“Objection, your honor!” Stanson shouted, jumping up.
“Sustained,” Judge Carmichael replied and gave Dyano a look of warning before prompting him to continue.
For the next couple of hours, I sat through testimony after testimony of expert witnesses Stanson had gathered to prove that a murder had been committed. Forensic experts testified that the blood found at the scene belonged to Tami, that there were no traces of drugs in the blood tested, and that there was no way she could possibly be alive after the amount found.
Dyano only crossed to ask a few simple questions but otherwise allowed the prosecution to have their way. As he’d told me earlier, his task wasn’t to prove that a murder hadn’t taken place, but that I didn’t do it. Even when the expert came on the stand to speak about the murder weapon, a butcher knife covered in dried blood that had been found near the scene and was the missing knife to a set in my kitchen, Dyano didn’t say much about it.
Once Stanson was finished, Judge Carmichael called for a brief recess for lunch. I checked my watch. It was only a little after noon, but I felt like I’d been there all day long.
“One of my assistants is going to grab you a sandwich from the shop next door. There is a room outside and down the hall that they’ve reserved for you to relax and eat.”
“Hell nah.” I shook my head. “I can’t eat shit right now.”
“You don’t have to,” he replied as he gathered his things. “But it’s the best place for you to be for the moment. Grab all of your things because I doubt you’ll be back into this room. I’m going to petition the judge to throw out this case based on some new evidence.”
“What evidence?”
He pressed his lips into a straight line and once again kept his eyes low so they didn’t meet mine. “I really can’t say but it’ll all become clear soon.”
Running my hand over my jaw, I followed Dyano out of the courtroom with the bailiff trailing behind me. Still, Sage was nowhere to be found.
“She’s in the room already,” Dyano told me as if he already knew what I was thinking.
“Thanks,” I said. When I looked up at him, he wasn’t paying attention to me.
“I’ll be right back.”
Before I could respond, he took off in one direction and I began to walk in another, making my way to the room he’d pointed me towards.
“Excuse me, Mr. Richardson, can I get a quote for my magazine? It’s a small, independently run Black magazine that outlines the injustices that we, Black Americans, have to—”
“Damn, man, you wanna watch where you’re going?” someone snapped, not loud but aggressive enough to seem as though it were.
I recognized the voice. It was Kale. I turned around in time to see him glaring into Dyano as he looked him up and down with suspicion.
“My apologies. I’m in a hurry and didn’t see you there. Thank you so much for coming out to support Mr. Richardson today during his trial.”
“I’m here to support a friend,” Kale replied, and I caught his drift. He purposely didn’t specify a name, so I wasn’t sure whether he was referring to Tami or me.
“Mr. Richardson, can I—”
“I can’t give you a comment right now but give me a call after all this is over and I promise that I’ll give you the first exclusive interview,” I said and then turned around to walk over to where Kale stood.
“Yo, Kale, let me speak with you for a minute.”
Before I could close the distance between us, he frowned, turned his back to me, and then walked away. Clearly, he had picked up on Dyano’s theory for my defense. I felt someone staring at me and I wasn’t surprised when I turned around and realized it was Indie. She looked uncomfortable by my presence, swaying from leg-to-leg once our eyes connected.
“What’s up, Indie? You good?”
She ducked her head, pressed her lips in a firm line before nodding.
“Yes, but—” She lifted her eyes to mine. “I hope you don’t mind me being here.”
“What?” I frowned and took another step closer to her. We were surrounded by people who, though they were pretending to mind their business, were definitely paying attention.
“Why would you say something like that?”
Now Indie looked even more confused than I was.
“Because of your last text. The one where you told me not to text you anymore and that my number was going to be blocked. I thought you were kidding, and I called you right after but when it went straight to voicemail, so it was obvious you weren’t. I know you don’t want anything to do with me but I didn’t feel right not supporting you.”
Running my hand over the top of my head, I blew out a harsh breath and then looked right at her, directly in her eyes.
“Listen, Indie, there is no way I would’ve ever said some shit like that. You know what you mean to me. We got into a while back but that doesn’t change shit. You and Dav are family to me. I would never do something like that to you.”
“But you did,” she cut in. “The text came to me from your phone and…”
Her words died as she paused, her eyes raking around us as she searched the area for someone. Suddenly, they zeroed in on a subject and she narrowed her eyes, glaring hard. I followed her line of sight until I found who she was focused on. It was Sage.
“Nah, don’t even go there. She didn’t send you no text from my phone. She doesn’t even have the code to unlock it.”
“Well, who did?” Indie countered.
When I didn’t say anything, she pulled her phone out and began going through it, scrolling through her messages most likely.
“Look at this,” she said and then pressed the screen of her phone in front of my face. The message was there, clear as day, from my number to hers.
“Yo, I don’t know who sent that, but I didn’t.”
“I believe you,” she said, cutting her eyes towards Sage once more. “These days, there is a lot that you didn’t do, even though it looks like you did.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
The fury on Indie’s face melted away and was replaced with something that looked more like worry and concern. Reaching out, she placed her hand on my arm as tears filled her eyes.
“It means that you need to be careful who you allow around you. Maybe my feelings for you got in the way of what I thought about the women you dealt with, but I have nothing but love for you and I want you to be happy with anyone you choose to be with. I want you to know that, no matter what, I’m always here for you. I’ve loved you for a long time, Ink, and I always will.”
In that moment, something felt different for me. There was always a spark between Indie and me but we both chose to ignore it for a long time. Now, as I looked at her, especially when I saw the fear in her eyes, I was reminded of how much I’d failed her in the past few months. She hadn’t contacted me, but she had a reason not to. According to what she knew, I had pushed her away. But what was my excuse?
“How’s Dav?” I asked, feeling guilty about referencing someone that I’d been a father figure to but hadn’t seen in over a month.
Indie smiled as she began to update me on her son.
“He’s good. His grades are up and—”
“Ink? You don’t have a lot of time. There is food in the breakroom for you.”
I watched as Indie’s entire body visibly tensed at the sound of Sage’s voice. I couldn’t understand why she was so bothered by her, more than any other woman that I’d ever been with.
“You go ahead,” I said, looking over at her. “I’ll catch up.”
There was a moment of hesitation and I thought Sage would fight me on it but, in the end, she turned to leave, doing as I asked. However, she wore her displeasure all over her face before she stalked away, walking harder than usual.
“You shouldn’t have done that. She’s going to be pissed.” Indie laughed a little, showing that she was more than happy to see Sage so upset. Women were a trip.
“Le
t me worry about that later. I don’t have a lot of time and I’ve wasted enough already by forgetting to be there for the ones who have always been around for me. I can’t tell you how this thing will end but I can’t get locked up for the rest of my life with you thinking that I would write you off like that.”
The more I spoke, the more Indie’s smile spread up her face. I wasn’t sure about what I was going to say next, but it seemed like the perfect time to say it.
“Do you want to come by for dinner tonight? Tamiyah would be happy to see you and it’s been too long since I’ve seen Dav. He’s probably tall as hell now.”
She lifted one brow. “And Sage?”
I ran a hand over my face and chuckled a little at the way she said her name. Lots of judgement and attitude, something I was used to when it came to Indie. It was at that moment that I realized Sage and I never argued, she never challenged me and never disagreed with what I said. The moment that I had told her that arguing was what ruined Tami and me, her confrontational side disappeared. It made things peaceful, but a little spice of a good debate didn’t hurt from time to time.
“I think she’ll understand me wanting to spend some time with an old friend, especially with what’s happening. And if she doesn’t, fuck it. I’m calling an audible.”
Indie laughed so hard that people around us began to take notice, more than a few raising their brows. After a while, even I realized that something was wrong, and that thought was confirmed when I saw tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m just...” She paused and dabbed at the teardrops in the corner of her eyes. “It’s been a while and I didn’t really expect us to be friends again, so I’d kinda already gotten used to not having you in my life. We were so close and then, in the next moment, we weren’t even friends. And now, you have a girlfriend but you’re inviting me to dinner and I’m actually wondering if I want to go because… What will come of it? I just finally got my feelings in check when it comes to you and—”
She was rambling and I figured I should take her out of her own misery. Grabbing onto her arms, I held her until she lifted her head to look in my face.
“Aye, calm down. It’s only dinner, alright? We just eating. Let’s take this shit one day at a time. That’s how I’ve been doing it. It’ll work for you, too.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding. “You’re right. Thanks.”
At that exact moment, a sudden whirr of activity began to build as everyone around us was either looking at their phones or tablets, or staring at someone else’s. A few people were running back and forth, holding their cell phones to their ears talking excitedly about something that I couldn’t hear. Next to us, a woman dressed in a black suit was watching something on her phone with her hand over her mouth in shock.
“What is it?” Indie said to the woman. Walking closer to her, she placed her hand on her arm to catch her attention and then asked again.
“What is it? What’s everyone looking at?”
33
Sage
“It’s a video,” I said, answering Indie’s question. “Someone uploaded an anonymous video from the night that Tami was killed. It shows Kale leaving her motel room with blood all over his clothes.”
“What?”
Holding out my phone, I passed it over to Ink so that he could see for himself. With my arms folded over my chest, I looked from him over to Indie who was probably trying to find the video on her phone. My irritation with her presence couldn’t be denied. Anyone with eyes and half a brain could see that she had a thing for Ink. And it was also obvious how much she didn’t like me. From the very first time I’d seen her after Ink and I had become somewhat serious, I’d tried to be nice to her but all she’d ever given me was attitude. I understood that I was yet another woman coming in and attracting the man she wanted but it wasn’t my fault that she’d had all the time in the world to lock Ink down and failed.
After watching the clip, Ink lifted his head and stood straight as a board, his expression stony and cold.
“Here,” he said and handed over my phone.
I took it and slipped it into my purse. “I’ve already texted Dyano. He’s with Stanson in the Judge’s chambers, trying to get the case thrown out.”
Even though he was processing what I was saying, there was no show of relief.
Indie was frowning as she shook her head and stood in front of Ink. I tried not to glare at her as she took her place.
“This can’t be true. Kale didn’t do this. Something isn’t right.”
I snapped. “You’ve got to be kidding, right?”
At that exact moment, Kale walked back through the doors of the courthouse and locked eyes with Ink as he proceeded through security. As soon as he was spotted, every single person inside the front entrance ignored the judge’s order of no cell phone videos and photos and lifted up their devices.
With one hand on Ink’s arm as if it would be enough to hold him back, I watched Kale maneuver through the metal detector.
“I thought he was gone.”
“This motherfucka...” I heard Ink sneer under his breath. With one quick motion, he nudged my hand away and, in the next instance, he was charging towards Kale.
“Ink, don’t!” Indie and I both yelled at the same time. It was too late.
Ink lifted his hand and delivered a right hook straight to Kale’s chin, dropping him instantly. A team of officers swarmed in and grabbed Ink by his arms, pulling him away before he could continue his assault. Another officer grabbed onto Kale who struggled against them as they tried to keep control. Not only was he strong but his strength was magnified by the fact that he was mad as hell. Ink had got one up on him and he was eager to settle the score.
“Ink! What are you doing?” That was Dyano.
“What in the world!” That was Judge Carmichael.
“This shit is insane!” And, that was Stanson.
Apparently, their meeting was over, and they now had a front row seat to what would be the next breaking headline of newspapers around the world.
“Yo, I’m good. Let me go,” Ink said, pulling away from the officers. They released him; however, they stayed in close proximity in case he decided to charge again.
“Get da fuck off me!”
Kale, on the other hand, was still fighting with the officers holding on to him. One had his hand on his taser, primed and ready to use it if and when it came to it.
“Cuff him!” one of the officers yelled once it became clear that he wasn’t going to cooperate.
“For what? That motherfucka jumped on me!”
“Oh my god!” Indie cried out. “They are hurting him.”
I wanted to slap her ass. Had she not watched the same video that everyone else had?
With Kale’s face pressed to the ground and his body pinned under the weight of four officers, they were finally able to get his arms behind his back.
“You killed her!” someone screamed. “Why did you kill Tami?”
“I didn’t do shit!” Kale shouted through his teeth and then looked from Indie to Ink. “How y’all gon’ let them do this to me?”
No one moved as one officer pulled out his cuffs and secured one and then the other on his wrists. Next they began to pull him up from the ground and that’s when something shiny slipped out of his jacket pocket. The sound of metal hitting the floor and ricocheting across the tile caught nearly everyone’s attention and we all followed the object to where it stopped right at Ink’s feet.
“The fuck?” Ink almost shouted as he knelt down to grab what appeared to be a ring. A flawless, platinum diamond ring.
“This was Tami’s. I bought it for her to replace her old ring when we first moved here. How the fuck do you have it?”
Nearly half the people, including me, seemed to gasp in unison. I covered my mouth with my hand and joined everyone as we waited for Kale’s reply. His eyes were stretched wide in sheer horror; his usually glowing chocolate skin looked like it had gone pale. He squinte
d at the ring in Ink’s hand and then shook his head.
“Ink, listen. On God, that ain’t come from me. Somebody is setting me up. You gotta listen to me, man.”
“This is her ring, Kale!” Ink’s eyes were narrowed into slits as he spoke in a cold and low tone. “She had it on the last time I saw her alive. How you gon’ explain this shit?”
Behind where he stood, I saw Stanson’s head droop low. He knew that the case he’d built was over and the media was going to tear him alive for trying to put away an innocent man.
“Ink, it was him!” Kale yelled suddenly.
His head was lifted, and he had his eyes narrowed in and pointed directly at where Dyano stood.
“He did this shit! You saw it; he bumped into me. That was when he did it!”
Dyano’s brows jumped and he chuckled incredulously. “Judge, clearly he’s delusional so I won’t address his accusation. We’ve already discussed the video that was anonymously sent to my email during this morning’s proceedings but, in light of this additional evidence, I think it’s even more obvious that you made the right choice in deciding to dismiss this case.”
Kale looked like a maniac as he stood in the middle of the courthouse, surrounded and held up by officers while accusing a celebrated and highly awarded attorney for setting him up for murder. A few people tried to hold in their chuckles or covered them behind various objects they were holding in their hands. None were on his side. Kale noticed and cast helpless eyes in Indie’s direction. She was his only ally.
“Indie, you know I wouldn’t do this shit. Remember what I said... what I told you that night. I can’t prove it but what I told you was true. This isn’t me.”
When I looked over at her, wondering what in the world Kale was talking about, the first thing I noticed was that she couldn’t meet my eyes.
“What is he talking about, Indie? What did he say?” Ink asked.
She kept her head bowed. She couldn’t meet his eyes either.
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