Page 30 of Baby, You're My Weakness
I looked around.
"This is all your fault, you know. He wouldn’t have been tryna go and get it somewhere else. If you’d given him the money when he asked you,” she pointed out in frustration, and that made me hot. This nigga robbed a store, but I still get blamed for his fuckups.
“Ma, he made his own decisions. I’m the one locked up right now,” I spat, my nose flaring in anger.
“Three minutes!” A guard yelled from a distance, and I didn’t have long.
“Ma, I need to get off the phone.” I was about to hang up when her voice stopped me.
“Love. Wait,” she spoke in a rushed tone. “M-maybe. Maybe you can take the charge for him.”
The fuck!Why would I do that? I wasn’t about to tell on him, but I’d be damned if I took a charge that wasn’t mine. This ain’t no petty crime we talking about. It’s robbery and murder. Niggas get locked up for life behind this.
“I know you ain’t just say that to me, mama.” I was hurt she suggested it.
“Just listen, baby,” she blurted out. “He won’t last in a place like that. You always been stronger than him, Love.”
I clenched my jaw, clutching the phone tightly in my hand. “So? What about me? I’m your son too, but you prefer I spend life in here than him, huh?”
I would say I'm surprised by what she’s asking me, but I’m not. I know if it came down to me and him, she’d always pick him. “That’s not gone happen mama. I’m sorry. I’m getting out of here and, when I do, me and you gotta talk.” I hung up before she could reply.
The next call I made was to my lawyer. He told me to sit tight util he came and bailed me out, and not to say anything to anybody. A guard came to take me back to the interrogation room. And as I was sitting there, my mind kept going back to mama. A part of me wanted to blame her ass being sick for the reason she said that, but I knew better. She wanted me to do this to save my brother. And I truly believed that if the shoe was on the other foot, she’d let me rot in jail.
The detective walked in and took a seat across from me. “So, you ready to talk?”
I exhaled deeply. “I ain’t got nothing to say until my lawyer gets here.”
I spread my legs, leaned back in the chair, and crossed my arms. He knew I was done with his bitch ass when he got up and walked out the room.
I sighed in relief once I was alone. Here I am, mixed up in Valentine bullshit once again. He ain’t never been man enough to take responsibility for shit he did, but I be damned if I took this rap for him.
17
BABY
“You beenquiet since I got here, you good?” I lifted my head once I heard Jayda’s voice.
I called her yesterday after the situation with Leah and told her to come over. I needed somebody to talk to about all this, and she was the only person I could trust. After she got here, we talked until the early hours of the morning.
“I’m alright, Jay. You were right about Leah this whole time.” Now that I thought about it, she didn’t really seem surprised by the news when I told her. All she did was shake her head.
“Did you know?” My eyes narrowed seeing the guilty look on her face. She averted her eyes, biting down on her bottom lip. That told me all I needed to know.
“Jayda!” I hit her hard on her thigh.
She held up her arms in surrender. “Okay, okay. I saw them together a few months after you went to prison.”
What? So, she kept this from me this whole time. All of them visits, she never thought to tell me what was happening. It seemed like she read my mind when she spoke.
“Baby, don’t look at me like that, girl. What was I supposed to say to you? You were in prison for protecting her. It was onlygonna make you feel worse when you needed to focus on keeping your head straight to get out of there,” she confessed.
I could admit she brought up valid points. I would have gone crazy with this information on my mind. That ain’t the place to lose your head.
“What about when I got out?” I gave her a side eye. “You still ain’t say nothing, then.”
What’s her excuse now?
“Baby, okay, I probably should have,” she admitted. “I’m sorry I ain’t tell you, but I’m not the one you should be mad at. I ain’t fuck him!”
