Married Men Page 5

  I knew Lisa used Kyle’s car on Saturdays, so I purposely made him drive one Friday night when we were hanging out. I stashed the condom and panties in the back seat without his knowledge. The next morning, Lisa found the condom and the panties just like I had planned, but she didn’t get mad at Kyle at all. She got mad at me. You see, Kyle didn’t use latex condoms. He was allergic to the latex. Well, it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out who left the condom behind. I thought I had ruined my friendship with him for good. It took him almost five months to forgive me for my stupidity, and Lisa still holds a grudge.

  When I saw Wil, Diane, Allen, and Lisa standing by a courtroom entrance, I froze. I was afraid that Wil might be mad about covering for me the other night. Not to mention the fact that both Diane and Lisa didn’t care for me at all. Lisa I understood. She would probably never get over the fact that I tried to break up her marriage. Diane ... well that was all Wil’s doing. Wil had this theory that once a man and woman were married, they should have no secrets between them. So I was sure he’d told Diane all about my marital infidelities. That’s why the only person I was really confiding in these days was Kyle.

  Wil spotted me and waved me over. I felt a hell of a lot better when I saw him smile. I really didn’t feel like dealing with his shit on the day Kyle was going to be arraigned for attempted murder. I walked over and Allen greeted me with a brotherly hug. Wil came over to greet me the same way. I kissed Diane on the cheek, and for some reason I got a chill. But I couldn’t worry about that then. I walked over to Lisa, who’d obviously been crying.

  She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a tight hug. I felt her tears fall on my neck, and her sobs had me choked up. We both loved Kyle in our own ways. I just wish I could have thought of a way to tell her I was sorry for all the heartache I had caused in the past.

  “Any word’?” I asked sadly.

  “Kyle’s lawyer said he was gonna see him in a few,” Wil answered.

  I loosened my embrace with Lisa but still rubbed her shoulder as Wil gave me the details.

  “Well, what’d he say’? Did he tell ya how much bail was gonna be?” I asked. I’d brought the deed to my house just in case they decided to give Kyle a high bail. I didn’t wanna take any chances.

  “All he told me was that Kyle would be out today. Then he was interrupted by some guy with a folder,” Lisa told me.

  “Who’s his lawyer?”

  “His frat brother, Greg Thomas. You remember the guy with the panties on his head at Kyle’s bachelor party?” Allen said.

  Both Wil and I shot Allen a look. Allen was always saying the wrong thing at the wrong damn time. Lisa didn’t even know Kyle had a bachelor party.

  “He’s supposed to be a real good lawyer,” I said quickly, hoping the girls would forget Allen’s slip.

  “Yeah, he seemed pretty confident after he got that folder.” Lisa tried to sound upbeat.

  “What the hell was in the folder?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. But it must have been important, ’cause Greg ran down the hall as soon as he got it,” Wil added.

  “So, Jay, how’s Kenya?” Diane asked.

  I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “She’s fine.”

  “I know she’s excited about the baby.”

  “Yeah, both of us are. I just hope she has a boy.”

  “All you guys want boys.”

  “Gotta keep the Crawford name goin’. But the truth is, I just want a healthy baby.”

  “I know the feeling.” Diane rubbed her baby-filled belly

  “Well, why don’t you bring her out to the house? Since y’all moved to Jersey, I never see her. We used to be so close.”

  Something in her eyes told me she knew what had happened the other night. I was kinda glad my cell phone went off so I could slip away. The last thing I wanted was Diane and Kenya getting together alone in a house. They might get bored and start talkin’ about me.

  “Hello.” I walked away from the group.

  “Hey, big daddy. I miss you.” It was Tracy, a sexy young thing I met a few weeks ago at Kyle’s Long Island store. We’d been talkin’ pretty regularly, but hadn’t hooked up yet.

  “Whazz up, baby?” I couldn’t help but smile.

  “You. I just needed to hear your voice.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  “Is your friend outta jail yet?”

  “Naw, hopefully within the next hour.”

  “When he does, why don’t we get together and celebrate?”

  I hesitated. Tracy was a junior in college. Not that it mattered. I loved younger women. But she’d been skipped a grade and was only nineteen years old. I was practically old enough to be her father.

  “Look, Tracy I’m not sure what these guys are gonna do. Why don’t I call you later?”

  I could see Wil waving at me, so I cut the call short.

  “Tracy, they’re opening the courtroom. I gotta go.”

  “Who the hell is Tracy?” Allen startled me.

  “Just a friend.” I couldn’t look him in the eye.

  “I’ma tell you the same thing you told me when I started dating Rose. Be careful.”

  “Come on, dawg. This is Jay, the number one hound.”

  “Aw’ight, number one hound. Just remember it’s not just Wil and me. Diane and Lisa are watching you too,” Allen warned as I followed him to the doors of the courtroom.

  “I hear ya, brotha. I hear ya.” Allen was right. I loved to live life on the edge. I was going to have to be more careful.

  5

  Kyle

  It was hot as hell, and I was sweating like I’d been playing ball all day. I was sitting in a cramped cell in the basement of the criminal courthouse on Queens Boulevard, waiting to see the judge. I swear I felt like I was gonna pass out from the stench of the other inmates. The COs had moved me early in the morning from central booking, with about fifty other brothers arrested over the weekend. All of us were waiting to see the judge and hopefully be bailed out. The word was I was lucky. I had a private lawyer. But private lawyer or not, I would have felt a hell of a lot better if I’d been arrested for DWI or drunken disorderly like the rest of my fellow inmates, instead of assault, robbery, and attempted murder.

  “Richmond, Kyle!” a deputy shouted.

  I exhaled and walked nervously to the cell door.

  “You Richmond?” the deputy asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Your lawyer’s here to see you.”

  “It’s about time,” I muttered.

  The deputy opened the door, and I followed him to a small room with a table, two chairs, and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. I was so emotional I couldn’t decide if I should burst into tears or shout with joy when I saw the small, balding, light-skinned man at the table. Greg was my lawyer and a good friend. We’d gone to college and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity together. He’d been my personal attorney since he passed the bar ten years ago.

  “You all right, Kyle?” Greg stood and extended his hand.

  “Yeah, I could use a shower, but I’m aw’ight.” We hugged and gave each other the secret fraternity handshake. Greg backed away pretty fast. Three days in the same clothes will make a man smell pretty funky.

  Greg sat down and motioned for me to do the same. He took a small folder out of his briefcase. When I saw that folder, all kinds of stuff went through my head. Why would he have a folder on me already? I glanced over at him. He hadn’t made eye contact since our frat handshake. He hadn’t even asked me if I was guilty. Damn, he probably thought I did it! I had to make sure he understood I didn’t do it. The last thing I wanted was an attorney that felt his client was guilty.

  “Greg, before we start, I want you to understand something. I didn’t do it. I swear on my children I didn’t hit that lady with no bat.”

  Greg smiled for the first time. “It’s okay, Kyle. I know that. Now just tell me everything that happened, and don’t leave out a thing.”
>
  I explained Saturday’s events to Greg. He didn’t say much or ask any questions like I expected. He just took a lot of notes until I was finished. Then he patted my hand.

  “Don’t worry, bro. I’ll have you outta here in about an hour,” he promised.

  “Really? Damn, thanks, Greg.” I was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Don’t thank me until after the lawsuit.”

  “Lawsuit?”

  “Damn right, lawsuit.” He opened the folder he’d been holding.

  “The cops had enough probable cause to detain you. But without a positive ID or your fingerprints on the bat the assailant left behind, they couldn’t legally hold you. They didn’t have enough evidence.”

  “Then how come I spent the fucking weekend in jail?” I was angry now.

  “They figured you were black, and to them that usually means guilty. They were probably gonna try and hide you in the system until the woman came out of her coma,” Greg said matter-of-factly.

  “They can do that shit?”

  “They’re not supposed to. But when you’re dealing with blacks and Latinos, many of whom don’t know the law, they do whatever they want. I guarantee they never expected you to have your own lawyer. Legal Aid would have tried to talk you into a plea.”

  “Shit, that’s fucked up.”

  “Is this the guy who ran into you?” Greg opened the folder and threw three black-and-white pictures across the table. They were fuzzy, but I could make out the faces.

  “That’s him! That’s the kid who knocked me over.” I grabbed the pictures.

  “See the old lady in front of him?” Greg pointed out.

  I nodded.

  “That’s the victim.”

  “What?” I looked at Greg in disbelief. “Where’d you get these pictures from?”

  “The bank’s security office. It took all of five minutes to call the bank and get pictures of the ATM transaction. I didn’t get them till this morning, but the cops could have had them Saturday.”

  “Why the hell didn’t they do it? I been sitting in this hell-hole all weekend and all they had to do was make a call to get a few pictures?” I demanded an answer.

  “The police assumed you were guilty. They never followed up.”

  “This is bullshit, Greg! This is fucking bullshit. Those racist motherfuckers do shit like this on purpose. Do you know I haven’t seen one white person other than COs since I was arrested Saturday?”

  “I can believe that.”

  “What? White people don’t do anything wrong?”

  “It’s their system, Kyle. Even as a lawyer I have to work within their system.”

  “You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me! Nobody should have to spend the weekend in jail because the cops were too lazy to do their jobs.”

  I guess Greg could see how furious his news had made me, because he reassured me.

  “Don’t worry, Kyle, we’re gonna make them pay.”

  “I just wanna get out of this place. We’ll deal with the other shit later.” I’d seen enough of the inside of a jail to last the rest of my life.

  “I’m gonna have you outta here within the hour, Kyle. I’m going to talk to the DA, and then we’ll go before the judge. Hopefully we can have your record sealed.”

  Greg picked up the pictures and folder, placing them in his briefcase, and knocked on the door for the corrections officer to let him out.

  “Oh, by the way, your wife and buddies are waiting for you outside,” he smiled.

  “Hey, Greg,” I stopped him before he stepped out.

  He turned around.

  “Thanks, frat.” I hoped he understood how grateful I was.

  “Don’t thank me. Just pay your bill.”

  We both laughed.

  I sat on my daughter Willow’s bed and watched her and her younger sister Jade sleep. Their older sister Jewel snuggled under the covers, watching me. I sighed happily. It was good to be home. The judge dismissed my case just like Greg had promised. Then she apologized for the police’s mistake and had my records sealed. She told the DA, “These pictures show that the police have made a grave mistake in taking away Mr. Richmond’s freedom. Now there’s a man out there that committed this crime, and I suggest you find him.”

  I turned around and looked at the two cops and that pain-in-the-ass sergeant who had arrested me. It wasn’t very hot in that courtroom, but all three were sweating. I planned on having Greg make them sweat a hell of a lot more when we filed my false arrest lawsuit in a few weeks.

  “Daddy,” my oldest daughter interrupted my thoughts.

  “Yes, Jewel,” I replied.

  “I’m glad you’re home.”

  “I’m glad too.” I walked over to her bed and sat beside her.

  “Promise me you’ll never go away again, Daddy. My mommy was crying.”

  “She told me. I’ll tell you what. I can’t promise I’ll never go away again. You know I make business trips sometimes. But no matter where I go, I promise to always call and say good night to you and your mommy. Okay?”

  “Okay Daddy.” She cuddled against me.

  “Look, you need to get some sleep.”

  “Awww right. Good night, Daddy.” She yawned.

  “Good night, my little Jewel.”

  I stroked Jewel’s hair until she was fast asleep. The whole time I was in jail, all I could think of was my wife and kids. I’d never been so scared in my entire life. Not of the other inmates. Not even of doing time. I was scared that they would convict me of a crime I didn’t commit and keep me away from my girls. I’d only been in jail three days and I’d already been thinking of ways to escape and run away with my family. You never know how good you have it until it’s taken away.

  But now that I was safe at home and the fear was gone, I was mad. Mad as hell! And somebody was gonna pay for that anger.

  “Kyle,” my wife called softly, standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pair of black panties and a white cutoff T-shirt that was so thin I could see everything I wanted to see under there.

  “Yeah, babe.”

  “Come to bed, honey.” She smiled.

  I kissed each of my daughters as they slept then followed my wife into our bedroom, where I watched her strip off her garments. Lisa was a strikingly beautiful woman. Her ancestry was Italian, which gave her an olive complexion. Her hair was jet black and hung almost to her perfectly shaped butt. Unlike me, she was a fitness fiend, so there wasn’t an ounce of fat on her body.

  “Com’ere,” she ordered.

  I took a few steps closer and we embraced. The kissing and the touching were so intense that we made love right on the floor. I had no idea what time it was when we finished, but both of us were exhausted from our passion. I’d pulled a sheet off the bed and wrapped it around us. Lisa laid her head on my chest and softly ran her hand across it.

  “I was so scared you were never coming home, Kyle,” she said quietly.

  “I know, Hun. I was scared too. I thought I was gonna lose you and the girls.”

  “You could never lose us, Kyle. But I am glad this is over.”

  “It’s not over,” I said sternly. “Matter of fact, it’s far from over. I’m gonna sue the fucking police department and each of those cops for everything they got. When I’m finished, we’re gonna own this city.”

  “Why? Why do you have to sue them? It doesn’t make any sense. We don’t need the money.” Her voice was pleading.

  “For the fucking principle, that’s why.” I sat up, pushing her off me. “ ’Cause those fucking assholes took me away from you and my girls. And even more importantly, because they might do it again and the next brother might not be as lucky as me.” I couldn’t believe she was asking me to explain.

  “Kyle, this is stupid. The cops were just doing their jobs. They made a mistake. You told me yourself that their case looked good until you spoke to Greg.”

  “Those mothafizckers were racist, Lisa.” I got up off the floor.

  “They weren
’t racist. I was in that courtroom today. That black sergeant tried to apologize to you.” She really didn’t get it.

  “He was just tryin’ to save his ass. You don’t have to be white to be racist anyway. Racism is a state of mind. You could be the blackest nigga on the block and still hate black people.” I was really getting heated.

  “How come everything has to come down to race with you? Every time something goes wrong, it’s because the white man is trying to hold back, poor Kyle. You ever think you might be at fault?”

  “What did you say?” I said, trying to control myself. My wife, the woman I had been so worried about, thought it was my fault that a woman got her head bashed in.

  “What I was trying to say is that sometimes you have to take responsibility for things that happen. Not necessarily this time, but other things that happen in your life. You do have a habit of reacting before you think.” She sounded like she was talking to a child.

  “No, you didn’t just say that, did you? You said it was my fault.” I walked across the room and put on my pants. “Who the fuck are you? You’re damn sure not my wife.”

  “Kyle, will you please calm down? You’re gonna wake the girls.”

  “Hell no, I’m not gonna calm down! This is my goddamn house! I pay the bills here!”

  “You know, Kyle, you can be such a—”

  “Such a what?” I screamed, cutting her off.

  She hesitated, then finished. “Such an asshole!”

  That was the first time I ever looked at my wife and saw a white woman, not just a woman. She just didn’t get it. She’d been married to a black man for seven years and she still didn’t understand. Black people are treated differently than white people. You would have thought that by now she would come to understand that. But she was still living her life through rose-colored glasses.

  “You know what, Lisa? Maybe it’s time you wake up and look at the real world. There is racism out there that directly affects your own family. I’m gonna sue this damn city and the police department whether you stand by my side or not.”