EMJAY
I waited an hour to be called up to see Shariece. I sat in the lobby that reeked sickly of bleach and feet. My palms were sweaty and I couldn’t stop from tapping my Chuck Taylors against the glossy white-and-purple checkered linoleum. I couldn’t imagine what Shariece must have been going through. If I could have busted her out of this hellhole, I would have. I flipped anxiously threw a tattered old issue of People magazine until I couldn’t take it anymore and hauled back up to the front desk where the Mexican cop sat. “Man, what is taking ya’ll so long? I’ve been waiting a damn hour.” Before I could get an answer, Detective Newburn, Taj and Mama exited from a white door. “Ma, what are you doing here?”
“We heard what happened to Shariece. Are you okay, baby?” she asked, wrapping her arms around me.
“No, I’m not okay. They got Shariece in here on some murder charge, and she didn’t do it. Mama, it’s Shariece. She didn’t kill anybody.”
“Of course she didn’t. Detective Newburn, we want to see her.”
“Usually we only allow one visitor to see an inmate, but I’ll make an exception this time.”
“Thank you, Detective,” Leandra said.
“Are you coming?” Mama asked Taj.
“I’ll wait in the lobby. The two of you should go up.”
I hadn’t seen Taj since the dinner at Mama’s. They patted me and Mama down, told us to empty our pockets. I guess they thought we had a paper clip to pick the lock, or some shit. Ma looked annoyed as they rummaged through her purse. We had to put our car keys in a bowl and then walk through the security alarm. It didn’t sound, so I guess we were in the clear. They gave the three of us tags that read D-Unit and told us to clasp them on our shirts.
“Walk down the hall, take the elevator to the fourth floor. She’s on her way down,” Detective Newburn said.
“How are you holding up?” Mama asked.
“I’ll be better once I get Shariece out of this place.”
“Detective Newburn told us what happened, about that Deandre person blackmailing Shariece.”
“She didn’t kill him. I saw the tape, but she didn’t do it. Somebody must have gone to Deandre’s apartment after she left.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Mama and I were the only ones in the unit waiting for Shariece to come down.
“Where is she?” Mama asked.
“They said she was on her way down,” I said, as I looked from behind the plate glass smudged with fingerprints. Schools of women swarmed the jail wearing navy-blue jumpsuits that read Leon County Jail in large white letters on the back of their shirts and on the side of their pants. I didn’t want to think about what Shariece must have been going through. “I wished I had never heard the name Deandre,” I said, as I waited patiently. “Detective Newburn said there was a video he took of her having sex with another student. Was that student you?”
I was embarrassed by the thought of telling Ma that I was the one, that I was that student in the video. “We made one mistake and look where it got us.”
“Oh Lord, Emjay.”
“It was stupid, I know.”
“Does her boss know about the two of you?”
“I’m not sure. I really can’t think about that right now, Ma. The most important thing right now is finding out who killed Deandre and getting Shariece out of here.”
“I know you’re not thinking about going out there to find his murderer,” Ma said.
Before I could push an answer out of my mouth, I spotted Shariece making her way toward me and Mama. She was both happy and shocked to see us sitting on the other side of the glass waiting for her. She looked good considering. We picked up our phones simultaneously. “Hey, baby. How are you holding up?” I asked.
“Scared, but I’m trying to stay strong.”
“We’re going to get you out of here,” Mama said, “we know you didn’t kill that boy.”
“I went to court this morning. My bail is set at one-hundred thousand dollars.”
My jaw dropped when I heard how much it would be to get Shariece out of that hellhole. “Don’t worry. I’m going to go talk to a lawyer,” I said.
“I’m a black woman accused of murder. No one gives two shits about me.”
What she said was messed up, but true. No one cares if we kill each other off. If Shariece were blonde, blue-eyed and pure as the driven snow, she would be deemed a hero.
“Stop talking like that, Shariece,” Mama said. “We care about you and we love you.”
“Leandra, I’m surprised you’re here after what I’ve put Emjay through. I’m so sorry.”
“Forget about all that, baby girl. It’s water under the bridge. The only thing you need to be focused on right now is walking out of these doors a free woman.” Shariece laughed through the tears that welled up in her big, brown eyes.
“Please forgive me,” she said, pressing her hand against the glass.
Mama returned the gesture. “There’s nothing to forgive you for, best friend. If anyone is asking for forgiveness, it’s me. I’ve been acting like a total bitch, and these past few months have been hell without the two of you in my life. I admit that I wasn’t ready for you to grow up, Jay. You’re my son turning into a man before my eyes and I didn’t want to turn you loose. When you moved out, I was terrified of losing you.”
I gave Mama a hug. “You could never lose me, Ma. It doesn’t matter how old I get; I will always be your baby boy and I will always be here for you.”
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you more, Mama.”
Ma turned her attention toward Shariece. “And you and I are going to rebuild our relationship again when you get out of here.”
“If I get out,” Shariece said.
“What Emjay and I need you to do is stay positive. You gotta keep your head up and trust that we are going to do everything we can for you. Can you do that, Shariece?”
“I’ll try.”
“No, you can do better than try,” Mama said. “Promise us that you will stay positive. This will not beat you as long as you keep me, Emjay and God in your heart.”
Before I could throw in some words of encouragement of my own, a female voice chimed in. “You have three minutes remaining.”
“They’re about to cut us off,” I warned Mama.
“I don’t want to leave you,” I said.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Shariece said, crying.
Thick tears streaked Shariece’s face knowing that I had to leave without her.
“I will get you out,” was the last thing I said before our conversation was cut short.
Mama and I left, walking toward the elevator. “Fuuuuuuccck!” I yelled as I repeatedly punched the painted, cinderblock wall.
“Jay, calm down.”
“What are we going to do? I don’t have a hundred thousand dollars.”
“We’ll find a way.”
“I told her not to go see Deandre by herself. I told her that she could get hurt, but she went anyway.”
“You know she’s always been headstrong. There’s no convincing her otherwise.”
“Ma, I think someone went to Deandre’s place the same night Shariece was there. She swears to me that he was alive after she left.”
“Detective Newburn said they found hundreds of flash drives and videotapes in his bedroom of women in public restrooms, some of them underage, so anyone could have killed him.”
“And I need to find out who that anyone is.”
“I know that look. Don’t do nothing crazy, baby.”
“Shariece could be facing life in prison, Ma. Or worse, the death penalty, so I’m willing to do a little crazy if it means clearing her name.”
My mind was made up and I was going to do whatever it took to save the woman I loved.