“You are only one decision away from a totally different life.” Unknown
Khalil pulled up into Dee’s driveway and slammed the brakes, bringing his vehicle to a complete stop at the drop of a dime. He turned off the ignition, hopped out of the car, and ran up the walkway, up the steps, and pressed heavily on the doorbell, then alternated by pounding on the door with the massive knocker.
Priscilla opened the door, looking alarmed, obviously concerned with whoever was on the other side knocking on the door like a madman.
“Khalil, what’s going on?” she asked in an alarming tone.
“Where’s Dee?” he asked as he walked into the foyer without being formally invited to come inside.
Before Priscilla could reply, Dee appeared.
“What’s wrong? You sound upset?” she asked as she walked up on him, grabbing him by his elbow.
“Those pigs!” he said. “I’m trying to stay on the straight and narrow, but they’re pushing me, Dee. They’re pushing me to my limit.”
“Who? What are you talking about? Come on, let’s go into the office.”
She took him by his hand and they walked to the office. She opened the door and ushered him inside, closing it behind her. Priscilla was trustworthy so she wasn’t worried or concerned about her overhearing their conversation, but she felt like whatever had Khalil upset like this warranted some private time.
“You look like you’re about to explode, baby. Tell me what’s going on.”
“The police. They have Xavier.”
“What do you mean they have Xavier? Have him where?”
Nervous, Khalil rubbed his head back and forth while pacing across the hardwood floors of the beautiful office that Dee hardly ever ventured into.
“Baby, please tell me what happened.”
Khalil went through the whole spill about seeing the car that looked like his father’s to seeing them abuse and arrest Xavier for what Khalil said had to be a jacked up charge.
“Are you sure Xavier doesn’t do drugs? I mean, maybe he had someone with him who left drugs in the car,” Dee told him, trying to make some sense out of what Khalil had told her. She heard what he said, and she understood that he didn’t want to believe that his brother could be using or even selling drugs, but from what Khalil explained, the bag of cocaine they showed Khalil was pretty substantial. This could mean a stiff sentence for his little brother.
“I know he doesn’t do drugs and he doesn’t sell drugs, Dee! I’m telling you, this was a set up, and I think George, maybe even my father, had something to do with it.”
Dee was shaken to hear him mention George. She knew firsthand how George could be an evil, vindictive, and sometimes violent person. She’d dealt with him many times during her illicit affair with Hezekiah. George monitored the downtown condo where she and Hezekiah met up. She never understood why Hezekiah trusted George so much. But the more time she spent with Khalil and kept her ears wide open, the more she learned about the retired cop. She thought again about the drugs inside the car. She and Hezekiah enjoyed their share of doing drugs; something Khalil never suspected. She kept that part of her life hidden. She would find the right time to let him know and from the type of past he once lived, she hoped he would be cool with her method of chosen relaxation.
“Why would you think that George Reeves had something to do with it? The drugs were found in Hezekiah’s car and Xavier was behind the wheel. That’s cut and dried, Khalil. I’m sorry, but all I know that you can do is call a lawyer. I can contact my lawyer and see if he can recommend a good criminal defense attorney,” she offered, hoping that suggestion would get her in even closer to Khalil.
Khalil sat down on the edge of the office desk. He looked terribly sad and troubled. “Would you? I need some legal advice, but I also need someone to believe in me and what I’m saying.”
“I do believe you, Khalil. I just want you to see things the way they are. Even if the police or someone else planted the drugs in the car or left drugs in the car, you can’t prove it. I mean they have those police cams, but were they running? Did you notice?”
“I don’t remember seeing police cams. If they were running it will show them punching and kicking my little brother for no good reason. I’m telling you Xavier is no fighter, no dope fiend, and he’s definitely not violent. For God’s sake, he’s as gay and docile as they come.”
“Gay? Xavier?” Dee’s shock was evident in her voice. “I thought he had a little girly girl demeanor but I didn’t actually think he was gay.” She laughed out loud. She wondered if Hezekiah knew that. If he did, he never said anything to her about it, and they had some serious conversations from time to time. He’d told her mostly about Khalil’s past troubles but he never mentioned his son’s names and she’d never seen pictures of his kids. That’s why she didn’t put two and two together right away when she and Khalil initially met.
Khalil stopped talking immediately and looked up at Dee.
Dee quickly recovered from the shock, stopped laughing, and assured Khalil that it made no difference what his brother’s sexual orientation, that she could care less. Other people might judge him but she’d done too much and seen too much to judge anyone.
“Everything will be fine. I’m here for you. Whatever I can do to help your brother I promise you that I will do it. Okay?”
“We’ll see.”
Dee walked up to him, laid her hand on his chest, and then moved her arm up to wrap around his neck. She slightly pulled his face toward hers and kissed him hard.
“Yes, we will. But for now I want to make you feel all better.”
Later that evening, Khalil and Dee went to see a bail bondsman to find out if a bond had been set for Xavier, and it had. Detria paid the bond and the two of them waited well into the night for Xavier’s release. When Khalil saw him come out of the jail, Xavier looked like a frightened little boy.
“Are you all right, Zay?”
“I just want to get outta here and go home,” he said, looking at Dee strangely and walking past his brother.
As they walked outside the jail, Dee walked in front of them, allowing the brothers to talk as they headed to the parking lot across the street from the jail.
“Isn’t that the broad that Daddy was messing with?” Xavier asked.
“Yes, but forget that right now. You owe her a debt of gratitude. This broad posted your bail.”
“I didn’t ask her to. Ma would have done it. I don’t want to be obligated to your sluts.”
Dee stopped in her tracks and looked back at Xavier and Khalil after overhearing what was said. “You can turn around, take your scared, punk behind right back inside there for all I care. I only did this on the strength of your brother.”
“Hold up. You are out of line,” Khalil said to Xavier. “Way out of line. Is this the way you treat someone that has gone out of her way to help you, to make sure you didn’t sit in a cell overnight? And she got you one of the best lawyers in the city on top of that. We’re supposed to meet him in his office first thing tomorrow, but like Dee said, if you want to do this on your own, then have it your way.”
“I didn’t do anything. I was set up,” Xavier yelled as tears poured from his eyes. “I have no idea how those drugs got in that car.”
“The fact of the matter is they have you charged with possession. You’re lucky you even got out of jail tonight. And you’re going to need a dang good lawyer to beat this case whether it’s a set up or not.”
Dee started walking again, this time with haste as she crossed the street before the traffic light changed. She wanted to tell Xavier exactly where he could go and it wasn’t heaven either, but because she wanted Khalil all for herself, she was willing to do whatever it took to make him see that having her in his corner could pay off nicely. She wanted to become his wife and the First Lady of Holy Rock…again. Whatever she needed to do to accomplish that she was going to do.
She made it to the car, and rested against it, as she watched the brothers talking and walking slowly toward her. That little arrogant punk, she thought to herself.
“Did you tell Ma?”
“No. That’s for you to do. But her, I want you to apologize to Dee,” he whispered to assure that this time Dee didn’t hear their conversation even though she was already at the car and they were still crossing the street.
“That’s the same broad who was screwing our father while she was doing you. How can you take her money and how did she even find out what happened?”
“I know what I’m doing, and who I smash is none of your business. You have bigger things to worry about, like staying out of jail.” Khalil seethed, standing up on his brother so close that it was hard to tell there were two people. “Now, if you want to handle this little problem you’ve gotten yourself into alone then tell me now and I’ll tell Dee to keep her money and she can keep spending it on me. What’s it going to be?”
Xavier looked at his brother with anger in his eyes, but then exhaled and walked toward the car. When he made it across the street to where Dee was still leaning against Khalil’s ride, he walked over to her. “I apologize, Ms. Graham. Thank you for bailing me out and for getting me a lawyer. I…I don’t know how I would have been able to spend the night in that cell.”
Khalil unlocked the doors with his key FOB while Dee walked around the front of the car and to the passenger side. “No apology required, but apology accepted,” she said.
Xavier rushed behind her, opened the door for her, and waited on her to get inside before he closed her door, climbed in the back seat, closed his door, and laid his head against the leather seat. He was tired, smelly, still frightened, and ready to get home.
The car remained quiet except for the music playing on the radio. Xavier thought about Raymone. After court tomorrow morning, he had made up in his mind that he was going to try again to see him.
Khalil focused on the highway but his mind was actually on his father. It was time he paid him a visit. After he saw what they were going to do at his brother’s arraignment tomorrow morning, he was going to make it his business to try to see him again.
Dee’s thoughts were on how she was going to go about with her plans to become Mrs. Khalil McCoy. Khalil was in her debt but she was not going to make him feel as such. She wanted to play her cards just right. He was young and ripe for the picking and all she needed to do was use her womanly wisdom to reel him in again. She had to make him see that she could help him get everything he wanted in life: money, status, power and of course…Holy Rock.
One thing she learned while being married to Stiles and being the first lady, she had the inside scoop of how things actually ran and connections that could take him farther than Hezekiah ever imagined. He was young, handsome, and charismatic, qualities that the people of Holy Rock loved. All he needed was a little more grooming for the position he temporarily held and before he knew it, he would be the permanent pastor. It wouldn’t matter if Hezekiah came back with full strength or not, once Khalil won them over, Hezekiah would be a done deal.
If she got Khalil to marry her, she knew she would run into quite a bit of opposition from the long time members of the church, but again, with Khalil being young, young people were flocking to the church in droves and soon the old timers wouldn’t have a say at all. She would have to play her hand just right, and that she was going to make sure she did, starting with this foolish, sweet as sugar, Xavier. If she could help him beat this trumped up charge, then everything else would fall into place.
They arrived at Dee’s house. Xavier had fallen asleep in the back seat but woke up when he heard the door closing. He popped his head up in time to see Khalil walking Dee to her door. He watched as they exchanged words and shared an intimate kiss.
Xavier turned his head and looked down at his phone, which was dead, so he couldn’t attempt to call Raymone though he wanted to hear his voice so badly. He laid his head back against the seat again when he saw his brother walking back toward the car.
“Hey, wake up. Get in the front seat. I’m not your chauffeur,” Khalil ordered as he opened the door and got inside.
Xavier pretended he was just waking up. “Oh, okay,” he said drowsily. “Where is uh, Dee?”
“Inside.”
Xavier opened the back door, got out the car, opened the front passenger door, and climbed into the front seat. “I’m sorry. I wish you had woke me up. I wanted to tell her thanks again.”
“You’ll have time for that in the morning.”
“She’s coming with us to court?”
“Yeah, no doubt. What? You got a problem with that?”
“Naw. I was just thinking; she’s already done so much. I don’t want to put her out of her way, you know. And I don’t wanna owe her what I can’t already pay back.”
“You better be glad somebody is doing it, cause getting lawyered up don’t come cheap, li'l bruh. It don’t come cheap at all.”