One Way or Another

by Rhonda Bowen

  However, when both doors to the cop car opened and Officer Powell returned with a second officer in tow, Toni knew that she probably wouldn’t be seeing Forever Jones anytime soon.

  “Miss Shields, do you know that you have a warrant out for unpaid fines?” Officer Powell asked, a smug look on his face.

  “What unpaid fines?” Toni racked her brain trying to figure out what he could be talking about. But when he started reading out a list of traffic tickets and parking violations, she knew she was in trouble.

  “Okay, yeah, that was me,” Toni admitted. “But can’t I just pay them now? Come on, Officer Powell, do we really have to go through the whole arrest thing?”

  Apparently she did, as the handcuffs on her wrists only moments later suggested. Feelings of déjà vu washed over her as she rode to the station in the cop car, and later heard the metal bars close with a clank behind her.

  She really should have stayed home.

  “Hey, don’t I get one call?” Toni asked through the bars of the cell. Officer Powell only chuckled before disappearing down the hallway. She knew she could get someone to post bail for her once she made the call, but she had a feeling Officer Powell was going to make her sweat it out for a while.

  It figured that the one time she was actually trying to stay out of trouble would be the time when she would get arrested.

  Karma was a mean old heifer.

  Toni sank down onto the hard metal bench and looked around the holding cell. There were three other women this time. Toni did a double take when she realized that one of the three was the same thick red-skinned woman who had been there the last time Toni was locked up.

  “You here again?” Toni asked when she caught the woman looking at her.

  “So are you,” the woman slurred. “You must like the hospitality.”

  At first Toni had thought the woman was old. But on second glance she looked like she could be the same age as herself. When she heard her speak, Toni knew that she was probably younger.

  “Something like that,” Toni said. “What’s your excuse?”

  “What’s it to you?” the young woman snapped.

  “Nothing,” Toni said with a shrug. “Just making conversation.”

  The woman was wearing fishnets with tiny shorts, and a tight black corset top that made her breasts look bigger than they actually were. It was clear what she had been doing when she got picked up. Half her face was hidden under blond hair, and Toni couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like without the wig.

  “What’s your name?”

  Toni was surprised. She hadn’t expected her to speak again. “Toni. You?”

  “Beth,” the woman said after a moment. “Where you going in them fancy clothes?”

  “I was going to meet up with some friends, but five-oh kinda interrupted my flow.”

  She nodded. “I know what that’s like.”

  A banging on the bars interrupted whatever else Beth might have said.

  “Shields, you’re up,” a custody officer said as he opened the gate. “Time to use your lifeline.”

  Toni called Camille, Afrika, and Trey, but no one picked up. She finally ended up just leaving a message on Trey’s voice mail at home. At least then maybe he or Jasmine would get it. However, Toni wasn’t sure when exactly that would be.

  By the time they escorted Toni back to the holding cell, the two other women were gone, and it was just her and Beth.

  “You got someone coming for you?” Toni asked.

  “Nope,” Beth said, lying back on the metal bench. “It’ll be me and the Atlanta PD.”

  Toni raised an eyebrow. “So how are you going to get out of here?”

  Beth shrugged. “They’ll let me out tomorrow morning when I’ve dried out.”

  The way she said it told Toni that being picked up while soliciting drunk was something of a regular occurrence for Beth. For some reason the thought twisted Toni’s heart. Maybe because she knew what it was like to be alone and not have anyone to depend on but yourself.

  “What you do, anyway, that got you in here all the time?” Beth asked. “I didn’t know they started arresting people for being rich.”

  So she thought she was rich. Toni almost laughed.

  “I’m a reporter,” Toni said. She explained that she worked at the AJC and sometimes doing her job got her in trouble. She even told her how it amused her friends and family. She wasn’t sure why she was telling Beth all of this. But she did anyway.

  “What about you?” Toni asked. “What’s your deal?”

  “You can’t guess?” Beth asked cynically, motioning to her outfit. “I provide late night services.”

  “Why?” Toni asked.

  “Because all of us can’t be reporters.”

  She walked right into that one.

  “I was in foster care for most of my life,” Beth said. “When I turned eighteen they kicked me out of the system. I had no family and nowhere to go. And since a girl’s gotta eat ...” Beth let her guess the rest.

  “What happened to your family?” Toni asked, frowning.

  Beth shrugged. “I don’t remember none of them. And I got moved around so often that I can’t recall most of the foster families either. And trust me, with everything I done been through, that’s probably a blessing.”

  Toni didn’t know what to say. She had thought her life was rough. But there were always people who were worse off. She had lost a lot but God had still blessed her abundantly. Despite her past, she had so much to be grateful for. And that made her future something worth looking forward to.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that,” Toni said after a long moment.

  Beth snorted. “Yeah, me too.”

  They chatted some more and Toni found out that Beth was only twenty-five. And she was actually quite funny when she wasn’t being cynical. Toni had been lying back on the metal bench laughing at one of Beth’s jokes when the banging on the bars came again.

  “Shields, you’re out. Someone just posted your bail.”

  Toni sat up, a little surprised. She had expected to end up spending the night.

  She was about to leave when she remembered Beth.

  “Hey, if I leave my number out front for you, will you call me if you need anything?” Toni asked.

  “You ain’t gotta feel sorry for me,” Beth said coldly, not even bothering to look at Toni. “I’ll be fine.”

  Toni heard echoes of herself in the woman’s voice. Echoes of her old self.

  “I know, but maybe you can call me anyway,” Toni said. “Maybe we can grab some food or something.”

  “Whatever.”

  That was better than she expected. Following the custody officer down the hall, she made a mental note to leave her card and number at the front for Beth. When she finally reached the exit, however, she forgot everything.

  “So I leave you for a month and you go get yourself locked up,” Adam said, leaning on the counter.

  Toni’s mouth fell open. She searched for words but she couldn’t find any. All she found was a flood of emotions that she thought had begun to fade away.

  “Sir, please sign here,” the custody officer said, motioning to a form on the counter near Adam.

  Toni watched him, speechless. She couldn’t believe he was there, standing in the police station, posting bail for her. It must be a dream. But the cuffs cutting into her wrists told her it wasn’t. They suddenly felt like million-pound weights and she shook them impatiently at the guard. She needed them off now.

  “Sir, please note that we are releasing Miss Shields into your care,” the officer said as he unlocked the handcuffs. “It is your duty to ensure she appears in court on the stipulated date. Failure to do so will lead to a forfeit of the cash bond posted.”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked a little breathlessly, her eyes fixed on him.

  He smiled. “I came to post your bond.”

  “But ... how?”

  “Trey’s flying and Ja
smine couldn’t leave the baby,” he said, stepping closer to her. “So she asked me to come.”

  Toni shook her head, confused. “But you live in Baltimore.”

  “I did. For a while,” he said, taking another step toward her.

  “But now?” she asked, helping to close the distance.

  “Now I’m here.”

  And there were no more words for a while as he pulled her close and she wrapped her arms around him, holding tight. She buried her face in his chest and tried not to cry as she realized how much she had missed him. It was like a piece of her heart that she didn’t know had been gone was suddenly filled.

  “So I guess it’s safe to say you missed me too?” he asked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear as his warm brown eyes roamed all over her face.

  Toni smiled. “You have no idea.”

  His mouth covered hers, and as he kissed her, Toni knew exactly how much he had missed her over the past month. She had almost forgotten exactly where they were when she heard a throat clear from somewhere behind her.

  “Miss, your things?”

  Adam let her out of his embrace, but kept her hand firmly in his as she retrieved her purse, jacket, and the keys to her motorcycle.

  They were about to leave when she remembered Beth. Pulling out of Adam’s grasp, she dug into her purse for a business card.

  “Can you give this to the woman in holding when she gets let out?” Toni asked. “She said her name was Beth.”

  The officer nodded and looked over the card. “I’ll put it with her things.”

  “What was that about?” Adam asked, slipping an arm around her as they walked out of the precinct.

  “Nothing for you to worry about,” she said, snuggling closer to him.

  The night air felt cooler and fresher as she walked hand in hand with Adam across the parking lot back to his car.

  “So you want to tell me the real reason you’re here?” Toni asked, pulling herself up onto the hood of his car. “ ’Cause if you just kissed me like that only to take off to Baltimore again, I’m going to have to hurt you.”

  He laughed. “You don’t have to worry about that,” he said, leaning back on the neighboring car across from her. “I’m staying here.”

  Toni cocked her head to the side. “What happened?”

  He looked down for a moment. “Things didn’t turn out the way I thought they would.”

  Toni bit her lip. “I’m sorry. You know, even though I didn’t agree with your decision, I would never wish anything bad for you or the project.”

  “I know,” Adam said, nodding. “And the project was great. Things were going well. But I just ...”

  Toni didn’t speak, but let him find his own words.

  “I guess I realized that it wasn’t where I was supposed to be,” he said finally, with a sigh.

  “How long did it take you to figure it out?” Toni asked gently.

  Adam laughed. “About a week. And the rest of the time was just me being stubborn and fighting what I knew God was telling me.

  “And then Pastor Reynolds called and told me they still hadn’t found a replacement here, and that if I ever changed my mind, I could come back.”

  “So was that the only reason?” Toni bit her lip and watched him watch her. “If Pastor Reynolds hadn’t offered you your job back, would you still be in Baltimore?”

  Adam looked at her for so long Toni felt like she would evaporate under his gaze. When he finally spoke, his eyes never left hers.

  “I told them I was leaving before Pastor Reynolds even called.”

  Toni felt her heart beat faster. “Why?”

  “Well, there was this woman in Atlanta I couldn’t get out of my head.” He took a step toward her. “And I realized that it would be pretty difficult for me to be useful if she was all I could think about.”

  Her heart was pounding so hard now that she could feel the pulse in her throat and hear the beat echo in her chest.

  “It was like I needed to be where she was, almost like we belonged together.” He was standing right in front of her now, his hands resting on the car, on either side of her.

  “Must be some special woman.” She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. Mercy, he was fine. She had almost forgotten.

  “Really special.” He leaned in closer. “Amazing, actually. Beautiful inside and out. One in a million.”

  Toni felt the tears brim her eyes and when he brushed his lips against hers gently, she let them roll down her cheeks.

  “And I’m absolutely crazy about her.”

  She slipped her palms up to cup his face and brushed light kisses over his lips before pulling him into a tight embrace. This man owned her heart and he didn’t even know it.

  She laughed and wiped the moistness from her face as she let him go.

  “Well, I sure am glad Pastor Reynolds held out for you.”

  He laughed. “You and me both. I guess he knew it would take me a little while to figure things out. He was right. Just like you and Trey. You can go ahead and say, I told you so.”

  “No,” Toni said thoughtfully. “I like the other part better. The part where I’m right. Can you say it again?”

  He laughed and let his hands rest on her waist. “You were right, beautiful.”

  “You know I don’t really care about being right, right?” she asked, resting her arms around his shoulders. “I just don’t want you having any more regrets about the decisions you’ve made. I want you to be happy.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he said. “That’s one of the things I love about you.”

  Toni beamed. He had said the L word. At least she knew she wasn’t the only one thinking about it.

  “You know, if a relationship between us is gonna work, you’re gonna have to stop getting arrested,” Adam said after a moment. “I can’t afford to be posting bond for you every week.”

  “I wasn’t even doing anything this time, babe, I promise,” Toni protested.

  Adam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Seriously, I got pulled over for not having my lights on, and then I find out that I have a bunch of fines from unpaid traffic stuff,” Toni explained to a laughing Adam. “Isn’t that crazy? They’re locking me up for traffic violations.”

  “You gotta try and stay clean, beautiful,” he said, shaking his head. “I got enough to deal with handling the boys; I can’t have the cops on my woman too.”

  Toni cocked her head to the side. “When did I become your woman?”

  “What, you have an objection?” he asked with a grin.

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “Not as long as you promise not to run off to some other state and leave me.”

  “Deal,” he said, shaking her hand in a mock agreement. Then he pulled her toward him and kissed her again, and Toni was sure that she had walked away with the better end of the bargain.

  She knew in her heart she loved this man. She also knew he loved her. God had purposed for them to be together. Despite all their running away—from their pasts, their mistakes, and the pain of losing people they loved—God had still brought them home and there was no place like it.

  A READING GROUP GUIDE

  ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

  Rhonda Bowen

  About This Guide

  The suggested questions that follow

  are included to enhance your group’s

  reading of this book.

  Discussion Questions

  1. At the start of the novel Toni gets arrested for suspected trespassing in her effort to gain information for her story. Do you think that if the motive is good enough, the ends will justify the means?

  2. Toni clashes with her sister-in-law, Jasmine, because she thinks Jasmine manipulates Trey to get what she wants. But do you think that Toni is sometimes guilty of manipulating her brother in the same way?

  3. Toni felt like no one understood what she went through during the deaths of her parents. This caused her to pull away from the people around her. How do you r
each someone who goes through such extreme tragedy?

  4. Toni spent several years not dealing with the death of her parents, and it negatively affected her life. How can unhealed wounds from the past affect the people we are in the present?

  5. Adam kept his criminal past from the boys at Jacob’s House, probably thinking it was best for them not to know. How much disclosure should there be between parents/guardians and children about mistakes in the past?

  6. Toni gets upset with Adam because he didn’t tell her about his criminal history even though she had told him everything about her past. Do you think she was justified in being upset? What would have been an appropriate stage in their friendship for Adam to reveal his past?

  7. Adam goes back to Baltimore after ten years to serve time for his past crimes as a show of true remorse for what he had done. Do you think it was necessary for him to confess to his crimes and turn himself in to prove his remorse? Shouldn’t it be enough that he has changed and no longer follows that pattern of living?

  8. The attraction between Toni and Adam is clear from the first time they meet. Why do you think it took so long for them to get together? Which of the two of them is more to blame for this?

  9. At the end of the novel, Adam tells Toni that she was a big part of the reason he came back to Atlanta. Do you think it was realistic of him to make such a major decision based on his feelings for her, even though they barely knew each other romantically?

  Don’t miss Rhonda Bowen’s

  Man Enough For Me

  Available now from Dafina Books

  Turn the page for an excerpt from Man Enough For Me ...

  Chapter 1

  “Miss, another drink for you.”

  She should have known better than to stand by the bar. But it was the only spot in the house where she had a full view of the floor and all the entrances. That was especially important tonight when it was very possible that media might show up. It would be just like them to slip through a side entrance and try to sneak an interview with Truuth without checking with her. Those journalists—she couldn’t live with them, but didn’t have a career without them.