Page 73 of Here Comes the Judge

“Cain, cool your jets. Look, it started with little things, and then escalated. It’s a—”

“Like what?! What did she do?”

Jude took a deep breath and gave a few examples, omitting the time she’d intentionally touched his dick, and what she’d said along with it. There wasn’t any need to throw gasoline on the fire.

“I SHOULD’VE LEFT HER ASS IN THE SEWER LIKE THE TRAILER RAT THAT SHE IS!”

Jude listened to his brother go off, just as he knew he would. Minute after minute rolled by, with Cain unleashing a barrage of curse words. “…YOU’VE GOT TO BE LYIN’!”

“You know damn well I would never lie about something like this. Look, don’t say shit to her about it. All she’ll do is deny it, ’cause she’ll want to make me look like the bad guy.”

“How can I not talk to her about this? Hold on… did you fuck her, Jude?! Just tell me… Tell me the truth!”

“Cain, you are out of your damn mind! Hell, no! I’ve never been intimate wit’ any of the women you’ve been with. I mean, gotdamn, it’s a small world, but it ain’t that fucking small! We promised each other when we were young that we’d never cross that line after the Linda incident, and I stuck to it!” Cain had taken a liking to a woman Jude was boning but had no feelings for. They’d gotten into a fight over her and realized it could never happen again.

Cain started hollering and screaming again, and all Jude could do was shake his head and wait for the earthquake to stop.

“If it’s any consolation, I think she was doin’ it not because she wanted me, man, but to get back at you. She told me after drinkin’ some wine a long time ago, that you never seemed sorry for treating her the way you did. She knows that if I did something like that, it would destroy you… tear you to pieces. Everyone knows how close we are.”

Cain settled down a bit, but he could hear him breathing hard.

“She’s still a whore.”

“Well, that might be true, Cain, but the reason why people do the things they do has to be considered. Just like me and you. People judge us based on our parents, how we grew up, and what we did to make money, but none of those people actually knew us. Sherry ain’t my cup of tea, but she ain’t a bad person, either. She just did a bad thing, let her emotions get the best of her. She’s fallen on hard times lately. Her mama is sick, Pete is acting up in school and smellin’ himself, and she had another break-up last year. The guy she was engaged to. I ain’t makin’ excuses for what she’d gone and done towards me, it was low, but I’m just puttin’ it in context. You ain’t gotta worry about that, though, because I set her straight once and for all. The reason I don’t want you bringing it up is because then she’ll make it hard for me to see Pete. You can’t go runnin’ off at the mouth, Cain. I told you ’bout what she’d done because I don’t want you handing your bleeding heart to someone who tried to fuck your brother. That’s all. Nothin’ more, nothin’ less.”

Cain went quiet but he could feel how upset the man was. Maybe heartbroken, even. Although he wasn’t convinced Cain had ever been in love with Sherry, he knew he held her on a pedestal, not only for being the mother of his kid, but also the way she’d been so good to him when they were together, even when he didn’t deserve it.

“Did you finish the entire crossword? Need another?” Jude broke the silence.

“I’m good for now. Got a few more to go.” Jude got that message Cain was sending loud and clear. Cain’s problems with other inmates were squashed, but some of the staff was making waves. A few seconds later, a little voice came on the line letting them know they had sixty seconds left.

“Jude, you still comin’ to see me soon?”

“Of course.”

“You gonna bring Pete?”

“I’m sure as hell going to try.”

“Well, all right… please tell Iris, welcome to the family. Maybe you can bring her too, so I can meet her. I’d like that.”

“That’s a damn good idea. I’ll do just that.”

They said their goodbyes, and he disconnected the call. Making his way into one of the properties Kash managed, he greeted everyone. He’d hired a couple more lookouts, a little more security, and business was better than ever. The M-13s had definitely noticed the sudden takeover of the Gangster Disciples across town, and his informants had spread the word: they were pissed. Everything had fallen into place as planned. Cain was surrounded on all sides, taken in for protection from the GDs in prison. They let it be known that if he was hit again, even blown on or looked at the wrong way, there would be consequences. It had been a fair trade.

“What’s up, Judge?” Kash and Jude slapped hands.

“Hey, Kash. Just doing my usual drive by. Everything good?”

“Yep. No problems tonight. I saw you outside. I’m about to switch out with Truck and go over to the other place.”

“Good. I was just getting ready to ask you about that.”

Paul entered the room as they conversed, seeming happy to return to work. While they shared a few laughs, he realized that soon, he wouldn’t be returning to this place. He would no longer be seeing them several times a week anymore.

His life was changing, new plans were afoot, and a bit of sorrow filled him at the thought. No one knew of his plans except Iris and his crew, and he planned to keep it that way until he had everything settled. He was going to miss this—not the constant survival mode, but the connections he’d made with people the world had shitted on, or forgotten about, including himself. Sizzle was a former prostitute. Everyone knew Paul’s fall from grace. Kash too had been in the foster care system on and off, in and out of jail, and he’d found him on the corner dealing. Every person in his group had a checkered past, the kind others would pass judgment on.

Jude finished up his conversations and checks, and headed back to his car. As he sat there, so many things weighed heavily on his heart…

---