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Poetic and I had been spending so much time together, and it was getting close to us having to do the interview. I was feeling him big time, but I was scared about his feelings changing after the interview. So, I decided to go out to brunch with Symphony to ask her how she dealt with Dashawn and the things that happened to him in his past. I texted her early in the morning after I left Poetic’s house to see if she could meet me at First Watch for brunch. I wasn’t far from there, so I just headed straight there. She told me she would be there half an hour after me so I went and sat down and just ordered a cup of coffee til she got there. I sat deep in thought hoping she could answer some of my questions. I had already talked to my mama, and she always gave good advice, but I figured Symphony would be able to give up more, since she practically lives that life.

“Hey girlfriend,” Symphony spoke when she walked over to the table.

“Hey boo, how you been?”

“I’m good mama, like always. So, what’s up?” Symphony asked getting right to it.

“How do you deal with this and how do you continue to be happy with Dashawn after all he’s been through?” I asked with sad eyes.

“Do, you think you can grow into loving him without judging him? Do you think you can deal with him pushing you away? Do you think you can let him be weak when need be? Do you think you can let him be the man of the house even though you know his weakest points?” Symphony ran down question after question, even though it all sound like a lot. I felt like I got this that was how much I wanted to be with Poetic.

“Yes, I do, but do you think it’s too soon to be having these strong feelings for someone?”

“Chile, you talking to someone that believes in love at first sight. Plus, y’all grown as fuck and ain’t getting no younger. I feel like if you feeling each other go for it. Y’all just have to respect each other, talk about everything and be honest. Always feel open to tell your mate how you feel. Y’all have to be there for each other every step of the way. Communication is the key and if he your person and vice versa everything will fall into place. Men like Dashawn and Poetic are easy to love as long as you’re willing to put in the work to love and nurture them. They may be strong men, but they have delicate hearts. I see the way you two look at each other, I can tell something is there. From hearing your story about your brother, Poetics story, and my husband’s story, I feel you all needed each other.” Hearing her say all of this made my heart smile. I never thought about it in this way, but she definitely made me feel better about the situation and now I feel like I’m ready for whatever Poetic and I are doing.

“You definitely put a lot in perspective, now I feel a lot better.”

“I’m glad I was able to help. Now let’s order some food and talk about this series our men got coming up.” Symphony smiled, causing me to do the same. I waved the waitress down and we both placed our order and continued to talk the whole time. I had a feeling Symphony and I were on the start of a new friendship.

* * *

Today was the day I was telling Josh about the interview I had going on with Poetic and Dashawn. I also was going to tell him about the evidence my mama had. We had set a date for the interview to be live at P&P Studios and I couldn’t wait. After brunch with Symphony, I ended up going to see my mama and then from there I ended the night with Poetic again. The sound of my office door opening and Josh came right in.

“Hey Tatum, the receptionist told me you wanted to speak to me.”

“I do, what we talk about stays between us. I even have a non-disclosure form for you to sign from both of my clients before I can share this with you. So, here they are.” I said while handing the form to him with a black pen.

“You got me signing forms now Tatum.” He chuckled.

“I had to do what I had to do for my clients privacy. This story is big and Media Frenzy is going to eat off of this trust me.” Josh looked at me like he wasn’t pleased, but his ass signed them damn papers.

“OK, so I have a big story that involves Carol Peterson, Poetic Pain, Desmond Collins, and Trent Reece.”

“Desmond Collins was the first victim that was molested by Carol Peterson, his mama took the money and moved him away and later he changed his name. Poetic Pain was the second one and he wasn’t able to get away he was molested from the age of ten to seventeen. Then you have Trent Reece, who she also started touching at the age of ten, but he committed suicide at the age of sixteen and that was my brother. We may not be able to get her to do time for Desmond and Poetic’s assault, but my mama has the last pair of underwear that Trent had on the last time he was with her and his suicide letter. So, that should be enough to bury her nasty ass and I’m sure others will come out once they see the last interview. Which will take place in about a week at P&P Studios where she think she’s coming to do a series with Poetic and Desmond. Desmond doesn’t want his face to be shown, so I’ll be recording his part of the interview else ware.” Josh sat there in deep thought trying to take it all in.

“Wow, that’s some heavy shit. How will you get her to stay there without running off?”

“I’m going to have the police there in case she tries to run.”

“So, you really think they all in for this without canceling?” Josh asked.

“I think they all for it, they even talking about doing one of their episodes for their new series about it.”

“OK, good, this is great work Tatum. How are you and your mama doing with this?”

“We’re ok we both feel like this is the closure we needed.”

“I’m glad to hear this, how did you get them to tell their story, that’s a lot for a man to admit.” I knew he was going to find out sooner or later about Poetic, so I figure I might as well say something.

“Well Poetic, and I have become close, so let’s just say we confided in each other and that’s how it happened, and Desmond came to town to help put her ass away. Once I told them my brothers story and how strong they were to go on with life after this they were all for it. I’m sure if she did this to them there are other kids or adults that’ll come out.”

“She’s a sick ass bitch and I knew it was a reason why I didn’t like her ass. You know Helen’s husband still think she had something to do with her death, but he has no proof.”

“I wouldn’t put nothing past her ass, her money so long she is able to cover all type of shit up. This bitch need to rot in jail.”

“I hear that hopefully, once the story is aired others will come up and that bitch will get exactly what her old ass deserves. That makes my heart hurt that them boys had to go through that then they sad ass mama’s took hush money. Yeah that’s some crazy shit.” I ran down how the interview was going word from word and Josh and I talked for what seemed like forever until someone came in my office for him.