“How you hear nigga?”
“It was club Raw, come on now.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot that's your favorite spot. Hold on, you didn’t do shit to her, huh?”
“Nah, man. You know I don’t touch women at all in that way, and whoever bashed that girl upside her head was a monster. I’m a demon, but I don’t do gruesome shit like that. Shit blood lowkey still make a nigga uneasy.”
Hov laughed.
“Yeah, I remember how long you threw up on the way home that night we had to stab up them niggas on the subway. I was sure back then that would be your last kill.”
Me and Hov laughed reminiscing about our first bodies that we caught together. Back then, he and I just wanted to make money, fuck bitches, and be just like Papi once I got kicked out of school, and basketball wasn’t a dream for me anymore. We didn’t have it like we do now, so we were still getting around on public transportation. Of course, you have to prove yourself to niggas around here, so a couple of goofies hopped on the train and tried to take us for our shit like we were a couple of hoe ass niggas. We handled them fuck ass niggas with just us two, but I was sick as hell afterwards. That, however, built the bond we have today. The bond that I can’t believe I broke over a no-good bitch.
“Well, I’m about to get the fuck out of here. Wifey wants to go eat at this Jamaican spot, so that’s where I’m headed to.”
“Alright nigga, safety bro.”
“Safety.” Hov stuck his hand out, and I dapped him up. Just a simple handshake showed me all wasn’t lost between me and him. I know Hov well enough to know he doesn’t shake hands with niggas he doesn’t respect. Now that the respect was back, the trust should come soon after.
Chapter 5
Bria
Sitting in court today, I felt like my body was there, but my mind was somewhere else. I was zoned out because living in my head right now was way easier than living in the reality of what I was going through. This was supposed to be one of the most important moments of my career, but all I could think about was how my sister had been murdered just weeks ago.
It had been two weeks and fourteen hours exactly since I found my sister's body in that God forsaken strip club, Raw, and there were still no answers. The coroner ruled that her cause of death was blunt force trauma, with the detectives claiming that drugs made her fall and caused the injury. I knew that was bullshit. My sister didn't take drugs, and I was personally on the phone with her less than an hour before she died. Her voice was clear, and her mind seemed to be the same. If anything was in her system when she died, it wasn't by choice. I just didn't have a way to prove that yet, but eventually I will.
“Bria, you alright?”
Hov leaned in close to me, his voice low and thick, breath laced with peppermint. That man stayed with mints in his mouth, twirling them around, to keep himself busy, I guess.
"Yeah, I'm okay." I cleared my throat, straightened up, and tried to mask the way my leg was bouncing under the table.
"You sure?" He tilted his head and squinted his eyes.
"Yes, just preparing myself mentally for these exit interviews. Everything is good, I promise. We got this.” I gave him a reassuring smile.
What I didn't tell him was that every time I blinked, I saw Ryan's face. The picture of my sister lying still with the light gone from her eyes was an image I prayed I would stop seeing soon. I'd gotten good at faking composure, because after all, being a lawyer, we had to have a poker face no matter how things may seem to be crumbling in the courtroom. But deep down, I was mentally hanging on by a thread, and that was because of my personal life. It had nothing to do with this case.
When the bailiff walked near the bench, his voice cut through the court's silence.
"All rise! The honorable Judge Joe Lorenzo, preceding."
Everyone stood once he finished announcing him, and the judge walked into the courtroom with the same cold scowl he had for most of the trial.
He started doing his usual spiel, which I tuned out until he turned toward the jury and asked,
"Has the jury reached a verdict?"
A woman in the front row nodded and then stood, holding her chin high as she held a paper up with both hands.
"We, the jury in case number 93988402, the state versus Jehovah Matthews, find the defendant not guilty of attempted murder in the first degree."
The room erupted with half praise from Hov’s side, while the other was filled with cursing, crying, and disappointment in the verdict. Kairo's family grew more and more upset after the initial shock and was in the back row, calling Hov a murderer, swearing that justice isn’t real, so the chaos was an even mix of joy, pain, and disbelief.
When the court was dismissed, Hov was greeted by his family, who were as ecstatic as they should be. After hugging and kissing Hov for some time, Ciara turned to me.
"Thank you so much, Bria, and congrats on your first big win."
