Misunderstood

XIII

J A Y
C H A P T E R 13.
Saturday, September 8
~~~~

"Jay tell me you ain't rape this girl."

"I ain't rape her."

"Don't lie to me boy."

"Ma I ain't rape her aight," I repeated frustratingly.

"Why would she make something like this up then?" my older sister Shantel said.

"I don't know," I sighed, "I was drunk but I know I ain't rape her, I know I didn't."

"Would you really know if you were drunk?" my younger brother said.

"I didn't rape her," I said sternly.

"What's done in the dark will come to the light," my mother Gloria said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"All I'm saying is that you easily lied to me, continuously, about being in the streets so why not lie about this and like you said you were drunk," she said, "Then you had the nerve to get her pregnant."

"What the fuck I look like raping somebody? Huh?" I yelled, "The bitch is lying! We fucked and we didn't use protection, that's it!"

"You better lower your damn voice in my house boy!" she raised her voice.

I sucked my teeth, "I'm gone, don't bother to show up to court, matter of fact since y'all wanna believe some bitch over your own blood you can forget I even exist," I said angrily before storming out of her house.

I couldn't believe my own family didn't believe me, that's fucked up.

I slammed my fist against the steering wheel of my car before starting it up and driving to the courthouse.

"Jay I believe you but you have to keep in mind her father is the district attorney, he has power. All we can do is fight," my lawyer said.

"It won't hurt to try."

She gave me a reassuring smile, "You're right."

Today was the day I went to trial, the jury could either believe me or believe Rosario. It hurt that my family didn't believe me and that I had no one on my side but there's nothing I could really do except to stay true to myself. I prayed to God that I would beat this case but like my lawyer said, Rosario's father was the district attorney and he has a lot of power.

I stood alongside my lawyer as we awaited the verdict of the jury, "Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?"

The Jury Spokesperson stood, "Yes, your honor, we have."

"Members of the Jury, on the Case of Shawn Carter  versus Rosario Dawson, what do you say?"

"Your honor, the members of this jury find the defendant guilty."

I looked down trying to refrain myself from crying, I couldn't look weak in front of my men, they weren't even blood and had my back more than my own family.