Page 109 of One Good Reason

“Sorry about what?” I probed.

“Adele, I didn’t know she was dining here tonight.”

“Who is she?”

“A friend of my mothers. We go way back.”

“Oh, okay.” I nodded, dropping my defense. Maybe they were disagreeing about something with his mom. “She seemed angry,” I said, fishing for some type of explanation.

“When isn’t she angry is a better question?” Law laughed.

“I guess. She looked tucked nicely,” I added.

“What the hell, Talitha!” Law laughed. “What does that even mean?”

“Shit. She looked mad but her face didn’t move. Botox maybe?” Okay. Maybe I was being petty, but I didn’t appreciate the way the old hag looked at me like I was beneath her.

“Botox is Adele’s best friend.,” he admitted. “But for a woman her age, she looks nice.”

“Sure, she does.” I giggled. “Anyways, how close is she with your mom?”

“Oh, they’re no longer friends. In fact, they probably stopped being cordial shortly after my Pops passed.”

“Oh okay.” I nodded. “Enough about your friend with the stiff face. Tomorrow, can we go to the beach?”

“We can go wherever you want to go love.”

“Just the beach will be fine. I want to lay out in the sun before we get back to reality. Oh, and by a souvenir shop to get Gema and Mrs. Jessie a gift.”

“That’ll be fine. I’ll pick them something up as well.”

“We should come back with Gema. She will love it here.”

“We can do that as well. Say the word and I’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you, Lawton.”

“What are you thanking me for?”

“A moment of peace.” I smiled and dropped my head to the yellowtail sitting on my plate.

That moment of peace I was thanking Law for the other night was now dull and sullen. The longer I sat here listening to Corrine outlining the motion she had filed and the information she received back from the courthouse, my shoulders slumped in defeat. Law and I flew back into town late last night and the first thing on our agenda today was meeting with Corrine after she left the courthouse. The way she sounded on the phone, I for sure thought she had gotten some good news. We rushed down to her office preparing to hear whatever she had to say.

Prior to this moment, she told me things wouldn’t be rectified immediately but she didn’t say it would be close to two months before I would get that home visit. They didn’t hesitate to come and snatch Gema out of my house so why the fuck was it going to take so long for them to conduct their investigation.

Scratching my nose, I blurted, “I’m not understanding. I have to wait for damn near two months just to get someone out to the house.”

“Unfortunately, and that’s with me lighting a fire under the assistant district attorneys ass. These types of cases are taken as serious as child abuse allegations.”

“Bullshit,” I called. “I work with the youth, Corrine. The county nor state gives a fuck about kids being abused. I see the shit every day, hell I’ve reported several incidents to the local authorities. Day in and day out those kids show up at the youth center with yet another bruise on them and no one is snatching them out of their toxic environments.”

“I am doing all that I can do Talitha to get Gema home. Judge Rowlins has granted you permission to visit Gema so that’s a step in the right direction.”

“What about her mother?” Law asked.

“She can’t stop it. It’s ordered and signed off on.”

“So, we can go today if we want?”

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