Several hours later, I learned that I was being charged with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute it. Asia, a woman of Chinese descent whom my father went to undergrad school with, was the attorney he hired. Asia informed us that it was going to be a long, hard fight, especially if the batch of Ecstasy found in my locker was linked to the batch that caused a severe reaction in the people at the Tricked Out dance club. And especially since one kid actually got brain damage from the stuff.
“If she’s found guilty, you should expect a civil lawsuit from the parents of the child with brain damage to follow,” said Asia.
“But I didn’t do it. That’s not my stuff,” I said.
“I know and I believe you. We just have to make a judge believe you. We do have several things in our favor. You don’t have any criminal history and there is no medical file that indicates you’ve had addiction problems. I’m going to be honest with both of you. The prosecution is under pressure to bring someone to justice. Apparently, according to police, there has been a recent invasion of Ecstasy in this community, and they want to stop it.”
“But I don’t even know where to get the stuff,” I said.
“That’s another thing. The prosecution contends that they have a witness who says that they saw you with a man named Trinity Neophus Friday night at Tricked Out. Police say he has strong ties to the drug world.”
“I have no clue as to who that is. And whoever this witness is they’ve found is flat-out lying.”
“Were you at this club last Friday evening?” asked Asia.
“Yes, I was there, but I don’t remember everything that happened. I got sick and fainted. My brother had to bring me home.”
Asia exhaled. “Look, we’re free to leave now. Bail has been posted, and we’ll be notified of a court date in the coming weeks. Keysha, it is very important that you don’t talk to anyone other than me, your father or mom about this case. Anything that you mention to friends at school can be used against you in court.”
“So I need to keep my mouth shut about all of this?” I asked.
“Yes. And under no circumstances should you speak with the media. That’s my job as your attorney.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling as if I’d somehow gotten myself into something that was way over my head.
* * *
When we arrived home it was around six-thirty in the evening. No sooner had we set foot in the house, than Barbara began snapping out on Jordan.
“Do you see now, Jordan? She’s too much,” Barbara began talking about me. Before, she would at least wait until I was in another room, but now she just didn’t care whether I heard what she said or not. “This girl is going to rip us apart!”
Jordan sat down on the sofa in the family room. Now I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to defend and fight for him the way he’d done for me.
“I’m not trying to rip you apart,” I said. Barbara’s eyes became slits in her face.
“Listen, you little—”
“That’s enough, Barbara,” Jordan cut her off. She took her attention off me and focused back on Jordan. I went and sat down next to my daddy.
“We are going to stick together on this,” Jordan said. “We’re going to get through this storm—”
“You believe her, don’t you?” Barbara had a shocked expression on her face. “Jordan, how can you be so blind?”
“I’m telling the truth,” I said, hoping she’d understand.
“Okay, hang on a minute,” Barbara said. She marched out of the room and returned with the letter that Grandmother Rubylee had written me. “I didn’t want to have to do this but I guess you have to see it for yourself.” She handed him the letter. “Read the highlighted part.” Jordan looked down at the letter. I glanced over at it and saw that Barbara had highlighted Rubylee’s request for money and bank account information.
“Do you see now, Jordan? The girl and her grandmother are plotting to clean us out! For all we know, Rubylee could be running a narcotics ring from prison, and if we’re linked to it we could lose everything. The house, our lifestyle, everything!”
“Grandmother Rubylee is crazy, okay?” I said because I didn’t want my daddy to think I was playing some kind of game with him.
“Why would she ask you to do something like this?” Jordan asked me. I looked into his eyes and saw nothing but pain.
“Daddy, I don’t know. All I told her was that I’d found you and that you had a nice house.”
“Well, now she has our address and can probably send a hit squad or something over here to take us all out,” Barbara insisted. She was very passionate about her position.
“It’s not like that at all,” I said. “You have everything all twisted.”
“Keysha, I want you to go upstairs while Barbara and I talk.”
“Yeah, get upstairs, because you have a lot of work to do.” Barbara’s anger toward me was teetering on turning into violence.
“Come on, let’s go take a ride,” I heard Jordan say to Barbara.
* * *
When I got upstairs, Mike was waiting for me on the landing. We locked eyes for a moment. He didn’t say anything and neither did I, but I could tell that at that moment he didn’t like me very much.
“My life was sweet until you came along,” he finally said. “Why are you doing this to us?”
“I didn’t do anything, Mike,” I said sincerely.
“I’ve never seen my mom go so crazy,” he said, pointing to my bedroom. I looked down the hall toward my bedroom. It looked as if a tornado had gone through it.
“What did she do?” I asked as I rushed into my bedroom.
“She really lost it when she found out about drugs being found in your locker. She demolished your bedroom,” Mike said. My bedroom was a complete disaster. Every dresser drawer had been pulled out and dumped out. All of my clothes were turned inside out, and all of the pockets were hanging out of them. She even cut open my mattress and pulled out the foam. As my mind processed all of this I felt weak. I placed my back against the door frame and slid down to the floor. I closed my eyes, and placed my face in my hands.
“Why is my life such a mess?” I spoke aloud. “Why can’t things ever go right for me?”