Her Boys [Oneshots]

Statistic

"Please, come with me"

"You know I don't do the law, babe"

"Your son is in there." Jamie grumbled angrily as he took off his seatbelt.

"And leave that in the car"

"I need protection."

"Leave it in the car." He kissed his teeth and put the gun under his seat before following her to the precinct.

"I'm here to pick up my son" Amina told the officer sitting behind a desk.

"Who's your son, Ma'am? I have a group of boys being detained."

"João Giordano-Simiyu. Fifteen."

"Date of birth?"

"There's not that many João Giordanos" Jamie told the man prompting Amina to move in front of him and tell him to shush.

"September 23rd, 2003"

"Follow me" They followed the man to the interrogation room.

"I'm sorry. Are you questioning my son without the presence of his parents?" She asked once the door opened.

"Mommy!" João's never been more relieved to see his mother. Be knew that he was in trouble with her and Jamie but just wanted to get out of here.

"We're allowed to"

"Is he under arrest?"

"No. . ."

"Then you are not allowed to question him without the presence of a parent. He's a minor"

"Well, you're here let's get started"

"Go get your things" Amina completely disregarded the officer.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Attorney Amina Simiyu. Partner at Cravath Law Firm." The cop seemed to leave her alone after hearing this.

"He has been given a fine of one hundred dollars for the possession of Marijuana, under the age of eighteen." Another cop handed Amina the ticket.

"Isn't the max fine fifty dollars?" Jamie asked since he'd been caught with weed as a minor many times.

"Let me guess, you're a lawyer too?"

"Maybe"

"I'm not paying this. You can mail me the proper ticket and I will gladly pay for that"

"For a lawyer, you seem pretty. . .cheap."

"Yeah, the Rolls-Royce says otherwise doesn't it?" Jamie instigated, taking Joãos hand when he held onto the back of his clothes like a frightened young child.

"Or is it the fact that she makes more than the three of you make in a year in half the time? Honestly, I'd be pissed too." Jamie smiled in their faces.  He hated cops.  Always have and always will. It's how he was raised. 

"No, it's not that. It's the simple fact that you're up charging a fine. You can rewrite one for the fifty or we can go to court." Jamie loved this. He didn't get to see Amina like this often as it wasn't often that they picked their son up from the precinct but it was still a nice sight for him.

"Daddy"

"Hmm"

"I wanna go home.I'm scared"

"We're going home."

They rewrote another ticket that Amina paid on the spot and then left.

"Don't be scared of some fucking cops, you hear me?"

"But they're scary. They told us we'll all end up in jail or dead. I just wanted to hang out with my friends."

"You're not going to end up dead or in jail because that's not how we raised you. I don't know why you keep gravitating to the hood where being caught with the wrong people can get you in serious trouble when your father and I have done everything to keep you away from that."

"I'm sorry"

"Listen. Nothing is going to happen to you. Especially not at the hands of a pig. You hear me? I want them to try it and I'll hang all of them up."

"What does that mean, papa?"

"Nothing. He means he'll get them fired and they'll hang up their uniform." Amina tried to cover up.

"Oh. . . Okay. I'm sorry"

"What's this about? Shoplifting at Target?"

"At Target, Mimmo? My gosh, have you learned nothing?" Jamie sighed, driving them home.

"My friends-"

"Stop saying 'your friends'. They're not your friends. See how you were the only one being questioned and the only one under eighteen? They're not your friends. Dead it."

"Sorry, we were just trying to have fun"

"Fun doing what? Stealing, smoking? You like doing illegal stuff to have fun?"

"No"

"Then you'll be robbing and murdering people."

"No, I won't! I only stole something small. I just wanted to fit in. I'm not going to kill anyone, I can't even kill bugs." He was starting to get upset.

"Mimmo, we know you're a good kid. That's what you are,  you're still a kid. You want to fit in and impress girls, I understand. I've been your age but trust me, this crew you're hanging out with is going to get you in a lot of trouble, you understand? It doesn't matter if you stole something small or big. You stole. I would understand if we didn't have it, or you didn't have it but you do. You know that if you ask Mama or myself for something we will give it to you so you don't have to do this. You don't want people to know you as a thief, it's not fun. No one trusts you anymore, they hide their things and become cold to you. Not only that one thing leads to another. You might not think that far but one day your little crew decides to steal something bigger and let's say you tag along. You're not stealing but decided to join. They see a huge TV, they want it. They break into this house and start taking the TV and console. Someone comes into the room and bang. Your little crew leader has now shot someone and guess what you're going to Jail"

"Wait, I didn't do anything"

"You didn't do anything major but you did something. You stepped foot in someone else's house presumably after someone else broke in which is breaking and entering. Not only that, they will find a way to make you an accessory, even if you didn't touch or do anything. You have to be very careful. Someone who looks like you already has a lot against them. You're guilty, guilty by association, guilty of being black, and guilty of being a young black male. Don't keep doing this, do you understand? Not all cops will take you in, and give you a sandwich and soda. Some will shoot you in daylight and claim they felt threatened. Don't be a statistic, João. That's all I'm going to say."

Jamie's words rattled João but it made him think. He was done. He didn't want to fit in that badly.  He snapped out of his thoughts when Amina pulled into their driveway. He just knew he was in for it.