Keyshia and Clyde (28 page)

T. Bernard went into a tirade that would have made any preacher proud as he masterfully mesmerized the jurors. He went on for another fifteen minutes until finally he finished and thanked the jurors.

“Ms. Hemmingway, your closing argument,” said the judge.

Ms. Hemmingway stood at her table as if she, too, were searching for the right words to say. She lifted her head and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you remember from the opening argument, I promised you that I would not insult your intelligence. I think I've kept my promise. I told you that I would prove to you that my client was in the wrong place at the wrong time and, yes, a victim of circumstance. I think I did that. Now I stand before you today, after three days of testimony, evidence, and facts that prove beyond an inkling of doubt that my client, Clyde Barker, is innocent—and I think . . . no, I
know
I proved that! The government proved nothing. Absolutely nothing. Their handling of the case has been a miscarriage of justice, and no doubt, the judge will remind you of the burden of proof. This is not a civil trial. We require high levels of proof, ladies and gentlemen. Surely you must have doubts, and if you have even one doubt—just one!” Mrs. Hemmingway looked every one of the jurors in their eyes before continuing. “Then by law, you must bring back a not guilty verdict and reject any misguided interpretations which point to guilt.” She paused and walked over to Clyde. “Contrary to popular belief, we do not want your vote simply because you feel sorry for our client, who was wrongfully accused. We want your vote because he is one hundred percent innocent.” She walked quickly over to the jury and raised her voice as if her life depended on them hearing her. “The time has come for you to decide, and the choice may not be as difficult as you might think. If you are not one hundred percent sure, you must return a verdict of not guilty.”

•                  •                  •

The jury had deliberated for only three hours when the bailiff called the courtroom to order. Keyshia was so nervous that she broke her rule and edged closer to the front row. Like clockwork, the judge came lumbering out of his chambers and up to his bench. He shuffled some paperwork and looked at his bailiff. Electrified silence engulfed the courtroom at that moment as Ceasar hugged his mother with one arm and bit his fingernails with the other.

“I have been informed that the jury has reached a verdict. Is that correct, Mr. Bailiff?”

“Yes, they have, Your Honor.”

“Okay, then. Mr. Bailiff, would you seat the jury.”

It took the bailiff three minutes to bring out the jury, but to Keyshia it seemed like an eternity. The door finally opened, and as if it were déjà vu, Keyshia began to grow sick to her stomach. She looked at her man looking defenseless as two federal officers moved to flank him. She suddenly felt an urge to hug him. It was as if Clyde had felt her pain—he turned around, smiled, and whispered, “Body language.”

Keyshia thought he was going mad until she looked at the faces and eyes of the passing jurors and began to smile herself. Ceasar stared horrified at Clyde smiling back at Keyshia and at her smiling at him. He saw no humor in what was going on at the moment. All the jurors finally took their seats.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” said the judge, “have you reached a decision?”

“Yes, sir, we have,” answered the jury forewoman.

The bailiff walked over to the forewoman, who handed the decision to the bailiff, who then handed it to the judge. The judge took the note and studied it, showing no emotion.

The judge looked at Clyde and said, “Will the defendant please rise.” The judge handed the note back to the bailiff, who returned it to the jury forewoman.

“Please read the verdict, Madam Forewoman,” the judge announced.

The forewoman looked at Clyde and unfolded the paper. “As to the charge of federal bank robbery, we find the defendant, Clyde Barker, not guilty!”

Clyde jumped to his feet and ran straight to his mother and child and hugged them tightly.

His mother held her son's face, looking at him tearfully. “I missed you, son,” she said.

Clyde blinked back tears and said, “I missed you, too, Mama!”

All the jurors watched the family reunion through their own tears as they hugged one another, knowing that they had served justice and that it was all worth it. Even T. Bernard Williams had a hard time keeping himself from growing emotional as he sat back in his chair and considered himself a winner because he'd gotten a bigger fish in the process—Martha Woods, who was behind bars because of contempt of court charges, compliments of the judge.

After Clyde hugged his family and his lawyer, he looked around for his baby—Keyshia. Then he spotted her where she stood, teary-eyed and unable to move. He handed his son to his brother and walked slowly over to his woman. Keyshia burst into tears and ran into her man's arms. Clyde wrapped his arms around her as she buried her head in his chest and she cried like she'd never done before. Even Ms. Hemmingway found it hard to control her emotions; she fought to hold back her tears but lost.

“I missed you, baby. I missed you so much!” Keyshia said.

“I missed you, too,” said Clyde as he wiped away her tears.

“I'm going home now, and I'm never going to leave you again.”

She looked up at him and said, “You promise?”

He nodded and said, “I promise,” and kissed her hard.

When they pulled apart, Ceasar handed his nephew back to Clyde, and the three of them, mother, father, and son, were finally together in freedom, for the first time.

When they looked up, T. Bernard was standing across from them with a grim, dumbfounded look on his face. The entire family, as well as Ms. Hemmingway, waited for him to lash out at them for the deception that had been pulled on him.

Finally he said, “Ms. Simmons, I want you to take a week off to spend with your family, and I'll see you back at work first thing Monday morning.” He smiled widely and walked toward the doorway. Then he stopped and said, “Oh yeah.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a slip. “This is the claim number for you to retrieve the money that the government confiscated. You must claim it within fourteen business days.” He smiled again and said, “I'll put in the paperwork for it to be released when I get back to the office.”

Keyshia, Clyde, and Clyde, Jr. walked over to Ms. Hemming-way.

“Ms. Hemmingway,” Keyshia said humbly, “I . . . I don't know how to thank you for—”

Ms. Hemmingway cut her off. “You can thank me by passing the bar exam and doing legal service from time to time after you become a lawyer for people who have been unjustly convicted.”

Keyshia smiled and said she would.

Clyde approached her and thanked her also. “Ms. Hemming-way, I just want to thank you for believing in me. I don't know how to ever repay you for giving me back my life and my family.”

She nodded and said, “You just did, and that's more than enough.” He hugged her, and she joked before she walked out of the courtroom, “You just stay away from those banks.”

As they prepared to leave the courtroom, they began to look around for Clyde, Jr. He was in the well of the courtroom, playing a friendly game of cops and robbers with the bailiff.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” little Clyde said to the bailiff as he shot him with his fingers as though he had a gun.

The bailiff fell to his knees playfully as if he'd been shot and said, “Oh no! You got me! The cop always gets the bad guy in the end!”

Little Clyde became furious with the officer and said at the top of his lungs, “I wasn't playing no cop, I was playing the bad guy!” and shot him two more times for good measure.

Keyshia and Clyde looked at each other, shook their heads, and said at the same time:

“Body language!”

Chapter 41
_______________

Shortly after the trial, Keyshia took emergency leave from school and her job to go down south to Charleston. Clyde and Clyde, Jr. went along with her when they received news that her daughter's father had died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was found in his bedroom by Pastor Baker, the same pastor who had replaced him. Two weeks earlier, he had sent his daughter, Christina, to stay with her grandmother, Keyshia's mother. The circumstances surrounding the suicide were still under investigation, because neighbors had reported that they saw a young woman enter the house the same day. It turned out that the woman in question was one of his victims from the past, and she had been extorting him for years, threatening to go to the police if she wasn't given her money on a weekly basis. She told the police that on her last visit, he'd informed her that he would no longer be paying her, and as usual, she threatened to go to the police and left. She said she never had any intention of going to the police in the first place. After being questioned, she was asked if she had any remorse, and she told them she had none.

Keyshia's mother was given temporary custody of Christina until Keyshia petitioned the courts for her and her daughter's DNA and shortly after that was granted full custodial rights to her daughter. Keyshia and Clyde attended the funeral in support of Christina, who took her father's passing very hard, but in time she adapted to her newfound family setting with her mother, stepfather, and younger brother, Clyde. It was also about that time that Keyshia found it in her heart to forgive the man who had nearly ruined her life.

The very next summer, Keyshia, Clyde, Christina, and Clyde, Jr. attended the Simmons family reunion once again. Hundreds of family members attended that day, even more than Keyshia remembered from the last time. The day was festive as the family danced, hugged, and filled their stomachs with food. Then suddenly the music was halted as Keyshia's mother got up to speak into the microphone.

“Could I have everyone's attention for a moment, can I have your attention?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention toward Mrs. Simmons. “I'd like to thank everyone for coming to this year's Simmons family reunion, and I hope everyone is having a good time.” Everyone responded by clapping and whistling as she continued, “At this time, I's like to ask my eldest daughter, Keyshia, to come to the front and announce some good news. Where is Keyshia?” she said as she surveyed the yard. “Where you at, baby? Come on up,” she repeated.

Everyone started clapping again as they looked around for Keyshia. Clyde and both the children escorted her to the front as the clapping grew louder. A little embarrassed, Keyshia walked up to her mother, who gave her a hug and a kiss and handed her the microphone. Clyde was smiling widely as he nodded approval.

“Thank you, everyone, thank you.” Keyshia blushed and continued as everyone grew silent, “I would like to let everyone know that as of last week, I passed the New York State Bar exam and I am now a lawyer.” Everyone's eyes and mouths opened wider as they gave her a huge round of applause. Keyshia nodded and thanked everyone and continued, “At this time, I'd like to thank a few people. First, I'd like to thank my two children, Christina and Clyde.” She beamed down upon them. “You two are my absolute joy and happiness. You are the reason that I strived to become who I am.” Keyshia stared into Christina's eyes. “Mommy hasn't always been in your life, but I promise you, from this day on, that there is not a power, an entity, a force on this earth . . .” Keyshia paused as if she were losing her breath and then continued, “that will ever, ever keep you apart from me again.” She nodded and smiled at her children, then turned her attention to Clyde. “And to the love of my life, my boyfriend, Clyde.” Keyshia paused again as she searched the heavens for the right words. “You are the air that I breathe, the light of my life, and the reason I'm still living.” Her lips began to quiver as she fought back the tears. “You picked me up when I was nothing and loved me when I never knew how to love myself. You made feel like I was beautiful when I thought I had no beauty at all. You saved me, and I love you to death, boy.”

Clyde was at a loss for words as he tried to fight back his tears. Keyshia blew him a kiss, then turned her attention to her mother. “And to my mother.” It was so unexpected, her mother put her head down as her palms began to sweat. “I learned that a mother was supposed to do everything in her power to protect her child.” She paused and stared at her mother for a moment and then continued, “A mother is supposed to never let her child go no matter what happens. But my mother did. For a long time I used to ask God, why did He allow me to be taken from my family, and I cursed Him when He never gave me an answer, I resented Him and my mother for a long time.”

Her mother put her head down until Keyshia said, “I thought like that for a long time, until the same thing happened to me.” It was so silent at that moment, one could hear the gnats flying. “See, I realize that a real mother is someone who is so strong that she is willing to do anything to ensure that her baby is safe. A real mother is someone who would sacrifice everything just so her baby would have a chance in life, even if it means giving them to someone who can do a better job at the time.” Keyshia looked at her daughter. “See, I could have come to Charleston a long time ago and gotten custody of my daughter, 'cause I knew the law and that's what I do, but I never did, because just like my own mother, I'm a real mother and I was willing to sacrifice everything, even if it meant not having her, to ensure that she was happy, safe, and had a chance in life.” Mother and daughter stared deep into each other's eyes for a moment. “Mommy, I love you.”

Her mother was speechless as she tried to say
I love you
back, but she couldn't find the words, so they just embraced and cried in each other's arms.

The entire family began clapping as the two pulled away and wiped their eyes. Clyde was right beside Keyshia and gave her a loving tight hug. Clyde pulled away and took her by the hand and walked her to the middle of the crowd and said, “My beloved Keyshia, you brought me to Charleston, South Carolina, to meet your family, and your little sister, Kenya, asked me at the dinner table was I ever going to marry her sister. You remember?” Keyshia nodded as Clyde continued, “I told her that when the time is right, I was gonna bring her back to Charleston.” Clyde looked around the yard and said, “Well, we in Charleston. I also told her that when I did, I was going to give you the biggest diamond ring I could find.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a ring box and opened it. Keyshia's hands flew to her mouth in shock. “I said that when that time come, I'm gonna ask you in front of your entire family”—he fanned his hand around the entire yard and continued—“then I said I was gonna get down on one knee.” Clyde got down on one knee. “And ask the loveliest, most beautiful woman on the face of the earth, will she marry me?” Clyde stared deeply in her eyes and asked, “Keyshia Simmons, will you marry me?”

Everyone held their breath until Keyshia nodded and and said, “Yes, I will marry you.”

There was a loud eruption of jubilation as Clyde put the ring on her finger and stood up and gave her a long kiss. They looked into each other's eyes, and Clyde said, “I love you, girl.”

Keyshia returned the favor and said, “I love you more, boy.”