BANGIN' (Urban)

THIRTY-SIX

Nadine paced back and forth, watching the news recap of the trial on TV. They didn't show any photos of Braxton, since no photographers were allowed inside the courtroom. All she had to go off of was the court artist's drawing of him sitting at a table in a suit.

The media attacked his lawyer with questions every day as she left the courthouse, but she kept her responses short and concise. Nadine didn't even know what some of the words she used meant, which made her even more uneasy about the whole thing.

"I don't know why you wanted me to help him, seeing that he accused you of being a snitch. Where I'm from, that's some shit that'll get you killed."

"We from the same place, Nadia."

"Yeah, yeah."

Nadine switched off the tv and decided to stop worrying about it. Nadia wasn't exactly wrong: he did accuse her of one of the biggest offenses you could ever commit. The last words he said to her were quite terrible, and for a long time she couldn't get them out of her mind.

"They wouldn't rat me out, but you would. You'd run your mouth for the right price, if they gave you what you wanted? If they let you shoot shit up, you'd talk, wouldn't you? So tell me Nadine, you're the one who snitching? You told 'em about our drops, our moves, hm? Let me know if I'm looking at a fucking traitor right now. I'll unload this clip and not think twice."

"That's what you spent yo day doing, huh? Snitching to that white ass detective, tellin' him everything you know? And what he promise you in return? Needles?"

She didn't have time to process any of it, because immediately after leaving she was kidnapped. She spent months in that tiny cell with her mother, a year in a comma, and now she was recovering from all of it. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally.

She thought of him often, especially in her hallucinations while drugged. The good memories they had together became her escape from all the pain she was feeling inside and out.

But the dream she had that pushed her out of her coma strengthened her belief that they could fix things. Somewhere deep inside of her, Nadine knew that he never thought she ratted them out.

She just wanted to talk to him, let him know that it wasn't her. She wanted to help figure out who the real snitch was. She had so many questions and things she wanted to say, and finding him was one of the first things she tried doing once she regained some of her strength.

But just as quickly as she made a plan to find him, she found out he was in prison and on trial. A wave of emotions flowed through her upon seeing his mugshot plastered all over the television in the lounge two weeks ago.

She was crushed, afraid that his business had finally caught up to him and he would be convicted of all charges. He was the only person in her life that had loved her for exactly who she was, and the thought of never seeing him again-- despite their issues-- made her heart break.

Simultaneously, she was relieved to see his face. She longed to touch his beard-- that was even fuller now-- and run her hands through the baby curls that had sprung up from his waves. Although he frowned at the camera in his mugshot, an image of the first time he smiled at her popped into Nadine's mind, making her feel warm.

Nurse Tina had teased her, joking that she was drooling at the mugshot of a stranger. Little did she know, Braxton was no stranger at all.

So many pieces of the puzzle were missing for Nadine. How did he get caught? What was Darius doing to get him out? How was Raegan taking it? Zyaire? She wanted to leave this rehab center as soon as possible to go find them, clear her name, let them know that she was still alive.