Evangeline Arnold's world was turned upside down the day that the father of her child, Javonte Wells was sentenced to 4 years in the slammers due to a gun charge that resulted in death. Now all that she has is his voice over the phone which was rare...
I wiped each of the tables and chairs with cleaning spray as I was closing up the restaurant for tonight until the phone on the wall started to ring.
My sister, Evelyn, who was also working this shift with me, went over and answered "hello, yeah, okay! It's Javo—"
I rushed over and snatched the phone before she could complete her sentence "hi, baby, I can't believe they let you call during these hours..."
We talked each other's ears off in the little time we got to speak.
He gave me more book suggestions. And I couldn't believe jail was turning him into a nerd—not Javonte Wells. His mother would probably be rolling in her grave from hearing the way he spoke at that moment.
That conversation turned into us discussing his upcoming court hearing along with the next time I'd visit him. Evelyn sat watching on impatiently as she tapped her long acrylic fingernails against the tabletop.
And some days after, I got his drawing of a bleeding heart tattooed on my upper arm.
"I'll never be that in love with anybody," Evelyn grumbled as I was getting inked in the leather chair by this emo chick with purple hair.
Kaley didn't seem to like my new tattoo either. I laid in bed flipping through the pages of Dope Fiend by Donald Goines as she stepped into the room then sat beside me "what's that?" She brushed her tiny fingers along the stinging area.
"Ow!"
"My bad..." I looked up at her, and she was grinning.
"Oh! You find that hilarious, huh munchkin? Then let's see how you'll like this." I grabbed her onto my lap and started tickling her as she fell out laughing," say 'sorry'..."
"No... Ahahaha!"
"Say it or else I'll never stop." I grinned.
She rolled around "okay, okay... sike!"
The sound of glass breaking downstairs made us jump. I assumed too fast it was just one of our kittens getting into something but that was unlike them. "Stay here," I warned Kaley before standing and going to get the handgun from the hallway closet that Javonte had left with me.
"Mommy, what's that?! I'm scared." Kaley said from the room.
"Stay there, I'll be right back."
"But mommy..." She cried.
Easing each of the bullets into the weapon while tiptoeing down the stairway with my back against the wall. When my socks touched the carpet, I ran and clicked on the lamp. A brick laid in the middle of the floor along with some shattered glass from the living room window.
I moved over and got a better view then I called my parents who suggested I get the police over immediately. Once they got here, I explained what I had known so far as my family started to show up one by one.
"Any ideas on who could've done something like this?" An officer questioned as I held my daughter while following him around.
I couldn't tell them who but I knew for certain what had caused this to happen. But before I could say anything my mother was already speaking over me "it's these goddamn gang members that's who is responsible. Didn't I tell you, girl, that dating someone involved with that crap will only leave you and your baby in danger now look!"
"Mom, please don't start," I begged, covering Kaley's ears as my mother continued snapping. "I told you he was talking about changing his lifestyle and leaving the gang stuff a week ago."
"You don't understand that its blood in, blood out." She hissed, "I've lost two brothers and an uncle to gang violence I know how it goes."
The officers tried calming her as the other one took finger swaps from the brick and pictures.
"Dad please explain to her."
"You can't stay here it's dangerous. You're moving back home this is too much." He said. "That brick could've hit one of you and did some serious damage."
"Well, it didn't we're okay, right baby?" I asked Kaley who had tears in her brown eyes as she started shaking.
"You can't raise a kid in this environment."
"He has nothing to offer you I told you that before you should've got with a doctor, lawyer, dentist, anybody but a lousy gang member." Mom angered.
I hated when people treated gangbanging like it was an occupation as if you can't rep it and do something else on the side—Javonte wasn't just a gang member he worked and had a real job that brought food to the table and put clothes on our backs.
Actually the day of the shooting he was leaving his job and that's when it all went down.
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A/N: 3 chapters were updated today. So don't forget to comment, vote, and add this story to your library and/or reading lists. Thanks for reading.
