Past Love

Chapter 21: Facing The Consequences

Monday August 22nd, 2005

9:30am

Damon

It took a while but I went back to Madison, Illinois. I stayed in the counties nearby until I made my way back. I couldn't just stay away for a long time, I would make things worse for myself. Before I decided to go back to St Louis I purchased a bike from someone last week. The guy that had the moped sold it for about $160. It was an old 1980's Honda Express, definitely an old moped. Once i got it i thought about running away but i knew that I couldn't keep running forever but at the same time i didn't know what to do. I don't want to spend the next ten to twenty years in jail for what I did but at the same time I feel like I'm trapped. I feel like there is no other way out of the situation and that's the thing I was dreading, that is the one thing that I was dreading. Lee really messed my life up. I regret ever being involved with him in any kind of way. I just wish this was one big nightmare and that I could open my eyes from this nightmare at any moment but this is my life and I have to face the consequences either way. My money was running dry as well and I had to make a choice. Once I got into Madison, IL I went to Robb's Place. I got there around 9:50am and I honked the horn a few times. I saw Vontè come out, looking at me.

"Hey man, how are you doing?" He asked me as I got off the moped and gave him a bro hug. "You know Jahmelle, Tyrone, & Dante are here right?"

"Yeah, I called them last night and told them to meet me here, I can't run any more. I have to face these consequences man, no matter what the consequences are. I was in the wrong for what i did i know, but at the same time i was defending myself, and i'm not going to go down without a fight, if i keep running it's like Lee's still in control, he don't have no control in my life any longer, i won't allow him to continue to control my life from beyond the grave either." I told him.

"You know what, After you told me that I have nothing but respect for you. You definitely can't keep running from this situation but they're in there. Now before you go in there, I want to know, Are you ready? Because Dante's gonna have to cuff you and they are going to have to take you back to St. Louis."

"Like I said before, If I wasn't ready. I would not be here. Before I go in there though, I need you to do something for me, Vontè and I need you to be discreet about it."

I went ahead and let Vontè know what I needed for him to do for me. And then I went into the restaurant. I didn't know what was going to happen in the near future but whatever it was I wanted to be ready and face it head on.

"Hey Damon, you alright?" Jahmelle asked as he came over and hugged me.

"I'm as okay as I can be." I told him. "I'm not going to lie to you, I am scared. I was just defending myself, you know that right?"

"Yeah I know that. This situation is an absolute mess, i'm sorry that you got to go through this, this is so messed up. I saw it, I wanted to keep it a secret but I couldn't, I'm sorry."

"This isn't your fault, this is my battle and I have to face this head on, it's definitely going to be a challenge but I'm up for it." I said.

I seen Dante get up and walk over to us.

"Hey Damon i'm gonna have to do this, i'm sorry but it has to be done." He said as he got his handcuffs out and told me to put my hands behind my back. "Now you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law, you have the right to an attorney, and if you can't pay for one then one will be provided for you, do you understand your rights as read?"

"Yes, I understand." I said.

"Jahmelle don't worry, we'll take care of him." Dante said as he led me out of the restaurant. When we got out of the restaurant I didn't see the moped there, hopefully Vontè will take care of it.

******

******

9:50am

Vontè

I got on the bike like Damon told me to and he gave me an address and street, it said Robbins Avenue, he also told me not to open the trunk of the moped until I got to the house. So i drove there, it took 25 minutes or so to get there with traffic and all and i got there around 10:15am. I got there and when I opened the trunk on the moped, I saw money, wads of money, it looked like at least $3,000 if not more. It was another note inside of the moped, I looked at it.

"To Vontè:

I know i just met you and this probably sounds crazy, but i don't know who else to trust right now, i'll never forget what you did for me in the restaurant, don't ask where this money came from, there's $15,000 in the bike, and i have another $5,000 stashed in a secret location. This is money that I have saved over the years, and some that came from Lee. Take the Fifteen Grand, give it to the woman, and if she asks let her know that her son, Damon loves her and that he'll be away for awhile. After that circle back around to Madison, Go about your day but when night falls and you finish work, go to the hotel on Skeen Street, right across from there is an abandoned house, the Five Thousand is in that house. Take that and keep it safe for me.

Much love, Damon."

This is wild, I did what he said though, I went and gave the money to the woman that answered the door, i knocked a few times before she answered though. When she asked about it, I let her know what Damon said, the 1st part of it, not about the $5K. After that I circled back to Madison, which was another 25 to 30 minutes. I had to go about my day. Helping my pops with the restaurant and all. I had to wait to go to the abandoned house when night fell. It was around 10:30pm when I decided to make my move after I waited and watched for a while to see if it was people around, it wasn't. I went up to the house, looked for a way in, i seen where it looked like the door was cracked so i peeked in, looked around some more and looked behind me, i went into the abandoned house and went into the living room and looked around, the bookbag was under a broken couch, i could see it hanging from under there. I went and got the bookbag and I got out of there, I hopped onto the moped and then headed back to my place over in the 1300 block of Granite Ave. I got there around 10:40pm and took the bag into my house and opened it. There was another note.

"To Vontè:

By now i'm sure you've taken care of everything and you've got the $5,000. I'm going to tell you where the money came from, it came from Lee. That day he came over to Jahmelle's house. He was in the middle of doing a drop off, not to me but to someone else and he needed my help. I told him I wouldn't go along with it and that's how the big argument and fight between me and him broke out, I did what I had to do at that point, and i regret it, I'm going to regret that for the rest of my life. But anyway once i killed him i went into the car, i found money in there, a lot of money. Maybe over $40,000. I was going to keep the money, but then I decided to split it between the 2 people I cared about the most at that time, that was Jahmelle and my mother. But then I met you and you showed me the most compassion and respect and just....you cared and you helped me in my time of need and i'm forever grateful for that. So i told you to give the $15,000 to my mother, but the other $5,000 as well as the Moped, that's for you. I know you were driving your pops car from time to time when you needed to, but now you have a ride of your own, it may not be much but it's something for now. Take care of it, and continue to pay it forward.

Much Love, Damon."

My jaw dropped as I finished reading the letter. I couldn't believe it, I had to call Jahmelle but I would do that first thing in the morning. Right now I have to try and wrap my head around everything that's happening and get some rest. I couldn't believe what had happened today.

End Of Chapter 21