Part 7 (1/2)
”GP...Que te pasa, Papi?”
”That group home is what's wrong.” GP made eye contact with Kitchie for the first time. A tear of anger formed as he sat the chair upright.
”Attorney Green.” Droopy was relieved that GP had put his rage on standby. It saved him the task of filling out an incident report.
”We'll be fine.” Attorney Green waved him off.
They all remained quiet until the door shut behind the officer.
GP sat at the edge of his chair. ”Mrs. Green-”
”Call me Vivian. Mrs. Green makes me feel old.” Which she was not.
”Vivian, you have to get my kids out of that place. They abuse children there.”
Kitchie raised her head and arched a brow.
”I know you're concerned about your children's welfare, Mr. Patterson. If the situation at hand were reversed, I'd be just as concerned. But-”
”Look, G.o.dd.a.m.n...Vivian, I grew up in that place from an infant until my eighteenth birthday. I know what goes on under Mr. Reynolds's roof.”
The Reynolds name sent a shock wave of fear through Kitchie that only a mother could feel. She remembered in great detail all the horrific stories GP had shared with her about his experiences under the supervision of Mr. Reynolds. She had been rubbing him down for years with cocoa b.u.t.ter and love in an effort to mend his wounds and emotional scars. Tears leaked from her eyes as she constantly shook her head. ”Don't say that. Please move them somewhere else until we get out of here.”
”There's other places they can go.” GP lowered his head in defeat, matching Kitchie's voice.
”The Reynolds home no longer accommodates children over the age of twelve. The other facilities are either overcrowded or your son and daughter don't fit the age requirements.” Vivian shuffled through papers in her briefcase. ”I have a friend who works for DSS; I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, let's work on getting you both out of jail so you can take your children home yourselves.”
Silence.
Vivian opened a manila folder. ”We'll be in court for arraignment after lunch. You both have several charges. A criminal complaint was filed against you by the light company Sat.u.r.day morning, so you're also being accused of destroying city property and theft. I've been advised that they're going to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
”I did that alone.” GP interlocked his fingers. ”My wife didn't have anything to do with it. She tried to stop me.”
”If either of you expect professional and competent help, I need for you to be honest with me. I don't care what roles either of you played in the commission of these alleged crimes. I need the truth in order to best represent you on these allegations.”
”That was was the truth.” Kitchie fiddled with her handcuffs. ”We don't need to lie to you. Who the h.e.l.l are you?” the truth.” Kitchie fiddled with her handcuffs. ”We don't need to lie to you. Who the h.e.l.l are you?”
”Fine, have it your way.” Vivian opened the folder. ”The light company has an eyewitness who will testify on their behalf. He claimed that he watched you both in the commission of the crime from his-”
”Mr. Irvington.” Kitchie buried her face in her hands.
”Our neighbor?”
”No, our cat cat. I told you, you shouldn't have done that.”
”Not right now, Kitchie.”
”Whatever the case.” Vivian pushed an ink pen behind her ear. ”You're both being charged. Also, on the same day the warrants were issued on this charge, you were both arrested for aggravated a.s.sault, strong arm robbery, child endangerment, creating a public disturbance, and, Mrs. Patterson, you managed to add resisting arrest to your list.”
”I'm responsible for those charges, too.” GP couldn't stop tapping his foot.
Vivian wrote herself a note. ”That is honorable of you, Mr. Patterson, to claim responsibility, but there is no way I can get these charges-” She eyed Kitchie. ”-against you dropped, Mrs. Patterson. You were caught red-handed with the victim's wallet in your possession.”
”It wasn't like that; he stole from us.” Kitchie wiped her tears with the back of a hand. ”Can you get us out of here or not?”
”Mr. Patterson, you have a history of theft. With these charges, the judge will probably set bail at...about eighty thousand. Mrs. Patterson, your ballpark figure should be somewhere around fifty thousand. Before we go into this courtroom, how about letting me in on what's going on?” She leaned back and crossed her arms.
Trouble swerved in and out of lanes, laughing at the ”Star & Buc Wild” radio show. It wasn't all that funny to Dirty, though.
The cell phone rang.
”h.e.l.lo.” Trouble turned down the radio.
”Put Jewels on. Tell her it's Sticky Fingers.”
”She went out of town to take care of something.” Trouble tapped Dirty. ”She said to let you know that it's all good for Sat.u.r.day.”
”Cool.”
”All right, Player.” Trouble hung up and tossed Jewels' cell phone out of the car window.
Dirty knew that Trouble was a little off his rocker, but now he was thoroughly convinced. ”You gone. What did you tell him that for? We don't know if Jewels even has that type of money. We don't even know if she's gonna meet Sticky Fingers after she listens to her messages. And we don't have the slightest idea if she'll be back by Sat.u.r.day.”
”It don't make a difference.” Trouble shrugged. ”Somebody is getting robbed. Either Jewels for the loot or Sticky for the corporate numbers. If things go right, we'll have our cake and eat it, too. Feel me?”
”We can't do diddly with a set of f.u.c.king numbers.”
”True, but Ms. Hobbs in the projects know all about them. She said if I come through with it, she'll get me top dollar.”
Junior and Secret observed a group of children playing kickball in a field from the sleeping quarters' window.
He shoved his ashy hands inside his pockets. ”Why haven't they come for us yet? I don't...Maybe they can't find us.”
”Good question. I think they're still in jail.”
”Do you know the way home from here?”
”Think so. If I could find Euclid Avenue, I know the way from there.”
Junior eyed Secret. ”Let's find it. I got this.” He flashed some money.
”Where did you get all that from?”
”It's only fifty. Daddy gave it to me, showing me why he couldn't buy me a bike, remember?”
”Give it to me.” She stuffed the bills in her left sock. ”We should find Aunty Jewels.”