“Yeah, you did, didn’t you. But just because he asked didn’t mean he would go out on a limb like this. I still can’t believe he did.”
“Look, Jasmine, whether you believe it or not, Dylan still cares about you. He wouldn’t have come here today and sat in that courtroom if he didn’t.”
Jasmine’s eyes darted around the lobby. “He’s here? Where is he?”
“I’m right here, Jasmine. You okay?” Dylan had come up behind us while we were talking. I don’t know how much he’d heard, but I don’t think it mattered. His eyes were glued on Jasmine like she was the only thing that did matter to him.
“Dylan, I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe you did this after everything that happened.” She was so choked up.
“I’m your friend, Jasmine. When your sister called and said you were in trouble, I knew I had to help. I couldn’t bear the thought of you sitting up in here for something you didn’t do, while Derrick’s roaming the streets.”
“But what about Monica? I’m surprised she let you out her sight.” Poor Jasmine. I know she didn’t really wanna hear about his baby’s momma right now. But then again, as fucked up as things had become for everyone involved, they might as well be up-front about the whole situation.
“I’m not with Monica,” Dylan said.
“You’re not?”
“I never was. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”
“But, what about the baby?”
“Just because she was having my baby doesn’t mean I wanna be with her. Besides, she disappeared with the baby. I don’t know where they are.”
“Oh, Dylan. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. She’s a crackhead. Sooner or later she’s gonna need money to get high, and when she does, I’ll find her. I just hope she takes good care of my baby until then.”
We were all silent for a few moments as we digested that scary thought. That poor baby could be anywhere with that crackhead right now. I think the thought was too much for Dylan, ’cause he changed the subject in a hurry.
“Listen, the important thing right now is that we get you out of this mess.”
“Don’t I know it!” Jasmine shuddered. “Thank God for that lawyer you got me. He thinks he might have a way to get the charges against me dropped.”
“That’s great news.” Dylan smiled. “I knew Robert would do a good job for you. So what about now? What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know yet. I can’t go back home. I don’t wanna be alone there, just in case Derrick tries to come by. I can’t deal with that now. I might kill him.”
“No, you’re already in enough trouble; you don’t need to kill nobody,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood. “But on the serious side, if you need a place to stay, you can always stay with me.”
Jasmine shook her head.
“Thanks, Dylan, but I can’t I gotta do this by myself. I’ve been relying on men all my life. I gotta do me right now. I’m probably just gonna go stay with Becky or my grandmother.”
“Sure is gonna be crowded over there,” I interjected. “You know, me and the kids are moving over to Big Momma’s next week.”
Jasmine shot me a look. She knew exactly what I was trying to do. Dylan had offered her a place to stay. I just thought I’d help move things along between them. But my sister’s eyes told me she wasn’t having it. She didn’t look mad. More like she was begging me to just leave it alone for right now. I knew we’d talk about it later, but for now I just hoped that it didn’t mean she was letting this brother slip away again.
“Well, we’ll all just be one big, happy family then, won’t we?” I said as I wrapped my arm around Jasmine’s shoulder.
We all gave an uncomfortable laugh. There was definitely a lot that Jasmine and Dylan still needed to talk about. Maybe my sister could have the good life that I’d messed around and lost.
“You know, Dylan, Big Momma always did like you,” I reminded him. “When Jasmine is there, we can count on you to come around and visit, right?”
“It’s the only way I would have it,” Dylan answered. “That okay with you, Jazz?”
“I’d like that,” she answered before her lawyer approached.
“Hey, Dylan, how are you?” He stuck out his hand to shake Dylan’s.
“Good, Robert, but I’ll be better if you get my friend off.”
“Well, that’s what I’m trying to do,” he sighed, turning to my sister. “We’ve got to speak to the Commonwealth attorney now.”
“Okay.” Jasmine turned to face us. “I can’t thank you enough for being here with me today.”
Jasmine’s eyes got misty, and she gave me a hug. Then she turned to Dylan.
“Thanks, Dylan. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’re here.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. The tension in her shoulders seemed to relax for just a second when she leaned into his embrace. She took a step back, gazed into his eyes, and said good-bye.
Things were still not perfect. Jasmine was still gonna have to fight to get herself out of this mess. She was still gonna have to deal with getting Derrick and his shit out of her life for good. But I saw the way she and Dylan were looking at each other as she left with her lawyer. I had a good feeling about them.
39
Jasmine
Seeing Dylan and Stephanie after I was released made me feel a hell of a lot better. That feeling didn’t last long, though, once my attorney took me to meet with the assistant Commonwealth attorney, Anthony Green, the man in charge of my case. On the way into the room, Robert explained to me what I could expect. He said they’d already met with Mr. Green to discuss the possibility of dropping the charges, but he didn’t tell me how he’d gotten them to agree to that. So at least things looked a little more hopeful, but not enough to keep my knees from shaking as I sat down in front of Anthony Green. I hadn’t even gotten comfortable before he started drilling me with questions.
“Miss Johnson, do you know Derrick Winter?”
That question caught me off guard. And I wasn’t sure if I should answer it, so I glanced at my attorney. That upset Mr. Green.
“Mr. Smith, did you explain to your client that if she cooperates with us we are willing to drop the charges against her?”
Robert patted my shoulder. “It’s all right, Jasmine. You can answer Mr. Green’s questions.”
“Well, Miss Johnson,” Mr. Green continued, “do you know Derrick Winter?”
“Yes, I know him. He’s my boyfriend—well, ex-boyfriend. We broke up last night.”
“And did you know he was a drug dealer?”
I glanced at my attorney again and he nodded.
“Yes, I knew he was a drug dealer,” I told him, flowering my head. “But I’m not. Derrick knew better than to bring that shit around me.”
This answer put a smile on Mr. Green’s face. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on the table. “So, does he know you were arrested?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. The only ones who know I was arrested are my sister and my friend Dylan.”
“So as far as you know, he thinks the drugs are still in the car?”
“Yeah. There’s no chance anyone in my famity would have talked to that motherf—uh, I mean, to Derrick.”
“Well, Miss Johnson”—the Commonwealth attorney was looking happier by the minute—“it appears you are in a position to help us.”
“Help you how?”
“We’ve been aware of your boyfriend’s activities ever since he was released on parole. He’s only been out a few months, and he and his boys have taken over the West End from the Dominicans. It won’t be long before they go after the Browns in Southside and Big Boy Johnny Ray in Pesters-burg. We wanna stop him before he does, and this time we wanna put him away for good. Have you ever heard of the ‘three strikes’ law?”
“I think so.”
“Well, under that law, Derrick already has two felony convictions. If we can somehow arrest him for a third, your ex will be going away for good.”
Damn
. Now I knew where this conversation was headed. I felt like I was in an episode of
Law & Order
. This man was about to ask me to set Derrick up.
I looked at Robert, but I couldn’t read any expression on his face.
“So you’re asking me to help you get Derrick, is that it?”
“No, Miss Johnson. I’m asking you to help yourself.”
“How is this helping me? You don’t know him. If he finds out I had something to do with his arrest, he’ll have someone kill me. Even if I wanted to testify against him, I wouldn’t make it to the stand without a bullet in my head.”
“We need some assurances, Mr. Green,” Robert finally chimed in. “My client cannot agree to anything unless we have absolute certainty that Mr. Winter will not know of her involvement.”
“We understand,” said Mr. Green. “What if I can guarantee that no arrest will take place in the presence of your client? Her part will be done before we take him into custody.”
I looked at Robert for some kind of reassurance. Maybe he was comforted by what the lawyer had just said, but I wasn’t. This guy would say anything to get me to agree. For all I knew, he’d make these promises and then I’d be standing right next to Derrick’s ass when the cops came to get him. That would be the end for me. I guess Robert trusted this guy, because he nodded and told me the deal was okay.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked, hating Derrick even more for getting me into this position in the first place.
Mr. Green handed me my cell phone, which they had taken when I was arrested. Now I knew why they hadn’t given it back to me with my other things when I was released. I figured some crooked guard had stolen it.
“Since your arrest, your phone’s been ringing quite a bit. We figure he’s been looking for you. Do you know any of these numbers?” He handed me a piece of paper.
“The top one’s his cell phone and the second one’s his mom’s number. I don’t know who the third number belongs to, although it does look familiar.”
“Do you know a Wendy Wood?”
That sleazy motherfucker. I should’ve known when I kicked his ass out that he’d end up back over there with that ho. And now he had the nerve to be calling me from her place.
“Yeah, that’s his baby’s momma.” I answered. “When we broke up, I kicked him out my place. He probably went to stay with her.”
“Well, we’d like you to call him back and set up a meeting.”
That made me nervous. Not only did I not want to be involved in this sting, I didn’t want to see Derrick face-to-face. I was still so pissed at him for that video, there was no telling what I would say when I saw him. But from the glance my lawyer gave me and the determined look on Mr. Green’s face, I knew I had no choice. Not if I didn’t wanna be the one behind bars. I had to get over my fears and do what they were asking.
“What should I say to him?”
“Call him on his cell. Tell him you want to see him, to talk about your fight. Tell him you’ll meet him in a Starbucks in the West End.”
“Alone?” I didn’t like the way this was sounding.
“Well, he’ll think you’re alone, but we’ll have undercover people stationed throughout the shop.”
“And what am I supposed to say to him once we’re there?”
“Ask him for your keys back. Tell him you hate him. It doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that he knows where you parked your car, and that you don’t leave with him.”
“Why does he have to know about the car?”
“We assume he’ll go looking for the drugs after your meeting, so park it in an obvious place. Once he’s been spotted with the drugs, we’ll arrange an arrest away from the coffee shop.”
This whole thing made me nervous. I was feeling sick to my stomach. What if Derrick got there and I chickened out? He had a way of talking me out of some of our biggest fights, and no doubt he’d be trying to do it this time. It was not gonna be easy, getting him to leave without me after I told him to fuck off. He would put up a good fight, for sure. I prayed I’d develop some real courage to deal with him, before I had to face him. I turned on my cell phone reluctantly and dialed Wendy’s number with trembling fingers.
I was sitting in the back of Starbucks, drinking my third cappuccino. It was decaf. My nerves were already a wreck, so I didn’t need any of that high-potency Starbucks coffee to make things worse.
There was a couple next to me holding hands, poring over the real estate section of the newspaper. They looked so totally in love, searching for a home. Actually, they were there for my benefit. They were undercover officers, ready to pounce on Derrick if things got out of hand. I was just praying that wouldn’t be necessary. I wanted to avoid it at all costs, actually, ’cause I was still terrified that Derrick’s boys would kill me if they knew I was doing this to him. A car with two more undercover officers sat outside in case they were called in as backup. My lawyer was in the car with them, and he’d promised me he’d be in there with me as soon as Derrick was gone.