Anybody's Daughter (Angela Evans Series No. 2) (22 page)

B
rianna closed her eyes and prayed.
Dear Jesus, please help
me!

She heard the clink of Darnell’s belt buckle hit the floor. She refused to open her eyes.

Jesus, please! Jesus, please! Jesus,
please!

“Open your eyes, girl,” Darnell taunted. “Don’t you wanna see the nice big package Daddy brought for you!”

The door suddenly burst open.

“How many times do I have to tell you to leave my girls alone?” Freda yelled at the top of her lungs. “Get the hell out of here!”

Darnell scowled at Freda, then at Brianna. “I was just having a little fun with the girl,” he said.

“And I’ve told you a million times not to touch my girls.”

He took his time stepping back into his pants as if he wanted Freda to admire his equipment.

“Hurry up and put your pants on. Don’t nobody want to see that,” she snarled. “You’re disgusting.”

Darnell laughed, still moving in slow motion.

“Did you drop off the girls from Oakland?”

“Yeah.”

“How many?”

“Seven.”

“I’m going to ask every last one of ’em if you touched them and if you did, I’m tellin’ Shep.”

Darnell’s playful expression disappeared. “Don’t do that, okay? I didn’t mean nothin’. I was just playing around.”

“Just get out. You’re supposed to be transporting girls over to the motel anyway. And I better not hear that you tried to mess with ’em.”

Neither Tameka nor Kym came out of hiding until they’d heard Darnell leave the house.

“I hate him!” Kym said running up to Freda. “He always be botherin’ us.”

“I’m sorry, y’all,” Freda said. “I’ll make sure he never comes back here again unless I’m here.”

Freda’s smartphone rang and she pulled it from her purse.

Brianna was still hugging herself to cover her exposed breasts.

“You’re kidding! Oh my God!” Freda covered her mouth with her free hand.

Brianna, Kym and Tameka stared up at Freda as she continued the conversation, wondering what horrible news she was receiving. Her eyes seemed to bear down on Brianna as if she had done something wrong.

“Clint told you we needed to give that girl back,” Freda said into the smartphone. “She ain’t worth it.”

Brianna’s pulse began to pick up speed. Was she about to go home?

“I’m not disrespecting you,” Freda said. “I just—”

Freda paused, then rolled her eyes as she continued to listen. “Okay, okay.”

She hung up and stepped up to Brianna. “You’ve been nothing but trouble from the minute you got here,” she said, pointing a finger inches from Brianna’s nose. “Put on some clothes!”

Brianna didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. The woman must be nuts. She didn’t want to be there in the first place.

Brianna picked up a T-shirt from a pile of clothes on the floor.

Freda grabbed her by the arm. “Come on, you’ve got to go. Tameka, you’re comin’ with us.”

“I’m going home?” Brianna asked, hopefully.

“You wish,” Freda said, dragging her barefoot down the hallway. “I’m hiding you out in one of the other houses. Your uncle had the nerve to kidnap Clint. Shep is really pissed off now. No tellin’ what he’s gonna do to you.”

B
onnie finally faced the fact that for the time being there was little she could do about having her honors classes stripped away. She’d filed a grievance with the teacher’s union, but it could take weeks before a union rep even contacted her to follow up.

She was in the courtyard, watching students make their way to class when she spotted Ortiz surrounded by a group of eighth-grade girls. One of them had her arm linked through his. He reached out to hug another one.

Bonnie’s lips twisted in disapproval. In this day and age when teachers feared false allegations of abuse from both male and female students, the principal’s behavior just didn’t make sense. Perhaps those rumors about Ortiz and a student at his prior school were really true. Bonnie hurried by, hoping he didn’t notice her.

“I got a copy of that grievance you filed,” he said, catching up with her.

“Good.” She did not bother slowing down.

“It’s a waste of time.”

“We’ll see.”

“Good morning, Mr. Ortiz,” Tanya, the head of the Pep Squad sauntered by in a skirt that barely covered her bulbous butt.

Ortiz turned away from Bonnie and waved. He gave the girl a lustful, lingering look that stopped Bonnie in her tracks. Watching Ortiz’s hungry eyes following Tanya as she bounced around the courtyard sickened her.

“You’re a complete disgrace to the teaching profession,” she hissed under her breath.

Bonnie continued on to her classroom, seething over what she had just witnessed. When she entered the building, she spotted Wainright approaching her from the far end of the hallway.

“You’re looking pretty spiffy for your first day with your new students.” Wainright gave her a warm smile. “That dress looks like it came right off the page of some fashion magazine.”

“Don’t try to butter me up,” Bonnie growled.

“C’mon, Bonnie. Don’t take it out on me. You know I would’ve changed things if I could have.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Wainright followed her into her classroom. “Look, we’ve been friends for a long time. I just want to make sure this hasn’t changed anything between us.”

She sighed. “I know you were just following orders. I’m not mad at you. But I could strangle Ortiz.”

“Just hang in there. I have a feeling you’re going to do some amazing things with these students.”

“We’ll see.” She locked her purse inside the desk drawer, then looked around the room. “Look at this place. The walls are completely bare. This room should have been decorated long before the school year started.”

“I’m sure you’ll have it in shape in no time.”

Bonnie merely huffed.

Wainright was about to leave when Bonnie stopped him.

“Can I ask you something?” she said, walking around her desk. “I heard a rumor that Ortiz was accused of inappropriate conduct with a student when he was at Centennial. Do you know anything about that?”

“Please don’t try to recruit me to be a soldier in your war against Ortiz.”

“I’m not trying to get you involved. I’m just wondering if you heard that rumor.”

“Yes, I’ve heard it, but I have no idea whether it’s true or not. Why are you even bringing it up?”

Bonnie hesitated. She didn’t know how much she should share with Wainright. He noticed her hesitation.

“C’mon, you can talk to me.”

“I just don’t like the lustful way he looks at some of the female students,” she admitted. “Always giving them hugs.”

Wainright peeked over his shoulder as if to confirm that they were alone. “I’ve seen that too. I have no idea why he does that.”

“I knew I wasn’t crazy!”

He held up both palms. “Hold on now. I’ve never actually seen him behave inappropriately with a student. So let’s not get any rumors started.”

“I’m not starting any rumors. It’s just good to know that I’m not imagining things.”

“I better get going,” Wainright said, obviously uncomfortable with the topic.

Bonnie took a seat at her desk. She was not going to start any rumors about Ortiz, but she certainly planned to keep a close eye on him. Since he’d blatantly retaliated against her, she’d find her own legitimate way to retaliate right back.

If she got even an inkling that the arrogant, self-righteous Manuel Ortiz was involved with a student, she wasn’t going to waste her time reporting him to the school district or her union rep.

She was going straight to the police.

A
s Loretha and Angela had feared, Peaches’ brave front about testifying against her pimp crumbled the second she laid eyes on the courthouse.

The two women cradled her in the hallway outside the courtroom.

“Y’all don’t understand,” she said through tears. “He’ll kill me.”

“No, he won’t,” Loretha said, holding her close. “If you testify, he’s going to jail.”

“Not for long. He got a good lawyer. He always gets out.”

“The charges against pimps are tougher now. If he’s convicted, it will be years before he’s back on the street.”

“He got friends,” Peaches cried. “He can put a hit out on me from prison.”

The courtroom door opened and a smiling young prosecutor stuck her head out. She noticed Peaches’ tears and her smile faltered.

“Is she okay? She isn’t backing out, is she?” Cindy Bachman asked, hurrying over. She was a chubby woman with woolly auburn hair.

“She’ll be fine,” Loretha said. “Just give us a minute.”

“If she doesn’t testify, I don’t have a case.”

“We know that,” Loretha snapped. “Just give us a minute.”

Cindy threw up her hands. “This guy is a scumbag. I can’t convict him without her testimony.”

Loretha glanced down the hallway and muttered something under her breath that Angela didn’t quite hear. Loretha suddenly angled her body as if to physically shield Peaches.

“Hey, Peaches.”

A short black man accompanied by a lanky, balding white man, greeted Peaches as he headed into the courtroom.

“That’s Gerald,” Loretha said with a sneer.

Gerald Renthroe looked nothing like a pimp. At least not the pimps depicted on TV and in the movies. He was barely five-three with the build of an elf. His navy-blue suit and red-and-white tie was stylish enough that someone might mistake him for a midget lawyer.

“Did you see the way he looked at me?” Peaches screeched. “He’s gonna kill me. I can’t do it! I can’t do it!”

“Oh, this is just great,” Cindy said.

Angela glared at the prosecutor “You know, it might help if you showed a little compassion.”

“I’m sorry.” She placed a hand on Peaches’ shoulder. “I know you can do it, Peaches. Just answer my questions the way we practiced, okay?”

“We can’t force you to testify,” Loretha said. “It’s your decision. What do you wanna do?”

“If I testify, will he go to jail today?”

Loretha glanced at Cindy. This was only a preliminary hearing to decide if there was enough evidence to charge Gerald. The actual trial would be months away. Gerald was currently out on bail. He would walk out of the courtroom today and remain on the streets for months.

“The judge probably won’t put him in jail today,” Cindy said softly, “but if you don’t testify, the charges will be dropped.”

Peaches took a long time to think about her options. “I can do it,” she finally said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “When I remember how he punched me in my face and busted my lip I know I have to do it.”

Cindy’s face brightened as she started walking toward the courtroom. “I’m going inside and let the judge know we’re ready to proceed.”

Peaches stared up at Angela. “Would you testify if you was me?”

Angela hugged her. “I’d be scared just like you are. But, yeah, I would.”

It was another ten minutes before the courtroom door opened and Cindy beckoned them inside.

Angela and Loretha walked a shaky Peaches down the center aisle of the courtroom. Since this was a preliminary hearing, there was no jury present. Only the judge would decide if the prosecutor had enough evidence to proceed with a trial against Gerald.

“Go on up and take a seat in the witness box,” Loretha urged her.

The prosecutor smiled warmly at Peaches.

“Swear the witness in,” Judge Rene Blaine instructed.

The clerk stood. “Do you solemnly affirm that the testimony you are about to give in the case now pending before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”

Peaches looked around as if she was confused.

The judge peered down at Peaches from her perch. “Young lady, did you understand?”

“Yes. I’ma tell the truth.”

Peaches did as they had told her and kept her gaze directly on Cindy and not on Gerald.

“Please state and spell your name for the record,” the clerk stated.

“Priscilla, but they call me Peaches.” She quickly spelled her name. “They told me I can’t say my last name cuz I’m a juvenile.”

“Ms. Bachman,” Judge Blaine said, “you may proceed.”

Cindy stepped forward. “Is it okay if I call you Peaches?”

“Yep.”

“And how old are you, Peaches?”

“Fifteen.”

“And where do you reside?”

“In Los Angeles County. They told me I can’t say where I really stay cuz it’s a safe place for gettin’ out of the life.”

“Do you know the defendant Gerald Renthroe?”

Peaches shuddered, then nodded her head.

“You’ll have to speak out loud so the court reporter can take down your words,” Cindy said.

“Okay.”

“So do you know the defendant?” Cindy repeated.

“Yes.”

“And how do you know him?” Peaches stole a quick glance at Gerald, then at Loretha and Angela sitting in the galley.

“Uh…he was my boyfriend.”

Loretha grabbed Angela’s hand. They had rehearsed this with Peaches over and over again last night. That was not the answer she was supposed to give. She was supposed to say that Gerald was her pimp.

The prosecutor looked down at some papers on the table in front of her.

“Isn’t it true that he’s also your pimp?”

Peaches hitched her right shoulder. “Um…I don’t know.”

Cindy glanced back at Loretha. She had personally called the prosecutor’s office and pressured them to file charges against Gerald.

“Did Mr. Renthroe punch you in the eye and give you that cut on your lip?”

Peaches absently touched her face. This time, her eyes darted toward Gerald and stayed there. She did not respond for a long, long time.

Loretha was squeezing Angela’s hand so hard it hurt.

“I don’t remember,” Peaches finally said.

Gerald leaned over to say something to his attorney. Angela could see that he was smiling.

Cindy ran her hand through her hair. “Your Honor, may I approach?”

Gerald’s attorney followed the prosecutor to the bench. Angela knew what was about to happen and it made her want to scream. The sidebar was over in a minute or so.

The two lawyers returned to their respective tables while the judge scribbled something on the paper in front of her.

“Young lady, you can step down,” she said to Peaches. “Case number CV-9838,
The People vs. Gerald Renthroe,
is hereby dismissed.”