by Kiki Swinson
“Well, you know her friend Rhonda got murdered too, so she felt there was no need to keep it open, which is why she shut it down and sold every piece of equipment she had in there.”
“What about your parents?”
“Whatchu mean?”
“What are they going to do now that your grandmother is gone?”
“Well, they just put her house on the market, so they said as soon as they sell it, they’re going to take the money and move down south to Florida.”
“What about their house?”
“They’re going to keep it and rent it out.”
“How are they taking the death of your grandmother?”
“They don’t talk about it. But I do know that they blame Kira and me for it.”
“Do you think that this will put a strain on y’all’s relationship?”
“I’m expecting my father to love me at a distance. But, I don’t think my mother is going to change at all.”
I sighed before I said, “Did you ever go to see that psychiatrist I referred you to?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I thought it would be a waste of time.”
“But after all you’ve been through these past eight months, you don’t think you need to see someone?”
“I’ll be all right,” Nicole insisted.
“Well, if you say so,” I replied.
After I went over a few more routine questions, I wished her luck, and before she got up to leave, I looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Technically, I am not your P.O. anymore, so you can come clean with me and tell me exactly what happened the day you shot Syncere in your grandmother’s house.”
Caught completely off guard, Nicole said, “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the two firearms the police officers confiscated from the crime scene.”
“What about ’em?”
“Well, its been kind of hard for me to believe that he would bring two guns with him, just to kill one person.”
She became a little agitated. “So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying cut the crap, Nicole. You and I both know that you had that other firearm in your possession way before your boyfriend got there.”
“No, I didn’t” she replied with sincerity. “Syncere had both of those guns on him when he entered into my grandmother’s house. I was just lucky that I was able to get to the smaller gun before he was able to pull the trigger on the other one.”
I laughed. “Sticking to your story, huh?”
“That’s what happened.”
“Yeah, all right. Get on out of here,” I told her.
Right when she was about to walk out of my door, she turned around and winked her eye at me. “Take care,” she said.
“I will. But I’m not the one you need to be worried about,” I replied nonchalantly.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. Trust me, I am going to be fine,” she assured me. I begged to differ. With that track record she had, trouble was bound to follow her. I guaranteed that as soon as she touched down in Houston, Nikki and Kira were going to hook up and become wifey to a new set of street thugs. And when that happened, all hell was going to break loose. For them, it was like a game of Russian roulette; the kind of lifestyle they wanted to live.
My next client, Todd Warner, was late. He was thirty minutes late, to be exact. Come to think of it, this was not his first time being late, so I was going to rip his ass apart and make an example out of him. The only thing that would save him was if he was laid up in somebody’s hospital bed. Other than that, I was going to violate him. I mean, it was not like he was trying to conform to the rules of his probation anyway. Like Seth, he couldn’t keep a damn job. At least Seth had never lied on job applications about never being convicted of a felony, like Todd had. What got me was that Todd knew I was going to find out about it. But, his simple ass didn’t care. He’d been back on the streets for about eight months now and had absolutely no clue at all how to readjust to society.
He knew how to embezzle millions of dollars, though. Todd’s pre-sentence report indicated that he was a pro at embezzlement. As an investment broker, he was able to steal over $15 million from clients at a brokerage firm. When FBI agents finally arrested him, they seized his million-dollar home in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach, a $250,000 Bentley coupe, an $80,000 Porsche Cayenne, and a half-million-dollar boat—only to auction them off. The rest he was going to have to pay in restitution. I didn’t know how Todd was going to get it, but if he didn’t figure out a legitimate way of doing it, he was going to have to suffer the consequences for that as well.
After waiting in my office for over an hour for Mr. Warner to show up for his appointment, my receptionist buzzed me through my intercom system. “Ms. Shaw, I have Todd Warner on line three, waiting to speak with you.”
“OK. Thank you.” I immediately picked up on line three. “This is Ms. Shaw.”
“Ms. Shaw, this is Todd. I just want to apologize for being late and to let you know that I am on my way to your office, as we speak.”
“Don’t bother,” I interjected.
“Why? I’m only five minutes away.”
“Mr. Warner, your appointment was over an hour ago, and I told you that if you were late again, I was going to make you regret it. So as far as I’m concerned, you’re a no-show.”
“Ms. Shaw, I have a legitimate explanation.”
“Save it, Mr. Warner, because if you weren’t in a life-or-death situation, then I don’t want to hear it.”
“Ms. Shaw, I got in a little fender bender off South Military Highway, so I had to wait on the police to take the report.”
“What time did the accident occur?”
“I’m not sure but the time on the police report says eight fifty-nine.”
“Your appointment was at nine o’clock.”
“I know. And I would’ve been there if this woman had not run into the back of me. Besides, it took the officer about twenty minutes to get to the location.”
“So the other driver was at fault?”
“Yes.”
“Well, why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“Because my phone wouldn’t get a signal.”
“Were you seriously injured?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“OK. Well, bring me that report, so I can stick it in your file.”
“Will do,” Todd assured me and we both hung up.
Seven minutes later, he arrived in my office with the police report he needed to back up his story. After I went over a few things with him, I sent him on his way since I had another client out in the lobby waiting on me.
That next appointment went smoothly, and before I knew it, it was time for me to go to lunch. I gathered my keys and purse and headed toward the elevator. En route I bumped into Marcus Finley, who was a federal marshal. He was escorting a man in handcuffs in the direction of the elevator. That man was none other than a parolee I used to monitor by the name of Dwayne Harris. That short, stubby-ass nigga used to give me so many problems, I had to trade his ass off to another one of my colleagues. By the looks of things, Mrs. Huggins was probably sick of his ass too, which was why Marcus had his ass hemmed up. It was no secret that he was on his way to jail. Judging from Marcus’s expression, I could tell that he wasn’t in the mood to take Dwayne, especially since it was going to be a long process. To put a smile on Marcus’s face I said, “Cheer up! Trust me; it can’t be all that bad.”
“Only one thing will put a smile on my face.”
“And what’s that?”
“If you tell me you’ll go out with me.”
“Marcus, you already know I don’t date men I work with.”
“Come on now, give me a chance,” he pressed.
“Sorry. You know the rule,” I told him and proceeded toward the stairway. I figured this would be my only escape from his constant badgering. Granted, Marcus was handsome with a nice body and made
over $65,000 a year, but I was totally not interested. As I walked by them, Dwayne leaped toward me and headbutted the hell out of me. The impact from the blow sent me tumbling backward, and I lost my balance and fell down on my ass.
“Yeah, bitch! How does that feel?” Dwayne roared as if he hated my guts. I couldn’t respond. I was dazed.
Marcus quickly put Dwayne into a chokehold and wrestled him to the floor. “Stay down and don’t you move!” Marcus ordered him.
“Look at you now,” Dwayne managed to utter to me while his face was buried into the floor. “I don’t hear you running your motherfucking mouth now!”
Applying pressure to the back of Dwayne’s head with his knee, Marcus roared, “Shut up right now!”
Dwayne started laughing. “Oh yeah, dawg. She gon’ really give you some pussy now.”
“Say one more word and I’m gonna send you straight to the hospital!” Marcus warned him.
While all the commotion was going on, other colleagues of mine began to fill up the hallway. As soon as I regained full sight I allowed Karen Wheeler, my duty officer, to help me stand.
“Are you OK?” she asked me.
“I think so,” I replied, blinking.
“What happened?” she asked.
“That asshole headbutted me.” I felt my head for the growth of a lump while I watched Marcus drag Dwayne onto the elevator.
Karen looked in the direction of Marcus and said, “Where are you taking him?”
“I was getting ready to take him to jail, but now, I’m going to put him in one of the holding cells downstairs while I file my report.”
“OK. Well, Maxine and I will be coming behind you in a few minutes.”
“All right.” Marcus pressed the button to close the elevator door.
“Can you walk?” Karen asked me.
“Yes, I can walk,” I assured her.
“Well, follow me into my office.”
Once in her office, I took a seat and she grabbed an ice pack from her first aid kit and handed it to me. “Here put this on your head,” Karen said, taking a seat on the edge of her desk. “So, tell me what happened.”
Trying to gather my thoughts, I took a deep breath and said, “I really don’t know. I mean, he just charged right at me and headbutted me for nothing.”
“Wasn’t he one of your problem cases a while back?”
“Yeah, he was.”
“What was his name?
“Dwayne Harris.”
“Oh yeah, I remember him. He was the one you violated for making those harassing phone calls to you, and who threatened to assault you in your office over a year ago.”
“Yep, that was him.”
“So, you guys didn’t have any words?”
“No, we didn’t. All I did was say a few words to Marcus.”
“Well, did you look at him in any way?”
“No, as a matter-of-fact, I didn’t.”
Karen scratched her forehead. It was apparent that she was in deep thought. I sat there with the ice pack pressed against my head and waited for her to say whatever it was that she was thinking about.
Finally she said, “Are you able to go down and file charges on him?”
“Oh yeah, I’ll be filing them as soon as I get out of here.”
“OK, then, do that. And when you’re done, take off the rest of the day.”
“What about my other clients? Karen, I have a boatload of people to see today.”
“Call them and reschedule.”
“OK,” I said, and as I was about to get up Karen told me to hold up a minute.
“What, you need me to do something for you before I leave?” I wondered aloud.
Karen gave me a weird look and then she retrieved a typed document from a manila folder placed on her desk before her and handed it to me. “I know this isn’t a good time to tell you this, but my conscience would’ve killed me if I would’ve allowed you to walk out of here without knowing who would be filling my shoes after I left this office.”
Anxiety crept into my stomach, but I remained calm. “I got your position?” I asked as I grabbed the piece of paper from her hand.
But, Karen remained silent as she watched me read the document.
I scanned the letter in less than thirty seconds. It took me no time to find out that I didn’t get the promotion. I was furious, and my expression showed it. “This can’t be the final word,” I protested.
“I’m afraid it is,” Karen said.
“So, you’re telling me that Carolyn got the position?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“But I thought I had it in the bag. I have been here a lot longer than she has. So, how did she get the promotion over me?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, who made the decision to give the job to her and not to me?”
“My boss and Carla Perry from personnel.”
Angry, I stood up from the chair. “Can you call them both and set up a meeting so I can ask them what the hell was on their mind when they decided to give Carolyn your job?”
“Maxine, I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. You’re just gonna have to accept it and move on. And who knows, another promotion could come up and they’ll give it to you. So, don’t be upset. It just wasn’t your time.”
“I understand all of that, Karen. But, I worked my ass off in this office. I have gone by the book from day one, and I haven’t gotten one written complaint from any of my clients, including the ones I violated. And not only am I doing a damn good job, I just got my ass kicked by an ex-client to prove it. So, where is the justice?”
Karen stood up from her desk and walked around it to pat me on my back. “Maxine, I understand your frustration, but believe me, your time will come. But, until then go home and get some rest.”
“Yeah, right!” I said and turned to leave.
Immediately after I exited Karen’s office I made my way downstairs to the U.S. Marshal’s office. Marcus was sitting down behind his desk when I walked through the glass door. He had Dwayne handcuffed to the chair in which he sat—which was approximately four feet away from Marcus—but his back was facing me. There were three other marshals huddled around, drinking coffee, talking amongst themselves. Marcus’s boss, Tom, was one of them. To avoid any more confrontation with that asshole Dwayne, I walked to the other side of their office and gathered up the appropriate paperwork I needed to file charges against Dwayne. Looking at that motherfucker sitting there with a smirk on his face made my blood boil. I wanted so badly to go right over there and punch him right in his damn face, but I knew Marcus’s boss Tom wasn’t going to allow it. That cracker was strictly by the book, so I guessed I was going to have to get that fat, stubby bastard in court.
It didn’t take me long to fill out the paperwork, and when I was done, I handed it to Tom, waved at Marcus, and turned to leave their office. As soon as I grabbed the doorknob, Dwayne turned around and said, “Bitch! Do you think I care that you filed charges against me? That shit ain’t gon’ do nothing but make me madder.”
“Shut your mouth, Mr. Harris!” Marcus warned him.
Dwayne refused to listen. “Yeah, you thought I forgot about when you violated me, huh? I don’t forget shit! And I’m gon’ get your ass again, because you took me away from my daughter when you did that shit to me.” His threats continued as his face turned blood red.
Instead of entertaining his bullshit, I kept walking. Thank God Karen gave me the green light to get the hell out of there. As soon as I got back to my office, I made contact with everyone who was scheduled to see me today, grabbed my things, and left.
When I got inside my car, I pulled out my phone and called Seth to see where he was. He answered on the second ring.
“What’s good?” he asked.
“Where are you?”
“I’m on my way to your place. Why?”
“Just curious. So, how was your interview?”
“It was cool.”
“Did you get t
he job?”
“Yeah. I got it.”
“Well, at least somebody got some good news today,” I commented.
“Whatchu talking about? What happened?”
“After all the shit I’ve done for this office I was just told by my boss that I wasn’t gonna take her place when she left.”
“Who did they give it to?” Seth asked.
“They gave it to this bitch named Carolyn, and I know she’s gonna rub it in my face when she finds out.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because for one, she knows she’s gonna be my boss. And not only that, she’s just a petty-ass bitch!”
“Don’t let that bullshit get to you. But didn’t I tell you them crackers didn’t give a fuck about you for real?”
Dreading the fact that I had to answer his question, I sighed and said, “Yes.”
“Where are you at right now?”
“Sitting in my car, why?”
“Where you getting ready to go?”
“I’m on my way home.”
“Good. Because we need to talk.”
“About what?”
“About this job shit!”
“What about it?”
“Maxine, I can’t get down with that company pimping me to work for them for eight-fifty an hour.”
“Seth, I understand all that. But, it’s a start, baby.”
“For who? Some ol’ lame-ass nigga who ain’t ever had nothing,” he struck back.
“Look, Seth, I am not trying to start an argument with you. I just simply wanted to make a point.”
“Yeah, I know whatchu was trying to do. But I ain’t in the mood for that right now.”
“Well, what are you in the mood for?”
“Some real money. And if I don’t get it sooner than later, I’m gonna lose my motherfucking mind.”
“I told you what we need to do.”
“You told me a lot of things.”
“I’m talking about opening up a business.”
He sighed. “What kind of business, Maxine?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a Laundromat or something.”
“Do you know how much that’s going to cost?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Probably close to fifteen grand, if we can get some of the washers and dryers used.”
“And how much do you have?”
