“Something about terrorist threats but my Dad wouldn’t do that. He’s too smart for that.” I looked at Brian as he shook his head.
“The oldest trick in the book.”
“What do you mean?”
“Arrest him on some trumped up charge, hold him for forty eight hours and beat the shit out of him.” I heard things about the 15th district but I had no idea that’s what was going on.
“Oh my God.”
“Give me your keys. We gotta go get him out.”
“Okay, but how?” I asked him while handing over my keys.
“Guys, just keep packing. I’ll be back.” He didn’t answer my question as he hobbled to the car but I was glad I came looking for him.
“Whether your Dad likes white guys or not, I’m not going to sit by and watch this shit anymore.” He put the car into drive and we started down the street together but most importantly, we were going to save my Dad.
14
Blue
I told myself I would never step foot back into a police station, but here I was at the front desk, standing behind Alicia as she frantically rang the call bell.
“Hello...we need service.”
I didn’t say a word, just standing behind her, but I already felt that she was nearing a breakdown.
“May I help you?” Officer Mike Moore walked slowly to the counter. I spent my days in the academy with him and knew him well. When he saw my face he rolled his eyes and concentrated on Alicia.
“Yes, you have my father here…Cordell Morris.” Mike typed some things into the computer.
“Yeah, we have him.”
“What is his bond and what is he being charged with?”
“He doesn’t have a bond yet. We are holding him for questioning?”
“That makes no sense. Why hasn’t he been able to contact his lawyer?” Alicia was raising her voice more and more with each question.
“Ma’am you need to step away and let us do our job. He is being held until questioning is concluded. That’s all I will tell you.”
“Dammit, what do you mean?”
I had seen enough. I cut her off before shit could get any worse.
“Alicia…let me handle this. Go outside.” I told her.
“But...This asshole.”
“NOW, ALICIA.” I didn’t mean to yell but I needed her to leave. Without saying another word she pushed the doors open and ran outside.
“Listen here Mike. Get Ron out here now.” I stood up to the desk, my eyes laser sharp on him.
“Ron...you got a citizen out here wanting to talk to you.” He said it trying to be funny, knowing damn well that I wasn’t a citizen. Any cop that gets shot takes a leave of absence no matter how bad the injury is. They were all just pissed because of what happened the other night.
“Oh there he is...Or should I say she?” Ron laughed. “What can I do for ya, Brianna McGwire?” I wanted to reach across the desk and squeeze his scrawny ass neck.
“You got Cordell Morris in here?”
“Yeah, what business is it of yours?”
“Get him out of here. Release him now!” I didn’t mind answering his question.
“Or else what? You can’t do shit. You might as well go back with your friends outside. I heard you related more to the “brown” people anyway.” He laughed and so did Mike but I didn’t see shit funny.
“The ‘or else’ is internal affairs, I shot back, “You let him go and I’ll try not to call them and tell them about the money you stole from evidence.” His smile faded quicker than the sun in winter.
“What the hell are you talking about, McGwire?” He gave a nervous smile, looking at Mike and then back to me.
“Oh you know what I’m talking about or maybe I should tell them about how all your cases are conveniently against black people? Or how you have been letting prostitutes suck your dick in exchange for a free pass?” He swallowed hard, slamming his hand against the table but that shit didn’t scare me.
“Or maybe I should tell your wife instead?” He looked at me as if he had seen a ghost.
“You got some balls coming in here like this.”
“That is the only thing you have ever been right about Ron. I got some huge balls. Now release that man now before I fuck up your whole life so bad that your grandkids will be sleeping in a homeless shelter.”
I wasn’t playing or bluffing. Everything I said had actually happened and I was willing to blow the lid off it all. Mr. Morris was right. If I sat idly by and let shit happen I was just as bad as them, but not anymore. The old Brian was gone and a new braver man was in town. Too bad it took my getting shot and talking to Mr. Morris to figure that out.
15
Black
I waited outside with Deidra and the other supporters for what felt like forever. Brian told me to let him go in and figure things out and I trusted him. But now that he had been gone for over an hour, I got nervous, until I saw my Dad walking out of the police department and Brian right behind him.
The crowd roared as my Dad came out, unharmed and raising his hands, waving to the people.
“I’m fine, thank you for checking on me. Justice will not be silent no matter what they do!” He yelled to the crowd as random people came up to shake my Dad’s hand.
This is the first time I had seen him since the incident at the restaurant and as he got closer, all of those feelings I had disappeared. I moved to him and hugged him, wrapping my arms tightly around him.
“I’m so glad you're okay.” I meant every word that I said at the restaurant but standing outside the jail, wondering if my father would make it out alive, sent waves of new emotions through me.
“I was so scared.” I told him as I cried.
“It's okay baby. I’m okay and I’m sorry.” My Dad never said sorry. Pulling away, he was looking from me to Brian, who was now at my side.
“I may have said some things that were out of line. But tonight…” He looked at Brian. “Your friend came through for me and I’m grateful for that.” I didn’t know whether to smile of cry.
“I was wrong for standing in your way. Whatever you want, you have my blessing.” I felt like checking the sky. There had to be a full moon or maybe they drugged my father while he was in there because I had never heard him speak like this.
My Dad grabbed his wife Deidra, giving her a hug. As I watched, I genuinely felt happy for them. At first I hated Deidra, but tonight I felt like we all had grown up a bit.
“Sorry I yelled at you in there…”
“No....no need to apologize.” In the crowd of people I starred into Brian’s eyes and for the first time in years, I felt free. I felt safe and underneath it all, I felt loved.
“Let's go and see about unpacking those boxes, Mr. McGwire.” I teased him, pulling his hand as we tried to navigate through the crowd but like an anchor Brian pulled me back. I was in his arms and before I could say a word he had his lips pressed against mine.
I didn’t care who saw, or what they thought, I kissed him back with everything I had in me and that’s the moment I knew I was in love.
There was nothing I could do to change his mind. It had been a week and he wasn’t taking my calls. The only communication I had was through my stepmother, who wasn’t really my favorite person but she, at least, was on my side.
“I’m talking to him baby. Maybe you should come by the luncheon today.” she had told me this morning over the phone. “Talk to him in person.”
Epilogue
“Do you, Alicia McGwire, promise to obey the laws of the land?” My right hand on the bible, left hand in the air.
“I do.”
“I now decree you the prosecutor of St. Louis County.” The small crowd clapped as cameras flashed, but most of all, with my husband at my side, cheesing from ear to ear, I felt at peace. I had made it through law school, working in the prosecutor's office and now, seven years after graduation, I was the prosecuting attorney; the first black woman to hold the position and d
efinitely the youngest person, period.
Brian held our daughter Aubrey, with her pigtails and sun dress, looking just like my mother. She was only two years old and she didn’t understand why Momma was so excited and happy that I was now resorting to tears.
“You did it babe.” Brian hugged me, the three of us making a human sandwich.
“I just wish my Mom could have been here.” Brian smiled. “She is here, she is in you.”
My colleagues shook my hand and we posed for photos but I just wanted to get to work in my new position. I was thankful and enthusiastic at the same time.
“Say a few words Alicia. How do you feel?” I thought for a moment, my mind going over my entire life and hovering over the bad times, like losing my mother, the riots and then flashing to the good times, like my wedding, having Aubrey and now reaching this pinnacle in my career.
“I say this occasion is bittersweet. I never expected to get this job so soon, but I say that now that it is time to keep pushing. I won’t rest until I make a change in this city and in the world.” The room clapped, including Brian.
“You’ve made a change in me.” he whispered in my ear.
“Oh yeah...how so?”
“You stole my heart study buddy, right from the beginning and you didn’t even know it.”
“I had no idea counselor.” I poked fun at him. Brian was now a criminal defense attorney representing some young men for free and pushing them on to better things. I couldn’t have been more proud of him and it only brought him and my father closer.
“Alright, family picture.” We smooshed together, Daddy taking Aubrey, with he and Brian standing on either side of me, stuck in the middle.
“This is only the beginning you know.” My dad said the words and I was already thinking the same thing.
“I wish Mom was here.”
“She already is.” I turned to him with tears in my eyes.
“She is here because she lives through you.” I hugged him and gave him a big kiss on his cheek for saying that as the cameras flashed.
“Okay, look at me. Everyone say, ‘Prosecutor McGwire’”
“Prosecutor McGwire!” Everyone yelled it as I laughed. Life was a dream… and it was only beginning.
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Black and Blue: BWWM Romance Page 7