Love Don't Live Here Anymore (The Love Collection Book 3) (20 page)

Monday Morning arrived and Summer seemed more anxious than Akia. She didn’t know if it was because of everything that was going on or because it was Akia’s first day at a new school. She took Akia to her classroom and waited while she got acclimated. When Akia seemed to be getting along well with the other kids, Summer stepped off in search of the program director. She explained that Akia’s stay may not be long because she’d put in her resignation at her job and was hoping to leave within the next few weeks. The director told her that was fine and thanked her for the heads up.

Summer went to work and got as much done as she could before she left to go see about Ginger in court. She was told that the hearing started at nine a.m. She figured she would leave work and then come back, so she wouldn’t have to waste a full day. Her supervisor had told her that she would cover her in the meantime and to just let her know when she was leaving.

Summer walked into her office and was barely at her seat before her desk phone rang. “This is Summer. How can I help you?”

“Did you forget to tell me or did you have no intentions on telling me you were leaving?” Eugene asked. This was the flattest Summer had ever heard him speak. Actually, his tone was a little unnerving to her.

“I planned on telling you. Hell, I just made the decision a few days ago,” Summer said, half stretching the truth.

“Why haven’t I heard from you?”

“I’ve been busy, Eugene. AJ’s daughter now lives with me, so I’ve been working out the legalities of that. Plus, other things have taken place and I have yet to find the time to respond to emails or return phone calls.”

“I find that hard to believe when you were out gallivanting with Larita,” Eugene retorted.

Summer had to pull the phone from her ear and look at it. Eugene’s tone was much too course for her taste. “Listen, I understand you may be used to females being at your every beck and call, but I am a grown-ass woman with a life, one that doesn’t revolve around you. I said I’ve been busy, so you can take it or leave it. You must have me confused with those high school girls
you
gallivant around with; so I suggest you hang up with me and call one of them.” Eugene tried mumbling his way out of the trap he’d just set for himself, but Summer had no time for or interest in what he had to say. “Have a good day, Eugene.” She hung up.

She had just enough time to complete a few things on her desk, so she could get to court in a timely manner.

Besides the time her sister had to appear in court for beating the hell out of her husband’s ex-girlfriend before she and Abaki had gotten married, Summer had never seen the inside of a courtroom and was surprised to see how many people were actually there. She looked around and found a seat right in the front row, just as another lady was exiting. There were so many names being called that she didn’t ever think they would get to Ginger. Summer noticed that the clerk was calling inmates and people with attorneys first, so that gave her hope that she wouldn’t be there too long.

Ten people and fifteen minutes later, the clerk still hadn’t called Ginger’s name. Summer waited another half hour and stood up to leave, when she heard a familiar name.

“Braxdon Jones,” the clerk read.

Summer gasped and took a seat. As she went to sit, Braxdon stood and the two of them made eye contact. Summer couldn’t tell if his glare was one of shame or disgust. The people around her were whispering and talking, which hindered her ability to hear exactly what the judge was saying. She heard him mention something about the night of December 5
th
, which was just last night, and the fact that he had knowingly and willingly possessed something with the intent to sell. The words cut her deeply and she didn’t know how to feel.

Once Braxdon plead not guilty and was sent back through the doors, Summer stood to leave. When she walked out of the courtroom, she was greeted by Siyahna. “And what you doing here?” she asked.

Summer had seen firsthand how she could get, so she reasoned that she had to handle her with caution. “Siyahna, I’m not sure what your deal is, but this is not the time or the place. I came here to support a friend—”

“Well, at least you know that he is just a
friend
. Braxdon is and always will be mine,” Siyahna snapped.

Summer started to say something but then thought better of it. Her grandmother always told them to never argue with fools and if she responded, she felt like she would be doing just that. So before anything had a chance to go awry, she decided to end it first.

“Good riddance!” Summer said and walked off. She was definitely being the mature one in this situation but she had already made up her mind that if Siyahna followed her outside, she would give her exactly what she needed: a good ass whipping. Luckily for her, she’d stayed in her lane and allowed Summer to go about her business. Once to her car, Summer was a wreck. She still hadn’t seen Ginger and she’d found out that Braxdon had been arrested. Summer’s first call on her way back to work was to Vincent. When he didn’t answer, she left him a voicemail.

“Hi, Vincent. It’s me, Summer. I was hoping you could look into something for me. A guy by the name of Braxdon Jones was arrested yesterday and I want to know what his charges are and if he has bail. Please call me as soon as possible. Thanks.”

She then called Ginger’s caseworker back to see what happened with Ginger’s court date. “Hi, Andrea. It’s Summer.”

“Summer, hello. I was looking for you this morning.”

“I was there but I didn’t see you nor did I hear them call Ginger’s name.”

“Where did you go?” her worker asked. When Summer told her criminal court, Andrea had to stop herself from giggling. “Oh dear, Summer. Ginger was seen at juvenile court, not criminal court.” She ended up laughing anyway.

Summer, feeling silly, laughed with her. “Well, I’ll be …” she joked.

Andrea told her that Ginger was being placed on probation for six months. Because she was still in school fulltime, the judge waived the restitution but was making her do six months of community service. Ginger was released back into the care of Children Services.

“Right now, we’re trying to find another place for her. She expressed that she doesn’t want to go back to the other facility and she wanted to start somewhere fresh. When I told her that you were supposed to come, I thought she would be against it but she actually wanted to see you. I told her I would call you and give you her new contact information,” Andrea said.

Summer took down the information and promised that she would call Ginger later on. She had expected to be gone for a couple of hours at best, so Summer took note that she had only been out of the office for forty-five minutes. She expected Vincent to call her right back, and when he didn’t she tried him at the office.

“District attorney’s office,” the receptionist answered.

“Hi, is Vincent Stokes available.”

“May I ask who’s calling?”

“Summer Hughes.” 

“One moment please.”

“Hello,” Vincent answered.

“Hi. You busy?”

“A little. I just got off a conference call. I saw you called and I was going to call you back.”              

“No worries. Is it okay if I swing by real quick.”

“Sure, but come now if you can. I have a meeting in an hour.”

Summer let him know that she was in route and would be there in less than ten minutes.

When she arrived, the receptionist confirmed her identity, had her sign in, and walked her to Vincent’s office. Vincent stood behind his desk and walked over to meet her. They greeted one another with a kiss on the cheek as the office door closed.  

“Please have a seat,” he offered. Summer sat and he went behind his desk and took a seat as well. Vincent spoke again. “It seems as if Mr. Jones is quite the repeat offender. Technically, he is what we can refer to as a predicate felon. He was convicted of two DWIs in the past year and he was on parole.”

“I thought DWIs were misdemeanors.”

“They are until you drive with a minor in the car. Then it’s bumped up to a low-class felony. Second offense is an automatic felony as well. He served two years in state custody and was supposed to serve one year post supervision. Since he violated the terms of his parole, he is being held until his next court date.”

“He can’t be held. His son’s funeral is in two days, “Summer debated.

“Well, he should have thought about that before he decided to sell drugs,” Vincent retorted.

Summer couldn’t believe what he’d just said. She had just told him that a man would miss his own son’s funeral if he didn’t get out. “What’s his bail? He has to have bail, right?”

“Technically, no, because he didn’t request it at the hearing.”

“Vincent, you have to do something. Braxdon cannot miss his son’s funeral. That would kill him.”

“What’s it to you, anyway? What’s your stake in this?”

“There
is
no stake. He’s a good friend of mine. My car was the vehicle used in his son’s murder. And I’m hoping that my other friend looks out for me and helps me with this situation.”

A twinge of jealousy sparked in Vincent’s eyes. He stood from his chair and stared her in the eyes as he buttoned his suit jacket. “Ms. Hughes, I have a meeting to get to. Maybe you should reevaluate the people in your circle. Clearly, you are way too intimate with unsavory characters,” he said as he walked over to his door and opened it.

Summer squinted and knitted her brows in shock, biting her lip out of hurt. She wanted to go off on Vincent and now was the best time to checkmate his ass. Summer stood and smirked. She turned and walked toward the open door, stopping right in front of Vincent. She leaned in closely, careful not to give the receptionist anything to whisper about.

“Since you suggested it, I’m going to start with you. You may think you’re calling me out, but you actually just played yourself. Next time, put an X in the box next to my name, because ain’t nobody checking me. You wanna talk about unsavory? When you have a visitor in your office, make sure y
our
unsavory ass hangs up the phone completely before plotting with your unsavory
ex
to swindle money from her unsavory b
oyfriend
, my intimate friend. Do me a favor and lose my number,” Summer stated and left his office.

Vincent seemed to be a family man, so it shocked her that he seemed so insensitive to another man’s family tribulations. She didn’t expect him to jump at her request to help Braxdon but she definitely didn’t think she’d get the reply she’d gotten. Vincent was her only hope at getting Braxdon out. There was no other way she felt she could make things work in her favor. With no other options, she figured that if she couldn’t do anything to get Braxdon to his son’s funeral, the least she could do was not let his efforts to give him a funeral go in vain. Summer contacted the funeral home and gave them her bank account number. The director said he would contact the family immediately and let them know that they were all set to proceed with the burial arrangements. Although Summer didn’t feel one hundred percent better, she did feel a lot better and that was better than nothing.

~~~

Sirad’s funeral was standing room only. There was even a lengthy line to view the body. The funeral home had done an exceptional job of making Sirad as presentable as they could. Summer stood behind a couple of guys who were also waiting to pay their respects. Judging their attire, she reasoned that they must have been friends of Braxdon’s and the mere thought of him made her heart ache.

She retrieved some tissue from her purse and wiped her eyes and nose.
Damn, Braxdon. You’re supposed to be here
, she silently cried. The closer she got to the casket, the more her stomach ached and the stiffer her body got. When she was able to get a glimpse at Sirad’s young, lifeless body, she sobbed. Summer had never been to a child’s funeral before and calculated that it was the hardest thing she ever had to do. Now that she was standing at the casket alone, she wished she would have taken Larita up on her offer to accompany her.

She gestured the cross symbolically and stepped to the right. She saw Siyahna sitting right in the front, at the beginning of the pew, holding Brenda. An older women was next to her, a teenaged girl was next, and then there, next to her, was Braxdon.
Oh, Braxdon!
Summer was surprised, grateful and pleased that he was there to send his son off the proper way. Although she wasn’t exactly sure how he’d made it, deep inside she knew that the conversation she’d had with Vincent had something to do with it. Next to him was Ms. Honey. Summer bypassed him with tears streaming down her face and hugged his Gram tightly. She opened her eyes and made eye contact with Braxdon. The two of them held one another’s gaze as she held Ms. Honey. Neither said anything as the tears sat somberly on their cheeks.

Summer released her and walked toward the back of the room. She found a small space and the guy sitting there was nice enough to place his child on his lap so she could sit. The funeral was the most doleful experience she’d ever had. She didn’t go to the cemetery, noting that she had endured enough sadness to last a lifetime. Instead, she went to pick up Akia early and spent the rest of the day loving her up. At that moment, she realized that although losing the love of her life was by far the emptiest she’d felt in a long time, she never wanted to feel the effects of losing a child.