Chapter Eighteen
See you quiver like the dogs on the street
Looking down on you as I beat you
Sully
‘What’s your favorite color, Daddy?’I sit up, panting and sweating and I swore I heard her voice. I look around and see Noah, Asa, Otto, Cordell, and CD all in the same cell as I am. There is one other guy I don’t know. The cell is like a cage with three bunk beds lining the wall.
It is loud as fuck and I know there must be more of these cages beyond the cinderblock wall.
“I take it we got contempt of court?” I ask the guys, all nodding.
“Why the fuck did you guys jump in?” I ask, annoyed they are going to catch charges because of my temper.
“You go, we go,” Asa says, and they all laugh like this isn’t a shit storm.
Before I can tell them that they are jackasses, Officer Donner, yes, Donner like the party, comes and calls for them all accept me.
“You’re out,” he says to the guys, but Noah stops him. “What about Sullivan, I guarantee his bail was paid.”
Officer Donner looks at me. “Sam, you aren’t eligible for bail. You need to see The Judge tomorrow. You did a number on Tenpenner.”
I don’t feel an ounce of guilt at that, but remain composed. “What they charging me with?”
He whistles low and shakes his head. “Right now? Aggravated assault with extreme prejudice, contempt of court on four counts, accessory of contempt on five counts, for your friends here.”
I nod in understand even though the whole thing is bullshit. They only want me on the assault charge. “Why extreme prejudice?”
“Look,” Donner says and steps closer to the now empty cell, and I realize the sixth guy was a friend of Cordell’s. “This could change drastically, Sam. I need you to be remorseful as fuck right now.”
I laugh at that. “Not going to happen.”
“You crushed his windpipe, broke four ribs, and shattered his jaw. He is eating and breathing through a tube right now, Sam. If he dies, it’s murder. Aggravated manslaughter at best.”
I laugh again. “Are you a lawyer now? You have no idea what I can face, but showing remorse won’t happen. I feel nothing but hopeful.”
Officer Donner shakes his head and makes notes on some chart. “Inmate SULL45978 for Pierce County Corrections shows considerable remorse when confronted on the victims state.”
“Whatever, Donner,” I laugh knowing he is trying to help me, but I am fine telling a judge I don’t fucking care. I look to Noah who is waiting with the guys to get out. “Remember what I asked, Noah. Buy me out of PIT and get me a lawyer.”
He nods, no hesitation. “Already on it, man.”
“Look, your girl is here to see you. Your dad pulled some strings and you have ten minutes,” Donner says, cuffing me before he lets me out of what I now know is a holding cell.
I follow him into a long hallway with windows everywhere until I see Mya through four-inch glass. “Hey, butterfly,” I say, and feel the first signs of guilt at her swollen puffy face that tells me she has been crying for hours.
She leans forward to the small ring of holes in the glass and sniffles. “Hey, crow.”
“Why you crying, Pet?”
She laughs without humor and rolls her eyes at me. “What were you thinking?”
I shrug my shoulders and sigh deep. “I wasn’t, Mya. I snapped when the guards defended him and he gets the joy of never admitting his guilt. No contest means he can forever claim innocence without proof. That isn’t acceptable to me. Where did I get the choice to accept the suffering for losing my daughter at his hands? Why does he get a choice? I think the whole thing is a fucking joke at my baby’s expense.”
“And if he dies? You could face charges for murder.”
“Or unintentional manslaughter,” I respond snidely, and watch the hurt from my words penetrate.
