by Pace, Pepper
Scotty was working at a pizza place. He actually didn’t mind the work. The place was busy and it kept his mind occupied. Besides, no one sweated him about the trial because the manager was a friend.
Vanessa had gone to two casting calls. One was for the play, Godspell. She should have been a shoe-in but her heart hadn’t been in it and she moved through the motions and the music as if she was sinking underwater. The second was to be a small performance of a local play-rights short story-turned play. Only Vanessa could tell that she was too stiff and try as she might, she couldn’t ‘feel’ the part. She didn’t even get called for a second try and ended up putting in an application at a video store where she was hired to work part-time.
On bad days Vanessa would stand behind the counter, monitoring kids who were trying to sneak peeks at the X-rated video covers, and she would ask herself what if?
Scotty’s face was two shades whiter than it should have been. He stared at his public defender wishing that there was more to it—something else behind the words; twenty-five to life.
“You said that you thought I could walk away with justifiable homicide and no time served.” Scotty’s voice sounded weak to his ears.
“No,” the haggard looking man stated. “What I said is that … well I might have said that. But there is the question of your previous record. The judge is not going to allow justifiable homicide for someone with a criminal history as … um… as lengthy as yours.”
Scotty’s brow drew together. “Those records were supposed to be sealed-“
“Only from public view,” the defender looked at his watch briefly. “Look, when records are expunged it doesn’t mean that whatever was sealed cannot be considered in any future convictions.” The man removed his glasses and wiped the lenses with his jacket.
“Your victim was a known drug dealer. You’re a known drug dealer. He was killed at a house known to be frequented by drug users-“
“But Vanessa was nearly raped-!”
“And that is justifiable homicide,” the man agreed. “But only up until a point. At the point where you no longer needed to defend Miss White is the point where it is no longer justifiable.”
Scotty leaned back in his chair and his eyes took on a cold expression. “And who is to say exactly what that point is--other than me and the dead man? All the witnesses will say that I beat him until he stopped fighting back.”
The defender pulled a file from his briefcase which had Scotty’s name written on it in black magic marker. After a moment of rifling through it he laid out two pictures of Donald Miller during the brief period before his death, when he was still on life support--specifically Donald Miller’s hands.
They were not bruised.
Obviously he had never thrown a punch that night.
“Scott, I’m going to be frank with you. You should get yourself a good attorney, one that can possibly get you aggravated manslaughter.” The defender sighed and collected his things.
“Unfortunately, with your previous record and the nature of the crime you will see some jail time. I’m sorry.”
Chapter Eleven
Vanessa paged Scotty. It was half an hour before he called and by that time she was pacing in their upstairs bedroom. He was late from work, which wasn’t that big of a deal but not paging her back immediately was something that made her nervous. He always called within minutes of her page.
When the phone finally rang she answered it quickly. “Scotty. Where are you? It’s almost ten o’clock.”
“Sorry, babe. I’ll be home shortly.”
Vanessa paused. Was that it?
“Well where are you?”
He didn’t answer.
“Scotty, what’s wrong?”
“I’m with Phonso. I’ll be home before too much longer.”
He hung up.
Vanessa stared at the receiver in shock. Did he just hang up on her? After the brief surprise Vanessa felt her anger build. She was livid. His schedule at the pizza place was from 11:30 until eight and he was always home by nine.
Grumbling she climbed into bed. He could have told her that he wasn’t coming straight home. She punched his pillow and then turned off the light.
“At this point it doesn’t even matter,” Scotty said when he hung up the telephone. “I need to make as much money as possible before I get locked up.” He was at Phonso’s apartment. Currently the younger Tremont brother was living with a woman whose name Scotty didn’t remember. Phonso went through women rapidly, mostly because they didn’t stay around long, growing tired of the way he played around. Phonso just saw no need to settle down until he was much older and as long as his looks kept the women interested he would play the field.
He had come by because he didn’t know where else to go—where else he could lose it.
He needed to lose it. Scotty was not a strong believer of the word ‘fair’ having little experience with it. But to be seen as guilty for using his hands to beat the life out of a would-be rapist was anything but fair. Only, he understood the score. There was no leniency for people like him. He was twenty years old and had seen his fair share of the inside of the justice system.
His mother was an addict and ex-prostitute that was dying of AIDS. He was a drug dealer that would still be in the life if not for the love of a woman that was too good for him. He could be pissed and he could lose it, but he could not pretend not to understand. So he was at his brother’s home because there was no other place to go.
G was still a cracked-out mess. He talked about getting clean but either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Scotty had stopped worrying about him in light of his own problems.
Phonso was silent, drinking a beer, barely tasting it. He could barely digest Scotty’s news that he would be serving hard time. And now the man wanted to start selling dope again. It was stupid and Phonso wouldn’t allow it.
“Don’t do that Scotty. It matters to Vanessa and it matters to you.”
Scotty resumed his pacing. “I’m going to be doing some hard time, Phonso! You get that, right?! Vanessa and I are through. And I’m going to make enough money in these next few months to-“
Phonso jumped up and got in his brother’s face. “If you want to have your little pity party that’s fine, but don’t think about hurting Vanessa! She’s about to go through enough hurt and I kind of remember how much she’s already had to face. So deal with it, Scotty! Right now it’s not about Miss Gloria or the family. It’s not about money or G or me. It’s about you and Vanessa!”
Scotty shook his head, his anger sifting away. “I don’t want to hurt Vanessa. Phonso, that’s what I’m saying. I want her away from me! You know she’ll …” He shoved his hands in his pocket and calmed himself down before he continued to speak. He looked at Phonso.
“She’s going to try to take up where I left off. She’s going to lead her life for someone else instead of for herself.” Scotty looked away. “The same way you did. The same way I did.”
Scotty sat down on the couch, defeated. “We can’t keep going on like this, little brother. The heat is on us all.” He didn’t know how to save them. He didn’t know what to do.
Phonso placed his beer on a cocktail table already crowded with empty beer bottles.
“I know Scotty. I was waiting for you to figure it out. When Vanessa told you to give up the life and you did, I knew it would just be a matter of time before you realized that we just can’t prevent the inevitable.”
Phonso’s expression was profoundly sad.
Scotty met his brother’s sad brown eyes and then he swallowed and nodded, feeling his own eyes sting. “They’ll go into foster care …”
Phonso finished for him, proving that he had already thought of this very ending.
“If they split up Erica and EJ then it’s going to be bad. EJ acts like he hates everyone but they have that twin bond no matter how much they fight each other.
“As far as Ginger is concerned, maybe Miss Gloria can keep her and Tyrone both. If she mov
es into a three-bedroom apartment subsidized by the county then it’s possible. I don’t think Ginger even remembers that Miss Gloria isn’t really her grandmother. EJ and Erica will handle whatever’s thrown at them but Ginger is who I worry about.” Phonso lightly gnawed his lip. “The thing is, we can’t prevent the inevitable. Everything is going to have to change.”
Scotty’s eyes stung. But he nodded his head. “I’m sorry, little brother. I tried to help them but all I ended up doing is keeping you in the life and prolonging the inevitable.”
Phonso shook his head. “Blame Tino for that. I knew that you wanted to go to Walnut Hills High School so I did what Tino wanted you to do—and he still ended up having us both sale for him.”
Phonso shrugged bitterly and Scotty stared at him.
“You did that for me? Because I thought I was doing the same for you.”
“Yeah, I know.” Phonso spoke. “And we both ended up getting played.”
Scotty rubbed his eyes. “I’ll talk to Miss Gloria tomorrow.”
When Scotty was a kid, he wanted to save all of the kids in the world. If only he could have saved his own brothers and sister’s from losing their hold on each other.
“Now that we got this part figured out, have you figured out how to tell Vanessa?” Phonso said.
Scotty looked at his hands. His knuckles were still badly swollen. It was a constant reminder of what had nearly happened to Vanessa right under his nose.
The public defender had been right. It had been about drugs. And Vanessa’s assault was about him and how he’d failed to handle his business. He’d under-estimated an enemy and he’d beat the man to death. About that, he had no regrets but he understood and accepted that the judge would see nothing more or less than that.
“Vanessa’s been a singer all of her life, you know. When we were kids I would ride my bike up the hill to Garden Hilltop and some nights I’d hear her singing. Sometimes to records, sometimes to herself.”
He shook his head. “I did not intend to fall in love with her. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. But she was so sweet. She was the only nice thing I knew.” He looked at Phonso to see if he understood. Phonso watched him, absorbed in what he was saying.
“I always knew that I would … make it dirty.”
Phonso was about to speak but Scotty raised his hand to halt him.
“No, Phonso. I knew I would. That’s why I always tried so hard to resist her.” He sighed. “And when I gave in I knew that I was all-in. Because Vanessa is everything that I want.”
Phonso nodded. “She feels the same way about you bro.”
“I know.” He looked at his brother with a steady expression of resolution. “But Vanessa and I are through. And whether she realizes it or not, it’s for her own good.”
Phonso gave him a doubtful look.
“You two are linked. It doesn’t matter about circumstances or even time. She is the real deal. Don’t try to change that, bro.”
Scotty tried to creep into bed at just after 1 am. But after listening quietly, Vanessa sat up in bed and turned on the light.
“Sorry,” He said. “I tried not to wake you.”
“I wasn’t asleep. How could I sleep when you said you’d be home and then you didn’t show up?”
Her honest response caused him to lower his eyes in shame. “I’m sorry-“
“I don’t accept your apology. Not until you tell me why.”
He sat on the edge of the bed in just boxers; his body slumped. “I wanted to tell you tomorrow …”
Vanessa moved to sit next to him.
“What, Scotty? What is it?”
“I spoke to my attorney.” He met her eyes. “I’m going to get charged and when that happens I’m going to get jail time.”
Vanessa shook her head in denial. “How can he know this?”
“That’s just how it works, Vanessa.”
“Scotty, you told me that your attorney was a terrible lawyer-“
“He is a terrible lawyer-“
“Than why are you giving up hope? No one will deny that you saved my life that night!”
Scotty drew in a deep breath and then plunged forward. For the next hour he broke down the facts of his case—what the judge would see, because what the judge would see was the truth. He faced twenty-five to life for aggravated murder but if the judge was lenient he could see ten to twenty. And those were the facts.
Their individual wants and desires meant nothing in the face of those facts.
Vanessa was now several shades paler. “Then we get a lawyer. We get a good lawyer and we fight this!”
Scotty lay down in bed and covered his eyes with his arm.
“Scotty! Don’t go to sleep!”
He wasn’t going to sleep. He just didn’t want to look at her when he said the next.
“Leave me alone Vanessa, okay? I just need time. I need sleep. I’m facing life in prison so can you just cut me a fucking break!”
There was no movement and Scotty finally turned on his side away from her. It hurt his heart to push her away. She didn’t deserve it. She deserved so much better.
Scotty jumped out of bed, grabbed his pants and then stormed out of the room.
“Where are you going?” She called.
“Downstairs to sleep on the couch.” He slammed the door after him.
Vanessa ran her hands through her hair and then held her head, staring at nothing as she tried to come to terms with what Scotty was feeling. She was pushing. She had to remember that this wasn’t just about her. Scotty’s entire world was being turned upside down and he was facing the loss of everything that he cared about.
She needed to back off, like he said.
She got out of bed and tipped downstairs to the living room. But Scotty wasn’t there. She looked out the living room window and saw that his car was gone.
Vanessa went to speak to a lawyer the next day. The consultation cost her fifty dollars and that was hard to give up when they were watching every penny. But Vanessa intended to make damn sure that Scotty had good representation even if he was too damned stubborn to see it for himself.
Attorney J. Alexander Rosenthal was a top lawyer in Cincinnati. He even had a catchy commercial that would assure that he was a visible fixture in the tri-state area of Southern Ohio, northern Kentucky and South Eastern Indiana. And because of that, he had seen a great deal of court time.
J. Alexander Rosenthal stated that with luck he might get Scotty ten to twenty, but it was his opinion that there would be no Justifiable Homicide.
Scotty was going to serve time. How much was the only question.
Chapter Twelve
Vanessa was deep in thought when she finally returned to Miss Gloria’s house. Scotty was at the front door before she could even close it. His face was dark and angry.
“Where were you?” His voice was even despite the expression on his face. Vanessa gave him a surprised look. She hadn’t had much of an opportunity to explain her intent to see the lawyer since he had decided to run off. But this she kept to herself. If circumstances were different, if she wasn’t faced with losing him than she would have told him just that. She would have been all in his face.
Instead she closed the door. “We need to talk,” her eyes flitted to Ginger, who was watching them in open curiosity. Five-year old Ty was trailing his older brother and Scotty looked down at him. He didn’t know what she wanted to talk about but he was afraid—even more afraid then he had been a minute before she walked through the door and he had envisioned every terrible crime possible befalling her.
“Tyrone, go with Ginger. Vanessa and I are going outside for a while.” He said.
“Can I go with you and Vanessa?” Ty asked innocently. Tyrone, along with Beady were products of a union between Tracy and the child molesting Mr. Johnny. Luckily for Tyrone the man had spent zero time with the child before succumbing to AIDS only months after receiving his diagnosis.
Tyrone was smart, could already read scrip
tures from the bible and with his cocoa brown skin, light eyes and unruly dark curls he was sure to grow up to be as handsome as his half brother Phonso.
Scotty bent done until he was on eye level with his brother.
“Not right now, Buddy. We’ll go for a ride tomorrow. We haven’t seen Mom in a while.”
Ty nodded solemnly and then he was the one to take Ginger’s hand and lead her back to the living room where the television was loudly playing the movie of the week.
Scotty’s eyes scanned Vanessa’s weary face and then he lead her outside. They sat down on the stairs next to each other and Scotty felt her lean her head against his arm. Wordlessly he placed his arm around her shoulder and they sat that way as he waited for her to speak.
Maybe she would tell him that he was an asshole and she was leaving him. And if that were the case he would find a way to agree. He would find a way not to show his emotions—the same way he had shielded his pain and anger when she had described what Donald had done to her that fateful night.
“I saw a lawyer today,” she whispered. “I didn’t believe you. But you were right. That lawyer on television, Alexander Rosenthal, he agreed that you were going to serve time.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat, surprised that she could still speak so calmly.
“He said we could get ten to twenty but he doubted if there was a chance for anything less than that.”
Scotty nodded. He rubbed her shoulder.
“We have to talk about the future,” he said quietly.
“What’s going to happen with your brothers and sisters? Miss Gloria?” She looked up at him and Scotty was proud of the look of strength she displayed. He knew that she was falling apart inside but she was strong. They were strong. She would get through this.
“I talked to Miss Gloria and she’s going to apply for subsidized housing. I already told Erica and EJ that once that happened they’d probably go into foster care.”