Too Naughty by Brenda Hampton Page A

will tell. We are incapable of predicting the future, so we just got to sit back and let shit happen.”
    We lifted our glasses of wine, and we clinked them together. My insides were boiling; and if Scorpio ever betrayed me, especially for Jaylin, I would hurt her.

FELICIA
    9
    After being deprived of my rest, starved, and ordered to give more blood, I walked out of the darn hospital last night. I had Stephon come pick me up, and he took me home so I could get some for-real rest. He left around 1:00 A.M. , and I slept like a baby.
    I couldn’t wait for Monday to arrive, even though I had no intentions to show my face in court. It was too messed up; and for the time being, I didn’t want Jaylin to see how much damage he’d done. On my behalf, the attorney that Frick recommended came to see me. He decided to take my case and promised me that I had nothing to worry about. With that in mind, I woke up early and waited to hear from him. I knew the court hearing was at 9:00 A.M. , but I was anxious to find out how things would turn out—so anxious that after looking at my watch a million times, I decided to go see for myself. Of course, with how messed up I was, I had to disguise myself. I figured I could wear some dark shades and wrap my head neatly with a scarf. I did just that, and when I looked in the mirror, I knew no one would recognize me.
    By the time I reached the courtroom, several cases were already in session. The courtroom was crowded, so I took a seat in the far back. I sat between a fat white woman who looked like trailer trash and a black man who could have easily been a bum on the streets. As I looked around, I didn’t see Jaylin. My watch showed 10:15 A.M. , and it was evident he was late. I did see my attorney, which was very good news to me, but he appeared to be quite nervous. He kept looking back at the double wooden doors, continuing to adjust his tie. The judge was an older white woman, and she, apparently wasn’t up for a bunch of bullshit. Several times, she ordered people in the room to be quiet and got frustrated with an attorney who didn’t have his shit together.
    Soon, in walked Frick; and I’ll be damned if Jaylin wasn’t right behind him. They had to be the most arrogant team I’d ever seen, and damn that fool Frick for lying to me about taking Jaylin’s case. When they took a seat up front, he was all over Jaylin—whispering in his ear, grinning, and kissing his ass. Jaylin didn’t seem nervous at all, but he sure as hell did look spectacular. So spectacular that even the judge had stopped to take a peek. His healthy, curly black hair was trimmed and lined to perfection. The gray suit he had on fit every curve in his muscular frame, and the goatee he wore had every woman in the courtroom nudging the person next to her. I listened to two ghettofied sistas in front of me as they giggled and talked about taking him home with them. The silliness seriously worked my nerves, and when their heads turned to the back of the courtroom, that was when I saw Shane. They giggled some more and gave each other high fives.
    Shane searched around for somewhere to sit, and when he looked in my direction, I dropped my head and started to lightly cough. Hopefully, he’d think I was contagious, and when I looked up again, thank God he took a seat on the other side of the room. The courtroom got a tad bit louder again, and the judge slammed down her gavel.
    â€œQuiet, please,” she yelled.
    What a bitch, I thought. I hoped that she had PMS and was ready to give Jaylin exactly what he deserved.
    Rushing the judge, once she finished laying down a five-thousand-dollar fine to a felony shoplifter, Frick stood up and approached her. Whatever he said to her caused her to roll her eyes, and she asked for the paperwork on Jaylin’s case. For only a few minutes, she scanned the paperwork, then called my attorney up front. There was a lot of whispering going on,