Page 57 of Judgments of Fire and Desire

“He’s here, isn’t he? Clearly, he’s been confiding in you. Instead of offering him sound advice, you’ve been coddling him like a child. If you want to blame someone for his behavior, make sure you include yourself. We all babied him, you and me even more so.”

My grandmother looked like she wanted to spit nails. Just as she stood from her seat, there was a knock on the door. We all stilled and became silent. Just as I figured, the police had probably come here to arrest him. Grandma went to the door. We remained quiet, and that was the only reason we heard my brother whisper, “I’m sorry.”

When my grandmother walked into the room with Kyrie, I was thoroughly surprised. Sam’s eyes widened for a moment, then he frowned. I stood from my seat. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

“I knew you would be having a hard time, so I’m here to comfort you… to be here for you.”

“Oh, I see what this is,” my brother said, suddenly finding his balls. “You tryna talk me into turning myself in because of him. He’s your primary concern now.”

I was so sick of this bull. I didn’t know why I became the punching bag in this situation, but I didn’t deserve it. I frowned hard as Kyrie wrapped his arm around me, trying to hold me in place.

I jerked away from him, though, and practically ran to my brother and slapped the spit out of his mouth. “You know, I’m so sick of being blamed foryourlack of judgment. This has nothing to do with my love for him. This is about you! Even now, you lack the ability to take responsibility for your own actions!”

“Genesis, you put your hands on me again, you’re gonna see how much responsibility I will take. If it weren’t for me, you would still be fighting with Bransford. Actually, you wouldn’t even be the chief. How about that reality check? The only reason you are the chief is because ofmyinfluence, speaking up for you and making some things happen. You aren’t better than me, and I wish you’d stop acting like it.”

Kyrie stepped in front of me. My brother had just threatened me. It was time for me to go. I nodded my head repeatedly. “I see how it is, Samuel. All I’ve ever done was love you, but this is the treatment I get, because you can’t figure out how to be a productive citizen. Kyrie was even going to put in a word for you if it came down to it. After this, I won’t allow it. You get what you get. I’m done.”

I snatched up my ringing phone from the couch and walked out with Kyrie and my mother on my heels. My heart was hurting, because in no way did I expect to get attacked that way. I was so angry I couldn’t even cry. Samuel was only younger than me by a little under three years. Before I could get inside the car, Kyrie wrapped his strong arms around me from behind. “I’m so sorry, baby. Had I known my presence would have made this worse, I would have stayed home.”

“It’s not your fault. I was already under attack.”

I glanced at my mother, and she lowered her head and walked to my passenger side. I unlocked the doors so she could get in, then turned around in Kyrie’s arms. “I’ll meet you at my place after I take her home.”

“Okay. I love you, baby.”

“I love you too.”

I watched him walk to his car parked along the curb. Once he got inside, I got inside my car and backed out of the driveway. I swallowed the lump in my throat, wanting my anger to stay at the forefront. I was tired of crying over this situation. After all the heartache and anxiety I felt about this, to be attacked this way was so unfair. I didn’t deserve this, and I still couldn’t believe it had happened.

As I drove to my mother’s house, she said, “I’m so sorry, Genesis. This is all my fault. Growing up, I held you to a standard as the oldest. I was harder on you than I was on him, and it shows. Your grandmother and I both were. He’s our baby, but we crippled him. His reasons for doing this doesn’t even make sense to me. I think he’s lying, and honestly, I think Mama is lying too.”

I glanced at her as she slowly shook her head. “How did anyone know where Kyrie was unless she and Samuel were in cahoots?”

“Well, Samuel could have done that on his own. He had access to that information,” I deduced.

“I don’t know. Either that or she told him. I just… I don’t know. She’s defending him too hard. It’s like she has something to lose. I don’t like it.”

“Mama, she’s always defended him hard. She’s just never done that against me, especially when I had nothing to do with it. I’m just trying to figure out why he thinks he had something to do with me becoming chief.”

“Maybe he swayed some of the council members since two of them were arrested today.”

“Yeah, maybe so, but I don’t like how it makes me feel. It’s like he’s making it seem like I didn’t deserve my position. I worked hard, and I still do. Why did he think he needed to do that for me?”

My feelings spilled all over my face in the form of tears… the ones I thought I had in a chokehold. I truly wanted to resign at this point. I was the best person for the job. I knew I was, but knowing that he had something to do with why I got the position made me sick inside.

When I got to my mother’s house, I put the car in park and said, “I’m not going in. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay, baby. I guess I’ll watch the news to see when they catch up with him.”

I nodded as she got out of my car. I sat there until she was safely inside, then backed out and headed home. This was a day from hell, and I just wanted it to be over as soon as possible. I was thankful that I had Kyrie to lean on, because I needed the support more than ever. Not being able to count on my family for that was foreign to me. However, I knew there was nothing I could do to change that. It made me see just how they really felt, including my mother. Her first reaction was to blame me.

I’d never been so hurt. My daddy came to mind, and I could only wonder if things would have happened the way they did if he were still alive. It seemed it was me against the world now. I was the bad guy for caring and loving people who I thought felt the same about me. My family turning on me revealed where we stood. I would stay in my bubble from now on because I never wanted to feel this empty again.

The courthouse was in a frenzy.Everyone was suspect. Coworkers were turning on each other, and the place just felt cold. It had been a couple of days since warrants had been issued, and they had yet to catch up with Samuel. As I sat at my desk going over case notes, Tyson walked into my office. He slid his hand down his face and said, “You won’t believe who just got arrested.”

I rolled my eyes, not knowing if I even wanted to know. Slowly shaking my head, I asked, “Man, who now?”

“Kerry.”

---