Page 8 of Judgments of Fire and Desire

“Sis, calm down. We’ll make it on time,” Samuel said.

“You’re right about that. I’m going to be on time, even if I have to walk the rest of the way.”

He rolled his eyes and looked out of the window. I could see the driver peering at me through his rearview mirror, probably wondering if I was bluffing or joking about walking. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I refused to be late. There was nothing for me to bluff for because there wasn’t a thing he could do to minimize the amount of time it was going to take for us to get to the memorial.

As traffic moved at a snail’s pace, I opened my thread to text Kyrie.Hey. We made it to NYC, but it’s taking forever to get to the memorial. I really hope I’m not late arriving.

He responded immediately.Hey, beautiful. Sometimes it’s quicker to walk out there. Traffic is horrible. I’m glad you made it safely.

I smiled slightly.Yeah, I’m realizing that.

When I lifted my head from my phone, I noticed my mother staring at me. She smiled, but she didn’t say anything. I knew her eavesdropping ass had seen my text and probably read every word of it. Her detective skills were what kept me in line as a kid. She could find out about the least infraction, and I never figured out her ways. I supposed I would figure it out if I ever had kids of my own.

After another twenty minutes, we had made it. I quickly hopped out of the car, practically running to where the ceremony would be. My mother and brother weren’t far behind me. Although they were trying to hide it, I knew their adrenaline was pumping just as fast as mine was. They wanted to be here; otherwise, they wouldn’t have come along.

When I finally found a seat, the man at the microphone said, “We called him two days ago, and he accepted the offer. I know he’s a busy man, but knowing that his father died in this tragedy, literally headed to battle in a courtroom of law, was why I reached out. His death was surrounded by scandal, but the thing people failed to realize at the time was that he was a husband, father, and he upheld the law with everything in him. His personal issues were none of our business.”

I frowned slightly, trying to figure out who he was talking about. When I researched the attack years ago, there was a scandal that I remembered reading about. A well-known attorney had gotten killed while on a flight with his mistress. I could only imagine the heartache his wife felt, having to grieve a man that had betrayed their love and their vows.

“His son is here, and the fact that he became a judge at such a young age is testament to the example his father set for him. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Judge Kyrie Patrick.”

My eyebrows lifted, and my mouth fell open, like a door with a broken hinge, as I watched him stand from his seat and walk to the mic. He didn’t tell me he would be here! When he turned to the front, he looked angry. There was a frown on his face. He closed his eyes as everyone applauded. I was pretty sure he didn’t know he would be introduced in that manner. Half the people here probably had no clue about the scandal.

My heart went out to him. I now understood why he didn’t want to talk about his father. That was a difficult time for them as a family, especially his mother.

“After twenty-three years, I didn’t think I would have to address the heartache, betrayal, and anger I was feeling at ten years old on this day. My father had died, and all I could focus on was the pain my mother was in. The media was bombarding us at every turn. I came here to try to put this all behind me andbe here for other people who had lost someone close to them. Instead, I feel like that ten-year-old boy all over again.”

I closed my eyes briefly as I felt the pain in his words. When I opened my eyes, they met his. He’d found me in the crowd. I brought my hand to my chest and nodded slowly, trying to encourage him to continue. He gave me a tight smile then lowered his head. I wanted to walk up there and console him right here in front of everyone.

“Is that who you were texting?” my mama asked in a whisper.

I side-eyed her. I knew she was eavesdropping on my conversation. Giving my attention back to Kyrie, I saw he was struggling to continue. His head was still lowered, and he was twiddling his thumbs. Standing from my seat, I crossed over several people and made my way to him. He lifted his head, and his eyes met mine once again. A police officer made his way to me, I assumed to stop me from approaching, but Kyrie held his hand up and said, “It’s okay.”

I nodded at the police officer and continued my journey to him. Once I got to the podium, he turned to me. I gently rubbed his back in circular motions and said, “You got this.”

He gave me a tight smile, then turned back to the mic and addressed the crowd. “I apologize. My job today was to inspire you… to uplift you. I wanted to somehow bring you a sense of joy. I still plan to do that.” He glanced at me and said, “My mother is in the audience. She has been a beacon of strength and hope, encouraging me every step of the way through my educational journey and life in general.”

Everyone applauded as he extended his hand, gesturing for her to stand. When she did, I saw a beautiful woman with tear-stained cheeks. I was surprised she didn’t walk up here to comfort him. Once she sat, he reached for my hand, so I removed it from his back and grabbed it. I couldn’t believe hisfather had died on the same day as mine, changing both our lives forever.

He turned to me and said, “Happy birthday, Fireman Genesis Farris. Losing your father on your fourth birthday couldn’t have been easy, even as a small child that didn’t fully understand what was happening and why.”

I nodded as he turned back to the crowd. “None of us fully understood what was happening that day. However, those of our loved ones that were first responders, understood one thing. That one thing was that there were a lot of people who needed them. They didn’t hesitate to leap into action, showing us that nothing else mattered at the moment. Their only concern was saving lives. The people on the flight that crashed into the open field in Pennsylvania, Flight 93, only cared about saving the lives of others. My father was on that flight.”

He squeezed my hand, and I could feel the tremble in it. I lowered my head as I thought about how he’d accepted this task simply because he knew I would be here. I was almost sure he wouldn’t have accepted the invitation otherwise. Bringing my other hand to our joined ones, I gently caressed his hand between mine, doing my best to make this moment easier for him. So far, he was doing extremely well.

“We can learn a lesson from their sacrifices today. That day, nothing else mattered. No one cared about the color of anyone’s skin, whether someone was born on foreign soil or not, nor whether they were male or female. It was about good and evil… guilt and innocence. We cared for one another that day… all of us. We bonded together as a country. We’ve lost sight of that. Our fellow Americans died being afraid but brave at the same time… all in the name of saving their fellow man.”

I leaned against him, realizing how his words were hitting home for everyone nodding and silently agreeing with him. “I want to inspire you to honor your loved one by caring for yourfellow man. We don’t want their deaths to be in vain. Those that lost their lives on those planes won’t ever be forgotten. They live on through us. Their voices can be heard through ours. What do we want them to be remembered for? If we think about that before we speak, maybe we wouldn’t spew so much hatefulness toward our fellow man.”

I was extremely proud to be standing here, holding his hand. This man was sexy. His straight-to-the-point and in-your-face demeanor had taken me from feelings of angst and sadness and brought them to feelings of insatiable desire. He was speaking so well until a couple of people had said ‘amen’ while he was talking. I almost chuckled. He was definitely taking us to church.

“So today, let’s make a conscious effort to honor those we lost through the way we treat each other. They died for a reason greater than themselves. Let’s honor them as the heroes that they are and always carry them in our hearts.”

He nodded and walked away from the podium, pulling me with him. When he sat, I sat next to him amidst the standing ovation he was getting. Although it was only my first time being in his presence since the fire, I kissed his cheek. “That was amazing.”

“Thanks. I need a stiff ass drink.”

As I introducedGenesis to my mother, I noticed a woman, who looked a lot like Genesis, and a man approaching us. I had to assume that was her mother and brother. My mama was being extra and had hugged Genesis like she was a long lost relative. I could only roll my eyes at her as she stuck her tongue out at me.

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