by B. M. Hardin
Both lawyers approached the bench and a few seconds later they returned.
“Mr. Dakota Ramsey, please stand.” Dakota stood up. “You understand the terms of this guilty plea?”
Dakota nodded. “Yes sir.”
“Okay. You pled guilty to one count conspiracy to commit the murder of Ms. Chevey Marie Gill. Therefore, I hereby sentence you to 11 years in a state penitentiary, with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 76 months. Take him away. Court adjourned.”
I ran towards Dakota at the sound of the gavel.
“What did you do? What did you do?” I asked him.
Surprisingly, he smiled. “I forgave you.”
I shook my head and I caught sight of Kenny walking out of the courtroom. He looked disappointed, and then he disappeared.
They started to pull Dakota away.
“We only have 11 more years to go. Wait for me?”
I nodded. “I’ll wait for your forever. I love you, Dakota.”
“And this is showing you how much I should’ve loved you.”
And with that he was gone…
************
CHAPTER TEN
“Thou shall not hold grudges. Forgive.”
Virginia State Penitentiary
Visitation Day.
“Hey Mama, I’m surprised to see you. When they said Mrs. Ramsey, I thought they were talking about Yaya,” Dakota said.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk son, so I asked Yaya if I could come today.”
“Okay.”
“How are you doing in here?”
“I don’t really know how to answer that question. But I’m going to stay positive and try to get through these 76 months and go up for parole. I can’t wait to get home. But I want you to know something Mama. You don’t have to know why I did what I did, or agreed to go to prison, but I want you to know that I didn’t do it. You didn’t fail with me. I didn’t do it.”
I smiled at him. “I know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know that you didn’t do it Dakota, because I helped her do it.”
He looked at me confused.
“Dakota, I lied to you, I lied to everyone, about who your real father really was. The man that died of cancer, my husband, he wasn’t your father. Your father was Braxton Fairfield-Jones. My boss for 10 years. He too, was into computers, had his own business, that’s where you get your smarts from. I used to clean his building. I did a good job too. Some nights, I would be cleaning pretty late, and I would see him cheating time and time again on his wife. Or, maybe I should say that I would hear him. But it wasn’t any of my business. And then one night, I went into the storage closet for some trash bags and he came in behind me. He raped me Dakota.”
I watched my son, as he started to shake his head. I continued with the truth.
“He raped me. And a month later, I found out that I was pregnant with you. I was so angry. I was so angry that I could kill somebody. And so, I did. I’d quit my job, the day after it happened, but he never asked for my keys. I knew that his security cameras were just for show, so when all of the regular employees left, I went there. I used my key to get in. He was sitting at his desk, all high and mighty. I went to ask him for money for an abortion.”
Dakota breathed hard. But I kept talking.
“Money was tight. You know, it was back in the day, and colored folks didn’t make much as it was. So, I went to ask him. I didn’t want to, but I was desperate. I didn’t want you and I didn’t want to lose my husband. You see, Benny, the man who you called Daddy, had an accident when he was younger, and he knew that he couldn’t have kids. So, I needed that money. But Mr. Braxton laughed in my face. He’d told me that he wasn’t giving me a dime, and even asked if I was ready for part two. That night, he came towards me. He was going to rape me again Dakota, and it all happened so fast, that---I stabbed him. Right in the neck. I’d taken the knife with me, but I hadn’t really planned to use it. He left me no choice. I watched him fall to the ground. I could’ve called for help. I could’ve tried to stop the bleeding. But I didn’t. I just stood there. I wanted him to die. I remember glancing down at my gloves. It was winter, and I’d been sure to wear them on purpose. I smiled as I watched him take his last breath. I didn’t live far from the office, for ten years I’d walked there every day, so I was back home before Benny had even had a chance to miss me. He’d thought that I was outside smoking a cigarette. That night once he went to bed, I burned all of the clothes that I’d been wearing in our fire place. I even threw the knife inside of there. Benny would’ve been my alibi, but I never needed one. Surprisingly, no one ever suspected me. No police ever came knocking on the door. Apparently, he was involved in a scandal and had been receiving death threats for quite some time. They didn’t really know where to start looking for his killer. To this very day, his murder, is still unsolved.”
“Mama, I can’t believe…”
“Believe none of what people tell you boy. But you can’t deny what you see.” I retrieved the old article of newspaper from my shoe. He looked at the photo of this man. He couldn’t deny the resemblance.
“He gave me you. I know. A long time to tell a lie. It was golden, some may say. I lied to Benny and told him that I’d been having an affair, and asked for his forgiveness. I told him that I was pregnant, and that the Daddy had run away to chase his dream as a musician. But the truth was, your real daddy was a lying, cheating, dead rapist. We moved from up North, down to the South, and I moved on. I saw past the pain and learned to love you. You are my son. And questioning God, was something that I’d always been warned not to do. So, I played the hand that I’d been dealt. But when you started cheating on your wife, you reminded me of your father. You disappointed me. And son, just like him, you had a price to pay. Yaya came to me with her thoughts, and I helped her make her plan work. Without me, her and the fellow would’ve never been able to pull it off. Even though they messed everything up. Cheater’s always lose son. I’ve always told you that.”
“But Ma, I’m your fucking son!”
“And you were also her husband. That was a vow, far more important than anything. Far more important than me. You needed to be taught a lesson. I guess you can consider this your lesson learned.”
Dakota stared at me with hatred in his eyes, but I could still see past them into his heart. “I’m glad that things worked out the way that they did. You’ll be back home with your wife and kids, before you know it. Maybe this time, you’ll do right by them. Just like I taught you. You might want to consider yourself lucky. Had she listened to my first suggestion, you’d be dead.”
I stood up, and stared at my son.
“You’ve been forgiven. She’s forgiven you. And you forgave her. That’s why you’re in here and not her. Now, we all can forget. All I can ask is that you forgive me for my hand in all of this and for lying to you about who your real father was for all of those years. I’m sure that I don’t have long before I meet the Good Man above, and I’m sure that I’ll get my judgement then. We all have to pay. Someday. Someway. I know you don’t understand this son. But in due time. You will.”
I kissed my speechless son on the cheek. And I left him one last piece of advice.
“Dakota, if you remember nothing else, remember this. Remember the golden rule: Do unto others, only what you want done to you. Because someone, always, lies better than you.”
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THE END
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