“Thank you, ma’am,” Ben said, picking up the flimsy cup.
Greg also picked up his cup. “Thank you, Ms. Delilah.” Greg took a sip. Despite how the outside of the house looked and despite the old house smell, the inside was spotless. It was obvious that Ms. Delilah took great pride in it.
Delilah stared at Ben standing over him. “You say that you’re a cop?”
Ben, who was sipping on the water, looked up from the cup. “Yes ma’am, sort of.”
“I sort of don’t like cops,” the heavy woman said, limping off while adjusting the short feather cut black wig that hung unevenly on her head. “Excuse me; I put this darn thing on backward trying to get to the door when y’all knocked.”
“I’m with the Department of Criminal Investigations, ma'am,” Ben said.
“Okay, sort of a cop,” Delilah said, walking over to her couch.
Greg and Ben glanced at each other as Delilah frowned and sat down on her plastic covered yellow couch across from them. Ms. Delilah’s home reminded Greg of his grandmother’s house from the hundreds of ceramic trinkets to the plastic covered furniture.
“Ms. Delilah, we came to see if you needed anything,” Greg said, not bothering to tell her that he was an ex-cop.
Delilah struggled to lean forward. “I need you to pray that the police get to my son’s killer before I do cause they’ll show him mercy, I won’t.” Tears filled the older woman’s eyes as she stared at Greg. She then covered her face with her shaky hands.
“Pastor, I need the good Lord to remember me. Devon had dreams; he promised me that he was going to go to college and leave this neighborhood just like Cai and maybe he didn’t do things quite like God wanted him to but he did the best he could.”
Greg nodded. “Ms. Delilah, God hears you and he sees the pain.”
Closing her eyes, Delilah placed her hands together then opened them and looked over at Greg. “Pastor, this is a hard time for me but I know that God is still alive.” A large smile swept across her face. “My God don’t sleep.”
“No ma’am, he doesn’t,” Greg agreed.
Delilah put her head down then looked back up. “I have a grandbaby that I’m responsible for now and I’m gonna make sho that the person who killed his daddy don’t get no peace as long as I’m living.”
“May we pray with you, Ms. Delilah?” Greg asked.
“I don’t object to nobody praying for me.”
Greg and Ben scooted forward and held the woman’s chubby hands. The three bowed their heads as Greg led them in prayer. After the prayer ended, Delilah forced a smile. “Thank you both and I’m sorry that I wasn’t more prepared for you but I’m not myself these days. I just miss my baby so much,” she said, with her eyes red and watery.
“Ms. Delilah,” Ben said, “we’re doing everything we can to find out what happened. If you don’t mind, I’d like to come back in about a week or so on my own time and talk to you. Maybe you know something that you don’t think is important but it may be.”
Delilah smiled. “You’re welcome to come by anytime, young man, and I apologize for thinking ill of you. I want all the help I can get.”
Ben nodded. “Think nothing of it, ma’am.”
Delilah stared up at the ceiling. “People think that I cremated my baby because we don’t have no money for a funeral. But that ain’t the main reason.” She chuckled and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “I had my boy cremated because I want my baby home with me where I’ll always know where he is.”
Greg took a deep breath remembering the feeling. “I completely understand Ms. Delilah.”
She stretched her large arms and smiled as if trying to keep herself together. She looked over at Greg. “Pastor, thank you for everything,” Delilah said smiling proudly as she spoke, “you helped me keep my mind about me. I don’t know what I would’da did if God didn’t send you.”
“No thank you needed,” Greg said, pulling out an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and handing it to her. “Ms. Delilah, here is a love gift from JMC. We pray that it blesses you to take care of some of your families’ expenses. We’ve also contacted your landlord and taken care of the rent for a year. I hope that this gives you some time to work things out.”
Delilah gasped. She placed one hand on her chest and the other in the air. “Praise God!” she exclaimed looking at the envelope and then wide eyed at both men. “Y’all really doing this for us? Y’all done so much already.”
Seeing the joy on Ms. Delilah’s face was gratifying and it was times like these that reminded Greg of his mission. “JMC and I will do all we can to help you and your family. Let me know if you need anything. You can call me no matter what time it is. I’ll answer.”
Still holding her hand up in the air, she said, “I appreciate that.”
“Chief Mason and his department are working hard on Devon’s case so you have a lot of people in your corner,” Ben said.
Delilah stopped smiling. “I don’t trust that Chief. I don’t trust no man who don’t believe in God.”
Greg and Ben gave each other a look. “Ms. Delilah, you know that the Chief is actually a well- respected trustee in our church,” Greg replied.
“I don’t care if his name is engraved on the church step. Have you ever asked him if he believed in the Lord?” Ms. Delilah crossed her arms above her expanded midriff.
Greg exhaled. “Well, no ma’am, I haven’t.”
“Well there you go.” Delilah sucked her teeth. “I don’t trust nobody who got to do all that stuttering like he did when I asked him about the Lord, I ain’t no fool,” Delilah ranted.
“Ms. Delilah, Chief Mason assured me that he’s not leaving any stone unturned in Devon’s case,” Greg said.
“Son,” Delilah said, “I don’t lie and I can read people. That man keeps showing up here talking about he’s giving me updates on where they are with Devon’s case. He don’t care about no Devon. He’s hitting on my daughter who don’t want him,” Delilah rambled, scratching the center of her head causing her wig to shift. “He sniffing behind her like a puppy.”
The pitter patter of tiny feet was heard before the little body attached to them was seen running into the living room and toward the couch where Delilah sat. Her face lit up at the sight of the little boy; it was easy to see where her heart was. “Where you going?” Delilah asked the boy as she struggled to hoist the toddler onto the couch; his cotton slacks causing him to slide on the plastic. She planted a visibly wet kiss on the little boy’s forehead. “See y’all, this is the reason why I won’t let the killer of my baby live on this earth in peace.”
Cai had the flower curtain hanging in her room pulled back, staring out at Pastor Greg and Ben. She heard them talking to her mother but wasn’t in the mood to meet anybody else today. She just wanted a quick glimpse of the men that were sitting in her living room and she had no idea that the pastor looked like that. Wow. She did need to visit her mother’s church.
Chapter 20
Charlotte was supposed to be guarding all of the inmates in the cafeteria and she was, partly. At least she was trying to but she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Leon. And she noticed that he was glancing over at her periodically though she tried not to be too obvious, turning away whenever they made eye contact. But something about him was electrifying. After six years of working in the prison system, she could recall being hit on by inmates before, none of whom she’d ever given the time of day.
The preacher was different: he was handsome, articulate and confident. That day at the boy’s club, his mouth on hers sent chills down her entire body. Even in handcuffs he was confident, willing to take a chance making a move on her; no man had ever gone out on a limb like that for her before.
She looked over again at him at the table and he was looking at her. He nodded at her turning his palm just a bit to reveal a small piece of paper in his hand. She watched him discreetly push it across the table to Meyers, the young boy known in the prison as Polar Bear. As i
f on cue, Meyers stood up from the table to dump his food tray with the tiny note tucked inside his hand. Charlotte turned away with butterflies in her stomach, as anxious as a school girl to read it.
She kept her eyes on the other inmate as she walked toward the trash can. Meyers dumped his tray, dropping his fork and the note on the floor near her foot. She quickly reached down for the note as he reached for his fork. She continued canvassing the cafeteria as Frost approached her.
“Everything okay, Johnson?”
“Sir, I’m going to the ladies room; it’s an emergency.”
Frost nodded as he continued to look out over the inmates. Charlotte hurried to the restroom eager to read her note. Inside the stall, she unfolded the note. I’ve got to be alone with you or I’m going to go crazy. Charlotte stuck the note inside her bra. There were ways to accomplish that.
Chapter 21
“You know I could go to jail if we’re ever caught, don’t cha?” Charlotte asked, cuddled up with Leon beneath beige sheets in the overused queen size bed at the Motel 6. Her gray CO uniform was strewn across an armchair in the corner and her boots and belt were all lying on the lopsided wooden table.
On his back, Leon kept his eyes closed as she lay in his arms. “Don’t ever get caught then.” Charlotte was bold; he liked that. When they arrived at the Motel 6, she already had keys to the room. Once the door was opened, she threw herself at him, almost begging him to take her. He did. Now an hour later, he just wanted to relax. At one time, he would have never even considered staying at a Motel 6. But after sleeping on that prison bunk, the mattress felt like heaven and he was floating on clouds.
Leon opened his eyes, afraid to doze off. “What did you do to set this up?”
“I have a good friend at the courthouse. She got you approved to do a work release at her uncle’s recycling place for today so we could spend some time alone.”
“Work release?” Leon smiled.
“You opposed to work?” she asked.
He laughed. “Never, but you took a big risk.”
“Tisha is my girl so I’m not worried.” Charlotte turned over resting her body on his chest. “Franklin, on the other hand, is expecting his package like we agreed on though.”
“No problem, I’ll take care of it,” Leon said. Franklin was the other CO that was to accompany Charlotte with Leon today and like the warden did one time; Frank had his palms out too. He’d definitely have to make sure that Flint got that payment off to him.
Charlotte sighed. “I want to ask you something.”
“I’m listening.”
“Why me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there are other female CO’s around there, and some very attractive. Why did you choose me?”
He smiled, “I thought you were beautiful when I first laid eyes on you and I felt that we had a connection. You didn’t feel it?”
“I did,” she said. The smile across her face told him that he had her in his pocket. He could probably get whatever he needed from her at this point. Charlotte shifted on his chest to kiss it when she accidentally pressed her arm into his rib cage.
“Oooo,” he winced in pain.
Charlotte got up immediately. “I’m sorry,” she said with her hand to her mouth, looking at the bandages that were still wrapped around his torso. “I’m so sorry, can I do anything for you?” she asked with a worried look on her face.
He shook his head. “No.”
They lay silently for a moment. He could hear her breathing as if she was thinking a lot.
“What’s on your mind?”
“Leon, I really want to get to know you,” she said. “Do you have any children?”
Leon was silent. It was a sore subject for him and he didn’t even know if he liked the girl enough to discuss it but what he wouldn’t do at one time didn’t exactly apply in his present situation. “It never happened for me and Evan.”
“Your ex-wife?”
Leon nodded. “I wanted a baby but she played all kinds of games with me instead of just being honest with me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe one day you’ll have one,” Charlotte said, running her finger down the side of Leon’s collar bone.
“Maybe,” he replied, hoping she didn’t get any ideas because it certainly wouldn’t be with her.
Charlotte looked over at the digital clock on the nightstand. “Time always goes by so fast.”
Leon shook his head. “You’ve never been locked up.”
“No, I haven’t.” Charlotte rubbed her hand over his muscular chest. “Tell me how a pastor becomes such a bad boy?”
Leon laughed. “If you really thought that I was a bad boy, would you leave your handcuffs, Taser and keys where I could easily reach them, tie you up then leave with the van?”
Charlotte laughed. “You thought it all out?”
“Now…” Leon said as he began running his fingers over her head, fingering individual strands of permed hair. “I’m not a bad boy.”
Charlotte looked up at him. “So, none of that is true what’s said about you…the infamous preacher of JMC?”
“Infamous preacher?” Leon laughed. “No, that’s a myth. I’m nothing like that. I am the result of what happens when you trust the wrong people.”
Charlotte began pulling on a string from a snag in the sheet. “They make it seem like you were this mastermind who set out to destroy everybody you didn’t like.”
Leon let out a loud groan. “Who told you this?”
“People talk,” Charlotte said.
“Do they? Well you tell the people that I’m not the monster they make me out to be.”
“What about the deacon and the little girl?”
“The press made me out to be a villain and the judge’s gag order prevented me from defending myself and telling my side of the story,” Leon explained. “Basically, it was an ex-convict’s word against mine and the world believed his.”
“I believe you,” Charlotte uttered.
Leon could see that Charlotte was satisfied with his explanation. That was all he wanted. He sat up and leaned against the bed’s backboard. “I want to ask you something since we’re being honest.”
“You can ask me anything.”
“Why are you willing to take such a big risk with your life? Do you know how much time you could get if you’re caught?”
Charlotte grinned. “Didn’t you tell me not to get caught?”
“I did, but you don’t know me that well.”
Charlotte looked him in the eyes. “I feel like I’ve known you forever and when I care about somebody, I give my all to them.”
Leon nodded. “That’s important,” he said. “What do you want out of this?”
“You mean what do I want from you?”
“If that’s what I wanted to know then I would have asked you.”
Charlotte pulled the covers up to her chest, sitting beside him. “I’m starting to feel something for you but I don’t expect anything from this. I’ve heard about all the letters and the pictures that women send you. You’re a superstar.”
“Are you a jealous woman?” Leon asked. “Because I need a loyal woman not a jealous one.”
Charlotte reached her hand out and touched Leon’s arm. “I am loyal.”
Leon’s face scrunched in pain as he struggled to sit up. “Prove it.”
“How?” Charlotte asked in panic.
“I need you to pick up a package for me,” Leon said.
Charlotte had a confused look on her face. “What kind of package?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not drugs.”
She sighed, looking relieved. “Then what is it?”
Leon looked over at her, “Aren’t you nosey?”
“I think I have a right to know, Leon.”
Leon’s instinct was to make sure that Charlotte knew that her rights were limited as far as he was concerned but now wasn’t the time. “I’ve got business to take care of on the outside a
nd those walls are hindering me. I need a way to communicate with my people and my attorney in private. I don’t want to have to keep using the computer in the library if I don’t have to. The package will have a phone and a few other things.”
Charlotte paused a moment, looking nervous. “How am I supposed to get that in?”
Leon cupped her face in his hands and smiled. “You’re a CO, you know all the tricks.”
He could see the uncertainty on her face. “Trust me, I don’t know any other woman clever enough to pull this off,” Leon said looking around the motel room, “so I trust that you’ll make sure that I have what I need.”
Charlotte stared at him, then nodded.
Chapter 22
James sat in his office, leaned back in his chair and stared into the faces of the two men sitting in front of him. He could see their lips moving but for the life of him, he couldn’t recall more than two complete sentences within the last ten minutes. The big bald black man with the stiff suit and plaid bowtie was mouthier than the thinner, younger man in the black funeral suit sitting beside him. James was beginning to regret his decision to hold these monthly meetings with the neighborhood irritants.
“Chief Mason, we’d like to know what your department’s plan is to make sure that your officers are respecting the members of our community while they’re patrolling it.”
James sat forward and placed his elbows on his table. “Mr. Akim, my officers have vested interests to protect and serve the citizens of this community because they’re also members of this community.”
The thin man opened his portfolio and removed a handful of glossy pictures. He placed them in front of James. “Chief, is this an example of what your officer’s idea of serving the community is?”
James looked down at the pictures that were placed in front of him, refusing to touch them. The top photo was that of a young man with a black eye, a busted lip and several contusions on his face. “And this is a photograph of what exactly?” James asked, getting extremely aggravated with the men in his office.
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