G.A.B.O.S. (Original Version)

Chapter X

December sat across the table from his younger sister in the small visiting room. The tension in the air was thick, and the silence was almost unbearable. Although he'd never admit it, he was happy to see her. Apart from his lawyer, he hadn't been this close to anyone that he actually knew in nearly three weeks. There were a few guys in the jailhouse that he recognized from around the way, but he refused to socialize with them, his number one reason being that he wasn't planning on being there long enough to make friends. All he was trying to do was make it through a few more weeks, and then he'd be out of there for good. To ensure his freedom, he'd called in his sister, because he knew that she had the connections and funds that could get him back on the streets in a timely manner.

"How have you been, Naomi?" December asked, breaking the silence. He smiled at her, not realizing how much he'd missed her until that very moment.

"I've been okay," she replied. She reached across the table and grabbed his hands. "What about you?"

"I'm alive. Stressed the fuck out, but alive. How are my niece and nephew doing?"

"Well, Natalie is rude as shit, and Corbin is an angel. They're doing fine. I wish you could meet them, but you know how I feel about what you do for a living. I don't want them to be exposed to that." She pulled a picture out of her purse and slid it across the table to December. "That was taken about two weeks ago."

December picked up the picture and stared at it for a moment. "Corbin looks just like you. Natalie is really growing up. I don't need to fuck any lil niggas up, do I?"

Naomi laughed and shook her head. "No. She's ten. Boys aren't even on her mind right now." She took the picture back, and her face became serious again. "December, over the course of the past ten years, we haven't seen each other at all, and you only called me two times. I refuse to believe that you called me from jail just so that we could catch up. Tell me what you need."

December sighed and slouched down in his chair. "I need you to keep me out of prison, sis. Whatever it is that you do, whoever it is that you know... I need you to help me out." Naomi's profession was a mystery to him, but he knew that she had power. That's the only reason she was being allowed to see him two hours before visiting hours actually started. She still had all of her personal belongings on her, and she'd even been allowed to bring December a decent meal. More importantly, she had money, and that spoke volumes no matter who was listening. Though he hadn't seen her in years, he knew that she was holding serious paper. He had a few friends that saw her occasionally, and they kept him updated on how she was doing.

"What are you in here for?"

"Some bullshit. Rape and child abuse."

Naomi's eyes grew wide. "You raped someone, December?"

"Hell no, sis! I didn't rape-"

"If I'm going to help you, you need to tell me the truth."

December looked around the room before nodding his head slowly. "Tamia is only seventeen."

"Tamia as in your girlfriend? My niece's mother? The one you've been with for years?"

"That's her."

"What the hell, December? What were you thinking? She's a little girl. Why would you get involved with her after seeing how messing with older men affected me?" Naomi, who had been kicked out of their parents' house after she got pregnant at sixteen by a man three times her age, quickly became disappointed in her older brother.

She took a deep breath, trying to rid herself of the personal memories that were beginning to flood her mind, and then continued. "The rape is statutory. I can work with that, but please tell me that you haven't been beating on her." Naomi got the answer to her question when December began to avert her gaze. "For someone so smart, you make terrible choices. I think that I can help you. It'll be expensive, but I can get you out of doing federal time. Just know that I'll be expecting you to pay me back. One hundred and ten percent within six months of you hitting the streets, and an extra ten percent on whatever's left for every month that I don't have all of my money after that time period ends. Deal?"