26. Talitha
Talitha
“Harvey, I’m almost insulted. You came to my city and didn’t notify me?” a sultry voice cooed from the side of me. Turning my head slightly, I stared at the fair-skinned, older woman.
“Adele.” Law pushed back from the table and stood. Tossing his napkin on the table, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered something into her ear.
Whatever he said made her giggle and pinch him in the side. “My apologies.” He pulled back but didn’t remove his eyes from her. “It was spur of the moment.”
“Bullshit Harvey.” She giggled. “Are you trying to hide this beauty from me?”
“Adele, this is Talitha. Talitha, meet my oldest friend, Adele.”
“Pleasure to meet you darling.” She held her hand out.
“You as well.” I smiled and grabbed her hand.
“Adele, Talitha is the one I was telling you about, with the technical college.”
“Oh, your business partner?” She smiled.
Tossing his eyes in my direction, Law bit his bottom lip before confirming, “That amongst other things.”
“I see,” Adele hummed and looked me up and down. “Harvey, before you leave the city, call me so we can chat. I’ll get you get back to your business dinner.”
Was this old bitch being shady? Something about the way she looked me up and down wasn’t sitting right in my flesh. I could have been overreacting. In New York, I’d met a few of Law’s friends and I was wrecking my brain trying to remember if he’d ever mentioned her.
The two of them stood there having a hushed conversation and clearly something he said pissed her off because she slanted her eyes at him and stormed off.
“I’m sorry about that,” he apologized when he sat back down.
“Sorry about what?” I probed.
“Adele, I didn’t know she was dining here tonight.”
“Who is she?”
“A friend of my mothers. We go way back.”
“Oh, okay.” I nodded, dropping my defense. Maybe they were disagreeing about something with his mom. “She seemed angry,” I said, fishing for some type of explanation.
“When isn’t she angry is a better question?” Law laughed.
“I guess. She looked tucked nicely,” I added.
“What the hell, Talitha!” Law laughed. “What does that even mean?”
“Shit. She looked mad but her face didn’t move. Botox maybe?” Okay. Maybe I was being petty, but I didn’t appreciate the way the old hag looked at me like I was beneath her.
“Botox is Adele’s best friend.,” he admitted. “But for a woman her age, she looks nice.”
“Sure, she does.” I giggled. “Anyways, how close is she with your mom?”
“Oh, they’re no longer friends. In fact, they probably stopped being cordial shortly after my Pops passed.”
“Oh okay.” I nodded. “Enough about your friend with the stiff face. Tomorrow, can we go to the beach?”
“We can go wherever you want to go love.”
“Just the beach will be fine. I want to lay out in the sun before we get back to reality. Oh, and by a souvenir shop to get Gema and Mrs. Jessie a gift.”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll pick them something up as well.”
“We should come back with Gema. She will love it here.”
“We can do that as well. Say the word and I’ll make it happen.”
“Thank you, Lawton.”
“What are you thanking me for?”
“A moment of peace.” I smiled and dropped my head to the yellowtail sitting on my plate.
* * *
That moment of peace I was thanking Law for the other night was now dull and sullen. The longer I sat here listening to Corrine outlining the motion she had filed and the information she received back from the courthouse, my shoulders slumped in defeat.
Law and I flew back into town late last night and the first thing on our agenda today was meeting with Corrine after she left the courthouse.
The way she sounded on the phone, I for sure thought she had gotten some good news. We rushed down to her office preparing to hear whatever she had to say.
Prior to this moment, she told me things wouldn’t be rectified immediately but she didn’t say it would be close to two months before I would get that home visit.
They didn’t hesitate to come and snatch Gema out of my house so why the fuck was it going to take so long for them to conduct their investigation.
Scratching my nose, I blurted, “I’m not understanding. I have to wait for damn near two months just to get someone out to the house.”
“Unfortunately, and that’s with me lighting a fire under the assistant district attorneys ass. These types of cases are taken as serious as child abuse allegations.”
“Bullshit,” I called. “I work with the youth, Corrine. The county nor state gives a fuck about kids being abused. I see the shit every day, hell I’ve reported several incidents to the local authorities.
Day in and day out those kids show up at the youth center with yet another bruise on them and no one is snatching them out of their toxic environments.”
“I am doing all that I can do Talitha to get Gema home. Judge Rowlins has granted you permission to visit Gema so that’s a step in the right direction.”
“What about her mother?” Law asked.
“She can’t stop it. It’s ordered and signed off on.”
“So, we can go today if we want?”
“You can.” Corrine nodded.
“What about Mrs. Jessie?”
“Unfortunately, a restraining order was taken out on her over the weekend. She can’t be anywhere near Gema. I think it was a tactic used to keep Gema from coming home, I mean if Mrs. Jessie is her nurse, of course she’s going to be at the home.”
“They know… Mrs. Jessie is there with Gema while I go to work. She did that as a fuck you to me I can almost bet you.”
“She’s prepared to fight you on everything. Power of attorney included. Is there any way she can somehow convince your grandmother to change her mind?”
“Hell no. Gema wouldn’t dare sign papers without notifying me. My Mama tried it once before and Gema and I had a very long talk. She knows better than that.”
“Well, that’s one less thing we have to worry about. Is there anything you can give me to somehow help your case?”
Scratching at my head, I thought about two things I could use against my mama. One I didn’t care to share, the other one I didn’t give a fuck at this point. I guess Law could feel my resistance because he chimed in.
“If anything comes up, we can let you know at a later date.”
“There is one other thing,” I butted in.
“Talitha,” Law groused. Grabbing my hand, he ordered, “Look at me. You don’t have to do this.” He assured me with his eyes when I looked up at him.
Without peeling my eyes away from him, I blurted out, “I own all of their houses. Willearl, Betty Jo, Louise, my Mama, and Gema’s.”
“What? How the hell is that possible” Law asked incredulously.
“Papa Joe purchased the houses with the money he got from my Mama husband. The only one he didn’t buy was my Mama’s and Joe Lee.
I bought those on my twenty-fifth birthday when they neglected to pay their property taxes. I never said anything to her. Joe Lee knows because he was the one responsible for paying the mortgage.”
“So even if the judge never granted you visitation, it would’ve been impossible for her to kick you off property that you own.”
“Yes.” I nodded my head.
“This is good.” Corrine nodded. “I don’t know how we can use it going forward but you leave it to me to figure out. Is there anything else Talitha?”
“I was molested by my stepfather,” I stammered.
Corrine’s head did a full spin at my revelation. “I’m sorry… what did you just say?”
“Talitha,” Law rasped, but I shook my head at him.
“I was five when it happened. My grandparents figured it out and took me from my Mama.”
“And your mother is still with him?”
“She didn’t believe me. She told everyone I had imagined it.”
“Do you feel like he will be inappropriate with your grandmother? If you have any ounce of fear that it could happen, I can make this whole thing, go away with the snap of my finger.”
As tempting as that shit sounded, I didn’t think for one second Joe Lee would be inappropriate with Gema in that manner. I’d never thought he was capable of doing that.
Now, did I think he might be rough with his words, or maybe put his hands on her? I wouldn’t put that past him but to touch here inappropriately, I wouldn’t go to that extent.
“As much as I want to say yeah so this could end, in my heart of hearts I can’t.”
“Damn,” she sighed. “If you can think of anything else, don’t hesitate to mention it. I’m going to fight with all of my might to get your visit pushed up Talitha. I don’t want this thing to drag out at all. The longer we wait, the more your grandmother will be compromised.”
“I know. I’m just ready for her to come home.”
“We all are. In the meantime, go home. You own everything, they can’t touch you. If I hear anything else, I’ll reach out.”
“Thank you again, Corrine.” Law stood and shook her hand.
Grabbing my purse up from the table, I tossed it over my shoulder and stood. “If I figure out anything else, I’ll let you know. I’m going to go home and stop by the bank so I can go through the safe deposit box.”
“Great. You two be safe.”
“We will.”
When we walked out of Corrine’s office, I stood with my back against the truck. “I’m gonna go home and pack a bag. I’ll probably get on the road in a few hours.”
Grabbing my face in his hands, Law stared into my eyes. “Talitha, you are out of your mind if you think I’m letting you go down there alone.”
“What about your business? You’ve taken enough time off already, dealing with me and my shit. I’ll be fine alone, Law.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you say,” he scoffed. “I’m not letting you go alone and that’s just that. God forbid you get down there and they do something to you. I will fuck the city of Warner Robins up. I mean, wipe it clean off the fucking map.”
“Oh God,” I groaned. “It’s not that serious, Harvey.”
“When it comes to you, Talitha. It’s gonna always be that fucking serious.”
I don’t know but something about his declaration made my kitty purr. Possession. That’s a feeling I don’t think I’d ever had the pleasure of receiving.
Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I fought back a smile. “Okay. Well, let’s go home so we can get changed and get on the road.”