Lovin' Harlem

Ch. 30

Nicki's POV

                                "Girl you been pacing back and forth all morning. Are you sure you're okay?" Hannah jumped from her bunk and walked towards the sink. She put toothpaste on a raggedy red toothbrush and then turned the faucet on.

                                "I'm meetin' with a lawyer today. I don't even want to cause I know he ain't gon' do nothin' but piss me off. But my sister made it happen and I know he probably expensive as fuck," I vented unwillingly while I watched her brush her teeth. After she spit and wiped her mouth, she turned to face me with a smile.

                                "You should have some faith. At least you're not being charged with two counts of capital murder. I'm doing life, I know it." Hannah's eyes still sparkled even though her life was worse than mine. Who did she kill? Two charges? Why did...I had so many questions but I didn't want to ask her a single one.

                                "Have some faith, Nicki," Hannah stood by the toilet so I turned my back and focused my eyes on the body walking downstairs. I recognized her hair first and then her slim shoulders. Eva stopped walkin' and turned her head so we made eye contact.

                                "What's your deal with her?" Hannah appeared next to me, noddin' her head towards Eva. I let my eyes follow her down the stairs where she went to a table full with other bitches who looked just as scary as she did. There were four of them until another approached them. Eva glanced in my direction and gave a small head nod. When I puckered my lips at her, the small smile she wore disappeared and her mouth dropped a little bit.

                                "She killed my son and let her daughter overdose on coke." I couldn't take my eyes off of her until a guard with big broad shoulders approached our cell. He smelled like cigarette smoke and his beard was nothin' like Terrell's. Starin' at him made me miss Terrell so much. I glanced over my shoulder at Hannah and noticed the distant look in her eyes. She was probably tryin' to imagine a grown ass bitch lettin' a 4 year old overdose on coke. I still can't barely wrap my head around it either.

                                "Got a visitor." The guard said to me while he looked me over slowly. My skin started crawling the moment he stepped to the side and let me walk in front of him.

                I could feel the guard's eyes on my body until I was sittin' in a small and damp room that smelled like dirty socks. There were no windows showin' the sun outside and the light above my head barely wanted to function but I could see my reflection in the long window where I knew I was bein' watched. I looked tired and not like myself. Dark circles from lack of sleep were so noticeable, I cringed. The door opened a second after I pulled my eyes away from my reflection and a tall white man wearin' the most expensive tailored suit I had ever seen, walked in carryin' a folder under his arm. He placed the leather brief case on the table and then ran a hand thru jet black hair that stopped just above his eyebrows.

                                "Nicki Santiago. I'm Jerry Price, Marisol was extremely adamant about me taking your case. So let's talk business shall we? Are you aware of your charges?" he talked fast and had a New York accent but I could tell he was about business. He sat down in front of me and opened the brief case.

                                "Nah,"

                                "So we have one capital felony, which I know they'll really try to hang you dry because of the circumstances and him being a police officer. We still have a few other charges here, however, I do have good news." Jerry rubbed his chin and shuffled thru his papers.