A Clean Up Man

by M. T. Pope

  “I don’t know, man. It just might work out. Besides, your father did give a pretty convincing testimony.” I nodded my head and continued to stare up front as the prosecuting lawyer tried to talk to the judge about something. The look on his face was one of pure disdain and confusion. It look like he wanted to snatch the guy off of the stand and beat him up, but all he did was walk back to his seat in defeat.

  “Yeah, he did.” Carlos nodded and smiled. I could tell he was proud of his newfound father. “I guess we will have to wait and see.”

  “True.” That was all I could get out as I looked at the back of Jarrod’s head. If I had a gun I would have . . . I would have done just what I was doing now: nothing but waiting to see what the end would be.

  When both lawyers rested their cases, the jury went to the back office to deliberate. We knew that it wasn’t in our favor when the jury walked back in the courtroom fifteen minutes later.

  “What say you, foreman?” The judge spoke, positioning himself toward the jury.

  “We, the jury, find Jarrod Sparks guilty on all counts.”

  I was blown away. I was sure that he was going to get off. I mean, the main witness recanted his statement and they still found him guilty. The whole courtroom erupted in frenzy and the judge had to bang his gavel to restore the order. The judge then gave the date of Jarrod’s arraignment, which was a week or two away. I guessed he was going to spend the last little bit of time on the street with his family. I couldn’t say that I was glad this happened this way. I had a lot of blame in this and I felt shame for being such an idiot. I would forgive myself over time and move on with my life.

  “Yes.” Carlos pumped his fist. I couldn’t say I was as happy as Carlos was, since he didn’t have to do a lick of time in jail. He still lost his job, though. But since I was looking for a new partner and I needed a chaperon on my job, Carlos automatically became my new employee.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here.” I motioned to everyone: my mom, Angie, Carlos, Carla, and Carlos’s mom and dad. But before we could all get out of the courtroom there was a whole bunch of yelling and then two guys rushed toward Jarrod in a real quick motion.

  “Oh my God, he got a knife!” I heard a woman yell. Before the bailiff could get to Jarrod, the men attacked him hard and fast. I saw Jarrod struggle and fight but a stab to the gut ended his fight. We watched in horror as the police rushed the room and arrested the two men who stabbed Jarrod. Everybody was rushed out of the room as some paramedics rushed in hurriedly. I didn’t know if anyone else knew this, but Jarrod’s wife stood by looking, and she seemed unaffected by the whole scene.

  The police cleared the whole courtroom and we all ended up out front of the courthouse. We waited to see what the outcome would be. What happened to Jarrod? That was the burning question that lumbered through my head as we waited outside in the balmy weather.

  About fifteen minutes later, a stretcher came out of the courthouse and down the stairs. We all stood by and watched them wheel a covered body down the steps and into the back of the ambulance that pulled up not too long ago. Everybody knew that the worst had happened. Jarrod was dead. His wife was ushered out of the courthouse and into a waiting car by who I assumed were a few family members.

  “Damn, did that just happen?” Carlos looked at me in astonishment. I couldn’t believe it myself. The truth was this was a part of the last card that I pulled out of my sleeve at the hospital. I anonymously sent the package to one of Jarrod’s wife’s brothers and the rest was history. I just thought they would rough him up some or beat him up real bad. I didn’t think it would come to this. I didn’t want him to die. I wanted everything to end good with this situation, but it didn’t. A man lost his life. A family lost a family member and two boys lost a father. I was not happy that this happened at all. I wanted to blame myself, but the truth was that this may or may not have happened at all if I was around. If Jarrod continued on his way the results probably would have been the same, I surmised. I also had a feeling that the guy who gave Jarrod the marijuana was on the downlow himself and Jarrod used him to get what he wanted. I could only imagine what Jarrod said to him to get him to recant his statement. This was a secret that I definitely would be taking to the grave.

  Chapter 37

  A New Chapter

  It was springtime, a year after the trial, and I was standing in front of the church with a tuxedo on. No, I wasn’t getting married. It was Carlos and Carla’s wedding. They were finally tying the knot. It was in a big, beautiful church in Cecil County, Maryland. The whole church was packed to capacity and there were smiles on the faces of everyone. I was happy with my life right now.

  “What are you thinking about?” I leaned over and whispered in Carlos’s ear.

  “My beautiful wife.” He smiled with pride.

  “I know y’all are going to get it in tonight after the reception,” I joshed.

  “And you know this, man.” He and I both chuckled while looking at the minister, hoping he didn’t get what we were saying.

  “Man, I’m going to tear that up.” He spoke out of the side of his mouth. “We are going to break some shit tonight.” I almost burst into laughter, but I held it together.

  I looked around the room at all of the people and smiled to myself as I spotted my mother and Angie in their seats. Who would have thought that I had the person I was looking for in my life all of the time, and they were doing the exact thing I needed them to do, but I didn’t accept it in the form that it came in? We as people always want what we want and we want it in the package that we want it to come in. But life doesn’t work that way; we get the things that we need, it just never comes in the package that we want it to come in. Be it a mate, money, or just a question about life. I knew now that if I asked for something, more than likely I’d get it, but not in the package that I’d want it to come in.

  I turned my attention back up to the front where I was. And then the music started to play. Carla was making her entrance at the door of the chapel. She looked beautiful. A white dress accentuated her every curve, yet it left some stuff to the imagination. It was very tastefully worn, if I do say so myself.

  “She looks beautiful, Carlos,” I whispered in his ear. I could see a few tears glistening in the side of his eye. It made my heart melt. I was extremely happy for him.

  “I can’t even describe how I feel right now. She’s just . . .” He couldn’t even finish his sentence before the tears flowed freely out of his eyes. We all watched as Carlos’s dad walked Carla down the aisle. Since her father had died of pancreatic cancer a few years ago, she decided to ask Carlos’s dad to walk down the aisle with her. I thought that it was the sweetest thing to do and see right now. Carlos’s father was just released into a halfway house after doing almost a year in jail. Shawn Black worked that out with the prosecutors for his testimony in the case against Jarrod. He was coming into his own now, and Carlos even said that his mom may take him back after it was all said and done.

  Everything in the ceremony was just beautiful right now. My eyes left Carla for a moment and made their way over to Patrick, Carla’s brother. He was a fine specimen of a man. I mean fine and young. Well, he was only two years younger than me but, hey, it was all good to me. He was a spitting image of Carla with the exception of his manly features. He was medium built, close to six feet tall, with nice broad shoulders. Plus he was dark chocolate with closely cut hair. He wasn’t the over-the-top type and he carried himself conservatively and had a smile that lit up a room when he walked in. I know it sounds cliché, but it was true to me. He winked at me; I blushed and turned my attention back to Carla, who was now at the front of the chapel holding hands with Carlos.

  I’m not even going to lie and say that everything was peaches and cream in my life. I got a citation in the mail along with a fine that was big enough for me to not even look at another married man.

  Yes, I still had the urge for a married man every now and then, but with each and every passing day with
Patrick and my renewed relationship with my family I would be fine. Patrick knew all of the things about my past. I decided to divulge everything to Patrick so I could start on a good foot with him. I didn’t want to be the deceitful and bitter person I was before. I also joined a group that specialized in help with sexual addiction. I didn’t know I had really had that problem until I looked back at all of the sex I had over the last two years. I was getting it on.

  Man, I was crazy! I was going to need all of my family and friends there to keep me on the straight and narrow road. I was slowly walking in the right direction. I was on the road to a healthy outlook on life and love.

  “You okay, baby?” my mother asked me as we sat at a reception table. I did have my spot up front with the bride and groom, but after everyone started to dance and mingle I decided to come over and talk to my mom.

  “Yes, I am.” I laid my head on her shoulder like I did when I was a little boy.

  “That’s good, Kraig. You really had a lot going on there for a while, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I did.” I sat up and looked at her in the face. She smiled and the rubbed me on the cheek gently. “I’m sorry for all of the mess I caused. I was so childish and stupid.”

  “Baby, you weren’t stupid. You were being human. As humans we all think we can handle everything by ourselves, but the truth is we need each other. Son, I hid some stuff too and now we both have a fresh start. It’s what we need right now. A new chapter in our lives.”

  “Yes, that is true.” I nodded my head in agreement. “There is nothing like newness and change.”

  “Baby, did you forgive yourself?” she asked me.

  I looked at her for a few seconds, a little stunned by the question.

  “Yes, ma’am, I did.” I smiled.

  “Good, now get your butt up and get on the dance floor. Go out there and shake what your momma gave ya.” She fell out laughing and so did Angie, who sitting next to her. We were on better terms too. Not best friends, but a lot better. Truth was, I didn’t know her like I could have, but now I had the chance to ask all of the questions that I wanted to ask.

  I didn’t have the traditional family in appearance, but I had one and I was proud of them. Our secret remained between the immediate family and Carlos’s family and that was it. Not a perfect ending, but it was a perfect beginning.

  THE END!

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  A Clean Up Man Copyright © 2012 M.T. Pope

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.

  ISBN: 978-1-6228-6173-6

  This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.