24. Talitha
Talitha
“Idon’t want to talk to anybody, Harvey,” I protested. I was already semi annoyed from the call I had with Betty Jo earlier and now Law was standing in the bathroom forcing me to shower and get dressed.
“I understand you don’t want to talk, Talitha. However, the sooner we get someone on this, the sooner we can bring Gema home.”
“I’m not ready,” I whined. I could barely say her name without breaking down and he was trying to force me to run down the whole story to his attorney. The only thing I was in the mood for was my bed.
“You don’t have a choice but to get ready!” Mrs. Jessie popped from my bedroom.
Slanting my eyes at Law, I frowned. “You called Mrs. Jessie?”
“Of course, he did. Bertha been gone for a few days, and you done slipped and lost yo’ mind. She ain’t raise you to cower away from nothing so get yo’ ass in the shower and come downstairs so you can sit down and talk to this lady who dropped everything to come help you out,” she fussed.
While Mrs. Jessie was in the other room fussing, Law stood in front of me smirking. I wanted to smack that smirk right off his face.
“Mrs. Jessie,” I stammered.
“Now, Talitha! And if I have to come in there, you gon’ catch another side of me. Handle your business and I’ll be downstairs waiting.”
The opening and closing of my bedroom door had me huffing. Stepping around me, Law leaned into the shower and turned it on.
“I’ll have your things on the bed when you get out.” He let me know before exiting the bathroom.
I knew Mrs. Jessie would make good on her words so instead of continuing to be defiant, I shed the camisole and pair of panties I’d worn the past few days and stepped into the shower. As soon as the hot stream pelted down my body, my shoulders slumped in defeat.
My mama had really accused me of allowing someone to beat on Gema. She knew just as well as the rest of ‘em did that I would murder someone with my bare hands if they even stared at Bertha Mae too long.
I couldn’t understand her reason for being so vindictive. If I hadn’t of known better, I would’ve sworn Joe Lee put her up to it, but I knew that was way off base. Gema hated him and she never let a moment pass by without telling him just how deep that hate ran.
Jalitha’s mission was to hurt me, and she knew using Gema was a sure way of being able to accomplish her goal. Papa Joe had a lawyer on retainer who in return became mine and Gema’s by default, but he was back in Warner Robins.
I was going to reach out to him the minute I got myself together; I needed to be able to handle my business without breaking down.
I begged Law for a few more days and he said no.
Said the quicker we got somebody started on it, the faster we could get Gema back.
A lot of the paperwork I needed was back at home in the safe deposit box so before it was all over, I knew I was going to have to go home to retrieve it.
Hopefully I could convince Law to take the trip with me.
Out of fear of doing something to my mama, I needed someone there to keep me from going off the deep end.
While standing in the shower, I made a mental note to reach out to Rossi and Marsha. The two of them had texted with their concerns.
I don’t know what Law had told my staff but from what I gathered, he let them know I would be out of office for an undisclosed amount of time.
Speaking of Law, the man hadn’t left my side since he showed up out of nowhere the day Gema was taken from me.
In the past, any time anything happened I’d always felt alone.
Like I had nobody on my side so the fact that he’s been neglecting his own businesses to be there for me made me feel special.
I know in the beginning I’d been super hard on him and gave him shit but in this moment, I was silently thanking him for being my Superman.
Only God knows what I would have done had he not been here.
After I finished with his attorney today, I was going to let him know how much I appreciated his effort.
“You good in there?” his gruff voice echoed from the other side of the door.
“Yes,” I yelled.
Shutting the water off, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my towel.
Wrapping it around my body, I went to the sink.
Swiping away the condensation, I stood there staring at my reflection in the mirror.
The bathroom door was pulled open and when I slowly started to breakdown, arms were secured around my waist. My back met his chest as Law held onto me and begged me not to cry.
“You said you were good.”
“I was until I saw my face,” I fretted. “I don’t know if I can air out my dirty laundry in court; in front of a bunch of strangers at that,” I admitted.
“Gema told me to tell them what he did and if that’s what it’s going to take to get her back, I will.
But I’ve dealt with public humiliation my entire life back in Warner Robins.
This was my clean break so to have to relive all of that shit is disheartening to say the least.”
“That’s why I need you to meet with Corrine.
Maybe there’s something that she can do to keep it from getting that far.
You said you’ve got the paperwork from the incident so give it to her.
They did a full work-up on Gema at the hospital, trust me if there were any signs of abuse, they would’ve called the cops that night. ”
“The county didn’t even check, Law. They just took her word and came and snatched Gema up. Had they investigated, they would have found out her claims were baseless.”
“I know but the law doesn’t really get involved with family matters. They follow the paper trail once it’s signed off on. That’s what lawyers are for. You gotta come out of here and let Corrine work her magic, love. Trust me when I say, it’s going to be okay.”
“I trust you,” I sighed. “It’s my Mama and her husband I don’t trust.”
“That nigga might have everybody back in Warner Robins fooled but up here, he ain’t got no reach,” Law declared. “I know people all over, believe me… I’m the last cat he wanna go up against.”
Something about the tone of his voice led me to believe that might have been a threat Law had issued. Instead of asking him what he meant by that, I asked, “Is Mrs. Jessie down there with her?”
“Yes. We’re just waiting on you.”
“I’m coming. Let me brush my teeth and throw something on and I’ll be done,” I swore.
“Okay. Call me if you need me.” Releasing my waist, Law reached his hand around and wiped my wet face with the back of his hand. “Everything is going to be okay,” he assured me once again and kissed my ear before leaving me in the bathroom alone.
I stood at the sink looking in the mirror a few more minutes before cutting the water on so I could get this meeting over with.
* * *
“Judge Rowlins signed off on this,” Law’s attorney asked with her face frowned up.
“Without any hesitations,” I mumbled.
“This doesn’t even make sense. I’m trying to figure out how these pictures proved any type of abuse. Pass me the hospital papers.”
Passing them off to her, I nibbled on my nails while she read over them. “It was a simple slip and fall.”
“I can tell. The bruising wasn’t even that bad.”
“Jalitha was in such a rush to prove some foul play, she took them when they had started to heal up making it look like I sent Gema down there with multiple bruises that were in the processing of healing.”
“Still doesn’t prove there was any abuse. Tell me again what happened the night she fell.”
Tossing my eyes over at Mrs. Jessie, I gave her the floor to speak.
“I had just put Bertha in the shower. It was a Tuesday night and I know it was cause she had a tub bath on Monday, and we didn’t leave the house so she ain’t wanna sit down in the tub.
She asked if we could just let the shower rinse her off. I agreed cause it was nothing out of the norm. We let her wash herself up as long as one of us is in there with her.
We got a slip resistant mat in the bottom of her tub and a metal bar on the side for her to grab ahold of. I was sitting on the toilet and she went to reach for her towel. When she leaned up, her foot caught the side of the mat and she slipped.
Instead of grabbing for her bar, she grabbed for the shower liner and we both tried to prevent it from happening, but she slipped and hit the corner of the tub, bruising her shoulder and her back.”
“And did you call the ambulance to take her to the hospital?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Me and Law were standing in the kitchen. When I heard the commotion, I ran into the room. After Gema assured us she was fine and the only pain she felt was in her shoulder, I got her dressed and Law drove us to Well Star.”
“Walk me through what happened when you got there.”
“We were triaged and sent to the back immediately. They ordered an x-ray of her shoulder and took a blood and urine sample. When her labs came back clear, we waited for the doctor to let us know if she’d injured that shoulder.
He explained that even though she’d taken a fall, the most we could expect was some tenderness and a little bruising. He told us to pick up some pain meds over-the-counter and put some Arnica cream on the bruise and it should go away within a week or so.”
“His notes reflect that. I wanted to make sure the stories aligned.” Placing the paperwork down on the table, Corrine turned to Law and said, “I’ll file a motion first thing Monday morning.
I’m going to take these papers with me in case I have to subpoena any of the staff.
I don’t see a reason for this to be prolonged. Everything looks to be cut and dry.”
“Does that mean I can get her back before next week is out?”
“I can’t answer that just yet. Because there was alleged abuse, a social worker will more than likely be dispatched to sit down and talk with you two.” Her eyes rolled from me to Mrs. Jessie before she continued. “And they’re going to wanna walk through the house.