Married Men by Carl Weber Read Free Book Online Page B

me.
    “Hello.” I walked away from the group.
    “Hey, big daddy. I miss you.” It was Tracy, a sexy young thing I met a few weeks ago at Kyle’s Long Island store. We’d been talkin’ pretty regularly, but hadn’t hooked up yet.
    “Whazz up, baby?” I couldn’t help but smile.
    “You. I just needed to hear your voice.”
    “I’m glad you did.”
    “Is your friend outta jail yet?”
    “Naw, hopefully within the next hour.”
    “When he does, why don’t we get together and celebrate?”
    I hesitated. Tracy was a junior in college. Not that it mattered. I loved younger women. But she’d been skipped a grade and was only nineteen years old. I was practically old enough to be her father.
    “Look, Tracy I’m not sure what these guys are gonna do. Why don’t I call you later?”
    I could see Wil waving at me, so I cut the call short.
    “Tracy, they’re opening the courtroom. I gotta go.”
    “Who the hell is Tracy?” Allen startled me.
    “Just a friend.” I couldn’t look him in the eye.
    “I’ma tell you the same thing you told me when I started dating Rose. Be careful.”
    “Come on, dawg. This is Jay, the number one hound.”
    “Aw’ight, number one hound. Just remember it’s not just Wil and me. Diane and Lisa are watching you too,” Allen warned as I followed him to the doors of the courtroom.
    “I hear ya, brotha. I hear ya.” Allen was right. I loved to live life on the edge. I was going to have to be more careful.

5
     
    Kyle
     
    It was hot as hell, and I was sweating like I’d been playing ball all day. I was sitting in a cramped cell in the basement of the criminal courthouse on Queens Boulevard, waiting to see the judge. I swear I felt like I was gonna pass out from the stench of the other inmates. The COs had moved me early in the morning from central booking, with about fifty other brothers arrested over the weekend. All of us were waiting to see the judge and hopefully be bailed out. The word was I was lucky. I had a private lawyer. But private lawyer or not, I would have felt a hell of a lot better if I’d been arrested for DWI or drunken disorderly like the rest of my fellow inmates, instead of assault, robbery, and attempted murder.
    “Richmond, Kyle!” a deputy shouted.
    I exhaled and walked nervously to the cell door.
    “You Richmond?” the deputy asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “Your lawyer’s here to see you.”
    “It’s about time,” I muttered.
    The deputy opened the door, and I followed him to a small room with a table, two chairs, and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. I was so emotional I couldn’t decide if I should burst into tears or shout with joy when I saw the small, balding, light-skinned man at the table. Greg was my lawyer and a good friend. We’d gone to college and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity together. He’d been my personal attorney since he passed the bar ten years ago.
    “You all right, Kyle?” Greg stood and extended his hand.
    “Yeah, I could use a shower, but I’m aw’ight.” We hugged and gave each other the secret fraternity handshake. Greg backed away pretty fast. Three days in the same clothes will make a man smell pretty funky.
    Greg sat down and motioned for me to do the same. He took a small folder out of his briefcase. When I saw that folder, all kinds of stuff went through my head. Why would he have a folder on me already? I glanced over at him. He hadn’t made eye contact since our frat handshake. He hadn’t even asked me if I was guilty. Damn, he probably thought I did it! I had to make sure he understood I didn’t do it. The last thing I wanted was an attorney that felt his client was guilty.
    “Greg, before we start, I want you to understand something. I didn’t do it. I swear on my children I didn’t hit that lady with no bat.”
    Greg smiled for the first time. “It’s okay, Kyle. I know that. Now just tell me everything that happened, and don’t leave out a thing.”
    I explained Saturday’s events