Sincere

Chapter 36

I watched as she sat at the table with the gavel and peered over everyone with a simple folder in her hand. The glasses that were plastered against the folder were removed, and she placed them onto her face, pushing her straightened, brown hair behind her ear. Everything about her made me question where this case would go, as I peered over her red fingernails and pearl earrings. She was the real definition of "black don't crack".

A piece of crumbled up paper flew past me, resembling a straw wrapper. Looking up, I squinted my eyes and rolled them as I peered over this pussy ass nigga. Raising my middle finger cautiously, I shot a bird at the bastard that got us in this situation from the beginning. Today draws the line to this bullshit, but honestly, this is just the beginning. If Dre is released, they will go into war and I would hate to see how bloody that bath is going to be.

"Case of Deandre Martin Vs. Troy Gilmore.", she stated, and that voice was damn near angelic. She looked so mean and she seemed so stern, but her voice was so calming and soothing. Something about this lady stood out to me, she might just be our saving grace.

Adrianne sat up front with Deandre, as she had taken the case into her own hands and settled on being his defense lawyer. After she'd gotten my dad off so many charges, I know for a fact she should be able to defend Dre in any way she knows how. She stood before him, along with Troy's defense lawyer and like clock work, they began going at one another's neck.

"My client here was merely trying to help his lover in a time of need. After everything that man has done to her, she needed him and he was willing to push that extra barrier. He clearly had no intentions of purposely harming Mr. Gilmore considering that Mr. Gilmore is sitting up right in his seat and is present at today's court case.", Adrianne spoke.

"Mr. Gilmore suffered two weeks of a coma and is now suffering from memory lost due to him going into shock after his gun wound. My client will have to endure therapy for the next six months and that will take a toll on his lifestyle.", Troy's lawyer counter-argued.

"Your client should have thought about that before he tried to sexually abuse Ms. Harris.", Adrianne argued, causing Mrs. Hamilton to slam her gavel down in aggravation.

"Order in the court!", she called out, before looking through some of the documents these two have been throwing at her over the past hour.

"Is Ms. Harris in the building as of the moment?", she asked, grasping my full attention once again.

"Yes, she is your honor.", Adrianne stated, taking a step over to reveal me seated behind Dre. He looked back at me with those eyes, causing mind to gloss over slightly. I'd been mentally preparing myself for this moment and now that it's here, I'm still not ready. "She's willing to give a testimony, speaking on whatever it would take for this case to be better understood."

"Is that true Ms. Harris?", the judge looked me in my eyes and in that moment, I knew this is what I had to do.

"Yes your honor.", I said, handing my purse over to Breanna as she looked at me with those same eyes. She nodded at me in approval as I rose from the pew, heading to the front of the court room where an officer was waiting with a bible. I was sworn in, and then placed at the spot right next to the judge. All eyes were on me, but my eyes were on my hands, they fiddled as I gathered myself and mentally prepared to be heartbroken all over again.

"So, Ms. Harris, can you explain to me your history with Mr. Gilmore?", Mrs. Hamilton asked, placing all of her attention on to me. Peering over to Dre, he just looked at me, as his eyes glossed over just as mine did. He mouthed the words "I love you." and I watched as he nodded his head for me to go on.

"When I first met Troy, I was young. A seventeen year old fresh out of high school with two children to take care of. I was working two jobs and I had to make sure my little brother and sister were fed. They were my main priorities. Day in and day out I would work, and one day he came into my restaurant down town with his construction site co workers. I took their order and for whatever reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of me. Many days after that, he would come into the store just to chat and finally, he built the courage to ask me out. He was nineteen at the time and even though I was young, he showed interest. Over time, I fell in love with him, and I accepted him for his flaws, one of which being a drug addiction to crack cocaine.", I paused, gathering my thoughts. "Eventually, he allowed my younger siblings and I to move in with him, once we were evicted from our home and I thought I had everything in order. We had a roof over our heads, I was working, keeping food on the table for not only my dependents, but also for him. After a year of living with him, I ended up eighteen and pregnant, but I was excited. After finding out I was three months pregnant, he was the first person I told, and his demeanor altered from there. It started with a push into the wall, triggered by simple things, such as not cooking something how he wanted it or not doing things exactly how he wanted it done. Those pushes, turned into slaps and eventually punches. He beat me so bad to the point that I got fired from both of my jobs due to me always being in the hospital."