Heartbreak And Past Mistakes

by Chenell Parker

  “When have you ever cried Bronx?” Lyric inquired as she looked into the camera with an amused smirk on her face.

  “Just because you never saw it don’t mean that it didn’t happen. Stop always downplaying my feelings. Yours are not the only ones that matter,” he pointed out.

  “I know baby and I’m really sorry. I might not be crying, but my apology is sincere. I promise that it will never happen again,” Lyric replied.

  “At least your eyes got watery. Now I believe you,” he said, making her laugh again.

  “I miss you boo,” Lyric whined.

  “I miss you too, baby. This shit is driving me crazy. What is your boss man saying?” he asked.

  “Last I heard, he was getting your original police record from the station. He needed to compare it to what Elise got from the courthouse. Hopefully, we’ll know something soon.”

  “I damn sure hope so,” Bronx replied.

  Lyric laid in Kierra’s bed and got comfortable. She ended up eating dinner with her cousin and spending her entire Sunday at her house. Bronx had been in jail for one week now and she didn’t have anything else to do.

  Chapter 45

  Lyric moved as fast as her eight month pregnant belly would carry her as she ran around the room trying to get dressed. She had been staying with her parents since Bronx went to jail and she was living out of a suitcase. It was only a little after seven the following Monday morning when Mr. Malone called and told her to meet him at the firm as soon as possible. Elise sent her a text message saying that he requested her presence too. Lyric knew that something had to be wrong because Mr. Malone was never at work that early.

  After throwing on a pair of black legging, Lyric put on a stripped maternity shirt and slipped her feet into some black flats. She had her hair straightened over the weekend, so she combed it down and put on her earrings. After glossing her lips, she checked her appearance in the mirror. Her hair was much longer when it was straight, but it was too much work.

  “You want some breakfast my baby?” Melody asked when she peeked her head inside of the bedroom that Lyric had been occupying.

  “No, I have to get to the firm,” Lyric replied as she grabbed her purse.

  “Why so early?” Melody questioned.

  “Something must be wrong. Mr. Malone asked me to come in,” Lyric replied as she walked out of the room with her mother following behind her.

  “Mr. Malone needs to get my grandson’s father out of jail. What’s taking so long?” Melody asked.

  “He’s trying ma. Maybe that’s what he wants to talk to me about,” Lyric replied.

  “I sure do hope so. He needs to be out here when you have his son,” Melody said as she walked her out to her car.

  Lyric promised to call her right before she pulled off and headed to the office. Traffic was fairly light, so it didn’t take her very long to get to her destination. As soon as she pulled up, she saw that Elise was already there. She was still sitting in her car, but she got out as soon as she saw Lyric.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Elise asked when Lyric got out of her car.

  “I have no idea but it can’t be good,” Lyric said as they walked up to the door together.

  Elise used her badge to let them in and they both got on the elevator together. When they got to his office, Mr. Malone looked stressed. Lyric had seen him outside of the office several times before, but Elise was shocked to see him dressed so casually. He had on a pair of slacks with a polo styled shirt and some loafers. He had the phone up to his ear, but he quickly ended his call when they walked into the office. Although no one was due to be at work for another hour or more, Mr. Malone still closed his office door before he said anything.

  “This entire situation is a fucking mess!” he barked as Elsie gasped at his use of language.

  Lyric didn’t flinch because she had heard worse coming from him. Mr. Malone was pacing the office and she knew that whatever he was about to say was bad.

  “What’s going on?” Lyric asked.

  “That idiot hasn’t been winning his cases legally. He’s been using records from deceased inmates and padding the file of others. This is about to be a media circus,” Mr. Malone fumed.

  “Oh God,” Elise said as she covered her mouth with her hands.

  When she told her husband what was going on, he assumed the exact same thing. Elise didn’t want to believe it because she didn’t think it was possible. She didn’t think there was a way for Javier to even pull something like that off. That was the kind of thing that you saw on tv. She had never known it to happen in real life. It did make sense now that she thought about it though.

  “How is that even possible? Wouldn’t they catch something like that?” Lyric questioned.

  “Usually, they would, but this thing is bigger than I originally thought it was. They got court clerks, judges, and other attorney’s in on it too,” Mr. Malone replied.

  “Who is they?” Elise asked.

  Mr. Malone dropped his head and sighed. Lyric could tell that he was battling about what he wanted to say, but she needed to know.

  “Are there more attorneys with our firm who were in on it?” Lyric asked.

  “No, he was the only one, but his parents are apparently the ring leaders,” Mr. Malone said, surprising Lyric.

  “Are you serious?” Lyric asked in shock.

  “Unfortunately, I am,” Mr. Malone replied.

  Now she knew why Javier and his entire family were so successful. They were criminals just like the people that they put away.

  “What does that mean for the firm? Will you be held liable for anything?” Lyric asked, even though Elise already told her about the waiver that they signed.

  “Not at all. I make sure that I protect myself and my company before all else. The DA’s office is a different story though. All of the cases that Javier prosecuted were theirs. I had a meeting with them yesterday, and it wasn’t good. You know it’s serious when they call a meeting on a Sunday. They want heads to roll and Javier is first on their list,” Mr. Malone replied.

  “Poor Ms. Mary. Her son lost his life behind something that Javier did,” Lyric said sadly.

  “Yeah, that was so unfortunate. Crazy thing is, had he been given a fair trial, he probably wouldn’t have had to do time at all. He was a cooperating witness with a few misdemeanors on his record. It won’t bring her son back but she has one hell of a lawsuit on her hands,” Mr. Malone noted.

  “That’s so unfair. She probably won’t even live long enough to spend it. What about the other people who were affected by this?” Elise asked.

  “This mess dates back for years before Javier was even practicing law. He just jumped on the bandwagon with his parents, but he got too cocky with it. Some of the inmates who were affected have died and some have already been released. The DA will probably have to retry the rest of them. I’m sure most, if not all of them, will be released,” Mr. Malone replied.

  “What about Bronx?” Lyric asked.

  “Javier must have really had it out for him. His file was a mile long with some of the worse cases that I’ve ever seen. I looked up some of the file numbers and some of them date back to the eighties. No wonder they denied him of bail. But, don’t worry, I’ll take care of Bronx personally,” he replied, putting Lyric’s mind at ease.

  Javier was a no good dirty bastard, but his world was about to come crashing down around him. Since Bronx was a client of his, it probably wasn’t hard for him to have access to everything that he needed to send him away.

  “I just don’t understand how this went over so many people’s heads,” Elise said.

  “You know how that goes Elise. The courts are so backed up that they don’t have time to fact check every case. Most of them don’t even care enough if they did have the time. Long hours and little pay means mediocre work. But listen, I need everything that we discussed to stay between us. Javier and his family have no clue about what’s about to happen. He’ll be out of the office f
or the next two days and returning on Wednesday. Before anything happens, I have to terminate him and sever all ties, the same as I had to do with Spencer. Whatever happens after that is up to the DA’s office,” Mr. Malone sighed.

  “This is a nightmare,” Elise replied, saying what they were both feeling.

  She asked Mr. Malone a few more questions before she left to go get her day started. She had a lot on her mind, but Mary and her son were at the forefront. Mary needed closure and she deserved it too. Elsie felt so bad that she couldn’t do more to help. Mary’s son shouldn’t have had to lose his life in such a tragic way. Javier treated her horribly and she needed to be compensated for that.

  “I must be getting too old,” Mr. Malone said once he and Lyric were alone.

  “Why do you feel like that?” Lyric questioned.

  “A few years ago, something like this would have never gotten past me. I can’t believe that I actually used to praise that son of a bitch. I made him second in command and didn’t even think twice about it. Spencer said that Javier wasn’t as good as I thought he was and he was right. Hell, the police don’t need to go out in the streets to look for criminals. I seem to hire them all to work for me,” Mr. Malone chuckled sarcastically.

  “Don’t beat yourself up over this Mr. Malone. There was no way for you to know what Javier and Spencer were capable of. Just imagine how I feel. I dated both of them,” Lyric replied, making him laugh.

  “Maybe that’s why we get along so great. I guess we’re not the best judge of characters. But seriously, I think I’m ready for a change,” Mr. Malone said.

  “What kind of change?” Lyric countered.

  “For one, I’ve been thinking about moving the main office location. And I don’t think I want to continue a working relationship with the DA’s office. I think I was happier when we were defending the bad guys instead of putting them away.”

  “Do whatever makes you happy,” Lyric said as she stood to her feet.

  “Yeah, my wife said the same thing,” he replied as he walked out of his office with her.

  He had more meetings at the DA’s office to discuss how they were going to handle the mess that they were in. Although Mr. Malone was in the clear legally, it still didn’t look good for his firm that one of the attorneys were caught up in the mess. He was happy to assist them in any way possible. Once he got over that hurdle, he was about to make some changes that were going to be good for him and everyone else who worked under him.

  ***

  Lyric woke up from a deep sleep and rubbed the wet spot on her neck. Her mother kept the house freezing cold, so she knew that it couldn’t have been sweat. She was too tired to open her eyes, so she just laid there. When she felt the same wetness on her cheek, she thought that she was hallucinating. Melody was always coming into the room to check on her, so she assumed she was in there with her now. She knew that it wasn’t time for her to get up for work because her alarm didn’t go off.

  “Is that you ma?” she asked, never opening her eyes.

  “No, but you can call me daddy,” Bronx whispered in her ear.

  Lyric’s eyes popped open as she sat straight up in the bed. She didn’t know how she missed the smell of his cologne because it was usually the first thing that alerted her of his presence.

  “Bronx! I missed you boo!” Lyric yelled as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed all over his face and neck.

  “I missed you too, baby. You must have really been tired. I’ve been kissing on you for a minute,” he laughed as he rubbed her stomach.

  “How did you get here? When did you get out?” Lyric questioned.

  “I got out about an hour ago. Your boss man is the truth. I don’t know what he did, but I’m grateful. He was there to pick me up too. I went home and took a shower and came straight over here afterwards. Oh, and he said that he’ll see you tomorrow and you don’t have to come in today,” he replied as he grabbed her face and kissed her.

  He didn’t know what was going on and he didn’t ask. When they called and told him that it was time to roll out, he grabbed his bag and damn near ran out of there. He was surprised but thankful to see Mr. Malone waiting to take him home. He didn’t really explain much to him, but he did say that all the charges would be taken care of. It was crazy because he still didn’t even know where the charges had come from.

  “Mr. Malone didn’t even tell me anything. I knew that he was working on it, but I didn’t think it would be so soon,” Lyric said once they came up for air.

  “Yeah, he said he wanted you to be surprised.” Bronx smiled.

  “I am. I’m so happy,” Lyric replied excitedly.

  “Me too but we need to run to the bathroom right quick,” Bronx said.

  “For what?” Lyric asked.

  “I love you, baby, but that morning breath ain’t right,” he joked.

  “It can’t be that bad. You just kissed me,” Lyric replied.

  “I just said that I love you. That’s what niggas in love do. Bad breath and all, I’m all in,” he said, making her smile.

  “Who let you in?” Lyric asked as she got out of the bed and walked into the connected bathroom.

  “Your pops picked me up from the house. I need to go get my truck from by my mama,” Bronx replied.

  “Does she know that you’re home?” Lyric questioned.

  “Nah, I told you that I came straight here when I left the house. I don’t even have my phone. My mama got that too,” he noted.

  He called Lenard from Lyric’s house phone and it took three tries before he finally picked up for him. Bronx knew that Lyric had been staying with her parents since he was gone and he couldn’t wait to see her.

  “I’m so hungry,” Lyric said once she completed her morning hygiene. She opened her drawer and looked for something to wear.

  “Hell no Lyric! You got your own drawer and shit now,” Bronx fussed.

  “My mama put my stuff in here. She said that she was tired of me living out of a suitcase,” Lyric replied as she slipped on a pair of leggings.

  Bronx didn’t even reply. He looked all around the room until he found her suitcase in the walk-in closet. He opened every drawer and took Lyric’s clothes out. He didn’t bother folding anything. He just threw it all in the suitcase. Once he checked the bathroom and got whatever she had in there, he zipped the suitcase and sat it by the door.

  “Did I miss anything or is that all of it?” he asked her.

  “That should be everything. I can always get it later if not,” Lyric said as she took off her bonnet.

  “The fuck!” Bronx yelled.

  “What?” Lyric asked as she combed her wrapped hair down.

  “What the hell happened to your hair? Nigga be out of your sight for a week and you wild out. I know you ain’t put no perm in it,” Bronx fussed as he ran his fingers through her soft tresses.

  “No, I had it straightened,” Lyric giggled.

  “What happened to the curls?” he questioned.

  “I just told you that I had it straightened. The curls will be back once I wash it,” she replied.

  “Let’s go get something to eat so we can make that happen,” Bronx said as he walked to the door and grabbed her suitcase.

  “I don’t go back to the salon until the weekend,” Lyric noted.

  “You better hop in the shower then. Let’s go,” he instructed.

  “I guess I don’t have to ask if you like my hair or not,” Lyric said as she rolled her eyes.

  “It’s okay, but I like the natural look better,” he replied honestly.

  “I have so much to tell you, but you can’t repeat a word of it to anyone,” Lyric said.

  “You don’t have to worry about that. Who else can I tell? You’re my only friend,” Bronx replied as they walked out of the room.

  “Bronx wasn’t playing baby,” Melody laughed when she saw him walk out of the room with Lyric’s luggage.

  “You already know. I appreciate y’all for holding it down while
I was gone though,” he smirked, knowing that Melody was about to go off on him.

  “Don’t get cussed out in here boy. I been holding it down for twenty-five years,” Melody said as she fixed herself a cup of coffee.

  “Bye ma. I’ll call you later,” Lyric said as she and Bronx walked out the door.

  “Okay baby!” Melody yelled after her.

  “I thought she was about to curse me out,” Bronx laughed.

  “She would have if she didn’t really like you,” Lyric replied as he opened the door for her to get into her car.

  “What do you feel like eating? After the week I had, I’ll be good with anything,” Bronx said.

  “It don’t matter to me either,” Lyric replied.

  She and Bronx ended up on Magazine St. at one of her favorite breakfast spots. While they ate, Lyric ran down everything to him, the same as Mr. Malone had done with her and Elise. Bronx was pissed as he listened to Lyric tell him how Javier had done so many people wrong. He hated that he got caught up in the mess but what happened to Mary’s son was tragic. He was a walking target while in prison. Sad thing was, he probably wouldn’t have even been there if it weren’t for Javier’s bitch ass. Bronx was so thankful that Lyric got people to look into what was going on with him. He was even more thankful for Mr. Malone. They would have probably lost him in the system if he didn’t have any help.

  “That’s fucked up. That nigga is a straight up hoe,” Bronx fumed once Lyric was done talking.

  “You have no idea how right you are. I can’t wait to get to work tomorrow to see Mr. Malone fire his ass. It’ll be even better if I can see him get cuffed and arrested just like Spencer did. He played with people’s lives and that’s just unacceptable,” Lyric said as they paid the bill and got up to leave.

  “That nigga played with people’s freedom and that’s some serious shit,” Bronx replied when they got into the car.

  “You want me to take you to get your truck?” Lyric offered.

  “Yeah, let me call and see if she’s home first,” he replied.

  Lyric heard Wanda’s screams of excitement on the other end of the phone. She was happy that her son was home and she would finally be able to sleep at night. Wanda was going on and on and Bronx just held the phone and listened. As soon as she started her usual gossiping, he cut her off and got right to the point. When he got off the phone, Lyric was laughing, making him laugh too.