Page 24 of Breeze and Melodie

After spending the night locked up, I would soon be released.

I thought for sure I’d have to spend at least one more night in jail, but being wrong never felt so good.

When I spent those six months in Cook County Jail back in Chicago, it could’ve been much worse, but I knew I didn’t want to go back.

Once I began working on myself and my mindset shifted, everything changed. Things I’d accepted before were no longer tolerable, and after one night in Onyx City Jail, I knew I’d done the right thing by leaving that lifestyle behind.

Although it was supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, I knew that was some bullshit when it came to Black people. I wasn’t hopeful about being released so soon after speaking with Mr. Lincoln, because we had no information. I was anxious to know what he’d found out to make this happen.

When the officer came to retrieve me from my cell, it didn’t take long for me to be processed and released.

I thought it was strange that I didn’t have to go before a judge, but I didn’t question it.

It felt like a weight was lifted from my body when I stepped out of the jail uniform and back into my clothes.

Once I signed the necessary paperwork, I was given a copy and was free to go.

As soon as I stepped outside, Melodie came rushing toward me. Thankfully, I was prepared to catch her when she jumped into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist.

“Oh my God, baby! I missed you so much.” She cried, planting kisses all over my face.

“Hold up, baby. I ain’t bathed or brushed my teeth in over twenty-four hours, and that cell was grimy as hell. Chill out and I’ll let you kiss all over me after I wash my ass.”

“I don’t care about that. I missed you.” She kissed me a few more times before she allowed me to lower her back to the ground.

“I missed you, too, but I don’t want to get you and the babies sick.” I kept her at my side with my arm around her waist.

“Hey, big bro,” Raine said as she approached me on the other side for a hug.

“Wassup, baby sis? I’m surprised you two didn’t team up and bust me out.”

“Oh, if I hadn’t stopped Raine, she would’ve been up here raising hell, right along with Mel.”

“Yeah, Mr. Lincoln told me you were ready to go off on the lady at the desk last night.”

“She had an attitude for no reason, and had Mr. Lincoln and Harmonee not been there, I was prepared to adjust it.”

“See, all that wasn’t even necessary. You would’ve ended up in a cell just like mine and they would’ve had cause for locking your ass up.”

I shook my head while Melodie pouted. I had enough on my mind last night, and the last thing I needed was to find out my woman had been locked up.

“Thank goodness the crisis was averted because you look good in everything but county jail orange,” Raine joked. “Where’s Mr. Lincoln? I thought he was meeting us here.”

“Me too. I wanted to ask him what he found out that got me released so soon.”

“He was delayed with another client and will reach out later. I can tell y’all everything you need to know,” Melodie said.

“Let’s hear it.”

Without responding, she led us down the stairs and to the sidewalk.

She began playing a recording, and I recognized Tia’s voice right away, but I didn’t recognize the man.

The longer I listened, the more pissed I became.

I couldn’t believe she would go this far to set me up just because I ended things with her.

“After Mr. Lincoln heard the recording, he asked Harmonee to send it to him and assured us you’d be out this morning. I’m not sure who let listen to it, but it did what it was supposed to do.”

“This is wild,” Shyne commented.

“Yeah, she has to be mentally unstable to go to this extent to ‘punish’ you. Isn’t she a teacher?” Raine questioned, and I offered a nod. “Ain’t no way a person who took the time to plan something like this should be teaching people’s kids.”

“When I talked to Mr. Lincoln this morning, he gave me the name of an attorney you can use if you want to press charges.”

“Who’s the man?” I asked, unintentionally dismissing what Melodie shared.

“Did she ever mention that her brother was a cop?”

My brows narrowed at Melodie’s question because in the six months Tia and I were together, she’d never mentioned a brother, only a younger sister.

“No. Is that him?”

“Yeah. Somehow, she convinced him to go along with this dumb ass plan.”

“He’s right to be worried about his job,” Raine said. “Breeze, you should sue the police department or something.”

“That don’t sound like a bad idea, . . . but I’d rather kill them both,” I said in a low, serious voice.

“Breeze,” Melodie and Raine said simultaneously.

“I get it, bruh, but killing a cop, dirty or not, ain’t the move,” Shyne reasoned.

I agreed with Shyne, but the desire to take their lives was strong. I looked in Melodie’s concerned eyes, then down at her stomach where my seeds were growing. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t risk my freedom.

“I’ll let the courts handle it.” Melodie and Raine both sighed with relief. “I’ll hit y’all up later. Let’s go home.”

“I assume you’re not coming in today,” Raine said to Melodie.

“No, ma’am. I need to love on my man. Yvonne, Mari, and Harmonee agreed to take my clients.”

I hadn’t thought about work until just then. I looked at Shyne, and before I could ask him anything, he told me they had me covered.

I connected my fist with his, kissed Raine’s forehead, and helped Melodie into the passenger seat of her car. Seconds later, I joined her on the other side.

“Promise me you won’t do anything to them,” she pleaded.

“I said I’ll let the courts handle it.”

I started the car and prepared to back out of the parking spot. She put her hand on my arm, causing me to look at her.

“ Promise me .”

“I promise you I won’t do anything to them.”

“Thank you.”

It was the night after I was falsely taken into custody. I hadn’t decided if I would let the situation go or press charges. Everyone in the crew thought I should do the latter, and the attorney Mr. Lincoln had referred me to, Ms. Carver, agreed. However, I still hadn’t made up my mind.

I wasn’t accustomed to being on the right side of the law, and I didn’t trust the system or anyone associated with it. It wasn’t until Ms. Carver started talking about the amount I could win and putting it into a trust fund for our twins that I began to seriously consider pressing charges.

We’d just finished dinner, and Melodie had gone to the bedroom to shower and get ready for bed. It had been a hectic day for her, and the babies were beginning to zap her energy.

I heard a knock on the door, and since I wasn’t expecting anyone, I looked through the peephole. When I saw Tia, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, so I looked again, and there she stood.

Before opening the door, I grabbed my phone, went to the voice memos, and pressed record. She’d already tried to set me up once. Who was to say she wouldn’t try again since she failed the first time?

“The fuck you want?”

“Breeze, don’t be like that. I came to apologize.”

I shook my head because this couldn’t be the same woman I’d dated for six months.

“Apologize for what?”

“You know.”

“No, Tia, I don’t know. Why are you at my door apologizing to me?”

“Breeze, . . . please just forgive me.”

“Forgive you for what?”

“For having you arrested. I wasn’t going to press charges.”

“If you don’t get your lying ass away from my door.”

I started to close the door, and she stuck her foot out to stop it. I was tempted to break her foot, but didn’t want her here longer than necessary.

“I’m sorry, Breeze. It was a dumb idea that went too far. I can’t lose my job over?—”

“Oh, that’s it. You found out about the recording.”

“If that gets out, my livelihood is gone. I swear, I’ll leave you alone and you won’t have to worry about me ever again.”

“I’m not worried about you now, but you should definitely be worried about me. Get the fuck on before I beat your ass for real.”

This time, when I pushed the door closed, she stepped back.

If she didn’t have shit else, that bitch had audacity.

After that bullshit, I felt I had two choices.

I could either kill her and her brother or press charges.

I’d promised Melodie I wouldn’t touch them, so my only option was to let the system handle it.

“Breeze, come look at this,” Melodie shouted from the living room.

It had been two days since Tia's visit, and it was a little after six in the evening. We’d just finished eating dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and showered together.

I’d stepped into the bedroom to grab my phone when I heard her call me.

I returned to the living room to see her pointing at the television.

“ . . . a second-grade teacher here in Onyx City was arrested today for falsely accusing her ex-boyfriend of assaulting her. Details about how she did it are still being investigated, but we do know that someone on the police force was her accomplice. More on that story as it develops.”

On the screen, Tia was handcuffed, with her head down and facing away from the camera.

I shook my head, feeling no sympathy for her.

I’d decided to press charges and met with my attorney yesterday.

Although it would be a while before Tia and her bitch-ass brother were punished, I felt somewhat vindicated.