put off. “Isn’t it a school night?”
“Your point?” she said defensively.
“I guess if you can ask that question I don’t have much of a point.”
Trenton looked at Jaise. “Are you okay?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
She shook head her no.
“I know this is upsetting,” Officer Asante said, “but your son has been playing games and not giving me or any of the other officers your phone number, and it wasn’t until I told him he was about to catch a free ride down to juvey that he gave me what I needed.”
Jaise’s stomach flipped. This was the second time Jabril hadbeen arrested this month. “Please don’t send him anywhere.” She held tears back. “I’m on my way.”
“You need to hurry, because the way he’s acting, he’s about to be on the next bus out of here.”
The officer hung up and Jaise held the phone to her ear in shock. She’d never felt like such a failure. For the most part, although Jabril had his ways, he had always been a good kid. The problems started about a year ago, after she had practically moved Trenton in and Lawrence and his new wife had their own son. Jabril said that he felt like he was on the outside looking in. Jaise had tried to talk to Lawrence about it, but he accused her of jealousy, not liking his wife, and he took no account of his son’s feelings, treating Jabril as if he were simply being ridiculous. Which left Jaise stuck with a kid who was suddenly all over the place.
She wiped the tears slipping from her eyes and onto her cheeks. “Look, ummm, Trenton, we need to go and get Jabril.”
“We?” he said, surprised. “He doesn’t even speak to me, and now I have to go and get him? Where is he, in jail again?”
Jaise hung her head. “He was arrested.”
“You do realize,” Trenton said matter-of-factly, “that this is the second time this month?”
“I can count, Trenton.”
“Don’t get nasty with me. Shit, since you can count you better start tallying up how much bail money you’re about to spend on your l’il in-house gangstah.”
“He’s not a gangstah, he’s a follower, and he’s following these damn no-good niggahs around!”
“You better stop thinking that boy is perfect, ’cause he’s not. Believe me, from what I can tell and based on the way he acts around here, he’s the leader in his criminal activity.”
“You can save your smart-ass comments,” Jaise snapped. “Furthermore, I didn’t ask you for analysis on my baby.”
“Babies are not six feet tall and wear a size-twelve shoe. He’s sixteen years old.”
“Trenton.” Jaise paused. “I don’t think you wanna go there.”
“Go where?”
“The way you’re talking about my son.”
“I’m not talking about your son!” Trenton raised his voice. “I’m just saying that you make excuses for everything he does. If you really want to teach him a lesson, let his ass stay there. This isn’t the first time, and he’s always in something or another. Now I have to get up early in the morning for a business meeting. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.”
“So what am I supposed to do, leave my child there?”
“He needs to be taught a lesson.” He pulled Jaise back to him, her firm breasts pressed against his chest. “Trust me on this.”
Immediately there was a collision in Jaise’s head, and everything in the room, including Trenton, started to spin. Why was she in this dead-end relationship with him? Why? Was it the dick, the addiction to being rich? Or was she a slave to being mistreated?
Jaise looked at Trenton and blinked in disbelief: As he rubbed his hard dick against her thigh, there was not one wrinkle of concern on his face to show that he gave a fuck about her son. She pushed him on his shoulder and sat up. “Are you crazy? Don’t you ever in your damn life think your bustin’ a nut in my pussy in any way comes before my son! When you have a kid, you dump that niggah in the trash, but let me inform you,