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.
Derrick was supposed to be there at 3:00, and it was now twenty-five after. I wondered if he was making me wait as a punishment for kicking his ass out the other night When I talked to him on the phone, I played it as cool as I could. I didn’t beg him to come meet me, but I also didn’t give him shit. I just told him we had a lot of things to talk about, and we should get together in a neutral place to decide how we were gonna handle our “little issues.” He was so damn cocky.
When Derrick finally walked in at 3:30, I put my drink down.
“What’s up?” he asked. “You been here long?”
My mouth was dry, and my mind was a complete blank all of a sudden.
“I hate you,” were the only words I could get out.
I wanted to slap him right about then, but I pulled myself back together and did my little act for the benefit of all the officers who were eavesdropping. Actually, there was no acting necessary here. Tears formed in my eyes as I remembered the images I saw on that video.
“I know, Jasmine. I never meant for you to see that tape.”
“You never meant for me to see it? How ’bout you never meant to do what you did with my best friend? That shit should’ve never happened.”
“C’mon, baby.” He tried to win me over with one of his puppy-dog looks. “You know I never wanted to hurt you. I made a little mistake, that’s all. Can’t we just forgive and forget?” He reached out for my hand. I pulled it away.
“Hell, no. I ain’t forgiving and I damn sure ain’t forgetting. I just wanted to know why. Why would you do this to me after everything I’ve done for you? Why would you fuck Sabrina?”
“Look, Jazz, I’m sorry about what happened with your friend, but it’s partly your fault.”
“My fault?” I shouted. The cops at the next table shifted in their seats to remind me where I was and what I was supposed to be doing.
“Yeah, your fault.” His dimples retreated into a hard frown. “Everything woulda been cool if you would’ve been a little more open in the bedroom. And you shouldn’t talk so much to your damn friend.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you should have never told Sabrina how big my johnson is. That woman was coming over every day, talking about she just wanted to see if you were lying. Finally, I just showed it to her.” My stomach lurched when I heard that. Shit, I knew Sabrina was a ho, but I thought our friendship was sacred ground.
“Oh, so when she saw it you just fucked her right then and there, huh?”
“No. I fucked her after she told me you said I was too rough. She said she liked it rough. After that, it was a wrap.” He got up from his chair. “Like I said before: you talk too much, Jazz. Don’t you know you never tell your friends what you’re working with in bed?”
I shuddered. There was some truth to what he was saying, but it hurt to realize it.
“Now, are you gonna let me come back home, or what? ’Cause I got shit to do. I ain’t got time to be baby-sitting you and your little tantrum.”
I thought I was so in love with this man, but it was so clear now that he’d never really cared about me. Sure, he bought me lots of things. And at one time I guess I confused that with loving me. But Derrick was never concerned about my heart. He kept me on a leash, and I was willing to do anything for him. He let his baby’s momma disrespect me more times than I wanted to count. And I was a fool. I stayed by his side, gave up my own life to wait for his ass for three years. Now here I was, scared as shit, trying to keep my own self out of jail. Well, those days were over. I was ready to live my life on my own terms. I was ready to say good-bye to Derrick. And I was doing it for me, not for any cop, not for the lawyers. Just for me.
“No. I’m not gonna let you come back home.”
It felt so good to tell him that. And I couldn’t believe his response. He didn’t fight at all. He reached into his pocket, pulled out my keys, and slid them across the table to me.
“Your loss,” was all he said as he left.
I sat alone at that table for five of the longest minutes of my life. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there, but I had to get the word from the cops. Even the undercover couple next to me were still playing their part, pretending they didn’t know I existed. Finally, my lawyer came through the front door, and he was smiling. I felt like I could breathe at last.
“He’s gone, Jasmine. You can relax now,” Robert told me.
“Did he go to the car?” I asked.
“No.” My heart sank when he said that. But then he explained, “While he was in here with you, he had one of his friends get the drugs out of your trunk.”
“What? Does that mean he’s not gonna be arrested?” I was so nervous.
“No one’s been arrested yet. The friend was waiting outside when Derrick left. Derrick got into his car, and the undercover car is following them now. They’re hoping that at some point Derrick will take the drugs into his possession so they can get him.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked. “I thought I was gonna be done as soon as I talked to him.”
“Your part is done for now. Now we just have to wait. As soon as I know something, I’ll call you.”
“Does this mean the charges are dropped?”
“Technically, no. We have to go in front of a judge to have that done. And the Commonwealth won’t do that until they have Derrick in custody.”
“Damn.” My shoulders sagged. “How long do I have to wait?”
“Hopefully, not long. Try to relax.”
Easier said than done. There was no way I was gonna relax if I thought Derrick was still out there. What if his friend kept the drugs after all this? Then they couldn’t pick him up. Might even stop trailing him. For all I knew, he’d come looking for me if he decided he didn’t like the outcome of our little conversation today. I walked to my car feeling like I had a lead weight tied around my neck.
Stephanie sat on her couch with me for almost two hours when I got back to her place. The kids were off at the day care center, so I had her undivided attention. It didn’t matter, though. It’s not like I could even talk. I was so upset by this point, I just sat and cried until the phone finally rang.
“Jasmine? This is Robert. He took the drugs back to Wendy’s house and they got him.”
My knees gave out and I grabbed the couch before I ended up on the floor.
“Thank God.”
“With what they found in that house, they arrested him and Miss Wood.” That put a little smile on my tearstained face.
“So does that mean I’m free?”
“Yes, Miss Johnson. It means they’re dropping the charges. First thing tomorrow, I’ll appear before a judge to finalize everything.”
I started crying-this time, tears of relief. Derrick was going away, and it was time to start my life over.