Chapter 7 Kahlani
KAHLANI
Since I got locked up on a Saturday, I couldn’t even get a bond hearing until Monday. I spent two whole days in that cold, nasty cell, just lying there, staring at the wall, waiting to feel stupid for taking that charge for Moses.
But I never did.
Every hour that passed, the only thing I felt was peace.
I couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d let my helpmate, my man, the loving father to my child, the one who busted his ass every day to take care of our home, lose everything.
He was so close to his dreams he could damn near taste them, and I wasn’t going to just stand there while he lost it all.
Every time they let me call him, I could hear how miserable he was. He promised over and over that he was gonna get me out first thing Monday morning.
When Monday came, my public defender sat me down and kept it real with me. “There’s nothing you can do to avoid being charged. The car’s in your name. By law, that dope belongs to you. The only way out of this is to give them names.”
I just sat there, listening while my stomach knotted. He saw in my files that I had never been arrested before and was working while raising my son.
“Either you come clean about who those drugs really belong to, or you hope for the best. The police don’t care about two kilos when it comes to getting somebody bigger off the streets.
Cooperate, and this goes away. Don’t, and you’ll have to fight it.
That can take up to a year, unless you plead guilty, but I wouldn’t advise that.
You’d be looking at jail time or, at best, felony probation. ”
By the time I stood in front of the judge, I was delirious from lack of sleep. My stomach was aching from hunger, and my head was pounding.
When I turned my head, I saw Moses sitting in the back. He looked like he hadn’t slept since I got arrested.
The judge looked at me like I was just another case file before charging me with possession with intent to distribute.
Class A felony.
Fifty-thousand-dollar bond.
The air outside the courthouse slapped me in the face. It was cold and unforgiving, just like the last seventy-two hours had been.
Moses was standing at the bottom of the steps, pacing with his hands stuffed in his hoodie pocket. The minute his eyes caught mine, he stopped like the world just froze. Then he was climbing those steps two at a time.
He didn’t say a word at first. He just wrapped me up in his arms so tight I could barely breathe. His hoodie smelled like cologne, weed, familiarity, and safety. I didn’t realize until then how much I’d been holding back. My face pressed into his chest, and I let out a shaky breath.
“Baby,” he murmured against my hair. “I’m so sorry.
I’m so fuckin’ sorry you had to go through that.
” He pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes.
His hands held my face. “I swear to you, I’mma make this worth it.
Whatever I gotta do, whatever it takes, I’mma make sure you never regret what you did for me. ”
I wanted to tell him I didn’t need him to make it worth it, that I already knew I’d done the right thing. But the way his eyes burned into mine, full of guilt and gratitude, I just nodded. The truth was, I needed to believe him as much as he needed to say it.