Page 3 of Unlucky You

It was the truth. When I hit him, it was only out of anger and fear. Fear that I might lose Aleah and he was the reason, but at that moment, I hadn’t thought about taking his life. The need to do so came later when reality settled in that I’d lost Aleah. My son no longer had his mother and I no longer had the woman I would have given my life for. By then, it was too late. The damage was done. Moses was gone but so was Aleah.

“That’s all, Your Honor,” he stated, looking me right in my eyes. I already knew the prosecutor didn’t want me to go to prison. He said that to both me and my lawyer. He understood the situation, and as terrible as it was, he didn’t see me as a man who intended to take a life. Unfortunately, he had to do his job but had already agreed to do as much as possible to ensure I wouldn’t serve time. He kept his promise by not painting me as the bad guy through cross examination.

I left the stand and they wrapped things up but not before Aleah’s parents had their say. I knew it was coming and that they wouldn’t be kind. They were grieving and blamed me, even before that night. I was in her life so they had been blamingme for losing her for years now. When she got pregnant by acommon thug, someone they didn’t approve of, they severed ties completely. No matter how much she loved me, I wasn’t, and would never be, good enough.

They found out she was carrying our son, put her out, and turned their backs. Funny how now they were here as caring, loving parents. That was what they wanted everyone to believe but the truth was, they were here to make sure I suffered. Not because I was responsible for her death but because I was responsible for disrupting the perfect image of what their family should look like or was supposed to be. Her mother spoke first.

“Your Honor, I need you to know that this man deserves to rot in hell. He stole our daughter from us. He forced his way into her life and made her believe he was the only thing worth living for. He preyed on our daughter’s innocence and brainwashed her. She had his bastard child because he needed a way to keep our Aleah under his thumb. She died because of him and he needs to pay. If I could take his life, I would. Him and that bastard child. Because of them, my Aleah is no longer here. I can’t bring her back but I can make sure his family feels the same loss that we feel.”

She didn’t cry or show remorse. Didn’t shed not one damn tear. Nor did she show any contrition for saying such hateful things about my son. He shared their blood. My nails dug into my palms and my jaw was clenched so tightly that it was only by a miracle my teeth didn’t shatter. I knew better than to react or say what I felt. I had to think about Raiden. I needed to get home to him. He’d lost his mother and he couldn’t lose me too.

“That parasite, disgrace, and disappointment to society never deserved my daughter. He doesn’t deserve to live and if you don’t lock him away with all the other animals that prey on the sweet and innocent women like my daughter then I can’t be responsible for what might happen.”

“That’s enough! Are you really going to let them threaten my son's life…”

“Your son is the reason they lost their child. Like it or not, your son is still here. They should be allowed to express how they feel. Please sit down and let them finish. Your son was given the opportunity to address the court, ma’am. So are the Johnsons.” The Judge had chosen his side. I felt it. My mother opened her mouth to respond but I quickly shook my head. She slumped her shoulders and looked away. We both understood what was happening. Alec Johnson had money and influence. We did not.

“Mr. Johnson. Please continue.”

“He is a murderer.Heis the reason my sweet girl is no longer here and that bastard of a son is going to end up just like him. I’m almost grateful my daughter won’t be here to experience the heartbreak and disappointment that will come from raisingthatboy.Hisson. Your Honor, I pray you see fit to doing our Aleah justice.”

The judge decided he wanted another day to consider his judgment, and regardless of what the prosecutor was saying, I had a bad feeling in my gut. Two days later when we returned to hear the judge’s decision, it was confirmed.

Five years.

Five fucking years.

Third degree. Involuntary manslaughter.

Before the judge spoke, I knew. Her father had the final say. He was a very important man who worked behind the scenes. When he stood in the back of the courtroom, hands in his pockets, staring at me, I knew my fate. The minute his eyes locked with the judge’s; my fate was sealed.

Five fucking years.

I lost the only person who truly saw me. I lost my son, my freedom, and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do tochange the course of things. Not that I cared. Prison, I could do. I deserved to suffer.

I might not have been the one to take her life but I surely played a role in what happened. She was at that party because of me. I didn’t cause what happened but I set things in motion. So yeah, I should suffer. Five years wasn’t shit because even after my time was done, I’d be serving a life sentence of regret and that was something I could never recover from.

ONE

Grand.

Four years. Eight months. Twenty-two days.

“You gonna come by today?”

I sat on my bed, head lowered to the floor, staring at my bare feet. There was so much I needed to get done but I had very little motivation to start my day.

“Yeah, it won’t be until later though. I need to get some stuff done around here.”

“Is there anything I can help with? You know I don’t mind…”

She couldn’t see my face but I shook my head anyway. “No, Ma. I’m good. You’ve done enough.”

Raised my son for almost five years.

Made sure I had a roof over my head and money to get by when I came home.

My mother loved me and wanted to make this transition as easy as possible but she didn’t understand how hard it was for me to be dependent. The more she did, the worse I felt. I couldn’t communicate those feelings because she was so damn selfless that she would always say, “You’re my son, Grand. I will always give my last to make sure you’re good.

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