“You only feel like that now because you’re seeing it for the first time,” Mr. Malone replied as he took a seat in one of the chairs that was near her desk.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you what’s going on with Ms. Mary?” Lyric inquired as she started to put her things away.
“Nothing,” Mr. Malone replied.
“What do you mean nothing?” Lyric asked.
“I hope they don’t send that lady to jail,” Bronx spoke up.
“They really don’t know what to do with her,” Mr. Malone admitted.
“What do you mean?” Lyric asked.
“The woman is over sixty years old and battling stage four lung cancer. She needs an oxygen tank around the clock and she can barely talk without having a violent coughing spell. I’m surprised she was even strong enough to pull the trigger to shoot somebody. No judge in his right mind is going to send her to jail. It’ll cost the taxpayers too much money just to make sure she gets the treatments that she needs,” Mr., Malone pointed out.
“So, they just let her get away with it? I don’t want her to go to jail either, but I’m not understanding how that works,” Lyric said.
“They slapped a house arrest bracelet on her ankle and gave her a court date that she probably won’t live long enough to see. According to her doctor’s report, she had a month to live and that was about a month ago. I guess they’re just waiting for nature to take it’s course,” Mr. Malone shrugged.
Lyric wanted to reach out to her, but Mr. Malone told her not to. The investigation was still ongoing and it wasn’t a good look for her to be in contact with the suspect. Wanda still kept up with her but not as often as she used to. Mary didn’t feel good most of the time and the medicine that she was on kept her sleeping so much.
“What about Spencer?” Lyric asked.
“From what I hear, he doesn’t want to go to trial. He’s planning on pleading guilty. Since he’s never been to jail before, they’re offering him a deal. Ten years on one charge and two to seven on the other to run concurrently,” Mr. Malone replied.
“What does all of that mean?” Lyric asked, ignorant to his law talk.
“It’s bullshit baby. With the way the law is now, he might be out in ten years or less with good behavior,” Bronx replied.
“Exactly,” Mr. Malone nodded in agreement.
“That’s just ridiculous. He killed his own child!” Lyric yelled.
“And that’s something that he’ll have to live with for the rest of his life. For a person like Spencer, one day in jail is enough to drive him crazy. I don’t think the punishment fits the crime, but that’s how crazy the law is. He’s finished whether he’s in jail or not. His law degree is worth pennies now. He’ll never practice law again in his life. And whatever money he does have will probably go to Jena since she’s suing him,” Mr. Malone noted.
“What? Jena is suing Spencer?” Lyric asked.
“Yeah, I told her to. Him and his girlfriend should be held financially responsible for all her pain and suffering. It might take a while to happen but that’s okay,” Mr. Malone replied.
“That’s good for his ass but what about his girlfriend? Did she cut a deal too?” Lyric asked.
“She wasn’t offered one. Apparently, her and the person who she hired to do it have been into all kinds of mess. He’s trying to talk his way out of doing all that time and he’s throwing a lot of people under the bus,” Mr. Malone replied.
“What about Javier’s parents?” Lyric asked.
“They’re finished too. The DA’s office is not showing them no mercy. They’re gonna make an example out of them to make sure nobody else ever tries something so stupid. A lot of people are involved and they’re all going down. As bad as it sounds, Javier probably faired out better than all the rest of them. I’m sure death is better that what they have in store,” Mr. Malone replied.
“He went to his grave not knowing that his secret was out,” Lyric said.
“Yeah, basically,” Mr. Malone agreed as he continued to discuss the cases.
Lyric was so into the conversation with him that she had unpacked all the boxes and Bronx threw them all away. Her office was set up and ready for when she came back to work.
“Well, I’m happy that Jena is okay. She got another job and she seems to be doing good. At least that’s what it looks like on Instagram,” Lyric said.
She was shocked when Jena started following her right after she had her son. Lyric knew that it was only to be nosey, but she followed her back. That was the furthest that their relationship would ever go. They would never be friends outside of the internet. Sabrina had the nerve to try to come back to the firm, but Lyric shut that down real quick. It was stupid of her to quit her job knowing that she didn’t have another one lined up. Lyric still had two temps filling her and Jena’s spots but she was going to get some permanent help when she went back to work. Both temps were doing a great job and it would be so much easier if they agreed to stay.
“Are you done baby? I’m missing my lil man. I’m ready to go get him,” Bronx said as he stood to his feet.
“Yeah, I’m done,” Lyric replied.
“Speaking of the little man, when are we doing the christening? My pastor says that he would be happy to do it,” Mr. Malone said.
“We can do it whenever you and your wife are ready. Just let us know,” Bronx replied.
“Let’s wait until we move into the new office and get settled. That’ll give me enough time to put a dinner or something together,” Lyric said.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. But Chelsea and I will handle the dinner. We can do a small gathering at our house,” Mr. Malone offered.
“Okay, that’s fine,” Lyric replied as they all walked out of her office.
Mr. Malone locked everything up and set the alarm before the three of them exited the building and went to their cars.
“That man really loves you like a daughter,” Bronx commented as he drove to Melody’s house to get their son.
“Yeah, I know. He’s always been the same since the first day we met. I never would have imagined that having a heart and helping someone in need would have led to all of this,” Lyric replied.
“See, that’s why it’s always good to help somebody without looking for anything in return,” Bronx said.
“Yeah, that’s true. Crazy thing is, I’ve always done that but I always ended up getting kicked in the ass by people. That never made me want to stop doing it though. You never know how your kindness will be rewarded.”
“Yep, but everything is looking up now baby. We got our son this year and we’ll be married next year. I don’t think I’ve ever been this content in my life,” Bronx said as he looked over at her and smiled.
“I feel the same way boo. I’m happy that I didn’t give up on you when I wanted to,” Lyric laughed.
“I wasn’t letting you give up on me. This shit was meant to be. Finding someone is easy. Finding the right one is the hard part,” Bronx acknowledged as Lyric nodded her head in agreement.
He was right and she couldn’t dispute that. She had to go down a lot of wrong roads to find the right one. She wasn’t proud about how she and Bronx got together, but sometimes the best things happened unexpectedly. Lyric was told something a long time ago and she didn’t understand what it meant until now. Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
Afterword
(3 years later)
“Make sure you practice with him cousin. Ace lil bad ass is the only one who won’t act right,” Kierra said as she and Lyric talked on the phone.
Kierra was getting married the following week and Lyric’s son was her ring bearer. Ace was three years old and bad as hell. He was the only one who didn’t do what Kierra told him to do. Instead of walking straight down the aisle to the altar, he went and sat on the bench by Deuce. The only time he acted right was when his father told him to. He turned a two hour rehearsal into almost four. Lyric was frustrated but ev
erybody else though it was funny. It was ironic that her first date with her soon to be husband was the same day that Lyric went into labor with her son. She should have known that he was going to be a handful back then.
“He drives me so crazy girl. I should have checked into Bronx’s background a little more before I started reproducing with his ass,” Lyric replied as she moved around her huge kitchen.
Her culinary classes had really paid off and she knew her way around the kitchen very well now. Bronx was always complimenting her cooking and that made her happy. He was very vocal and he would have told her if something wasn’t right.
“And you’re about to breed with his ass again in four more months,” Kierra laughed.
“Don’t even remind me,” Lyric sighed as she looked down at her five month pregnant belly.
She was finally getting her daughter and she wanted to be done with kids after that. She and Bronx had talked about having more, but she was hoping that he changed his mind. Nova and Jared had a two month old son that was named after him. They had just celebrated their first year of marriage and were looking to purchase a home. They both still worked at the firm and were making decent money. Lyric basically ran the main office now and she understood why Mr. Malone wanted her to get a secretary. He was barely there unless he had meetings or a case to work on. He’d severed ties with the DA’s office like he wanted to and he was happy with his decision. Javier’s parents ended up getting twenty years in prison and several other people got jail time too. They had a few lawsuits that were settled out of court, but everything went away just as quickly as it started.
Three months after moving into their new office, Mary passed away peacefully in her sleep. She lasted longer than her doctors thought she would and she never stepped foot in court for killing Javier. Mr. Malone was right and they were just waiting for nature to take its course. Jena ended up having another baby girl and she seemed to be doing okay for herself. She was still a single mother since the baby’s father was never really around. She sued Spencer and his girlfriend like Mr. Malone told her to, but she hadn’t been awarded any money yet. She was still friends with Sabrina and Lyric was surprised that they lasted that long. They were alike in so many ways so maybe that was the reason. Sabrina finally landed herself a state job and was now living with Tremaine. Spencer was given twelve years in jail and his girlfriend got fifteen. It still baffled Lyric how so many people with so much going for themselves ended up in so much mess.
“I’m so nervous cousin. I just want everything to be perfect,” Kierra said, pulling Lyric away from her thoughts.
“It will be Kierra. I felt the same way when me and Bronx got married two years ago. I was scared that it was going to rain and ruin my day. My makeup girl was late and I was going crazy. My day turned out perfect and so will yours,” Lyric replied.
“Thanks cousin. And you’re right. You drove everybody crazy but your wedding was beautiful and everything went according to plan. I guess all brides feel like that. I should have done what Nova did and had a small intimate gathering,” Kierra said.
“I said the same thing after I saw all the money that we spent,” Lyric laughed.
“Yeah, but it was worth it. I just feel like I got too many people in my wedding. I didn’t want to leave anybody out. You, Nova, and Zina were my top picks, but the rest of my cousins started getting on my nerves,” Kierra ranted.
“That’s your day Kierra. It didn’t matter who said what. It’s what you want that counts,” Lyric pointed out.
“I know girl, but Zina’s sisters get on my nerves with their ratchet asses,” Kierra fumed.
“Yeah, they’re definitely hood but Zina seemed to have calmed down a lot,” Lyric noted.
“That’s because she’s dating an older man. He’s not about all that clubbing and other shit that she used to be on,” Kierra pointed out.
Zina had given birth to another daughter and she was almost three years old. Four months after she was born, Tripp went to jail and was hit with a ten year prison sentence. Zina ended up going to jail with him because they found drugs in his car. Thankfully, she only stayed for two months because he took the charges and made sure that she was set free. She would have been facing up to five years and he didn’t want that for the mother of his child. That seemed to get Zina’s mind right and she got herself together after that. She left the clubs and dope boys alone and started focusing more on her kids. She was dating an older man now and that seemed to have calmed her down even more. Her new man owned a lawn care business and he was cool and laid back. Zina was a stay at home mother and she really did stay at home. She was happy that her new man didn’t want any more kids because she had her tubes tied after baby number three.
“That’s good. Her baby is so cute,” Lyric said, shaking Kierra out of her daydream.
“Yeah, she is. I’m just happy that we can all be in the same room and not try to kill each other,” Kierra replied.
“Girl, that is water under the bridge. Me and Bronx have been married for two years and together even longer than that. I know that Zina and I will never be friends but we’re adults. We can be cordial to each other for your sake if nothing else,” Lyric said.
“Yes and I appreciate both of y’all so much. I know it’s not easy but y’all love me enough to make it work,” Kierra replied.
“Where my daddy at?” Ace said when he walked into the kitchen carrying a small shoe box.
He looked like Bronx made a mini version of himself with no help from Lyric at all. He was smarter than most kids his age and that was because they taught him to be. He had every educational toy that a child his age could have and they made sure that he used them.
“I thought you were outside with your daddy,” Lyric replied.
They had purchased their dream home about six months before they got married. They had huge front and back yards and Bronx always had him outside. Ace had a swing set and a jungle gym in the yard but he still got into other stuff that he shouldn’t have. Everything that Bronx’s mother and grandmothers said about him was happening all over again with their son. Ace was spoiled rotten and so bad that whippings didn’t even faze him.
“I was in my room,” Ace replied.
“In your room doing what?” Lyric asked.
“Where is my daddy?” Ace asked again.
“Kierra, let me call you back. I can already see that it’s about to be a problem in here,” Lyric said to her cousin.
“You’re in my prayers cousin,” Kierra laughed before she hung up.
“What’s in the shoe box Ace?” Lyric questioned.
“I can’t show you ma,” he replied as he looked away.
The box had small perfectly cut holes in it and Lyric knew that he couldn’t have done it all by himself. Bronx was always letting him do something crazy and she already knew that whatever was in the box was his idea.
“Do I need to get my belt? Open that box right now and let me see what’s in there,” Lyric demanded.
“It’s my friend,” Ace replied as he looked at her innocently.
He was so cute that Lyric almost fell for the puppy dog look. Since she knew that he was a three year old menace to society, she wasn’t buying it.
“Who is your friend? You better not be collecting no more creatures,” Lyric warned.
Ace had a jar full of lizards one time and Lyric was ready to kill him. She grabbed the broom from the storage closet, just in case she had to kill whatever he had in the shoe box.
“It’s not a creature, it’s my friend,” he insisted.
“Open the box Ace,” Lyric ordered.
As soon as he did, she regretted ever asking him to.
“Ahhhh! Bronx! Ahhhh!” Lyric screamed when two frogs jumped out of the box.
She was running around the kitchen with her broom trying to hit them. Ace was chasing his little creatures around the room, trying to get them back into the shoe box. He was begging his mother not to hit them with her broom, but Lyric wanted
them dead.
“What’s wrong baby?” Bronx yelled as he rushed into the house.
“This bad ass boy got frogs in my house!” Lyric screamed as she jumped into her husband’s arms.
“They’re not frogs ma. They’re my friends,” Ace corrected.
“Fuck your friends! I want them out of my house,” Lyric screamed as she buried her face in her husband’s chest.
“Calm down baby,” Bronx said as he sat Lyric on the kitchen counter.
“Don’t tell me to calm down Bronx. I want those nasty ass things out of my kitchen and out of my house,” Lyric fussed.
“Didn’t I tell you not to open that box in the house?” Bronx asked his son as they tried to get his frogs back inside.
“My mama told me to,” Ace replied.
“You knew that he had those dirty ass things in here?” Lyric asked as she fussed at Bronx.
“They’re not dirty ma. I gave them a bath in the tub last night,” Ace smiled proudly.
“Be quiet Ace. You’re not helping,” his father scolded.
It took a few minutes, but they were finally able to get both frogs back in the box and put the lid back on. Lyric was cussing and fussing the entire time until Ace took the box back outside. She was so aggravated that she didn’t even feel like cooking anymore. Bronx ended up taking them out to eat. When they got back home, he gave his son a bath and put him to bed.
“That’s it Bronx. I can’t take no more. First, it was the lizards and now frogs. Next thing you know, he’ll be trying to bring possums in my damn house. We’re raising Dr. Doolittle,” Lyric fussed, making her husband laugh.
“He’s just being a boy Lyric. I used to do the same shit when I was younger,” Bronx replied.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t your mother. I be scared to go in his room because I don’t know what’s going to jump out at me. I prayed that he wasn’t as bad as they said you were but God must have been busy that day. Whippings don’t do no good and punishing him either. I’m all out of options and he’s only three years old. I don’t think we should have any more after this one,” Lyric said as Bronx fell out laughing
Heartbreak And Past Mistakes Page 49