Page 140 of Collateral Love
And just like that, I knew.
There was no fixing this.
“You knew what he was trying to do,” I continued. “He was digging into the DA who handled his case. The cops who took him in. He was getting close to Cameron’s people. To Alan. To you.”
She laughed.
“He was reckless,” she said. “Acting like some hood lawyer with a GED and a record was gon’ outsmart the whole damn system.”
“He almost did,” Xavier murmured.
I pressed.
“You tipped them off,” I said. “Didn’t you? When they came around asking for witnesses. For statements. You told them exactly what they needed to hear to make Jared fit the story they were building.”
Her jaw tightened.
“I protected this family,” she said.
“By sacrificing your son,” I said.
Her composure cracked.
“You think they was gon’ let him walk?” she demanded. “He was already on their list. Already in their files. They had him. And he wasn’t listening to me. He never listened. None of y’all did. So yes. I told them what I had to tell them.”
Channy’s hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Sharon kept going, like something dammed up inside her finally burst and she didn’t know how to stop.
“They asked me if he ever lost his temper. If he ever talked about getting even. If he ever carried a gun. What was I supposed to do? Lie? Pretend like my boy wasn’t out here playing thug? I told them the truth. I told them he was angry. I told them he didn’t like that boy he was accused of shooting. I told them he could’ve done it if he was pushed. That’s all.”
She sat back, breathing hard.
I glanced at the recorder, then at Xavier.
Got it.
We had what we needed. Zayden stopped recording.
“You told them he could have done it,” I repeated slowly. “You gave them motive. You gave them temperament. You gave them just enough to turn a question mark into a period.”
“I did what I had to do,” she said again. Quieter now. “I wasn’t losing everything just because he wanted to play detective over some man I used to know.”
“That ‘man you used to know’ is the reason Cameron exists,” I said. “And Cameron is the reason Jared’s appeal got blocked twice. She’s the reason Charles got close enough to touch my life. She’s the reason my kids almost lost their father and their mother in the same week.”
My mother’s eyes flashed.
“You made those choices,” she shot back. “You brought those damn King brothers into our lives. Alan warned me about what you were doing at the university. Don’t act blameless.”
I almost laughed. This was the same woman who had told me my whole life to stay away from the streets and never once asked why I walked into them in the first place.
“You want to know why I started moving product?” I asked quietly.
She scoffed. “Because you liked power. Because you liked money.
“No,” I said. “Because Jared went away and nobody was doing shit but praying and wringing their hands. Daddy was breaking in half. You were pretending we were fine. And Channy was still in elementary school, reading stories, trying to escape our reality.
