SEVERAL DAYS LATER
OMNISCIENT
"Will the Defendant please rise?"
Ben and his lawyer stood up, as the judge put on his eyeglasses, and looked at the single piece of paper the bailiff sat in front of him.
"The United States v. Benjamin Fields case has been deemed resolved and equipped for restitution. For one count of First Degree Conspiracy to Commit Murder, I find the Defendant not guilty." Once those words left the judge's mouth, Ben let out a sigh of relief as Kentrell, Rico, and the rest of their friends sat behind him with huge smiles on their faces.
The judge continued. "For one count of Aggravated Assault, I find the Defendant guilty. Finally, for one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell, I find the Defendant guilty."
Ben's heart dropped into his stomach once the judge read out the other two charges. He wasn't necessarily worried about the Agg Assault charge because he knew he'd get about 6 months of jail time for that. However, the drug charge posed a sentence of up to 50 years. With his criminal background, he wasn't expecting any type of leniency with that.
Judge Hammond looked over at Ben with a stern, menacing glare. He pushed his glasses up on his face before looking back down at the paper. "Sentencing will take place immediately. For the guilty verdict of Aggravated Assault, I sentence the Defendant to 6 months of state jail where he will enroll in a rehabilitation program." Ben nodded his head. Like stated before, he expected this. "For the Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell, I am sentencing the defendant...54 months in federal custody with the probability of parole after completing a drug program. The sentences will be served consecutively."
Everyone gasped, unable to find words on how to feel. While most people would believe that is a fair sentencing, Ben and his friends couldn't help but feel like 5 years was a life sentence. Everyone's reaction was different to the news. KD and Baby Joe both got pissed off and walked out. Three got up and walked out to check on KD and Joe after hearing Baby Joe shout obscenities outside the courtroom. Kee and Calae were sad and thought to comfort Rico, but the ex-girlfriend and soulmate of the defendant had completely gone numb after hearing his sentencing.
"I'm okay." She whispered to them as the two of her friends nodded, getting up to go check on their other friends. Rico kept her eyes forward as the judge finished up his ruling.
"Mr. Fields, you seem like a very bright young man who's been clouded by darkness and led astray. I hope you come to know that this sentencing is not a life sentence but a lesson that you need to learn. I wish you nothing but successful rehabilitation and I look forward to seeing you outside and contributing to society in a manner that will not only benefit this world, but yourself as well. Good blessings to everyone. This court is adjourned. Bailiff...give the defendant some time to say goodbye to his peers."
Once Judge Hammond smacked his gavel down, everyone inside the courtroom seemed to come alive. Kentrell and Rico stood up, watching Ben hug and kiss on his mother who was crying and his other family members before turning to them with a forced smile.
"That shit wasn't as bad as I thought it was gone be." He said with chink eyes, trying to lighten the mood. Though he was sad about having to go to prison for a time, he knew that he'd do his time like a man and would be back out in no-time.
"Mane, I'mma hold you down, always, bitch." Kentrell said, trying to keep himself from crying. His heart had already been hurting all week since the incident with Ranada and now he was having to watch his best friend...his brother...go to prison. His heart and soul were hurting.
He was beginning to feel as if his life had zero meaning now. He was going to need ALL his brothers to go through this heartbreak with Ranada and now he was losing his main supporter. All Kentrell could do was constantly keep in his mind that the time would go by fast and that it wouldn't be long until he and Ben reunited outside the prison gates.
Ben nodded his head and pulled Kentrell in for a hug. "'Preciate that shit, mane." He said as he held onto Kentrell, sniffing to keep tears from falling. Rico turned her head and folded her arms a little, saddened by their embrace. Though she was beyond pissed off with Kentrell about the shit that went down concerning her best friend, she couldn't help but feel heartbroken at Kentrell's and Ben's temporary separation that was coming.
Ever since Ben came into her life, Kentrell has been right at Ben's side (when he wasn't dealing with legal issues himself). Being that Rico was with Ben for a long time, she truly got to see some of the guy's moments together. They were truly brothers, though not by blood. Still, their bond was unbreakable, and Rico hated that they had to be away from each other for so long.
Once the two guys pulled away, they did their handshake and gave throaty chuckles before Kentrell walked off to the side, leaving Ben and Rico alone. The two of them stared at each other for a minute before Rico pushed forward into Ben's arms. The broken-up couple hugged each other for dear life for another minute or two before Rico pulled back and planted her lips on Ben's. The kiss was needy and dramatic, but the two of them both enjoyed it, upset that it wouldn't last for another moment.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Ben gently pulled back while he grabbed Rico's face. "Stay sweet for me, Morgan." He said, calling her by her real name for the first time in forever.
Rico laughed while she nodded her head. "Call me when you get situated somewhere. I don't care if you said you weren't going to...call me. You're still one of my best friends." She reminded him. They were friends first, always, which was why their breakup wasn't too bad for them...though they knew deep in their hearts that they'd always have love for one another on levels that nobody but them would understand.
"Bet that up." He said as he finally let her go, walking backward until he nodded for the Bailiff to come handcuff him and walk him out.
Kentrell and Rico stood beside each other, watching their favorite person be taken into custody. Once Ben disappeared behind the door, Rico cut her eyes up at Kentrell with a heated glare before brushing past him to walk out the courtroom. Kentrell creased his eyebrows from her actions and decided to follow her out.
Once they were outside, he grabbed Rico's wrist, turning her around. "What?" She asked in heated annoyance, yanking her arm away from him.
"Fuck you bein' stank wit me fa? We both jus' had to watch Ten go away an' you wanna be dis way wimme." Kentrell said to Rico with the same attitude in his voice.
"I'm being 'stank' with you because you fucking suck! I wasn't trying to let Ben see me and you argue, but now that he's gone, I just wanna let you know that I can't fucking stand you for being a selfish ass like always." Rico went off, making Kentrell start glaring at her.
"Mane, fuck you, Moe. This ain't bout yo luh friend. You ain't neva liked me an' you know it." He said to her, making her shake her head in disbelief.
"Kentrell...you always a fucking victim. I've watched you do so much bullshit for years, and you somehow never fully take accountability for what you do."
"I ain't no fuckin' victim. I take ev'rything I done did an' been through an' carry tha shit wimme every fuckin' day. Don't tell me shit bout wha'chu think you know bout me."
Rico nodded. "Look, I understand that you've been through some shit. A lot of shit. But you act as if everything with everybody has been lollipops and sunshine and it hasn't. Your best friend – my FUCKING soulmate – is about to go to prison!"
"Say, you ain't gotta remind me of the shit. I was jus' in there like you was." Kentrell said as he started walking off.
"You're right, but you know who wasn't in there? My bestfriend." Rico said making Kentrell's heart start to flutter at the mention of Ranada. He tried his hardest not to show curiosity or any other form of concern when Rico mentioned her, but he couldn't help himself.
"Why her ass ain't hea' anyways?" He asked, trying to sound like he didn't care. Rico knew that was all a façade but decided to play along with his faux-nonchalance.
"Don't worry about it since you obviously don't give a fuck. How was your little rendezvous with whoever the fuck it was?" Rico asked while Kentrell chuckled dryly.
"Fuck you. I'on owe you or yo luh friend no explanations as to what I had goin' after our breakup." He said as he walked past her. He clutched his chest inwardly as he felt his heartache at his own words. His act was physically hurting him, but he needed to keep up appearances so Ranada could hate him and focus on herself.
"You know...she left a couple days after you ended things with her." Rico called after him, making him stop in his tracks. That was news to him.
"You serious?" He asked as Rico nodded.
"Yeah, it was horrible. I wish you could've seen the way she cried and begged her mother to move some shit around so she could leave. Mrs. Vanessa was so confused, but Ranada didn't tell her why. She just said she wanted to leave. When they were able to move some shit around, she called up everybody and had a last day 'party' and everything. People were asking her about you, and she still had some grace and told everybody that you just couldn't make it."
Kentrell circled back around with sorrowful eyes at Rico's words. Even after telling him how she hated him, Ranada was still decent enough to not trash him to her mother or their mutual friends. And even though it was evident that something bad happened between them, nobody came up to him to clown him or joce with him about the breakup. Rico was the only person allowed to talk shit because she and Ranada were practically sisters.
"That girl loved you like I've never seen, and you still fucked her over in the end. And what's so crazy about everything is that you harp about love shit all the time, but somehow you still find a way to fuck up something that you want." Rico spat at him. "I can't even believe you were dog enough to call up another girl right when she was still in the house. You fucking disgust me." Rico said as she started walking away.
Kentrell stood back and watched her leave, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He hated himself for what he'd done to Ranada, but he had to do it. In his fucked up mind, it was better to have her hate him for switching up on her than it was for him to hate her for leaving. He believed he'd never be able to amount to half the quality that Ranada deserved, and he needed to let her go so she could find somebody that would be good for her.
"You right. I ain't shit an' ain't gone neva be shit. Tha's why I did what I did. But I'on need you tellin' me I ain't shit. I hear it ev'ryday from my real mama. I live that shit an' carry it wimme." He said to Rico as she turned around. He still wasn't getting it.
"Here you are. Still feeling sorry for yourself. Yes, your mama is an evil fucking witch and didn't do right by you...but you know who else has a shitty ass mother? Kee! That bitch practically pimped her off to get some fucking drugs!" Rico yelled in Kentrell's face. He widened his eyes at the discovery, but Rico continued her tangent.
"Yes...you lost your grandmother, and your dad is in prison...but so is mine! I might not ever see him again. Ranada's NEVER going to see her dad again because someone took his life away! And on top of that, she finds out that he was a shitty husband to her mom! Calae has maternal/family trauma that you can't even imagine and is STILL trying to process that shit! Baby Joe...that nigga belongs in a mental institution. KD is neck deep in the streets and everybody's just waiting to get that phone call about him being killed...and Three?! Well, Three might be the only sane one of us, but even that's only slightly." Rico said that last part and Kentrell couldn't help agreeing.
"The point of what I'm saying is that you live in this victim world of 'woe is me' but you have friends and people around you dealing with their own shit, too. They carry their burdens with them every day and deal with the lemons with lemonade...or they try to." Rico said as Kentrell looked down at his shoes. He felt as if she was chastising him like a child, but he was acting like one. "Look, I'm done trying to get you to realize this shit but you're not the only one going through some things." She said as she finally started walking off again.
Kentrell thought about everything Rico said to him, feeling his emotions flow wildly throughout his entire body. He didn't know how to feel, but it was starting to get to him. He'd done Ranada so dirty and some of the things he'd done weren't even real. He just wanted to push her away more.
"I wasn't on the phone wit nobody." He breathed out, making Rico stop one more time. Her eyes widened as she turned around.
"Seriously?" She asked him as he nodded. "But she said_"
"_I made her think I was." Kentrell interrupted, walking up to Rico.
"Why?"
Kentrell shrugged. "I needed to make her hate me." He admitted. Rico stared at him with horrific confusion.
"I'm not understanding you."
Sighing, Kentrell stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I really ain't tryna get into allat whi'chu, Moe. I have my reasons but the most important one is that I love the fuck outta that girl. An' I need her to move on so she won't be tied down wit my shit." He said as he looked at her. He knew she'd understand that because of her breakup with Ben.
Rico took the time to process what Kentrell was telling her. He basically acted like a menace to push Ranada in the direction of school, of her goals. While his method was batshit crazy, the notion behind it was strangely selfless and romantic...in a tragic fashion. Rico was still extremely disappointed in Kentrell for hurting her best friend, and in a sickening way, but she decided that his intention was enough to make her hate him a little less.
Nodding her head, she decided to leave everything unspoken before digging in her pocket. "She told me to give this to you." Rico said as she held out a small box. Kentrell eyed the box before reaching for it and opening it. Inside was the charm bracelet he'd gifted her and a folded piece of paper. When he unfolded the paper, he let out a painful groan as he saw what Ranada had returned to him.
It was the list that he'd written down in his first group therapy session. He'd seen where he'd scribbled his message and phone number to her after dropping her off at home that night after his welcome home party. He almost smiled at the note he'd written her, but a new message written in Ranada's familiar and beautiful handwriting made him want to cry.
Returning this to you because you didn't meet any of your goals (yet). I'd thought that maybe I was an exception for the last one, but according to you, I'm not. So, I'm giving this back. Say them like a prayer and maybe they'll come true, despite all the hurt and pain. Please don't call me or come looking for me in New York. -Ranada
After reading her note, Kentrell nodded, dry-swallowing the invisible lump in his throat as he looked up at Rico's sad eyes. "Thanks." He croaked out and she nodded before turning to walk away. "Moe." He said as she stopped and looked at him.
"Yeah?"
"L-look. I know we'on always act like it but you one of my friends, too." He said to her and she cocked her hip and gave him a confused look, waiting for him to get to his point. They weren't the type of friends to be mushy with each other. "I'd appreciate it if you ain't tell her that I lied bout bein' on the phone."
"Why?" Rico asked.
Kentrell shrugged again. "Because I love her an' I know I ain't gone be able to make her happy the way she need me to. She bout to become somebody great an' deserve a nigga tha's great right wit'ha ass."
Rico stared at Kentrell while he spoke, earning a foreign respect for him. After taking in what he said, Rico nodded, finally walking away from the courthouse and Kentrell. He sighed after a minute, deciding to walk to his car. Once he was finally inside, he took the opportunity to look at his phone, seeing missed calls and texts from everybody.
He smacked his lips as he allowed himself to fall back into the world of thugging and struggle but stopped once he read the text message he'd missed from Montana.
Montana: Say, I know you an' Ten at the courthouse but when you done, I'mma need you to come over. Kevin Gates an' Fee Banks from Atlantic Records in town an' they wanna talk to you. I think this what you been waitin' for, mane...
Kentrell stared at the message on his phone for a long ass time, reading it over and over. He couldn't believe what he was reading and almost threw his phone out the window as if Montana was playing games with him. After the initial shock began to wear off, a large, child-like smile formed on his face as he thought about what was about to happen. The ball to his music career was about to start rolling.
He quickly flipped to his contact list, immediately going to the Cs, pausing once he pulled up the recognizable contact name that made his heart quiver with excitement. Chocolate🍫💚 . He was tempted to press the 'Call' button, but pain and heartbreak washed over him once he realized that he'd hurt her beyond repair.
Don't call me. That message she wrote to him raced through his mind as he started up his vehicle. He started driving to Montana's house, knowing that he was about to have to record something for his visitors once he came. He knew the perfect thing, too. "I hit'chu up, you say 'Don't call you.' That was hurtful." He mumbled to himself, repeatedly, feeling a song formulate in his head. A song for the love of his life...the girl he'd hurt to make her become great. Ranada.
Welp! Manchild is officially completed! I just want to thank everyone that has shown support to this story. I feel like I've gained some loyal readers and I love you guys so much. The amount of healing this story has given me is tremendous. I still have so much planned for my other stories and the journey for Kentrell and Ranada is not over!
It will be continued in its sequel, titled All I Need. I choose that title because I feel like the song is a great expression for how Kentrell will feel about her as they get older. I love that song and the lyrics are going to be appropriate for the story (that's a hint 😜😉😏!!!)
I really wanna tap into my adult writing, so there's gonna be a large time jump...I'm warning y'all now. They'll be in their mid-late 20s, closer to my age.
Anyway, lemme stop before I give y'all all the details. Comments, votes, and follows are greatly appreciated. Good bye to Manchild but hello to All I Need.
Thanks again. Much love.