Wifey (7 page)

***

The next day I got really anxious to meet with Mr. Shapiro, so I wasted no time getting all four of my clients in and outta my salon. As I made my way out the shop, I left brief instructions with Sunshine. She was the only person working with me that day, so I told her to call me on my cell if somebody came by looking for me while I was gone.

On my way uptown to see the lawyer, I stopped by Nikki’s apartment because I promised her I would pick up her mail and check her messages. Her mailbox was filled with junk mail, nothing of importance. Her answering machine had two messages on it. One was from our grandmama Clara, who wanted Nikki to come by her house and run her to the supermarket. Another message was from Nikki’s daddy. He called to see if Nikki got his mama’s message about the supermarket. Both messages had been recorded yesterday.

Now I had to make it my business to put Nikki on a three-way call to her daddy before this shit hit the fan. Lord knows I was truly not ready for that to happen.

My waiting time to see Mr. Shapiro wasn’t long at all. I was in his office not even ten minutes before the secretary led me in. He wasn’t all how I pictured him to be. I thought I was going to be meeting with a short, fat, Italian cat, but this man I saw as I walked in the big oval-shaped office was a fine-ass brother. He put me in the mind of the actor Morris Chestnut. As I got closer to him, he seemed to look better with each step.

When I approached Shapiro’s desk, he stood up, shook my hand and told me to have a seat in one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

“Are you Mr. Shapiro?” I asked him and looked at him really funny.

He laughed at me and said, “I get that all the time. You thought I was Italian, huh?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Shapiro is my adopted name.”

“Oh, okay,” I replied.

“Don’t worry. I’m still a dynamite attorney.”

“I heard. You come highly recommended.”

“That’s good to know. And please, call me Glen. Now, how can I help you?”

“Well, I have a cousin who’s locked up in Norfolk City Jail without bail. And I need to know if there’s something you can do to get her out.”

“What’s your cousin’s name?”

“Nicole Simpson.”

“What was she charged with?”

“Possession wit’ intent to distribute eighteen ounces of crack cocaine.”

“How did she get caught with it?”

“She told me a couple of police pulled her over in her car and found it.”

“Where did they pull her over?”

“Off 35
^th
Street and Granby. Right across from the Norfolk Zoo.”

“Has she ever been arrested?”

“No.”

“Does she work for a living?”

“Well, yeah. She works at my hair salon. And she’s a full-time student at Norfolk State.”

“Okay. Let me ask you another question.”

“Yeah. Go ’head.”

“The car she was caught driving, was it registered to her?”

“Yep.”

“Has she admitted to owning the drugs found in her car?”

“She told me she didn’t tell them anything. That’s why they took a long time to process her and didn’t give her a bond.”

After answering all of Mr. Shapiro’s questions, he sat back in his chair and thought to himself for a moment. “Well, first off, your cousin is going to need me to set up a bail hearing for her. And I charge $1500 dollars alone for that,” he explained.

“That’s no problem.”

“Okay. Now, to retain me to work her case will run anywhere from ten to fifteen thousand.”

“That won’t be a problem either,” I told him. “All I’m concerned about is if you can get her out of this jam or not.”

“That all depends on your cousin and the evidence from the arresting officers.”

“What chances you think she might have?”

“I’ll let you know after I speak with her.”

“Well, when do you think you can go see her?”

“As soon as you pay your retainer fee, I’ll notify the courts. And then I’ll contact the jail.”

“How much do I have to pay today?”

“If you can leave the fifteen hundred for the bail hearing and a thousand for me to start working on her case, I’ll have my paralegal put the wheels into motion today.”

“Okay. I can do that,” I told him, getting excited. “So, who do I give the money to?”

“You can pay me.”

I reached in my signature Coco Chanel bag and pulled out a knot of crisp one-hundred-dollar bills. I counted twenty-five of them out, handed the stack to Mr. Shapiro and stuck the rest of them back into my bag. Judging from Mr. Shapiro’s expression, he wished he would’ve asked me for more money. But, it was all good. He’d get the rest of it sooner or later. After he handed me a receipt for the cash I just gave him and one of his business cards, I shook his hand and made my exit from his office.

On my way to my car, I noticed Mr. Shapiro had written his cell phone number on the back of his card. I thought that was really nice of him, and what a good way to start off a lawyer-client relationship. Shit! If he kept this type of behavior up, I might just fuck him for G.P., being as though I ain’t seen a wedding band on his finger.

The Bail Hearing

The courtroom was packed this morning. The judge hearing the cases was this black chick named Judge Jones. I heard she was nothing to play with and when it came to making examples out of people, she was the one to do it. I just hoped and prayed she showed a little mercy when Nikki went before her because Nikki sure enough needed to get a bond. God knew she wasn’t gonna be able to hold up in lockdown too much longer.

Now before her case was called, I met with Mr. Shapiro to get his view on what was to come. He told me Nikki had a good chance, considering she didn’t have any prior criminal charges. When her case was finally called, I saw two female deputies pull Nikki from behind a closed door connected to the courtroom. She looked directly at me as they escorted her to the judge. I winked my eye and waved my hand at her the moment we made eye contact. She looked okay, considering her circumstances, but I knew her spirits weren’t up. They couldn’t be. Not at a time like this.

When she arrived at the designated area where people who were being charged were to stand in front of the judge, Mr. Shapiro was right there beside her.

Judge Jones picked up a document from her desk and read it out loud before everybody in the courtroom. Then Mr. Shapiro made a few comments on behalf of Nikki and the fact that if she was not granted a bail, she could stand to lose a lot. Then this old-looking white chick, who was supposed to be the prosecutor, jumped in and made a couple of statements of her own which made Nikki look real bad. As a result, the judge just flat-out denied her bail.

I just sat there, dumbfounded, because I couldn’t believe these two women just railroaded my fucking cousin like that! I mean, she hadn’t ever been in trouble a day in her life, but they just acted like she done killed somebody. I hopped up from my chair, gave Nikki some lip service and gestured for her to call me at two o’clock.

I assumed she got the message because she nodded her head as both of the deputies took her back out of the courtroom.

Mr. Shapiro walked in the direction I was walking, which was out of the Courtroom, too. I waited for him after I got in the hallway. “So, what’s gon’ happen now?” I rushed to ask him.

I could tell by his expression that he didn’t want to answer me for fear that I was gonna hold him to whatever he told me. “Well, uh,” he started saying, “we can either go before another judge and ask for a bail or we can request for a speedy trial.”

“Is that all the options we have?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“So, if I go with another bond hearing, I’m gon’ have to pay you fifteen hundred more dollars. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll request for a speedy trial ‘cause Nikki is ready for this to be over wit’.”

“Okay. Will do. But first, let me speak with the prosecutor. That way, I can find out what her plans are for this case. So, call me in a few days.”

“Okay,” I said and walked off.

***

It wouldn’t have come as a surprise to me if Ricky had somebody watching my every move. The instant I stepped foot out of the court house, he called my cell phone. The timing couldn’t have been any better.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“What happened? Did they give her a bond?”

“Nah. That lady judge denied it.”

“So, what the lawyer gon’ do now?”

“Well, he asked me if I wanted him to take Nikki in front of another judge to get a bond hearing. But, I told him nah.”

“So, what he gon’ do?”

“I told him to request for a speedy trial. So he said okay.”

“Did you get to see Nikki?”

“Yeah. She looked like she was gon’ cry. Especially after the judge denied her bond.”

“Yo! She gon’ be a’ight! Just stay on top of that lawyer dude. Keep her some dough on the books. Accept all her collect calls and everything gon’ be love.”

“Well, I told her to call me at two o’clock so I could talk to her.”

“Where you at now?”

“I just got in my car. And now I’m on my way to the crib.”

“Well, hit me up on my cell later, ‘cause, I’mma be taking care of some shit all day.”

“What else is new?” I commented and let out a long sigh.

Ricky babbled on a little more about all the stuff he had to take care of, and after he told me what time he was coming home, we ended the conversation.

***

Nikki called at two o’clock on the nose. When the operator gave me the cue to accept the call, I pressed zero.

“Nikki,” I called.

“Yeah,” she replied in a very low tone.

“Speak up. I can hardly hear you.”

Nikki cleared her throat and started rambling on about something, but I couldn’t understand her. That’s when I realized she was crying.

“Come on, Nikki, don’t cry. You gotta be strong. I mean, this shit is gonna blow over.”

“When? ‘Cause, I can’t see it happening. These people ain’t gon’ let me go.”

“Stop talkin’ like that! And listen to me, Nikki. ‘Cause if it takes every dime I got, I’mma make sure you get outta there. So, just chill out wit’ all that negative talk.”

“But everybody I talk to in here is telling me I’m gon’ do some time.”

“Don’t listen to them! Them hoes in there are miserable and they ain’t got nothing but time. So they want you to be in the same boat wit’ them.”

“Did you get to talk to Mr. Shapiro after court?”

“Yeah.”

“What he say?”

“He said he’s going to talk to the prosecutor first to see what she wants to do. And then, after that, he said he gon’ request for you to have a speedy trial. That way you can hurry up and get this shit behind you.”

“How much he charging you for my case?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout that. That’s being handled by Ricky.”

“You saw Brian lately?”

“Nah. But I talked to him a couple times.”

“Well, I still ain’t been able to speak to him,” Nikki told me in a disgusted manner.

“He probably got some other hoe out there to take my place.”

“Girl, you know how it is. You ain’t gotta be locked up for a nigga to fuck around on you. Shit, you could be living ’round the block from the hoe your man screwing and you wouldn’t even know it, ’cause niggas these days ain’t got no regard for nobody.”

“Do me a favor,” Nikki told me. And that’s when I could tell she had stopped crying. “Call Brian on three-way for me.”

“Hold on,” I told her. I clicked over to my other line and dialed the number. When it started ringing, I clicked back over to Nikki.

“Hello,” Brian answered after three rings.

“What’s up with you?” Nikki didn’t hesitate to ask.

“Yo! Who this?” he asked.

“Well, damn! I’ve only been gone for about a week and a half now, and already you don’t recognize my voice?”

“This Nikki?” Brian asked, sounding unsure.

“Yeah,” Nikki said and then she sucked her teeth.

“What’s up, baby?” Brian continued as if he were happy to hear from her.

“You tell me. I mean, you know my situation.”

“Did you ever get that bond hearing?”

“It was today.”

“So, what happened? Did the judge give you a bond?”

“If you were there, then you would’ve known.”

“Yo, I can’t do that court scene. It be too many of them narcos running ’round that piece.”

“Well, why you ain’t been accepting my phone calls?”

“When you tried to call me?”

“Brian, don’t play games with me. You know damn well I’ve tried to call you a couple of times because the last time I tried, you and your aunt Sarah answered the house phone at the same time. And when the automated system came on, both of ya’ll hung up.”

“Nah, that wasn’t me.”

“Look, Brian, please stop the lies. You busted. It’s that simple. And the messed up part about this whole shit is that you ain’t even have the decency to send me some dough on my books. Or help Ricky pay for my lawyer.”

“Yo, look, baby. Stop getting all worked up. Shit has been real crazy for me since you got bagged up. But I’mma handle it, though.”

“And where do I fit in all that?”

“We’ll talk about it.”

“When?”

“Call me back in about an hour.”

“Where?”

“At my crib.”

“You sure you gon’ be there?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way there now. But I gotta meet up wit’ this kid first out at The Manor.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Nikki told him.

“A’ight,” Brian replied and then he hung up.

I pressed the flash button to clear my line. After I hit the button, I heard the automated system letting me know Nikki only had five minutes left for her call.

“Damn, them people don’t give ya’ long to talk at all,” I shouted out loud.

“I know. It sho’ don’t seem like we been on the phone for fifteen minutes already.”

“Don’t even worry ’bout it. Just call me back when it cuts off.”

“Okay. But, did you hear Brian’s lying ass?”

“Yep.”

“Come on now, Kira. Who did he think he was talking to? Do I look like a sucker to him?”

“You should’ve asked him.”

“Girl, he is so full of shit!” Nikki let out a long sigh.