Chapter 23 #2
“Well, somebody is looking out for you, so don’t be in here starting shit. I’ll do what I have to do, but make this easy on both of us.”
“What’s in it for you?”
Most people didn’t do shit for free. I was one of them, so if I made a deal like this, it would have to be something in it for me.
“Your man is helping my mom get custody of my kids. They’re in foster care,” she admitted, lowering her gaze like it pained her to admit it.
“What’s your name?”
“Golden. Big Goldie around here.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Goldie.”
She nodded, rolling over on the hard cot, and I did the same. That was the only positive aspect of being pregnant. I was exhausted all the time, making it easier to fall asleep until it was interrupted.
“Special visitor for Dixon. Let’s go,” The officer announced, unlocking my cell.
“Your man just can’t stay away,” Goldie smirked as I turned around to be cuffed again.
Treason wasn’t due back until tomorrow. If he were here again, something had to be wrong, and that made each step feel heavier than the one before it. The door creaked open, and the air shifted how it always did when Treason was near.
. . . But it wasn’t him creating more confusion and anger.
“What the fuck is this?” I asked, staring at Winston’s older, broad frame sitting at the table.
“Have a seat,” he motioned, but I wasn’t staying.
Regardless of how I felt about Treason at the moment, I wasn’t about to let Winston use me.
“Take me back to my cell.”
“Five minutes,” Winston insisted, standing up. “For family.”
“You are not my family.”
A self-satisfied smile appeared. “I guess your family hasn’t told you everything. Please sit, so I can fill you in.”
Curiosity pushed my feet forward, but I regained control, refusing again.
“Five minutes and tell them to uncuff me?” I demanded.
Frustrated but obedient, Winston signaled the officer closer.
“Be a gentleman and uncuff the lady.”
“Are you sure, Mr. Calloway?” he asked.
I was the one in danger, but to them, I was just another number.
He nodded, reiterating, “We’re family. I’ll be fine.”
The officer complied and left the room, and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
“We’re not family.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but DNA doesn’t lie. I thought, as smitten as my son is, he would’ve told you, but then again, I’m his best kept secret.”
“If that’s true, it’s you keeping the secret. Not him.”
I don’t know what it was with their generation that led to avoiding accountability, but he couldn’t blame Treason. Long before he was a man, he was a child, and it was up to Winston to cultivate that relationship. From the small glimpses Treason shared, he hadn’t done that.
“I’m really sorry it had to come to this, but my son is stubborn. Hopefully, you can reason with him,” Winston revealed.
“Calling him your son isn’t pulling at my heartstrings. It’s actually pissing me off, so stop.”
“You’re smart.”
“Smart enough to know you’re telling me this for a reason," I replied, getting to the point.
His eyes scanned the room in sarcasm, “You’re in jail for a crime you didn’t commit. Someone has to look out for you.”
“How do you know I didn’t do it?”
“I’d like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character. You didn’t wait years after the abuse to kill him.”
“Information is currency. Leak it, and you walk out of here freely. If you want to take a chance with my son, I’d use that information as protection. He doesn’t want anyone to know, including you.”
“I don’t know if I’d be jumping for joy to tell everybody you’re my father either. Especially one that didn’t want me.”
“That’s complicated.”
“Well, you’ve dragged me from my cell,” I finally said, sitting down. “Might as well give me a good story for my time, especially since you want me to do your dirty work.”
Winston chuckled. “I met Inez at an education summit. I was attracted to her smile and passion for education. We had a few drinks after the convention and ended the night in my hotel. It was never serious because I knew I had goals to reach.”
“Then she got pregnant,” I replied, getting to the part of the story that mattered.
“She did, but I wasn’t the man I am now. I was still building then. I wanted control, reach, my name etched into history. I didn’t have time to raise a child.”
“But you found time to raise your daughters?” I asked with a raised brow, “Just not him.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It never is,” I huffed, standing up to bang on the door with my fist.
“The things I could do to you and him for getting in my way haven’t even been invented yet, but I’m here because I do love my son. Help Treason, help himself,” Winston explained behind me, but I didn’t give a fuck about that.
“It’s bad enough you weren’t there for him, now you’re single-handedly backing his opponent and trying to destroy him in the process. His own fuckin’ father! If that’s love, the best thing you ever did was leave him.”
My brain was spinning as I thought about my own child and Treason’s reasons for being undecided about it.
“Take me back to my cell!” I yelled, ready to rid my ears of his voice that sounded eerily like Treason’s.
The door finally opened, and I shoved my arms out. I had never been so happy to be handcuffed in my life.
“I don’t make the rules, Navie. In this game, you can’t have it all, no matter what Treason tells you. Protect yourself.”
The walk back felt like miles, half of my heart angry that he didn’t tell me. Treason wanted every detail of my life on a silver platter, yet he kept this from me. The other half sympathized with the little boy inside of him, too scared to utter those words.
“You don’t look so happy for a woman who just saw her man,” Goldie said, likely worried about herself in the equation, but I couldn’t blame her.
“It wasn’t Treason.”
I laid down on my side, dissecting how Winston’s absence impacted Treason’s life. Is that why he threw himself so deeply into work that he didn’t have an identity outside of it? Was Winston the reason why Treason felt like he had to fix everything?
His bloodline was just as fucked up as mine.
Maybe even worse. Sloane wasn’t a vacation to Dubai, but Winston was the devil reincarnated, leaving me wondering how he had pulled Inez in the first place.
She seemed sweet and sensible, but even the most sensible women stood no chance against a charismatic man.
This poor kid was doomed from conception with the genes it stood to inherit on both sides.
After a snack from Goldie, the lights cut off, and I drifted to sleep until I heard our cell opening.
“Dixon. Let’s go. Medical.”
“Ain’t no fuckin’ medical this time of night!” Goldie yelled, heightening my anxiety.
“Be quiet, Temple!” he fussed, pointing at her before looking at me, “Let’s go. Now!”
He practically pulled me from my cot, ushering me into the hallway, slamming the cell shut.
“Where are you taking her!” Goldie yelled, clinging to the bars separating us.
“Why am I going to medical?” I asked, turning to get his name from his uniform.
“Don’t know. They told me to get you. That’s what I’m doing.”
“Who are they?” I asked, but he didn’t answer.
My stomach dropped, fearing the worst, especially after Winston’s visit.
The officer reassured me I’d be fine, but I wasn’t sure. The room was dark as fuck. A woman dressed in scrubs pointed me to the phone with no explanation.
The relief from Treason’s voice almost knocked me off my feet, “Blue.”
“Jesus! You almost gave me a fuckin’ heart attack, Tre.”
“My bad. I needed to hear you. Make sure you’re holding together.”
“I’m . . .” I couldn’t finish the sentence because saying okay would be a lie. I wanted to come home, but for now, I was managing. “I thought something bad was about to happen.”
“I’m always here, even when you can’t see me. I need you to know that.”
My lids closed, creating a picture of Treason’s tortured expression. He was likely in his office, sitting behind his desk. No, he was standing at the oversized window behind it, overlooking the city separating us.
“I’m sorry about earlier.”
“ I’m sorry, Blue,” he stalled for a second, “For everything. Goldie lookin’ out for you though, right?”
“Yeah, she has snacks,” I chuckled for the first time in days, “No gummy bears though.”
“Your fat ass needs those.”
“Yeah, I do. The food in here sucks. I want a whole bag of green ones.”
“I’ll make some calls and see what I can do.”
“I love you, Stink .” Treason needed to know he wasn’t fighting a losing battle. Most of all, he needed to know I believed in him because he wasn’t operating on his own strength right now. He needed mine.
“I love you more, Blue. One way or another, you’re coming home,” he reminded me with so much conviction I slept like a baby when I got to my cell.