Chapter 15: The Bribe To Be

A Chapter by Tina Bee

It was only a few weeks ago that I'd been here in Mr. Litfield's office pleading my case to attend Graham High. Now the office was bustling with busy paralegals looking up case files and the voices of secretaries deflecting phone calls from clients charged the room with a certain electric current. I walked behind mom who today work her hair in a tight bun and a pair of leggings with stilettos. She looked important in her white pants suit and I wished my lazy jeans and t-shirt could have been something more elegant.

Mr. Litfield saw us into his office right away. Something in the way he looked at us told me that this was something big. As we walked I tried to take in every sight, sound, and smell that came my way. Mr. Litfield came quickly behind me and shut his door before I could protest. Sitting to my left and grinning widely was Langston Miles, the man who had attacked me in my bathroom that fateful evening months earlier.

"Take a seat," Mr. Litfield said to me when I turned around to leave.

"I'm not sitting in here with this monster!" I screamed back at him.

"You have to hear us out," Mr. Litfield urged and I turned around to look at mom who was already seated.

"How could you agree to this?" I asked her.

Mom, who now sat stoically facing Langston, did not respond to my question.

I was growing more anxious by the minute and I knew that arguing would get me nowhere.

"Please, take a seat Myra," Mr. Litfield said again and I obliged.

I tried my best to avoid eye contact with Langston who now faced Mr. Litfield with that same off the cuff smile.

"Everyone in this room is well aware of your current situation, Myra," Mom said calmly to me.

Panic was setting in and I knew if I didn't get out of here soon I would pass out.

"Right," Mr. Litfield began, "it came to my attention this afternoon through your mother that you, Myra, are four months pregnant."

"So what?" I asked in the most hateful voice I could muster up.

"This is a very complicated turn of events, Myra," Mr. Litfield said to me.

"How so?" I asked sitting up straight and covering my stomach with my hands.

"For one, if Mr. Miles claims that the sex was consensual," Mr. Litfield said to me and I groaned.

"That's according to him," I snapped.

"Yes, and second if this is Langston's child then you two would have to split your time between the criminal system and the family law court system. At the present time we all feel that it would be more economical to drop the criminal case against Langston and just pursue the rest of this matter with child welfare," Mr. Litfield explained to me.

Drop the criminal case against Langston? I couldn't believe my ears. I sat there dumbfounded thinking about the injustice I'd be doing to my unborn child if I let Langston get away with this.

"May I say something?" Langston asked and Mr. Litfield nodded his head yes, "it's been months since I've even seen Myra and I never had a chance to tell her how sorry I was for what happened. I truly thought that what I was doing was ok and I'd never intentionally hurt a woman. I love my mom to death and I have younger siblings who I have to set an example for."

For a moment we all sat there saying nothing and then mom spoke up.

"That was heart felt. I for one accept your apology Langston, but I'm not sure if Myra does," Mom said looking at me.

"I don't. I can't even sleep at night because I still have nightmares over what happened to me. Do you have bad dreams, Langston? Do you wake up with your pillow covered in tears?" I began as I stared right into his eyes, "I'm going ahead with the criminal case against. I don't care what anyone says."

I sat there with my arms now folded in defiance. Mom looked at Mr. Litfield who sighed and sat back.

"If you choose to go on with the criminal case against Langston and this child is proven not to be his then your whole case against him can be thrown out," Mr. Litfield explained and I began to tense.

"Why?" I asked trying to keep up my brave face.

"According to the date of the sex you had with Mr. Miles and how far along your pregnancy is I'd like to take an uneducated guess and say if this child isn't his then you were likely have sex with other boys. Could that be a possibility, Myra?" Mr. Litfield asked and my face went completely red.

"I plead the fifth," I spoke out and I saw mom close her eyes and shake her head.

"So am I going to be a dad or what, Myra? I'd love to have children of my own one day, Ms. Freedmon," Langston said to mom who smiled.

"Myra, I think you owe Langston an answer," Mom said to me.

"Too bad he's not getting one," I said to her getting up in the process and leaving the room.

I walked quickly through the office that was winding down for the day. No one seemed to notice my fast paced steps and I prayed that no one would be following me after my flight from that stuffy office.

I burst through the exit doors in such a rush that I almost slipped on the slick cobblestone walkway. I caught myself only to see that a rainstorm was passing over the city. The gutters sang as they drank up the water from the sky and I was immediately soaked. I kept up my pace until I was a block away from the office buildings. There was a nice little bridal shop up ahead and I decided to duck in there in case mom came looking for me.

The door closed behind me with a jingle from a bell that was placed strategically over my head. The shop owner must've been in the back with clients because no one greeted me. I made my way to the bathrooms where I pulled my cell phone out in order to decide what to do.

When I looked down at my phone I saw I had five text messages and three missed calls. They were all from Greg and I was grateful. I hit the call button and he picked up on the second ring. I explained to him where I was and why. He told me to just stay there and he'd be there to pick me up in fifteen minutes.

I stepped out of the bathroom where I almost collided with a woman who stood under five feet two.

"Oh, I didn't see you there," the woman said obviously not expecting anyone to be in here, "shops almost closed for the evening, but what can I help you with?"

"Nothing," I said, but then stopped myself when I saw mom's Range Rover passing by very quickly, "my mom's getting married and I wanted to see your selection of bridesmaid dresses."

"Yes, we have a lot of those. What month is your mom getting married in?" she asked me.

"December of this year," I said and from the way she twisted her face I knew she was shocked, "it's a last moment wedding. She met him in June and apparently they believe it's love at first sight."

We walked through the boutique which smelled of mothballs and old silk. The carpet inside of here was a faded red that reminded me of split red wine. The only windows were located in the front and where we were now, the way back of the store, was only lit by fluorescent lights.

"Love is a funny thing," the woman commented while we walked to where the dresses were kept.

"I'm starting to see that," I said adding on to her statement.

"How tall are you dear?" she asked without turning to judge for herself.

"I'm five foot nine," I said proudly.

"Oh, I should have been able to guess that," she started, "here are the bridesmaid gowns. You can try on anything you like and if you need help just holler. I don't have my glasses on right now so you'll have to excuse me while I go get them."

"Thank you," I said and she walked out with that.

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