~Valentina POV
"Okay mom I just got home. I'll call you later." I said as I pulled into the driveway of my home. "Okay babygirl. I love you." She said. "I love you too mama." I hung up the phone grabbing my keys to unlock the door. I walked inside feeling my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.
"Hello Valentina."
There was a man sitting on my couch. He had a ski - mask on with shades so there was no telling who it was. "W-Who are you? What are you doing in my house?" I asked as my voice trembled from the fear that I felt. "The better question is, what the fuck were you doing on the stand yesterday?" He asked. I slowly started to reach inside my bag only to have a gun pulled on me.
"Oh my gosh!" I yelled in fear. "Shut the fuck up." He said approaching me. "On your knees, now." He said. I don't want to die. Not like this. I got down on the floor doing just as he said. "What made you get on that stand? I'm just a little curious." He said. "I-I was threatened. Duff threatened me to get on the stand, okay. He told me if I didn't testify he would send me to jail okay, I don't want to go to jail. And I don't really don't want to die." I said with tears in my eyes.
He got closer to me crouching down in front of me.
"Please, please don't do this." I begged.
"Let's take a trip to the bedroom." He said. I got up from the floor walking upstairs to my bedroom. "Sit down." He said pushing me on the bed. "I'm so sorry, okay. I regret it, I really do. I wish I never got on that stand." I said trying to control my breath and tears. Without speaking, he grabbed my hand putting my finger on the trigger as the gun was still pointing at me.
"No, no, please don't do this." I cried out. "Woman gets on stand and testifies against an innocent black man. Found dead in her home the next day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound." He said shaking his head.
"Goodbye Valentina."
~Armani POV
"I don't think it's going to get any better from here Yanna." I sighed refilling my wine glass. "You have to keep hope alive Mani. Things could turn around for Draco and he could be set free. You never know." She said sipping from her cup.
"Let's hope so." I said. Our conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. "Who the hell could that be at this time of night." I said looking at the clock. I got up from the couch opening the door.
"This is fucking beautiful." She said looking around behind me. "Um ... who are you?" I asked closing the door a little. "I'm so sorry, where are my manners. My name is Myra. You must be Armani." She said holding her hand out for me to shake. "I am, I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"No, we haven't met. I'm Bryson's ex - girlfriend." She said bringing a mug across my face. "And what the hell are you doing here?" I asked. "I'm here about his trial. I'm the one he stayed with in Palatka after his sister's death. He w-" Kiyanna cut her off as she approached the doorway.
"You're the whore Will was telling me about. You got some damn nerve." She said shaking her head. "Glad to know I can still give William something to talk about." She said with a small smile. "I'm gone get out of here before I have to knock somebody out." Kiyanna said pushing pass Myra. I watched as she got in her car and drove off.
"You said you were here about Bryson's trial?" I asked. "Yeah, can I come in?" She asked. With hesitation, I opened the door letting her inside. "It's really lovely to meet you. I heard so much about you down in Florida. I mean, he wouldn't stop talking about you." She said.
"You mean the time when Bryson missed the birth of our son and the death of our daughter? Yeah, I haven't heard much about you." I said sarcastically. "Oh my, I knew nothing about your daughter. I am so sorry, are you okay?" She asked.
"Why are you here?" I asked ignoring her question.
"This case is breaking the internet. Bryson's trial is breaking the internet. And yesterday morning. I saw the face of the lawyer who's defending him." She said. "You're going to have to give me a little more than that, I'm confused right now."
"I know Cristina, she isn't who you think she is."
"Explain."
"Bryson and I dated for a while. I was with him when he first started this little street life persona. He used to have me keep tabs on people who were close to his enemies just to make sure they never tried to spin back or whatever he would say. About a year into this life, he had a bad run in. A turf war. Him, Will and Jay had a big battle against this other gang over territory. It was horrible, scary even. Will almost died that night. And now I'm pretty sure Cristina has a personal vengeance out for Bryson and it has nothing to do with keeping him out of prison for the rest of his life." She said.
"Okay, that's bad and all and it sucks to know that Will almost died but what does that have to with Cristina? I mean, what makes you think she of all people would have some personal vengeance for Bryson?" I asked.
"Because Bryson killed Cristina's brother that night."
**Next Morning**
~Draco POV
"You got everything handled?" I asked Will over the phone. "It's handled. The deed with Valentina is done." He said. "You made sure it won't backfire on you or me right?" I asked. "Man, do you know who you talking to right now? The shit is handled." He said chuckling a little.
"Yeah whatever. I'll hit you back Cristina here." I said looking up at her as she walked through the door. "Be easy boy. I'll see you later today." He said before hanging up. "I understand I was able to sneak you a phone in here to speak to your friend and your girlfriend whenever, but I do need to know when you're using it. You know, so you don't get caught and what not." She said sitting across from me.
"My fault."
"Okay, your trial starts at three. Meaning we're on crunch time right now. I was up last night trying to figure out what questions to ask Armani on the stand." She said. "Let me hear them."
"The first question is who is Mr. Jones to you? Of course, she will talk about the relationship, but she will also bring up the fact that you are a father. Which would lead me to my next question, are you a good father? Those two answers could start the trial off with the jurors getting to know who you are and not what the system is portraying you to be." She said.
"Right."
"Then, that will lead me to my question of who you are as a man? What have you done for your community? How is his personality? Does he strike you as a person to get violent with people, especially someone of authority?"
"That last question is fucking stupid. Don't ask that bullshit." I scoffed. "It will help you, I need you to trust me. I've already contacted Armani and told her that I'll be at the house shortly to run through these with her." She said.
"Make it count. You got five hours."
~Armani POV
"Hello Armani." Cristina said as I opened the door for her. "Hello." I said with a small smile. "Can I, um, come in?" She asked. "Oh, yeah, of course. Sorry." I said laughing a little. I opened the door wider letting her come in. As we walked into the living room, I received a text.
From Myra : Don't forget to act normal around Cristina. Don't let her know that you know. We'll handle everything tomorrow.
Sent : 12:42 p.m
I put my phone away joining Cristina on the couch. "Is your son here?" She asked. "Uh no, our babysitter took him out for the day." I said. "Great, we don't need any distractions."
"My son isn't a distraction."
"No, of course not. I-I didn't mean anything by that, I apologize." She said. "Don't, I had a rough morning, I'm sorry." I said realizing I was failing at the message that Myra had just sent me. "Would you like anything to eat? Or to drink?" I offered.
"No, I'm okay. Let's get into this. Have you ever testified before?" She asked. "I'd never stepped into a court room before yesterday." I said with a nervous laugh. "That is both a good thing and a bad thing. I have a list of questions here and I just want to go over them and your response. We want to make sure we have the best response to each question to help sway the juror in Bryson's favor. We want them to believe that he is innocent. Can you do that?"
"Yeah. I got this."
**
"Ms. Mitchell, you may approach the stand." Cristina said to me. I got up from the chair as my heartbeat began to speed up a little. "You can do this." I said to myself. I got on the stand putting my right hand on the bible. "Do you, Armani Mitchell, promise that the evidence you shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God."
"I do." I said.
I took a seat adjusting the mic. "Goodmorning Ms. Mitchell." Cristina said standing from her seat. "Goodmorning."
"Do you mind explaining to the court room who Mr. Jones is to you?" She asked. "Yes, um, Bryson, Mr. Jones, is my boyfriend. He is also the father of our son, Brandon Jones." I said. "A father? And how good of a father is Mr. Jones if you don't mind me asking."
"Oh, he's amazing. Coming from a household with a terrible father figure, I never really understood what an amazing father looked like. Not until I saw Bryson when I brought our son into this world. It's rare to see a black man taking care of their kids, but Bryson, he's like a natural. Our son was born pre - maturely. He was actually a twin. Unfortunately, his twin sister died at birth. It was horrible. Tragic. When I couldn't face being mother after the incident, Bryson practically filled both shoes. It was truly amazing." I said wiping a tear that had begun to form.
"From what you're describing, Mr. Jones is a perfect man."
"Well, nobody is perfect. But Bryson is amazing. Truly amazing." I smiled looking over at him. "Have you ever seen Mr. Jones playing a role in his community? I mean, outside of him being a father, what is his personality? Does he strike you to be the type of man who displays such violence that he's being accused of?" She asked.
"Oh no, not at all. Bryson is a busy man so giving back to his community has never been his top priority. But violence, I've never known him to do anything of the sort. Especially murder. These accusations are just horrendous." I said shaking my head.
"Right, thank you Ms. Mitchell. No further questions your honor."
As Cristina walked off, I looked at Kiyanna and Will in the seats. Half of this horror is over, lets knock Duff off his feet. "Mr. Duff?" The judge asked. He got up adjusting his suit jacket.
This cocky son of a bitch.
"Ms. Mitchell, what it your relationship with Mr. Jones." Duff asked me as he approached. "I've already answered that question." I scoffed. "Well, if you could just answer one more time that would be great."
"He's my boyfriend and the father of our son." I said into the mic. "Wow, you have children, and he hasn't even married you yet?" He asked. "I'm not sure how any of that this your business?"
"You're right, it's not. You know what my business is, finding out who killed Detective Jackson. So, answer me this. Would you say Mr. Jones is an innocent man?" He asked approaching his desk. "Yes, he is an innocent man." I said. "He's never committed a crime? No drug possessions, gun possessions, drug organizations, murder?" Duff asked. "No, never." I said. "If that's true, then explain this please." He said walking up to me with a piece a paper.
He placed the piece of paper in front of me causing my heart to drop. It was the witness statement.
No, no, no. This cannot be happening right now. I looked up Bryson who had a confused look on his face. "Um, I can um, I can explain." I said as my voice began to tremble. "Mr. Duff. Care to explain?" The judge asked. "Your honor, here I have the written statement of Ms. Mitchell. A statement where she assisted on a case with the deceased, Detective Jackson. To be more specific, the case on trying to nail Mr. Jones ass for every crime he has committed. Now, Ms. Mitchell, you say Mr. Jones is innocent, why would you help Detective Jackson on nailing him for crimes?" He asked.
I couldn't breathe.
I felt like the walls were closing in on me.
"What the fuck." I heard Bryson say.
This is not happening right now.
"Behind me. I have Detective Jacobs, Detective Jackson's partner and Armani Mitchell's uncle. If you don't mind your honor, I'd like to call him to the stand."
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Next Time On Street Affection...
"I can't believe this shit right now." Will said pacing back and forth. "You and me both." I sighed. "Why are you not pissed right now. You see Valentina on the stand, and you send me to fucking kill her. Your fucking girlfriend is a fucking snitch. She was ratting you out this entire time. She probably told the cops that you did this shit. That's why you were arrested, and she wasn't. I could fucking kill her right now."
**
"It's been a crazy day." Kiyanna said laying down on my chest. "Remember those friends you were telling me about a couple months ago?" I asked. "Friends? What friends?" She asked. "Keisha and Ashley. You know, baby mama who snitched on her boyfriend for the protection of her daughter." I said causing her to sit up. "Oh, them. What about them?" She asked laughing a little. "When were you going to tell me that Keisha and Ashley are Kiyanna and Armani?'