6. Rainah
CHAPTER 6
RAINAH
The more I stared into Mr. Bowman’s smug face, the more irritated I became. Most people that had been accused of sexually assaulting not one, but two children would be nervous. They’d be relentlessly trying to prove their innocence. Mr. Bowman’s arrogant ass had been in my office for more than an hour, and he had a passive nonchalant attitude that was pissing me off. He was too confident that he’d get off, and I didn’t like that. He didn’t even seem apprehensive about me being a fairly new attorney.
I had worked for a small firm back in Charlotte. I started out mostly acting as a second attorney to the man that I worked for. Any time I had a case for the first six months, he was on the case as well, and I would be assisting. It was a great way for me to learn and to take some of the pressure off myself. Once I began taking cases alone, I had a few minor ones like drug trafficking, assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, etc. A few of those cases didn’t have favorable outcomes for my clients, and I wasn’t too upset.
My original plan was to get on at the DA’s office. I didn’t spend years becoming a lawyer to get criminals off the hook. I wanted to send the criminals to prison, but that wasn’t an easy position to get. When I asked Mr. Bowman questions or wanted specific details, he would give me vague responses. It was almost like he didn’t care. I massaged my temples not even trying to hide the fact that I was mentally exhausted.
“Mr. Bowman were you ever alone with Chasity?” Chasity was the eight-year-old. She was Mr. Bowman’s sister-n-law’s neighbor. One day after a family gathering at the sister-n-law’s home, Chasity went home in tears. She wouldn’t tell her mother why she was crying, and later that night, her mother found her blood-stained panties. She questioned her daughter immediately and took her to the ER. Two weeks after the charges against him were made public, the second accuser came forward.
“No. I’ve only seen her twice at my brother’s home, and there were always a lot of people around.”
“What about the person that said they saw Chasity coming out of a bedroom and minutes later, you came out as well?”
“They’re lying.” He looked me dead in the eyes and didn’t even blink. Cocky bastard.
I could go to Tony and refuse to take the case, or I could go to trial and hope the jury had the good sense to find him guilty. All most lawyers cared about was their winning streak. I got paid regardless of whether my client was found guilty or not. If I felt in my heart a person was guilty, and I lost a case, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. However, in the event that I got a person off that I thought was guilty it would bother me bad. I had no desire to keep talking to Mr. Bowman. I wasn’t sure how I could represent him when I couldn’t even stand to look at him.
“That will be all for today. I’ll be in touch.” I couldn’t even fake a smile. My expression was deadpan, and I gave no fucks.
Mr. Bowman stood and smoothed out his shirt. “I’m paying a pretty penny for representation. Let’s make sure you do what you have to do to get me off. Prison time is not an option.” Mr. Bowman turned his back and left the room, so he missed the scowl that appeared on my face.
He had a lot of nerve. I’d run into some entitled jerks in my day, but he took the cake. He acted as if he barely wanted to prove his innocence to me, but he used the amount of money he was paying as some sort of intimidation tactic. And what would happen if he didn’t get off? I busted my ass in law school and damn near pulled my hair out studying for the bar. And for what? I was starting to despise my career choice.
After organizing my things and cleaning off my desk, I stood up to leave. It was after hours, and I had a headache. The kids were with Jeovanni, and I was going to pick them up from my grandmother’s house. When he met them for the first time, he didn’t even acknowledge me until he asked if he could pick them up from school. It didn’t feel good knowing that Jeovanni was pissed with me but so far, coparenting wasn’t the worst. That night, Jason and Jordan couldn’t stop talking about how cool their dad was. That made me feel even worse for keeping Jeovanni out of their lives for so long, but it made me happy that they were so happy. I was trusting Jeovanni with my most prized possessions, and I prayed that he didn’t make me regret it.
My grandmother was much better, but I still worried about her. In the six months that I’d been back in Ausnor Beach, I’d seen my mother three times, and she looked terrible. She probably wasn’t a hundred pounds soaking wet, and she was missing a few teeth. No matter how long she’d been addicted to crack, seeing her in such a state never got easier. I didn’t even want to introduce her to my sons. Between my grandmother and hoping I hadn’t made a mistake by introducing the boys to Jeovanni, my career was the last thing I wanted to be stressed out about.
For a spilt second, I thought about what it would have been like if I was willing to ignore Jeovanni's lifestyle. What if I stayed with him and had his financial support? If that was the case it would be much easier for me to refuse to take Mr. Bowman’s case and not be worried about the consequences that might come with it. When I arrived at my grandmother’s house, Jeovanni’s Lexus was in her driveway. I parked behind his car and emerged with a sigh. Seeing Jeovanni wasn’t easy for me. He was finer than he’d been when we were younger. He had a grown man swag about him that was sexy as hell despite the fact that the last few times I’d seen him, he looked at me as if I disgusted him.
The forehead kisses. The way he used to stroke my walls…our fling was short and sweet, but it was nothing short of amazing. They were the best three weeks of my life, and I chose to walk away from him. I had done more than walk away from him though. I kept his children away from him, and that didn’t seem like something that Jeovanni could forgive. The two of us being at odds wasn’t the norm for me. Not only was he angry with me, but he had a girlfriend. I didn’t want to be jealous, but I was.
When I entered my grandmother’s house, she was sitting on the couch, and Jeovanni was on the loveseat. Jason was on his left, and Jordan was on his right. Both boys were holding an iPad, and I could only shake my head. They told me they wanted iPads for their birthday, but I refused to buy such an expensive device for five-year-olds. It seemed that Jeovanni had granted their wish, however. Their heads snapped in my direction, and Jordan looked at me with wide excited eyes.
“Dad got us iPads,” he squealed.
“I see,” I smiled.
“And we picked out beds,” Jason chimed in. “We’re going to have a room at dad’s house, and he said we can spend the night. Mom, he has a pool! And we got clothes and shoes for our closet at his house. We got a bunch of stuff. Dad probably spent like a million dollars!”
A lump formed in my throat. Of course, I knew that most of Jeovanni’s money came from drugs. I was trying not to have a panic attack, but I couldn’t help it. So much could go wrong. What if he got arrested? My sons were elated to have him around. It would crush them if he suddenly had to leave them. My chest felt tight as I imagined various ways that this entire thing could go wrong and if it did my boys would be the ones that ended up hurt.
Jeovanni said goodbye to the boys, while I stood in the living room imagining the worst. Finally, he stood and walked over to me. “Can I speak to you outside?”
“Sure,” I mumbled.
Once Jeovanni and I were on the porch, he turned to face me. “I’m not sure what you have planned for their birthday, but I’d like to have a party for them at my house with my family. I’d also like for them to spend a few nights a week with me. I need to meet their teachers. Get my name on their school paperwork. All that.”
“I’m taking them to a water park on Friday. You can get them on Saturday. And we can meet at the school on Monday.”
Jeovanni peered at me for a moment. Maybe he didn’t expect me to agree so fast, but I was willing to attempt to right my wrong. I was going to give Jeovanni the benefit of the doubt until I had a reason to believe that letting him in the boys’ lives was a mistake. If he gave me any reason to have to worry about Jordan and Jason’s safety in his presence, he would have to get to me through a lawyer. I had no desire to know the intricate details of Jeovanni’s drug dealing, but I doubted he stood on corners and partook in driveby’s. I could only pray that he was on the up and up enough that no one would come for him while he had my children with him.
His intense gaze made my knees buckle. Not even the hard line his lips were set in stopped my clit from pulsating. Fine was an understatement. Jeovanni Bendetti was something serious. One of the most scrumptious men I’d ever laid eyes on.
“Confession,” he rubbed his finger over my cheek. “I’ve never had unprotected sex with anyone. For as long as I’ve wanted you, I’m not using a condom.” He spoke with finality, and all my dumb ass could do was swallow hard. Jeovanni laid on his back. “Sit on my face.”
I got in the sixty-nine position and grabbed his intimidatingly large penis. I was still trying to decide if I could take it all when his tongue slid over my slick folds. I bit my bottom lip as his tongue probed my center. When he sucked my clit into his mouth, I pushed out a low moan before taking his dick into my mouth. Pleasure surged through my body as I relaxed my throat to take more of him into my mouth, and Jeovanni moaned into my peach. When he spit on it then cleaned up the mess with his mouth, my stomach quaked. I felt my core tightening, and that made me suck him harder and faster. Jeovanni tasted so clean, and he was making me feel so good. The faster he flicked his tongue over my nub, the nastier I sucked him off. I dragged my tongue up and down his shaft as I stoked his penis simultaneously. I took him back into my mouth, and he moaned deeply before French kissing my vagina.
“Jeovaniiiiiiiii,” I popped him out of my mouth and moaned as fireworks went off in my belly. I rode his face like a dick as my stomach contracted, and honey poured from my center. He moaned as he cleaned me off. My body jerked uncontrollably as my head fell back, and I enjoyed the best orgasm I’d ever experienced in my life.
Jeovanni lifted me off of him, and I took in his handsome but glistening face. He didn’t even attempt to wipe my juices off. Curious about how I tasted, I kissed his lips hungrily. Jeovanni locked one arm around my waist and placed me on my back. He pressed his tip into my opening, and I kissed him harder while I braced myself for what was to come.
“Cool.”
Jeovanni’s deep rumble snapped me back to the present. I hadn’t reminisced on the first time we had sex in a while but being in his presence was causing me to feel things that I didn’t want to feel. Because of the tragedy that I endured as a child, I was good at suppressing things. If something hurt me bad enough, I could successfully push it to the back of my mind and forget that it ever happened. Until something occurred to trigger the memory. It was impossible to forget Jeovanni while I was raising replicas of him, but I had managed to forget about the three weeks of incredible sex we partook in. Until I was standing directly in front of him.
Jeovanni left, and I walked back inside the house. “Go get your things, and say goodbye to grandma, so we can go.”
The moment the boys scurried from the room, my grandmother hiked her brow. “How’s it going?”
“He hates me,” I chuckled. “He barely says two words to me. And that’s only when he’s asking permission to get Jason and Jordan.”
“He’ll come around.”
When I saw him sitting on the bench talking on the phone, my throat went dry. He looked so damn good. He smiled when he saw me, but his expression changed instantly when I didn’t return the gesture.
“What’s wrong?” he asked after he ended the call.
“Do you sell drugs?” There was no need to beat around the bush. My heart was beating wildly in my chest, and I needed to get answers before I had a heart attack.
“Where did that come from?” he asked with a slight frown.
“Does it matter?”
Jeovanni didn’t answer me. He simply stared, and that told me everything I needed to know.
“Wow,” I chuckled angrily before turning to walk away.
“That’s what we do now? We judge one another?” he called out making me whirl back around to face him.
“Judge you?” I spat. “I’m not judging you, but you of all people know how I feel about drug dealers.”
“So, fuck who I am as a person? You just lump us all into one group? I’m a bad person, Rainah?”
“Ask the people that have lost loved ones to overdoses. Ask the kids that are hungry and neglected because their mothers walk up and down the streets all day chasing a high. Ask the people that have to bury their loved ones on a daily basis.”
“None of that shit has anything to do with me. Your daddy was a drug dealer.”
Faster than I knew what I was doing, I reached out and slapped Jeovanni so hard that my hand stung. “Don’t talk about my father! You don’t know shit about him.”
Jeovanni glared at me with a red face and flaring nostrils. “Fuck you,” he stated lowly before walking off.
Clearing my throat, I closed my eyes and tried to erase the memories of the day I chose to walk away from Jeovanni. “I doubt it, but it’s fine,” I lied. “As long as my sons are happy, he can continue to hate me.” Actually, knowing that Jeovanni hated me was heartbreaking. I was the one that walked away from him and threw our relationship away. I was so shocked to find out that he sold drugs, that I didn’t even give him the option of us just being friends. I said fuck him.
My grandmother didn’t respond, and I knew she called bullshit. It didn’t matter, however. I would keep telling myself that I didn’t care about how strained my relationship with my ex-best friend now was. I’d keep telling myself that until I actually believed it.
* * *
Monday morning, I pulled up at Jonah’s, and my brows furrowed. There were only two cars in the parking lot, and one of them looked just like PJ’s white Charger. In fact, I was almost certain that the car belonged to PJ. My eyes narrowed as I watched the front of the building. Jonah’s wasn’t open yet. I took a chance on catching Jeovanni because I printed the papers that we needed to complete off, and he could fill them out, and I would turn them in to the school. We didn’t have to meet there in order for his name to be added to the kids’ pick-up list, emergency contacts, etc. He could also meet the teachers without me.
PJ wasn’t on the clock, and Jonah’s wasn’t open. If he was inside, the reason would have to be personal, and what business did PJ have with Jeovanni? My heart raced as I thought about the fact that I revealed to PJ that Jeovanni was Jason and Jordan’s father. Surely, he wasn’t overstepping any boundaries and talking to Jeovanni about me? Glancing over at the clock on my dashboard, I saw that I’d been sitting and watching for two minutes. What the world was PJ doing with Jeovanni? I bit my bottom lip as I contemplated interrupting. Four minutes passed before I pulled my phone out of my purse to call Jeovanni. Before I could do so, PJ trekked from the entrance of the bar and because of the way I was parked, he spotted me immediately. He was dressed in street clothes and had a small envelope in his hand. Curiosity got the best of me so while he stared at my car like a deer caught in headlights, I got out and walked over to him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked the moment I was close enough for him to hear me.
“I just needed to talk to Jeovanni about a few things. Nothing major.” PJ appeared nervous. He was lying.
“What would you have to talk to Jeovanni about? When I mentioned him, you didn’t say you knew him on a personal level.” My orbs darted to the envelope in his hand. “What is that? What’s going on?” The envelope was stuffed, and if I had to guess what was inside, I’d say money.
PJ’s lip twitched, and I wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or angry, but I really didn’t care. He had some explaining to do. My patience wore thin as he stood there on mute. Crossing my arms over my chest, my eyes widened a bit as I indicated that I was waiting for him to speak.
“It’s nothing that you need to worry about. We’re dating, and I’ve made it clear that I want to be with you, but we aren’t in a relationship. I don’t know every aspect of your life, and you don’t have to know mine.”
An angry chuckle pushed from my throat. “Are you serious right now?” I bobbed my head. “You know what, don’t even worry about it. We aren’t in a relationship and at this point, we aren’t even dating. Good day, sir.” I attempted to walk around him, and PJ grabbed me a little too roughly for my liking.
I looked down at his hand wrapped tightly around my wrist then back up at him. “I think you need to get your hands off me.”
“Is there a problem?” my heart slammed into my ribcage as Jevovanni’s voice drifted into my ear.
PJ released his hold on me and looked over his shoulder at Jeovanni. “Everything is cool. Me and my lady were just having a discussion.”
I scoffed and stepped back to distance myself from him. “I am not your lady.”
PJ’s head whipped in my direction, and fire blazed in his eyes. I assumed he wasn’t too fond of me denying him to Jeovanni, but it was cool because I wasn’t too fond of him keeping secrets.
“Jeovanni, I have the papers that you have to complete. You can just fill them out, and I’ll take them to the school.”
Jeovanni took the papers that I extended toward him, but he never took his eyes off PJ. “You can leave now. Our business is finished.”
I could tell by the way PJ’s jaw muscles flexed that he was pissed. He glared at Jeovanni for a few seconds before getting in his car and leaving. The way his tires screeched as he pulled off, I could tell he was angry. I also knew that Jeovanni wasn’t going to tell me anything concerning his business.
“You gonna wait while I fill these out?” he didn’t even look at me as he spoke.
“Yes. It shouldn’t take too long.”
The boys talked to me for almost an hour about the fun time they had at their father’s huge house. He went all out and decorated for them. There was even a DJ, and they met Jeovanni’s family. The boys were enthralled with Jovani, and I was sad that I missed it. Their faces lit up the entire time they talked to me about their time at his house. It made me sad but happy at the same time. I had been wrong for keeping Jeovanni away from his sons. Wrong as hell, but I couldn’t take it back.
I followed Jeovanni inside Jonah’s, and I took a seat at the bar as he walked behind it. Wiping my sweaty palms along my crème slacks, I bit the bullet. “I know you hate me, and you have every right to. But PJ and I have been dating. He wants to meet the boys eventually and I mean…” my voice trailed off as Jeovanni’s head snapped up. “Well, I just want to know if there’s anything I need to know about him.” I swallowed hard as Jeovanni’s gaze damn near burned my skin.
“Nah, that nigga not meeting my sons. Shit, I just met them. He doesn’t need to be in a rush to come around them. He can date you without meeting Jason and Jordan. If you two decide to move in together or get married or some shit, then we can revisit this.”
My head jerked back, but I reminded myself that his feelings were kind of valid. “Don’t you have a girlfriend? I’m not dictating to you who you can introduce the boys to so please let’s not go there.”
“You damn sure dictated them meeting me. Kept them from me for five years, but now you want them to meet that fuck nigga. No.” His tone was adamant and hinted that I didn’t want to try him. I could tell that beyond hating me, Jeovanni would set the world on fire for his sons.
I inhaled a deep breath and attempted to remain calm. “Jeovanni, I messed up. We’ve established this. I was wrong. Very wrong. But if I’m dating and I get serious with someone, they will eventually meet my children. All I’m asking is what kind of business do you and PJ have?”
Jeovanni chortled as he went back to filling out the forms. When he was done, he handed them to me with a smirk on his face. “I pay PJ to give me information about certain things. Guess you can say he’s one of my employees. Have a good one.” He turned and walked off leaving me sitting there stumped.
Jeovanni never confirmed that he still sold drugs, but PJ was a police officer. What would PJ be doing for him unless he was on Jeovanni’s payroll to keep him out of trouble with the police or something? Jeovanni kept his business to himself very well. He wasn’t the type to incriminate himself or anyone affiliated with him. He told me what he did because he wanted me to know that PJ was no better than him. Here I was thinking I was dating someone noble. Someone I’d be proud to introduce my sons to, and he was a fuckin’ dirty cop. With flaring nostrils I eased off the stool and stormed out of the bar.