Page 10 of Judgments of Fire and Desire

Someone was doing their best to torture me and have me questioning everything and everyone. They were doing a damngood job at making me paranoid. There was no way they would be causing that type of destruction on a plane. We were so far removed from 2001 security. It was because of that attack that our security was what it was today.

However, the mere fact that they were tracking my whereabouts was the problem. The detectives hadn’t obtained any evidence to even suggest who this person was, if it was even the same person.

“Kyrie, are you okay?”

I looked up to see everyone staring at me. I gave Genesis a tight smile and nodded. She didn’t smile back, so I knew she was analyzing me. Her gaze didn’t waver, and neither did mine.Yeah, I need that drink ASAP.

The rest of our late lunch went by in a blur. My mind was far away from here after that text message. I requested an Uber through my app, and when it arrived, Genesis grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s go get that drink.”

I gave her a one-sided smile, and we bid our mothers and her brother farewell amid their silly grins. Once Samuel closed the door and they took off, she said, “Now maybe you can answer my question truthfully.”

I grabbed her hand and walked to a sports bar I’d scoped out since this morning. It was only a block away from where we were. Once we were seated at the bar, she grabbed my hand and just held it. Her warm and gentle touch had my mouth running like a leaky faucet, telling her all my worries. I couldn’t even blame it on the alcohol because I hadn’t had a drink yet.

“Someone is sending me death threats by text, and I’ve had two notes placed on my car.”

She frowned. “Have you reported it?”

“Yeah, but they can’t seem to find anything.”

“Have they offered to provide you with protection? They know you’re getting these threats.”

“One of the detectives did, but I told her I didn’t need it.”

“Why?”

“Look at me. I’m six feet, three inches tall, and two hundred forty pounds. How would I look having someone to protect me? Just my luck, they would send someone way smaller than me and probably a woman.”

The bartender came and took our drink orders, then Genesis turned to me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What?”

“That they would probably send a woman.”

“I’m a pretty burly guy. Having a woman that’s half my size protect me would look foolish. You don’t think so?”

“No. Training has nothing to do with size. Whomever they would assign to you would have theskillto be able to protect you.”

“I guess you’re right.”

The bartender set our drinks in front of us. I threw that Crown Black back like it was a shot. Genesis stared at me for a moment then did the same. When she held her fingers to her throat and let out the hot air, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m a grown man, Genesis, and my taste for alcohol is the same. Don’t try to hang with me, or I’ll have to carry you out of here.”

“So you say. I’ll just have to prove you wrong.”

I chuckled as the bartender set another two glasses in front of us. After informing her that she could create an open tab for us, she smiled and walked away. We threw those two back as well. After the events of the day, I could drink myself into a stupor. I would stop short of that, because if I got too drunk, I became a problem. My filter fell off, and I didn’t hold back my opinion at all, whether it was requested or not.

There was one time I’d gotten drunk, and this lady sat next to me. She smiled, and her teeth were slightly yellow, possibly coffee stains or something. When she spoke, though, her breathsmelled like garbage. I didn’t hesitate to tell her what I thought.“Please go smile and be friendly somewhere else, because your breath just made me throw up in my mouth a lil bit.”

When I thought about how badly I’d hurt her feelings that night, I wished for a do-over. She didn’t deserve my rudeness. While I didn’t lie, just because I knew the truth didn’t mean it always had to be verbalized. I could only hope that she had done something about it and not allowed my hurtful words to destroy her self-esteem.

“So, how ironic is it that we both lost our fathers the same way? I mean, not the same way, but on the same day during one of the most horrific events in American history?”

“That means it was in the cards for us to meet. We both followed in their footsteps as well, although I didn’t initially want to. I wanted to be a detective.”

“Really? So what made you change your mind?”

I shrugged. “My change had nothing to do with him. I just felt I could benefit the justice system more by being a judge. My father was an attorney… a damn good one. I just…” I inhaled and blew out an exasperated breath. “I hated him for a long time for what he did to us. Sometimes, I still think I hate him. The media was relentless about the scandal. It was like they didn’t care that we’d lost the man we loved along with everyone else who had lost someone. He left us here to handle his screw ups alone, which made the grieving process even harder.”

She leaned over to me and put her hand to my cheek. “I’m so sorry y’all had to go through that. Hate is such a powerful thing, but so is love. Try to focus on the good things and memories that make you smile… memories that prove just how great of a father he was and how much you admired him when you were growing up.”

---