Authors: Elizabeth York
Sitting in the courtroom is the most depressing place in the world as you watch people fight for their freedom. Brooklyn had mergered a deal between two companies needing buy-outs and now one was trying to back out after getting the payout.
I loved watching her in action it was like going to the symphony. You could see the music in her. Then a body sat down beside me and I looked over and smiled. Those cobalt blue eyes would make gorgeous babies one day for me to spoil.
“You come to watch the show?” I quietly asked Mark as he stared at Brooklyn.
“She is in her own world up there. She lights up the room when she argues her side,” Mark softly replied.
“You come here and watch her often?” I asked and he nodded. “That is considered stalking detective,” I tried to crack a joke, but the tone in my voice made it a fail.
“It has been a few weeks since I have seen you,” I replied and he nodded his head. The bailiff looked over at me and told me to quiet down so Mark and I moved to the back of the courtroom.
“She doesn’t talk to me anymore,” Mark sounded kind of upset, so I took it as an invite to pry.
“What did you expect?” I asked and those blue eyes held me hostage as he waited for an explanation. “She loved you every single day of her life. She waited for you to choose her, and yet you chose Mary. I shouldn’t be talking to you either, but I kind of like you. Want to step outside for a minute.”
Mark nodded and I stood up and walked out the door with him.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Mark asked and I nearly burst out laughing.
How could men be so blind?
“She never loved me. We went to Vegas to get married and run away, not because of love, but because we were kids and didn’t know any better. I mean that would have been the time to tell me how she felt or any other day.”
“You are preaching to the choir, but let me tell you it is not easy to tell people that. Its not easy to let them in your compound, past the guards, and then tell them they are in there and can do whatever they want.”
“Your analogies are weird,” Mark replied and I smiled. “The ship with Brooklyn sailed a long time ago, if she didn’t tell me then that is not my fault.”
“You should have seen it, Mark. She is still in love with you, but denies it to herself because you deny that you love her too.” I spoke softly as people filed in around us. I almost felt horrid for Brooklyn. To know that the man she loved the most didn’t have a clue how she felt.
Then everything in my existence halted as a chain clinking limp sounded down the hallway and the hair on my neck stood up. I turned my head and stared at Kurt wearing a white and black jumpsuit in shackles limping down the hall. He smiled at me and I grabbed Mark and pulled him to me.
“You’re okay,” Mark whispered, but I wasn’t my entire body was shaking, my mind was racing, and my heart was doing laps on its own race track. “He is never going to hurt you again,” Mark reassured me as he wrapped his arms around me. I fought to get loose, and yet I fought to stay in his arms. I didn’t know what I wanted and it brought tears to my eyes.
“What is he doing here?” I asked as I gripped Mark’s shirt in my fists and kept my head down as the chills and horrid taste in my mouth overwhelmed me.
“His lawyer is asking for a bail reduction so he can be able to make some game before the trial.”
“Will they let him do that?” I asked and Mark didn’t answer. I knew he didn’t know the answer, but I needed him to say no.
“He is in shackles, and is not going to get through me to harm you. When you are not with me remember that even if they set him lose you have a restraining order. He can’t come near you.”
“What is that piece of paper going to fix?” I asked vehemently. “Nothing! There are laws about hitting people, but he did that just fine even with that in place. If he gets out that restraining order won’t keep him away.”
“I can request a detail for you, and you can call 911 if he comes near you again, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. He hasn’t made bail,” Mark spoke like a detective and not a friend as he brought my worst fears down to just a hint of panic. It was a little weird that he was rubbing my shoulders, but I understood why. He saw me as his little sister and didn’t want me to worry.
“I love you, you big dumb ox,” I murmured against him as I hugged Mark tight.
“You better?” He asked and I nodded as I wiped the last stray tear from my face. “Good! Now get in there and take care of my girl,” Mark stated as he turned me around. It was almost liberating being with him because for a moment I felt like the old Kate. I flung my hair and looked over my shoulder to get the last word.
“She’s my girl cause you didn’t put a ring on it,” I kept a straight face till I was through and then smiled as I walked back in the courtroom where everyone was packing up.
“Where have you been?” Brooklyn asked as I walked up to her table.
“Talking to Mark,” I stated nonchalantly.
“He was here?” Brooklyn asked as she fixed her black skirt and her cobalt eyes scoured the room looking for him. She fixed her lilac silk shirt and did a unnoticed hair flip to look behind her. This girl had it bad.
“Yes, he was in here watching you, but I wanted to talk to him so we went in the hallway.”
“You okay?” Brooklyn asked with concern.
“Yea, I’ll be fine. I just needed Mark to stop eye fucking you beside me,” I sarcastically retorted.
“What is it you are not telling me?” Brooklyn asked as she waded through my bullshit. “What is going on?” I didn’t want to tell her I had seen Kurt. I wasn’t sure why I felt so anxious about talking about it so I tried in a narrative manner.
“This guy I dated-,” Brooklyn cut me off.
“Some guy you fucked. Dating implies doing something together with your legs shut,” she corrected me.
“Fine, this guy I fucked on a Zamboni was out there and it freaked me out a little, so Mark calmed me down.”
“You saw Kurt?”
“How the hell did you get him from that?” I asked.
“Zamboni,” Brooklyn replied. “I forgot-,” she started and got cut off by a messenger handing her files. “I forgot he had asked for the hearing.”
“You knew?” I asked with shock.
“Kate, listen to me,” Brooklyn spoke and I really tried to hear her, but it was all jumbled.
“Just stop,” I said as my limit for daily what the fucks had reached its fill. “I know you didn’t expect me to be here, but when was anyone going to tell me?”
“We weren’t going to unless he makes bail,” Brooklyn sighed. “The Assistant District Attorney Gloria Peterson is handling it and there shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Where the fuck is Taylor?” I bellowed and everyone left in the court room looked my way.
“Taylor is at a meeting with the Mayor and Commissioner. Gloria steps in in his absence. She is really good. I wouldn’t worry unless you have too.”
“You sure she is good?” I asked and Brooklyn nodded. “If you and her were up against each other who would win?”
“Depending on the facts, evidence, and other things,” Brooklyn started, but then hesitated as she looked over at me. Then a smile spread across her face. “I would win. Didn’t anyone tell you I’m bad ass?”
I laughed and so did she as she leaned over and gave me a hug.
“That asshole can’t even pee without crying, so do not worry about him,” she whispered into my ear.
“You ready to go?” She asked and I nodded.
We headed home to change clothes. I put on a pair of jeggings and an extra-long maroon sweater with my black Uggs. Brooklyn broke into my closet for once and took a navy blue ribbed sweater a pair of skinny jeans and my other Uggs.
Then we grabbed take out and headed to my mom’s house to see how she was doing. When we pulled up outside her house we saw Henry’s Porsche in the driveway. Seeing his car just pissed me off. Wherever he went frustration followed. I wondered what he was doing there, and was going to find out. Then I opened the door before the driver had it in park and got out of the car and walked right inside the little ranch style house.
The newly painted burgundy walls looked like someone tried to cover up a murder and it made me take a step back. There was new carpet, it was such a light beige it was almost white. What the hell had happened to the pale yellow walls and navy blue carpet that we once had.
“Who the hell vomited Dr. Pepper on your walls?” I asked my mom who was laying in her recliner with a blanket.
“I did,” Liza spoke up as she walked out of the hallway with a man holding a notebook as she pointed out things to change. She was dressed in a black silk dress as if she were ready for the Met Gala. This woman had no class.
“Hey, boob-a-trocious. What the hell are you doing to my house?” I asked as she scoffed. I turned on Henry who was in jeans and a t-shirt looking like a homeless man. “What the hell is tyrannosaurus twit doing?”
“Kate, be nice,” my mom called out in a gravelly voice. Brooklyn took that moment to walk in the door with the food. “They are taking care of me.”
“Looks like they are helping themselves to everything you have worked for,” I gritted through my teeth as anger enraged me.
“We made a deal,” Liza spoke up and I wanted to thump her like the annoying little gnat she was. “We are taking care of your moms medical bills in exchange we get the house when she croaks.”
I lunged for her and found Brooklyn and Henry holding me from killing her.
“You fucking bitch,” I screamed and Liza calmly walked over to me knowing that Brooklyn and Henry wouldn’t let me go. She tapped my nose with a pencil and whispered. “Tell me did you enjoy your time in jail? Must be nice to be with other dykes. Play nice and I might let you get your things from here when your mom is six feet under.”
That was all it took for everything in my world to focus on the bullseye she just put on herself. I started dragging Brooklyn across the floor as I elbowed Henry in the nose. Blood poured onto the almost white carpet and Liza shrieked. The nurse came out of a back room to see what the commotion was. She inserted herself between me and the blond bimbo who needed to die.
“Stop!” She shouted. “This isn’t healthy for my patient and I am going to have to ask you all to leave.”
The nurse wouldn’t step away from the front of me, and Brooklyn wouldn’t let go as Henry left out the front door with blood pouring out of his nose and down his shirt. Liza took her assistant and pushed him out the door when she turned and looked at me.
“Can’t hit me I’m pregnant,” she called out with a wink.
“No, I can hit everything except your stomach,” I retorted and she scurried to the car.
“Kate,” my mom called and my focus readjusted. “Why do you insist on fighting with them?”
“Mom, it has always been you and I. With Mike starting over with a new job I can take care of you and the bills. I can do this mom. I want to take care of you the way you always took care of me.”
She waved me over and I went and sat on the couch right beside her recliner. The nurse voiced her displeasure, but I didn’t care. I held onto my mom’s hand.
“Sometimes even soda pop girls need a little help,” my mom whispered and I cringed. “My coke is going flat. The doctor called tonight and said that my levels just are dwindling and if it continues chemo won’t be an option.”
I didn’t acknowledge her. I looked down as the world I once knew was now a strange foreign land. There were several people in my life that I would die for and my mom topped that list. It killed me to know that there was nothing I could do to stop what was happening to her.
“How much time?” I asked and my mom and Brooklyn shared a look. Then Brooklyn came over and sat beside me. I knew it was bad at that moment. “Damn it mom, how long do I have with you?”
“A few weeks at most if we stop treatment now. If we continue it will be days.”
I couldn’t breathe. My vision tunneled and everything turned gray around the lamp I was focused in on. A few days to weeks. That wasn’t enough time to make her proud of me. It just wasn’t enough time for me to be able to tell her goodbye.