Stand By Me

by Blu, Cora

  “We're gonna make it through this, Honey. Our love is strong and no one can change who you are to me. Not the prison bars or handcuffs or my lonely bed at night will change the reason my heartbeats. It's Jonathan and Kenya. Not Kenya and whoever else comes along while your away.”

  “Keep talking like that and I'm requesting a conjugal visit. And I won't give a damn whose watching.”

  He wasn't alone in that thought. Kenya said in a low voice, “Give me a time and I'm there, red bottom shoes and all.”

  “Donna tease me woman. I dream of ye so much I leave space for ye on me cot at night.” He sighed deep in the line. “I love ya, Mo Ru'n, now get back to Red before I start fondling me groin.” Now that she was on fire with that visual she looked at the bird on her arm.

  Red ruffled his feathers out then tucked them into his sides. “I can feel his body thrumming from the flight.”

  “He's cooling down. Has the handler got his hood on, yet?”

  Kenya angled back as Red jerked when the cap went on. “Doing it now.”

  “You don't know how much I needed this, Kenya. You mean the world to me.”

  “I needed it too. We're still a family no matter how far away you are.” She got quiet. “Jonathan, I had an ultrasound today.” Kenya held the phone tight to her face and spoke clearly. “We're having a boy, Blakemore.”

  His response pushed the phone from her face. “A boy! Kenya...did you say, a boy,” he stammered and she could hear his breath catch. “I'm having a son...Ethan Jonathan Blakemore,” he announced, his brogue deep and proud warming her heart.

  She’d hoped when the doctor told her the baby’s sex for that reaction. “Is that final, my son's name?” she teased.

  “Mo Ru'n,” his voice was a determined vow and she remembered his middle name was Ethan. “That's what I've always wanted me son's name to be. Do you like it?”

  Her heart flipped under the adorable excitement she heard in his voice. It’s been so long since he’s been this happy. “It's a handsome name--I love it, Blakemore. I think it's perfect,” she said eyeing Seamus winking at her from the bench.

  “I think your perfect, absolutely, perfect, Kenya.” Looking out over the river she prayed the day would come soon that the three of them would stand there together as a family.She could picture Ethan running through the grass playing with Judge and Jonathan chasing them around the grounds under the warm spring sun. Whew! Get him home first girl then dream.

  She came back to herself as the quiet, she dreaded, filled the air signaling their time ending.

  “You'll stand by me, Kenya?”

  “Always.” The line went dead as the minute hand on her watch signaled their fifteen minutes to be over. Kenya slipped the phone into her jeans pocket and eased down beside Seamus on the bench.

  “Yer a good woman, Kenya,” Seamus beamed with pride and it warmed the air around her enough to make her smile.

  “I need him home, Seamus.” Resting her face on his shoulder, together, they sat and watched the river flow by, her hands closed around his biceps. She spoke against his shoulder, “I love your grandson...Lord help me, but I need him home. Some days I handle it fine. When you came out of the coma and the nurse called I breathed a little more. Then there’s the days it all crashes around me and I crumble. Those were the worst.”

  He tucked her in tight to his body as the cool air blew through her hair moving it around her face. “You gave him a reason to care. We'll get him home, donna worry, Kenya, we'll get me grandson home...” he trailed off stroking a hand down over her hair. They sat in the warmth of the morning sun forever it seemed before going into the castle.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kenya couldn't believe how fast Jonathan's trial came up. The courtroom held a funky boastful pride about it with Brian all smug and arrogant on the prosecutor's side. Scanning the rows behind him she searched for Morgan. Where could she be? What had he done with her sister? Brian's hands were dirtier than she first thought. He's greased some palms somewhere, there was no doubt in her mind.

  Her gaze fell over the courtroom comparing it to those in the States, and the feeling of death row filled her mind. It was next to impossible not to fixate on the guns packed into the holsters on the hips of the bailiffs flanking either side of the Judge's desk.

  People milled around whispering and speculating about what exactly happened that evening in the hospital parking lot.

  She smoothed her gray skirt down over her knees crossing them to keep from wiggling too much. Anxiety ate at her nerves seeing Jonathan stand before the court with his lawyer. His proud posture and broad shoulders filled her with pride and trepidation because of his size; if he went to prison men would challenge him daily. It wasn't him getting hurt that bothered her, but because of his size and wealth, men would test him and he'd be stuck in solitary for beating up people.

  Peering around the courtroom, she reached back and held Sophie's hand caressing her tenderly. She absorbed the comfort before Katherine moved in massaging her thigh as she had when she'd come in from riding her bike all day.

  “All rise,” the bailiff, said when the side door behind the stand opened and the judge entered the room, his black cloak floating around his body. The courtroom echoed by people getting comfortable in their seats after the judge ordered the room to be seated.

  “Jonathan Blakemore you have been charged with the death of Graham Brennar, former accountant to Blakemore estates and two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of manslaughter.” The judge read off the names. One by one, their families sent tight glances over toward Jonathan. They were wailing crocodile tears, smudging their three too many layers of mascara down their pale faces, shouting how great these men were. They had to be talking about other men. The men that attacked her had been slimy slugs with torture on their minds. “How do you plead on the death of Graham Brennar, Mr. Jonathan Blakemore?”

  Kenya held her breath, literally, as her husband stood shoulders back, proud in the face of imprisonment.

  Jonathan held himself proud and announced, “I plead not guilty.” The room sighed. Kenya gulped and threaded her fingers with Sophie's. The room held a low buzz of anticipation as the Judge pushed a pair of wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose, before settling his stare at the paper in his hand.

  The Judge asked a second question, “On the charge of wounding two of Brian Blakemore's employees, and the deaths of two other employees how do you plead?”

  Every person's attention in that courtroom focused on Jonathan. His jaw relaxed and Kenya held her breath her fingers digging into the flesh under her knees. Jonathan's voice came out strong and proud when he said, “I plead guilty to all charges.” The room erupted. Kenya couldn't breathe, all the air in the room became toxic as she threw her hands over her face while wobbly getting to her feet. She grasped for the wooden divider, struggling to breathe around the lump of curses threatening to choke her after hearing his confession. She reached out to grab him around the waist, burrowed into his back chanting no repeatedly as the bailiff came over. “Mo Ru'n,” Jonathan turned, his tight voice reflected the pain in his heart. He held her to his chest lifting her face with one hand as his other grasped the hem of her sweater getting his hand beneath the material to flatten his hand over their baby. He spoke quickly and briefly, his fingers caressing her tummy. “Jamie's your family. Trust him. He loves you like a sister. He'll take care of you, Kenya Blakemore,” his voice held cracks in the steel armor he shielded with, but she felt his pain in his touch along her jawline.

  A wave of panic hit her as she felt him moving away. “Jonathan...no,” she pleaded as controlled as her trembling lips would allow her words to be spoken. His lapels she clutched between her fingers getting closer with the divider between them. Shaking her head in a tight side-to-side motion, she reasoned for what made sense in her mind. “Those punks had guns, Jonathan; you were just protecting your family.” Kenya laid her hand flat on her stomach. “We can't lose you.” The room came
to life as complaints and roars filled the space. He said nothing locking his stare with her, feeding her a private message.

  A hand on her back kept her from breaking completely to climb over Jonathan. Sophie threaded their fingers holding her to her hip.

  “Ma'am step back. You can't fraternize with the prisoner,” the bailiff warned almost apologetic in his tone, yet she shielded her stomach as he reached a hand between her and Jonathan. She shared a loving stare with her husband then stepped back, cutting her eyes to the bailiff. Jonathan wasn't a prisoner. This was unfair. The slithering snake that should be locked away sat behind the prosecutor and here Jonathan could get life in prison for protecting his family. She shot a hard stare onto Brian. He winked. Rage washed over her from the disgust his name alone formed in her mind.

  “Look at me, Kenya.” His handsome features filled her vision with each inch she turned toward him. “If I go to prison...” Disregarding the bailiff, she fisted Jonathan's lapels, easing him into her body, tears dripped down her face. She was sick of hiding her pain and no one had better separate them this time.

  “Mr. Hines take control of your client,” the judge directed from the stand.

  Her voice a hot mess, Kenya didn't want to hear him tell her to find another man. She said, “I'll get you out. You're my husband, my lover, and my child's father. You'll never fight a battle without me. Brian's gonna face me now.”

  His smile lit the room. “That's my girl. However, the bairn's safety comes first, Kenya. I mean it.” He tilted a serious glare down over her face. She nodded, stroking his face.

  Kenya gave in allowed the bailiff to separate them. Accepting the tissue from Katherine, she stepped back to the hard bench then sat and watched Jonathan stand before the Judge.

  “I will have order in my courtroom,” the Judge told the room, while he pounded his gavel on the block of wood. “I've gone over the charges and viewed the sketchy hospital security tapes and from the limited images I could not see where you Mr. Jonathan Blakemore were attacked.”

  Was he blind? Even she knew Jonathan was under attack in the parking lot with all the noise and gunshots being fired. What tape had the judge seen?

  Kenya sat forward tipping her stare down to Jamie. There was no way the Judge could see video of the parking lot that day and say Jonathan wasn’t under attack.

  The judge pointed to an easel as the bailiff removed a piece of paper covering the bloody pictures tacked to the board. “On the board you can see photos of the crime scene and the men lying on the ground, where they were when the police arrived.”

  The judge nodded to the bailiff who wheeled in a monitor on a cart up to the stand. The judge held up a remote aiming it at the screen and a blurry still shot filled the screen. He eyed the crowd and no one moved. Their stares were anxious focused on the screen. Under the quiet, the room stood hostage as frame after frame appeared and disappeared from the screen. It wasn't as clear as she'd expected thinking it should be clear what happened. Party store video was clearer than that, but bank video was blurred worse than anything. What would make her think the hospital’s would be any better.

  Kenya sat forward seeing herself cross the parking lot to her rental car at the hospital and holding the cell to her ear. The prosecutor stood beside the monitor cart with Jonathan’s lawyer. A low hush moved through the crowd as a dark figure on the screen, approached from the shadows, as she stood bent over getting her laptop out of the back seat. Her heartbeat sped up the closer the man came to her car. The moment filled her with a swath of naiveté at her presumption that it was her husband behind her. It never dawned on her it could be someone out to hurt her. That left a feeling of helplessness to plague her mind.

  Movement in the courtroom to her left caught her attention. Jonathan hadn't seen the video before this. His hands clasped over the table, fingers flexing mimicking a heartbeat with every step the man took on the screen. The closer the man came to her ducked down in the car, Kenya watched Jonathan's throat flush redder with each step.

  Then as if they were watching a different movie, the man slipped in behind her no longer visible to the camera and when he stood, she was wrapping her arms around his waist to walk off into the night. Kenya’s jaw dropped. She uncrossed her legs and scooted to the edge of her chair, straining her neck out getting a closer look. Sophie knees bumped hers. She shot a quick look to her left.

  Sophie whispered close to her face. “What’s going on?”

  She shook a hand toward the monitor. “That’s not the same video. That man never hugged me. He’d put his hand on my back and I thought it was Jonathan cause I handed him my phone. That’s not the same video,” she cried jumping to her feet. “That’s not what happened. That man didn’t put his arms around me, he leaned over my back your honor.”

  Jonathan jerked around his chair legs scraping across the wood floors.

  The crowd gasped and buzzed with questions at Kenya’s outburst.

  The pounding of the judge’s gavel quieted the voices. “Order, I will have order in my court.” He pointed to Kenya. “Who are you Ms.?”

  “Kenya Blakemore, your honor.” Jonathan’s brows shot up. Obviously, she was the only one who knew what happened at the beginning of the tape. “Someone’s altered that tape, that’s not what happened.”

  “Bailiff, please escort Mrs. Blakemore to the stand.” Handing Sophie her purse, Kenya crossed out of the isle and followed the bailiff to the front. “Order in my court or I will dismiss this case. Now Mrs. Blakemore those are hefty accusations you’re making. Are you willing to testify as to your claims?”

  “I was there, that’s not…”

  He cut her off, “Are you willing to testify to your accusations?”

  “I am your honor.”

  The judge glanced out to the defense and prosecutor. “Does either side object to Mrs. Blakemore taking the stand?”

  “I do your honor,” the prosecutor said. “She’s the defendant’s wife. This could be a ploy to free her husband. Perhaps deflect the fact she was having an affair by the way she walked off with the man. I say the video stands as the truth of what happened on the day in question.” His accusation startled the room into low murmurs about her fidelity.

  Kenya wanted to hurl the gavel at him. “But he’s lying, your honor. I don’t know where that tape came from; but that’s not the way it happened.”

  “Bailiff escort Mrs. Blakemore back to her seat. Defense, prosecutor in my chambers, now” The Judge ordered. Everyone stood. The judge’s black robe flapped through the air behind his thundering steps through the side door leading to his chambers followed by the two attorneys.

  At her seat, Kenya looked at Jonathan as he turned to face her over the divider. “Honey that’s not what happened. Did you see the video before today?”

  “I wasn’t allowed. Hines asked if we were having marital problems. I dismissed it. He was eliminating angles the prosecutions could’ve taken.”

  Her nails dug into the wood panel separating her from Jonathan. “Honey, someone fixed that tape. I’ll swear on whatever they need, but that prick stood over my back. I never hugged him, Jonathan.” She watched his chest tighten under her words. Did he think she was lying? “He forced me into the black sedan with three other men inside. This is why I wanted Hines to put me on the stand. No one knows what happened, but me.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face, shaking his head, his stare sad. “You’re my wife Kenya, no one’s gonna believe you.”

  “But I'm the only witness!” she ranted, gesturing to herself. “That doesn't make sense not to have taken my testimony.”

  Jonathan's face tightened. “You weren't strong enough then, Kenya.” Jonathan paused shaking his head then leaning in closer, he said in a quiet voice, “Kenya, I would nae chance you reliving that so soon and the doctor was concerned you'd go into labor. The tapes should have been enough. I love your drive and fight, but we'll do this without sacrificing our child to do it.” He warned through clinched tee
th.

  She angled away from his face afraid to ask the question forming in her mind, but something was happening between them and she didn't like it. “Do you believe me? Do you think I walked off with that man, Jonathan? Do you think I'm cheating on you?” Frantically, she searched his face fearful of seeing disbelief in his eyes.

  His eyes blazed behind her question. “Donna let them push a wall between us, Mo Ru'n. You know my faith in you is solid, now have faith in yourself and what you know happened,” he encouraged and it wasn't enough. The skeptical stares from the room fed doubt into her mind.

  “Do you think I cheated on you?” she forced unable to keep her voice down as doubt fed her hysterics. A plague of desperation swelled in the air around them. Had he lost faith in her that quickly? She fought her biggest weakness and stiffened as his face came close enough to feel the heat rolling off his skin.

  Fire filled his face, the blue of his eyes held fire she hadn't seen before. “If yer gonna lose yer mind, woman, do it when I donna need ye the most.” Kenya blinked at his harsh words, but they were honest and full of his pain as well. Jonathan closed his hand to either side of her face. “If they can come between us they will, donna make it so easy for them.”

  People had begun to watch them openly arguing and for some reason that appeared to make them real to the audience. The many faces became compassionate and concerned for the couple.

  She wasn't truly convinced as much as her heart knew her mind was pacing with worry. “Why would these people believe me over what they can see on the video? They don't know me from any stranger on the street. I saw the questioning glances when he said I was covering up an affair. I'm an outsider, Jonathan, why would they trust me over hospital security?”

  “Because they'll see what I see, the truth in your eyes when you tell what happened. Nobody can dispute the emotion in your voice when you saw that video. I heard it when you spoke out to the judge.” He touched her finger. “I put that ring on yer finger for a reason and it had nothing to do with me bairn growing in yer stomach. Yer no liar Kenya.”