Hope, Charity & Faith Ch. 12

"I don't wanna talk about shit; I don't want Norman jumping on my back, ma'am!" I was stern.

"That's not why I'm here; I wanna know if you're dating Kimberly Bivens."

"Fuck no; by the way that's none of your business youngster." I opened my locker fishing out a textbook and supplies.

"I know that, it's just that I was thinking about Faith, and well..." I slammed my locker shut.

"FAITH IS NOT HERE ANYMORE!!-ask FUCKING Charity Gilbert about that shit when she pops in for tea this afternoon!!"

I shoved her aside unceremoniously walking to my next class full of emotion. I glanced over noticing Kimberly standing there no doubt audibly privy to the exchange. I ignored the crestfallen expression on her face.

This rest of the day flowed by without incident as I intermittently thought of my lost lover and running down to the teacher's lounge to strangle my nemesis. It was hard to follow Tina's advice knowing that we would've never hooked up if Faith was still in the picture. My heart still ached whenever I thought of her face remembering her trying to save me, and subsequently being there at my bedside every waking moment of my recovery. I sat there ruminating about the lovers that had come and gone ending with Tina. She was something else, but I wondered if I'd be able to choose between her and Faith given the opportunity.

"Huh?"

Half of the class ran by to the windows that were a little high on the thick brick classroom walls. Some of the students there were pressed against the windows as I realized there were loud police sirens outside. I followed the others squeezing in-between two guys affording myself a glance out the window. Outside there were pockets of students sporadically gathered about in front of the building. My heart leapt into my throat as I bolted out of the classroom leaving my books behind.

Just outside the school entrance was a scene of utter chaos with teachers, faculty from all corners of the campus trying to maintain order. I couldn't believe my eyes noticing a few girls who looked like they'd been mugged in extreme fashion before my eyes settled on Pops, our safety officer. His uniform shirt was torn apart revealing his man boob. I realized the ripped potion hanging below it was still attached to his badge.

The collar was yanked and distorted revealing claw marks on his chest. The man was sporting a classic shiner. The black eye was so perfect, it almost looked like makeup around her puffed up right eye. Some students were being interviewed by some disinterested cops while others worked at herding kids back inside. My heart never stopped thumping as my eyes found their patrol car. Two officers were interviewing someone in the backseat.

It was Tina.

She looked truly insane with some blood trickling down her temple calmly talking to the officers handcuffed in the back of their patrol car. One burly cop had his hand covering his weapon at the ready, but Tina was relaxed, serene. I remembered her admonishing me for thinking of avenging myself on Charity Gilbert. She'd lulled me into complacency changing the subject to my prom while obviously plotting an intervention of her own.

I felt waves of guilt running through my body as she noticed me watching handcuffed in the backseat. Tina lightly nodded and motioned with her head smiling as the officer wrote in his little notebook. I followed the direction of her motions to a shelter city bus bench.

Charity Gilbert sat there being attended by paramedics.

She was a fucking blood soaked mess, glassy eyed and stripped to the waist. Her majestic, battered breasts were on full display to the public and traffic moving in both directions. The paramedics hadn't bothered to cover her bare bosom until traffic became congested, the cacophony of honking horns, deafening. Finally Vice Principal Harris appeared draping her blazer about the girl's shoulders. It felt like Charity was her child more than anything else.

She was devastated.

Tina was arrested and taken downtown to the lockup where she sat waiting to be arraigned. Charity's mother put the legal boots to her leaving her there to rot likely hoping that Tina would receive a similar beatdown behind bars from the other inmates. Tina had indeed tricked me into giving up the name of my tormentor with the intent of visiting holy hell upon the female villain.

Charity having concluded a sparsely attended final student body meeting was exiting the building with friends, associates and assorted bootlicks when she was confronted by Tina. My new lover discovered Charity's pic online at the school's website repeatedly calling the front office as she drove over to campus. She pretended to be a friend looking to rendezvous with the villain.

Charity never knew what hit her as she walked through the double doors finding Tina in her path. My chocolate amazon bumped chests with Charity pretending that some horrid slight occurred responding with a Mach level sucker punch that caused immediate chaos on an epic level. Tina's savagery was given free reign as she disabled several people trying to intervene including Charity's friends.

Pops attempted to subdue her with his trusty cuffs only to have his badge ripped from his chest followed by a roundhouse right that nearly knocked him unconscious. While people were attending to him, Charity was dragged onto the front lawn, stripped, and pummeled mercilessly until enough people could pile on top of Tina.

I was devastated.

********************************************

I drove down to visit Tina in county lockup completely demoralized and guilt ridden. Aunt Sharon had come clean with my mother about a suspected relationship with Tina and my visit. I was in perpetual trouble but resolved to see her before I had to answer to my mother. It hurt so bad knowing that karma had reared its ugly head perhaps to punish me with crippling guilt for taking it upon myself to mete out justice.

Now an innocent girl was in jail because of me. I wished we'd never met or that she really hated me that time in the backyard. It would be better than seeing another girl messed up because of Charity Gilbert. I checked into the jail waiting in the booth as Tina was brought up to see me. She appeared through the thick steel door, smiling when she saw me sitting there.

"Hey sorry, guess I ain't gonna make it to prom."

"Stop it, I'm so fucking sorry about this shit Tina; it's all my fault."

"Don't worry about it Jaleel; besides, I was the one beating ass all over that front lawn. Man, it was so funny when I stole on that goofy school cop. You should've seen him stumbling over, I put a beating on so many fools!! Your girl's real cool about being shady now, so you'll be okay from here on out."

"TINAAAA!!" I broke down doubling over sobbing uncontrollably as she sat there silently watching.

"Don't cry, its fine for me in here; its therapeutic and I'm getting some counseling for my anger and stuff. Honestly, it felt so good letting go for once Jaleel. All my life people have been holding me down, but just this once... I got to be free."

"Sorry Tina, I wish I could switch places with you; it's because of my shit that you're locked up." I couldn't stop the deluge of tears.

"Hear me baby; look at me, come on Jaleel." I met her gaze finding he same reassuring smile along with her own tear streaked face.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay and I want you to do me a favor."

"What? I'll do anything you want Tina."

"Go to prom; have a good time."

I couldn't stop crying as she kissed her middle and pointer fingers pressing them to the reinforced glass. Tina got up and walked back through those reinforced doors to her fate without another word. I sat there staring until a deputy appeared asking me to clear the room.

********************************************

"Son, I'm worried about this" My mother cautioned as we rode the elevator up to our scheduled mediation.

I got my well-deserved whipping, and my car was confiscated by her mostly out of concern for my well being. We went back and forth about my apparent proclivity for bad girls and how it was leading me down the road to the land down under (Not Australia). The clueless parental tour reached new heights when I was called out while attending church by mom's pastor. The religious shyster laid a "healing touch" on me in front of the congregation breaking that last straw. On the way home from divine humiliation, I told my mother of my plan to close out the drama once and for all. I promised that I was through dating and hooking up for the foreseeable future.

"Trust me; I've gotta do this my way."

This was my first time looking directly at Mrs. Gilbert finding unsurprisingly that she was more of an adult version of her daughter than anything else. There was a stone expression on her face that read more strained than anything else. Her long flowing store bought hair was realistically streaked with strands of gray. There were age lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth. My mother took a seat in a chair against the wall instead of sitting at the table which confused her.

"Are we not participating; is this a matter for the courts?"

"No, this is a matter between you and my son, Mrs. Gilbert." My mother underlined her terse reply by fishing out her phone texting.

"Well, no matter as you have a qualified legal representative. I assure you the numbers are more than adequate for this NDA agreement." There were legal binders in front of Mrs. Gilbert and our place at the table.

My cousin Ernest Perry was representing us for a fraction of the actual price happy to be in action, He was very good at his profession and I didn't consider him a familial liability, but he'd advised us to close the circle and add to our sudden windfall of cash. It wasn't like we were struggling in the first place. Even with just my mother, we were at worst lower middle class. I'd been allowed to make some decisions because of the situation but promised not to go on a spending spree with this money with seventy five percent of it squirreled away for the future.

Such was the moderate five digit figure being offered. I sat there glaring across the table finding Mrs. Gilbert mad dogging me in similar fashion. It was a moderately sized conference room with a few extra chairs besides the ones lining the wall just inside the door. My cousin put on his wireframe glasses going over every detail.

"It's all there, everything's in place as discussed with considerations in regards to both parties." The mediator underlined a few details for my benefit as Mrs. Gilbert signed the agreement. When it was placed in front of me, I hesitated.

"Excuse me; can I ask a question of you, Mrs. Gilbert?"

She looked over at my mother expecting her to make me sign the legal document. Mom didn't look up having already addressed my enemy's mother.

"I don't believe we have anything to converse about other than what's on the table, young man." Her voice was strict, authoritarian and ice cold.

"Well uhm, I believe what we have to talk about corresponds directly to what's on this table in front of us Mrs. Gilbert." I place my palm on top of the binder drumming my fingers, waiting. My lawyer was staring at her silent, waiting.

"Fine, what is it young man?"

"Mr. Perry."

"What is it you want to ask, Mr. Perry?"

"Well considering that my signature means a legal pass for your daughter Charity, considering that I won't be able to testify or pursue litigation should certain things come to light; how do you feel about it ma'am?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Well I'm surprised to hear that because in our brief friendship, Charity explained the sacrifices Mr. Gilbert underwent to support your legal education and the end result of that situation. Your lovely daughter spoke very highly of your legal acumen. I'm just surprised that you're unable or unwilling to answer a simple question."

I could see her face cloud over as I brought up her past. Mr. Gilbert had been royally screwed the moment she got that education.

"Mr. Perry my thoughts on the matter are not up for review. Either you agree to what we have discussed and worked out; or we can proceed through proper legal channels."

"I apologize ma'am; I didn't mean to upset you, but I wanted to say that I really didn't want to take that naked pic. I even tried to cover my private parts but was coerced."

"This is not a court of law, Mr. Perry; do you agree to the terms specified in our mutual agreement?"

Before I could answer, the door opened revealing Byron as someone in the hall approached trying to stop him from entering the room. I half turned in my chair towards the half opened door reacting to the intrusion.

"OH HEY, IT'S OKAY HE'S WITH US IN HERE!!" Byron was wearing a navy parka and faded almost stonewashed jeans with a rip in the knee. The towering basketball player looked every bit the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. He respectfully bowed his head talking a seat next to my mother.

"What is this?"

"Oh we're fellow students and classmates of your lovely daughter." Mrs. Gilbert looked over at the mediator who obviously wanted an explanation.

"The terms of the agreement are valid, and my client agrees to sign it; there's been no breach of confidentiality unless Mrs. Gilbert says otherwise."

I was counting on her arrogance to match or supersede Charity's, maybe even surpass it in some respects. I already knew what Mrs. Gilbert thought of her long suffering ex-husband. There was a pregnant pause in the room as everybody waited for the other shoe to drop.

"We can proceed if Mr. Perry is willing to close the circle."

"I'm good ma'am; you're paying me a lot of money to protect your daughter's reputation and future. Just to be clear, I'm very sorry for being inside your home without permission and engaging in sex with Charity. She was very uhm, accommodating I'm sure you get my meaning. Mrs. Gilbert, I'm sorry for the question, but none of this would've happened if she wasn't angry with Jayson Stello."

"Are you going to sign the agreement?"

"Oh yeah sure, let me take care of that for you Mrs. Gilbert." I scooted up to the table opening the binder removing the pen but hesitated twirling it between my fingers as my cousin leaned over.

"I've checked and double checked the numbers; it's all there Jaleel."

There was a bank check inside the jacket waiting to be collected per our mutual agreement. Our demands purposely crude enough to make us look legally ignorant to a maternal narcissist.

"I know, I trust you; you're family and that's what's important because if they can't hold you down, you're lost. Man, this is a lot of money; you must really love your daughter ma'am."

I scribbled my name wildly on the dotted line in chicken gibberish, not my usual curvy signature. I was a rock star up until it was signed, making the most of it.

"Mrs. Gilbert, ma'am?"

"What is it now?"

"Thanks a lot for the money, I'll put it to good use and uhm, well I was wondering how many of them binders you got. I mean it's just Byron back there. If I bought all of our mutual friends with Charity, you'd have to get a lot more chairs up in here." I handed her the binder instead of my lawyer, smiling.

"That's none of your business now; you wouldn't be included in any legal agreement for further remuneration with your ironclad signature on this agreement.

I guess you've played a hand too soon, Jaleel Perry." I scratched my temple nodding in time with everything she said.

"Yeah you're really smart ma'am; Mr. Gilbert made the right call when he sacrificed everything for you. I hope I get a wife just as loyal as you when I get married someday."

"I sincerely doubt that Mr. Perry."

"Funny you should say that; I was talking about the same thing with Dondre; he knows your daughter too, but not like that. He's a teammate with Jay Stello, those boys still mad about that championship game too. He's gonna visit Jay, kinda makes me wonder if you got a binder for him, too."

"ARE WE DONE HERE?!"

"Yes ma'am, Mrs. Gilbert; I love being nigga rich."

Mom immediately leaned forward slapping the back of my neck as Charity's mother packed up completely flustered. She was visibly shaking when she cleared the conference room's tall oblong door. The mediator appeared on the verge of laughing out loud but held things in check. I glanced over at my legal counsel and first cousin Ernest Perry.

"Man, you are insane; ever think about a career in law?"

"My future's in front of me, cuz." He laughed giving me a pat on the back. We'd already delivered his next client in the form of our school's favorite power forward, Byron Simpson.

Undoubtedly Mrs. Gilbert would be working overtime to secure similar agreements from the rest of her daughter's victims. While successful, affluent, and obviously financially secure; the Gilbert family weren't wealthy. This would put a considerable strain on finances for Charity's equally traitorous mother.

"Let's get that check to the bank." Mom chimed in happily.

We had lunch with Byron and patched things up making a new, rock solid friend in the process. I wished Ricky could be here at a moment of triumph.

Mrs. Gilbert later that day would arrive home to confront her daughter still on the mend from a run-in with Tina. Some late parenting would come in the form of a thick black belt across her daughter's cute little apple bottom after which she would be further stripped of all luxury and raiment before being unceremoniously deposited on her father's doorstep. Her old bedroom remained in the same condition from previous years before one parent's selfishness took her to undeserved heights.

I'd wager a bit of my payout that not a moment of the day goes by where Charity doesn't curse my name.

***********************************

Tina ended up with just under two years I the lockup, a third of it shaved off through the efforts of my cousin converted into probation on the condition that she receive and complete a comprehensive therapy program geared towards her anger. She ended up with double the time that Jay Stello received although less than the max considering the collateral damage she'd caused as well.

I was told that it was the best possible option for Tina, but it didn't make me feel any better. We put money on her books, and I visited every weekend until she told me it was okay to skip a day or two. Tina always appeared with a smile on her face. We'd talk and joke until I was booted out by growing familiar officers.

I kept my promise to mom eschewing the opposite sex despite the intermittent efforts of Kimberly Bivens and an errant girl or two. I didn't want any more karmic hookups preferring to wait for Tina to be paroled despite my mother's protests to the contrary. Ricky was already in the second part of his training which allowed us to speak on occasion. He was blown away after learning of my exploits and subsequent popularity around campus.

I liked hearing my friend laugh out loud at my antics with Kimberly Bivens which included the tangent gaslighting of her father now self-appointed chauffeur. Ricky had remained partially in contact with Chrystal McIntyre for most of basic getting mailed pics of her in various states of undress, occasional phone conversations.

Things gradually died out after she ghosted and blocked him on social media. Hope faux regretfully informed her little brother the thick pawg was now dating some handsome brother supposedly hung like a horse. She'd actually moved out of the dorm to live happily ever after.

How's Hope Arias you might ask?

The removal of Professor Lamar Tyrell created a power vacuum between his myriad sexual conquests on their college campus with rumors that he'd been asked to leave his tenor due to persistent indiscretions and rumors. Keep in mind this was just hearsay, but it was enough that a formal inquiry was undertaken by the Dean of Students. Ms. Brennan found no one willing to substantiate any of the confidential reports amongst Tyrell's students or across campus.