tears away, I focused on Tina again. She was the one with the problemsâbigger problems than Iâd ever faced.
I wanted to believe Tina, but doubt lingered in the back of my mind. Could she have killed Shanae? Could she be lying about that night? Shanaeâs beating was too extensive for self-defense. Or was it? If Shanae had been on drugs, a crack high couldâve made her violent. And very powerful. Someone using the bat in self-defense might have had to kill her to stop her.
This led to a disquieting thought. What if Tina had killed Shanae in self-defense, but was afraid to admit it? Even to herself.
*****
To enter the giveaway for a free copy of the book in audio, just enter using the widget below! Contest ends on Sept. 18, 2020, but don’t wait. Enter today!