I hung up and rerouted my destination. Ten minutes later, I was walking into the bar and grill. I spotted Kadeem at a table talking to a server who was clearly flirting with him. The old Kadeem would have taken the bait, but my boy was a changed man. He didn’t even crack a smile. I shook my head as I headed in his direction. He gave me a nod before sending her on her way and standing to greet me.
“Killian Lake,” he said, slapping my hand. “Good to see you, man.”
“Good to see you, too.” I took a seat at the table and got comfortable. “How’s the family, man?”
“Blessed, highly favored, and forever growing. Kyah is pregnant with our second baby.”
“Congratulations. How does Parker feel about being a big sister?”
He grinned. “She’s excited. She can’t keep her hands off my wife’s belly, and she’s forever talking to the baby. Baby girl is hoping for a brother. Truthfully, so am I. I need somebody to balance out all that estrogen, man.”
“As someone who grew up in a balanced household, it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes the estrogen is still just as overpowering.”
“I guess I better prepare then, huh? What’s been up with you? How’s life at the firm?”
“It’s life, man. Same shit, different day.”
“I’d think you’d be rolling in excitement. Criminal law can’t be boring.”
“It’s not boring at all. Overwhelming at times? Yes. Dumb-ass criminals? Absolutely. Some of the shit I hear and see, it’s like you can’t make this up.”
“It’sFirst48, huh?”
“Just likeFirst 48.I couldn’t live a life of crime. I’m no punk, but I’m not built for jail.”
“Say that again. I don’t know how career criminals do it.”
I shrugged. “Some people get conditioned to life behind bars. They can’t function on the outside. Some of them have no ambition. Others are products of their environment. You have biological and psychological factors, substance abuse, social and family influence, poverty, mental health issues, and employment issues, man. It’s a lot that goes into building a criminal. Add to that, the system doesn’t protect those it wasn’t built for either.”
“You said a mouthful there. We look injustice in the face every day, and most times, ain’t shit we can do about it.”
I nodded and paused for a moment. All this talk about injustice made me think of Alayah. There were too many women like her behind bars—women who were victims and were now doing hard time for finally putting an end to their abuse. I contemplated telling Kadeem about her. He was the one who broke the news to me in the first place back in the day. He was one of the few people who understood the way Alayah’s arrest made me feel.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, noting my silence.
“You,uh…you remember Alayah Chambers?”
“Our classmate? The one who got arrested for offing her mother’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah, her.”
“What about her?”
“She’s out on parole.”
“Oh, shit! How do you feel about that? You’ve seen her?”
I nodded. “I was there when they granted her parole. I recently saw her in the grocery store. That didn’t go how I expected. She really isn’t trying to have anything to do with me, man. I just wanted to make sure she was doing well, see if she needed anything. She basically told me to piss off.”
Kadeem chuckled. “Were you expecting things to be the way they were in high school, Killian? She’s been through a lot. She’s probably done some things she’s not proud of. Prison has a way of changing people. They don’t trust easily after being locked up for so long. You gotta remember she did a ten-year bid. Nobody would be the same after that.”
“I know that, man. I get it. I just…I miss my friend. I feel guilty about not being there for her. I could have written or visited or something—anything to let her know she wasn’t alone.”
“You’re putting too much guilt on yourself, just like you did back then. Give her some time to get reacclimated to civilian life. Don’t be pushy. I’m sure you care. Just don’t do the most.”
“I don’t do the most.”
He laughed. “You can. I’m gonna leave it at that though. I think you need to get laid, my brotha—take some of that stress off you.”
