I said hello to both ladies, ran upstairs, showered, and changed. I turned music on as I cut fresh vegetables and got everything ready so that I could build our pizza.
By the time that Sevyn walked in fresh from her shower, I had pulled the pizzas out of the oven.
“What smells so delicious?” she asked, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.
“I made us a couple of veggie pizzas.”
“Yummy. I’m starving. I worked hard today.”
“Yeah, Allyson told me that you have two more sessions, and you’ll be done.”
“I know. I feel like I’ll be missing something so significant in my life without her.”
“She’s been your therapist for the last two months.” Her former therapist, Derek, had left the hospital and went to work at a private sports facility. He had referred her to Allyson before he left.
“Here. I thought you could use this,” I stated, handing her a glass of sweet tea.
She took it and sipped it. “Mm. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, pulling the glass from her hand and kissing her lips. I grabbed a slice of red pepper and fed it to her.
“Mmm. I love fresh vegetables.”
“I know.”
She smiled at me as she continued chewing.
“How are you feeling, Sev?”
“My muscles are tired, but I feel good and accomplished. Your sister swung by today to check on me. I thought that was sweet of her.”
“It was. She asked if you would be here all day, and I told her you would. I wasn’t sure why she asked, and I didn’t have a chance to dig into it. What did she want other than checking on you?”
“She invited me to lunch in a couple of days. I found out that, like me, she has a handbag fetish. So, we’re going shopping for bags and shoes first, then we’ll head to lunch. She said that she needed to get out of the house and away from the kids more often than she does. I can’t believe that she has three kids. She really doesn’t look thirty-two. She looks closer to my age. I really like her.”
“That’s cool. I love that for you. I told you that you and my sister are a lot alike. I think y’all would be great friends.”
“What about you? How did things go today at trial?”
I sighed because I didn’t want to talk to her about it, but I knew that I couldn’t continue holding everything back. Besides, I had decided to tell her the truth about Lena and me, as well as about the night of her accident.
“Honestly, it was hard. Today was the most emotional day we’ve had since the trial started.”
“What happened?”
“I almost got into a fight. Threatened to be held in contempt of court and be banned from the courtroom.”
Her eyebrows rose and her mouth dropped open. With a quick jerk of her head backward, she asked, “But why?”
“Lena’s mother took the stand, and that slime thought he was gonna intimidate her. I warned him, he thought the shit was funny, so I had to let him know that I was dead serious.”
“Deuce. You could have let the judge and bailiff handle that. I mean, I know that she was your partner, but . . .”
“No one was doing anything. He needed to know that this wasn’t a game. This man took that woman’s life, her mother was on the stand fighting to maintain her composure, and just being the sweetest old lady, and that nigga thought it was a joke.”
Sevyn reached up and caressed my face as she searched my eyes. “I’m sorry that happened, and I’m sorry that you had to become involved. Maybe you should take a few days off. Give it some space and let things cool down before you go back.”
“This is my partner we’re talking about. I’m not about to walk out now, not when her family needs me, and not when we as a department need to make a stand.”
