Defenseless (7 page)

“No, Miss Walters. I'm simply saying that Laura desires to pay her own bail.”

“But not her own lawyer?”

Dwayne shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay, so she posted her own bail.”

“I only came over because you wanted me to keep you informed,” Dwayne answered.

Sonya walked from the window. “So what's next?”

“Next I begin working on your sister's defense. I'll compile the police reports and go over the crime scene. Which brings me to my next subject, which I hope you can help me with. Personally I prefer it if you keep a close eye on your sister. She has a very bad case of the guilts, and I want her heavily watched. Do you think that you could do that?”

Sonya crossed her arms. “Of course I can. She'll stay with me.”

“It may not be as easy as that. There might be a slight chance that she doesn't want to stay with you.”

“Are you telling me that my sister doesn't want to stay with me, either?” Sonya asked, this time unable to hide her hurt expression.

“I'm not saying that. I just got the impression that she may be a little resentful right now.”

“Resentful? About what?”

“I don't know. I'm telling you what I picked up from her attitude.”

“Now you listen here. My sister will want to stay with me. We've always been close and she…she would tell me if…if I've done anything to upset her. Now, in ten minutes, you've told me that she doesn't want me to pay her bail and that she may or may not want to stay with me!”

Dwayne let out an exasperated sigh. “I didn't mean to upset you. What I need for you to remember is that your sister may not act like herself. She's going through a lot. What you think is helping her may not be.”

Sonya's shoulders slumped in defeat. She knew what Dwayne said made perfect sense. “Okay, I'll back off.”

Dwayne flashed her a breathtaking smile, causing Sonya to shift her weight nervously on her heels.

“I must be going,” he said, pulling his eyes away from hers.

Sonya watched as Dwayne began to say something else, then stopped. “I'll talk to you later.” He got up from the chair. Just as Dwayne reached for the door to leave her office, Sonya stopped him.

“You know, don't you?”

Dwayne turned back around to face her. “Excuse me?”

“My mother. You know, don't you?”

Dwayne nodded his head. “Why didn't you tell me?” he asked, his eyes leveling with her own.

Sonya took a deep breath, then walked over to stand in front of him. “Would you have taken the case if I had told you that mother was serving time for the exact crime my sister is charged with?”

Dwayne's expression told her the answer to that question. “But you knew I would find out.”

“Maybe I was just trying to buy some time,” she said, looking away from his intense stare.

“Time for what?” Dwayne asked as she walked back to the window to look out at the tiny people below.

“I knew if you met my sister that you would know the kind of person she is, and that this is really two different cases.”

The room was silent. Sonya was too afraid to turn around. She didn't want this man to see her tears. She had already let him see her cry before, and she refused to let that happen again. Sonya inhaled his fragrance and knew that he was now standing behind her. Suddenly it became difficult to breathe and her stomach was doing those funny tricks again.

“You're right,” she heard him say, his breath warm against her neck. “I can't turn down this case now.” Sonya's knees grew weaker by the seconds. Slowly she turned around to face him. He was standing closer than she thought. Their eyes held each other spellbound, and Sonya couldn't pull away if she had tried. She noticed how curly his lashes were. He was leaning closer, and Sonya's heart felt like it was about to explode in her chest. He was going to kiss her. Sonya knew it as she tilted her face upward in anticipation, her eyes closed.

“Miss Walters?” Tina said, bolting through the door.

Sonya jumped away from Dwayne and looked away toward her desk. She could feel her cheeks flame from embarrassment.

“I must be going,” Dwayne said, his own voice cracking. “I'll talk with you later, Miss Walters.”

Sonya nodded in response, refusing to look at him. When she heard the door close behind him, she released her breath that she had unconsciously held. She looked over at Tina, who was smiling from ear to ear. “This better be important.”

One week later…

“D
addy, time to get up!” Bridget yelled.

Dwayne peered up at his clock, which read five-thirty.
Does that girl ever sleep?
He couldn't fathom ever having so much energy. He heard Bridget's stereo blasting well past two o'clock this morning, and now she was waking him up.
Aging is such a cruel joke.

Finally Dwayne mustered up the strength to throw one leg over the edge of the bed and then the other one. He appreciated the fresh aroma of coffee brewing downstairs. The girl did have her good qualities, he thought, smiling.

After his morning shower, he made it down the stairs dressed in his blue Father's Day robe. He poured his ritual cup of coffee and turned on the nine-inch TV that sat on the kitchen counter.

“Today in local news, Sergeant Freeman of the Atlanta Police Department announced the department's new plan of affirmative action to help prevent crime.”

 

Dwayne sipped at his coffee as he watched the graying sergeant take the podium.

Dwayne switched off the television. “Law and order at its best,” he mumbled. Dwayne agreed that crime in Atlanta was at an all-time high, but Sergeant Freeman's suggestions wouldn't do much to stop it. It was just the department's way to let the public know that they were aware of the situation. Nothing else. Who was going to follow up to see if there were more men patrolling an area than there were last month? Nobody. Just a lot of talk and no action. “Hold it right there, young lady!” Dwayne bellowed, catching a glimpse of his daughter sneaking down the stairs. “Just where do you think you're off to dressed like that?”

“Like what?” Bridget asked, her innocent face carefully in place.

“That dress is to short and too tight, for starters. And you have on entirely too much makeup.”

“Daddy, this is the style—get with it. Besides, it's the last day of school. All the girls are going to be dressed like this.”

“You're not. Get upstairs and put on something decent!”

“But, Daddy—”

“Bridget Elizabeth Hamilton, you get upstairs this minute and put on some clothes. Not something too tight or anything so loose it's hanging to your kneecaps. Do I make myself clear?”

Bridget sucked in her breath and nodded angrily at her father.

“And wash that junk off your face. No daughter of mine is running out of here looking like the red-light special on Hooker Avenue.”

Bridget flew up the stairs to her room, but not before Dwayne noticed the bright tears that glistened in the corners of her eyes.

“Damn!” He realized he'd been too tough on her. At the sound of her stereo blaring, he knew she wouldn't open the door if he went to apologize. Teenagers, he thought. They should come with an instruction manual. He finished his coffee and went upstairs to get ready to attend Curtis Durden's funeral.

 

Sonya changed seven times before deciding on her black pantsuit. What did it matter, anyway? She would probably be the only one there with a dry face. Who would notice? Laura had been crying since her release from jail. In the beginning, Sonya was sympathetic, but now she wished that her sister would start thinking about her pending case. Everything, it seemed, sent Laura in a crying frenzy. Last night, the cook made the mistake of making mashed potatoes and steak. It was the same dinner that Laura had prepared for her husband the night he was killed. The next thing Sonya knew, Laura was crying a river of tears. Now Richard Durden, Curtis's brother, had showed up at her doorstep, insisting that he overlook the plans for Curtis's funeral. Hell, she thought, I didn't even know the bum had a family, and frankly, Sonya hadn't started any proceedings to bury Curtis.

Laura went out of her way to avoid Richard, saying that she couldn't bear looking into those familiar dark eyes. Sonya believed it was all in Laura's head, since she didn't see any similarity. However, that really didn't mean anything. People had for years told her that she and Laura looked nothing alike. The fact of the matter was Sonya took after her father, and Laura was the exact replica of their mother.

Sonya always hated her looks. Even now, looking back at her reflection in the mirror, she hated the face that stared back at her. As much as she wanted to forget, she knew she would always remember…

 

“Shh, be quiet,” a younger Sonya whispered to her six-year-old sister.

Laura nodded her head, yet Sonya saw fear reflected in her eyes there. Their parents had been fighting for more than an hour, and their mother's screams were growing louder by the second. There were a few times Sonya caught herself jumping at the sounds of broken glass being shattered against the walls downstairs.

Suddenly the room flooded with light. Sonya watched in horror as their mother stumbled toward them. Laura grabbed Sonya's arm so tightly, she could feel her tiny nails digging into her skin.

“Come on, babies,” their mother gestured.

Neither girl moved. They were too scared to even breathe.

“Come on, babies. Please, come to Mama. We're leaving.”

At the thought of being able to leave, Sonya inched her way toward her mother. She flinched slightly at the sight of her mother's bruised face.

Laura's grip wasn't easing up any, either, but she didn't want to pry her sister's fingers loose. It was important to keep Laura calm, she kept telling herself. She looked back at Laura and then to her mother, who was frantically waving for her daughters to hurry.

Once they were in arm's reach, she could feel Laura being snatched up by their mother, who also grabbed her hand to ensure that Sonya followed her.

They all raced down the stairs and headed toward the door. But before they could reach the knob, Sonya heard the familiar bellow from her father.

“Just where in the hell do you think you're going?”

Sonya knew they were in trouble. She could feel her mother's fingers tremble madly in her hand as Laura began to cry.

“Nowhere,” she heard her mother lie. Laura was placed beside her once again as her mother took a protective stand in front of them. Yet, Sonya realized, there was no one there to protect her mother from her father.

“Dorothy, don't you lie to me, damn it! Where are you going?”

Sonya peeked around her mother's leg to look at her father's snarling face. He was going to hit her mother again, she could tell. She felt her mother's body vibrate with fear in front of her. Sonya quietly pulled her sister closer to her.

Before she knew what happened, her mother was being dragged off by her hair into the living room, kicking and screaming the entire way….

 

Sonya closed her eyes to the painful memory. Her entire body shook as she turned away from the mirror. Why couldn't she forget? she asked herself, but her troubled thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. “Who is it?”

“It's me. Laura.”

“Come in.” Sonya turned to face her sister. When she saw Laura still dressed in her house robe, Sonya became suspicious.

“I don't think I'm going,” Laura said, looking down at her feet.

“What do you mean?” Sonya's voice rose an octave.

“I…I just don't think I'm up to it,” came her excuse.

Sonya tried to calm down. She did, after all, expect this from Laura. “It's your husband's funeral,” Sonya said reasonably.

“I know. I just don't think that I can go through with this.”

“What will it look like if you don't attend the funeral? Have you thought about that?”

“I don't care what it looks like, Sonya. I said I'm not going!” Laura declared, then thrust her chin upward.

Sonya knew she couldn't make Laura attend the funeral. Yet she wished that she could make Laura see that she was only hurting her case by not attending.

“Laura,” Sonya began patiently, but she held her tongue the moment she noticed Laura's eyes take on a glossy sheen. She turned away and shook her head wearily. “I'll make your apologies at the funeral.”

“Thank you.”

Sonya heard the door close behind Laura, and she turned to stare at the door. “Great,” she mumbled to herself. “Just great.” She closed her eyes as she felt the beginnings of a major migraine.

 

“It was a beautiful service,” Sharon complimented, patting Sonya on the back.

“Don't thank me. Richard made all the arrangements.” Sonya took a sip of her Coke.

“Who's Richard?” James handed his wife a glass of Coke for herself.

“Curtis's brother—”

“I didn't know that Curtis had a brother,” Sharon interrupted.

“Join the family,” Sonya answered.

“Are there any other members from Curtis's family here?” James asked, scanning the room.

“That I couldn't tell you. I don't know half the people here.”

“Why didn't Laura attend?” Sharon inquired.

“Trust me. I tried to get her to attend, but she is still too distraught over this whole situation.”

“They brought so much food,” Sharon observed. “Good thing he was cremated. I don't think I would've been too comfortable staring in the face of that evil man,” Sharon added.

Sonya looked around the room for the millionth time.

“Looking for someone?” Sharon asked, following Sonya's eyes.

“Yes…no. I was hoping to talk to Dwayne on how the case is going.”

“Dwayne, is it now?” Sharon arched a curious brow.

Sonya rolled her eyes heavenward.

“There you are,” Dwayne said, walking up to the small group.

“Hello, brother dear.” Sharon reached up to deliver a kiss to his right cheek. “We were just talking about you.”

“Anything good?” he asked, looking directly at Sonya.

Sonya's stomach performed acrobatics.

“It was a good service,” he commented.

“Curtis's brother, Richard, arranged the service,” Sonya answered stiffly.

“Oh, I see.” Dwayne nodded.

Sonya caught Sharon elbowing her husband.

“We must be going now,” James cut in, finally catching on to his wife's meaning.

“Yes, James has a flight for New York to finish preparing for,” Sharon added.

“And I also have to get back home,” Dwayne excused himself.

“Is it my perfume?” Sonya joked.

“A woman with a sense of humor,” Dwayne teased. “I like that.”

Sonya's shoulders took their regular position as she started to return with a smart remark, but thought better of it. “Good day, Mr. Hamilton,” she finally said with a forced smile and turned away from the group.

 

“Fascinating,” Dwayne mumbled.

“So you do like her?” Sharon asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

“What's not to like?” he asked halfway to himself.

“Good. I think she likes you, too,” Sharon said, continuing to play Cupid.

Dwayne turned and looked skeptically at his sister. “How can you tell that? By the fireballs she launches with her eyes or the heavy sarcasm she tosses my way whenever she sees me?”

“Don't pay any of that any attention. I think she's warming up to you.”

Dwayne rolled his eyes at his sister, then he walked away.

“I do, I really do,” Sharon called after him.

“Come on, sweetheart,” James said, taking her by the arm. “I think it's time we left.”

 

Dwayne arrived home early. He was hoping to get some work done. He could take only so much sitting in his office. Seeing Bridget's Jeep parked in the garage instantly flared his curiosity.
I thought she was going over to Sylvia's house.

Entering through the kitchen, his body froze at hearing the familiar laughter of his daughter mingled with a heavy baritone. Finally he pushed open the kitchen door that led to the living room. His eyes widened with alarm at seeing his daughter half dressed and in the arms of a strange boy. Her giggling instantly ceased as father and daughter's eyes clashed together.