All American Senior Year: Volume One

Honeymoon Blues: Part Four

Simone, Jordan, and her parents sat in the dining room table in silence. The four of them had been so quiet, the children splashing in the pool were heard from three doors down. Laura walked in with the annulment papers in hand when she sat at the head of the table. "Sorry for that. Works been busy these past couple of days,". "Right, you took over Tamika's case. How's that going?" Mrs. Hicks asked. Laura gave her a slight smile. "I really cannot discuss the case, so it's going. Before we get started would you like some water or coffee?" Laura asked. Simone's parents shook their heads. "We are just ready to get this over with. I have a meeting with the board in an hour," Mrs. Hicks said. Simone gripped Jordan's hand tightly beneath the table. She met his gaze giving him a worried look. "Okay then let's just get this over with, shall we?" Laura said sitting at the head of the table. "Is Billy not joining us?" Mr. Hicks asked. Laura shook her head. "Unfortunately, he had a doctor's appointment and couldn't make it,". "Okay then let's get started," Mr. Hicks said.

"Can you just explain why? Why did you both get married without telling us?" Mrs. Hicks asked. Simone and Jordan looked at each other when they both shrugged. "Why not?". "Why not?" Laura shot Jordan a glare. "We love each other is that not enough?" Jordan asked. Laura and Simone's parents shook their heads in sync. "No Jordan that is not enough. You both are still in high school, minors. If you were immature enough to forge my signature and not tell us, you are not mature enough to get married. What you did was wrong," his mother said. "How do you expect for us to have trust when you went behind our backs and got married Jordan? Do you understand that?" his mother asked.

"Yes, but..." Jordan trailed off. "There are no butts Jordan. what you did was illegal. You forged my signature and went months without telling us. We are the parents, we deserved to have a right to know," Laura said. "How do you expect us to welcome you into our family if you couldn't even tell us about your marriage?" Mr. Hicks asked. "You both have your whole lives ahead of you, and in one night you both decided on a whim to get married. You both barely know each other. How do you plan to financially support each other? To go to university if you both are doing long distance? Sure you both may love each other but being married is more than just love. It's commitment," Mr. Hicks continued.

"I am committed to your daughter, Mr. Hicks. I have been since day one. Since when you both kicked her out of the house for being pregnant. I was ready to be the father to the baby that wasn't even mine. Why? because at the end of the day, I didn't care if baby Shay was mine. I was ready to take on the responsibility to take care of him as if he was my own. Mr. Hicks, I love your daughter, and I know marriage takes commitment but I have been ready since the day I said I do. It might've sounded sudden to everyone else but to us, it was just right. I didn't feel rushed, or as if we were going too fast. We felt right in the moment and thought if we would tell you, you would say no," Jordan said.

"And you'd be right. Now tell me, child, before you got married did you discuss finances, where are you going to live? What about when you graduate? What's going to happen then?" Mrs. Hicks asked. Both Jordan and Simone stayed quiet gazing at each other. "Exactly. That is the prime example of why you two were too young to get married. You haven't thought about the responsibilities that come with a marriage. Sure it may look cute on the outside but it ain't. It takes work, and it's not all about doing the nasty stuff you all kids talk about these days," Mrs. Hicks continued.

"Mom!" Simone raised her voice. "What? Don't tell me that wasn't why you both rushed into getting married. Baby you were pregnant it's a little too late to go by the book," her mother said. "We weren't trying to go by any book but ours. Mom, we love each other and thought why wait? You and dad did it," Simone said. "Yeah, but your father and I had our life planned out. We knew that if our parents kicked us out for doing something stupid, that we would know what to do. You both on the other hand don't know what you both are doing tomorrow, let alone when you graduate," her mother said. "All we really need to know is that we got each other. We don't need to know the little details. Eventually, it will all fall into place," Simone said.

Her mother and father laughed. "Eventually is not how this works, Simone. Marriage is not something you can just figure out. Once you turn eighteen you can do whatever you want, but living under my roof you are going to follow by my rules. Sign the paper so we could go," her mother said. Laura placed the documents in front of both Simone and Jordan, handing them a pen. "Sign your initials on the dotted line, and your signature on the last page, after you both sign, I will mail it to the court so it can be expedited. It usually takes three to five days, but after that, your marriage would be annulled," Laura explained to everyone at the table. "Mom," Jordan pleaded. "This is not up for discussion Jordan. You forged my signature and went behind our backs, how could I trust that you'd be responsible to have a wife? To be able to make the right decision and not act on impulse?" Laura asked. Jordan stayed silent, loss for words knowing his mother was never going to cave and let Simone and him stay married.

Simone and Jordan looked around the table as they saw their parents glare at them. Waiting for them to start signing the papers. "We don't have all day," Mrs. Hicks said glancing back down at her watch. Simone and Jordan both let out a deep inhale, holding in their breath. Laura's phone buzzed on the table stopping the both of them from signing when everyone turned to Laura. She quickly silenced her phone. "Please continue," Laura said the moment her phone buzzed once again. Laura had been confused turning over her phone to see that it had been her assistant calling. Quickly sending her a message letting her know that she will call her back in a few minutes. Laura locked her phone placing it to the side.

It didn't take long after she sent the message for Laura's phone to buzz uncontrollably. From the corner of her eye, she could see that her assistant kept sending her messages. Laura cocked her head to the side when she picked up her phone. Giving a small grunt, she unlocked it as all the messages popped up onto her screen. "Call me now! Tamika's footage. It's been leaked. All over the news. Turn on your television to news channel 3,". Laura's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach the moment the blood rushed from her face. Simone and Jordan put their pens down when they both looked at each other. "Mom you okay?" Jordan asked. "Yeah...just need to take this call," Laura trailed off at a loss for words, as her head pounded, while her brain felt heavy. Dialing her assistant she got up off her seat when everyone looked at each other. Watching Laura she'd looked flustered as if she'd seen a ghost. Her lips trembled while her hands shook uncontrollably. The phone rang twice before her assistant answered.

"Where have you been Laura? I've been trying to call you for the last couple of minutes. It's bad Laura, it's really bad. Turn on the news to channel 3. This doesn't look so good. We need to hold a press conference immediately," her assistant said. "Ally this better not be a joke, I was in the middle of something," Laura clenched her teeth grabbing the remote and turning on the television. She flipped through the channels until landing on news channel 3. "I wish it was Laura. I really wish it was," Ally said. Laura's jaw dropped the moment she read the headline displayed across the bottom of the television.

It read "Warning: Graphic Bodycam Footage". "Good evening everyone, a shocking turn of events tonight as we now have the copy of the shooting of Tamika Pratt. We are going to play it, but this is a warning that this is not easy to see. As you can see in the video footage, Tamika was fatally shot by the officer wearing the bodycam, the question is how can the officer get away with that? It's clear to see in the video that the officer was at fault," the reporter said. She stopped talking for a brief moment grabbing her ear. "This is just in. Frank Shultz is now with Tamika's family, and Monique who is representing the family," the reporter said. Putting the television on mute, Laura's hands trembled as she picked up the phone again. "How did they get the bodycam footage?". "I gave it to them," Olivia said. Laura quickly put her phone on mute the moment she shot Olivia an ice-cold glare. Her mouth fell open, as her world buzzed around her. Olivia turned to her mother as she crossed her arms. With a slight smirk in the corners of her mouth, she watched her mother tense as she froze in place.