Carl Weber - Baby Momma Drama

I pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the officer to get out of his car. A tall, broad-shouldered cop approached my car. He shined his flashlight in my face.

“License and registration, please.”

I thumbed through my purse and handed the information to him.

“You know you just ran a red light, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry, officer. I didn’t realize it until I was halfway through.”

“Well, this is a heavy pedestrian area. You might wanna stay off that cell phone and pay attention to the road.”

“I know, officer. I’m just having a bad day. I just found out my boyfriend is cheating on me with my best friend.”

“Is that so?” He actually looked sympathetic as he handed back my license and registration. “Look, I’m gonna let you off with a warning, but-” Something in the car caught his eye and made him pause. “Ma’am what’s that?” He pointed at my ashtray. I gasped when I saw the half blunt lying there. Once again, Derrick had screwed me over.

“It looks like a blunt,” I admitted. “But I swear it’s not mine. My boyfrie-”

He didn’t let me finish. “Have you been smoking marijuana, ma’am?”

“No. I don’t mess with that stuff,” I told him honestly. “I work at the post office. We have random drug tests.” I guess he’d used up all his sympathy with my first story, ’cause now he wasn’t hearing it.

“Ma’am, can you step outta the car, please?”

“Step out the car? For what? I told you it’s not mine.”

“I understand that, but I’m gonna have to search the car. So I’m gonna need you to stand over here.” He pointed to the spot on the curb where he wanted me to go, and then he opened my car door. I was not happy, and I let him know it.

“Go ’head. There’s nothing in my car but that blunt.”

“Well, if that’s the case, you’re lucky, because we only give citations for that amount of marijuana. Now, can you sit on the curb, please?”

I sulked over to the curb and sat down to watch the officer begin his search. After a few minutes, another squad car pulled up, and an officer got out to assist The two of them looked through the car pretty quickly, and they didn’t find anything, just like I knew they wouldn’t. I smirked at them as they headed for the trunk. I couldn’t wait to get back in my car and go home. One of the officers stepped away from the trunk and gestured for me to get up.

“Ma’am, can you please stand up and place your hands behind your back?”

“Hands behind my back? For what?” I asked as he came near.

“Ma’am, you’re under arrest for possession and intent to distribute a controlled substance.” His partner held up a sandwich bag full of white powder.

“What? That’s not mine. That’s Derrick’s.” I was so shocked, I couldn’t even cry. “It has to be his, ’cause it ain’t mine. It’s not mine.”

“Well, it’s in your car and you’re driving,” he stated with no emotion. “So I have to inform you of your rights. You have the right to remain silent…”

“Commonwealth of Virginia versus Jasmine Johnson. Possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute,” the clerk shouted as he handed the judge a folder.

A door to the right of the judge swung open. The occupants of the courtroom watched as three sheriff’s deputies escorted my sister to the front of the courtroom. She looked like shit in those orange overalls. Her hair was a mess, and you could see from her smudged mascara that she’d been crying. I’ve never felt so sorry for anyone in my entire life.

I’d gotten the news that Jasmine had been arrested late last night, when the operator woke me with a collect call. Jasmine never called collect, so I was nervous as I accepted the charges.

“Stephanie?” Jasmine’s voice was low.

“Are you all right? Did Derrick do something to you? You’re not at the hospital, are you?”

“No, I’m not at the hospital.”

“Thank God,” I sighed with relief. “So why the hell are you calling me collect?”

“Stephanie, I’m in jail. I got arrested.” Her voice cracked like she was about to cry.

“Arrested? For what? Don’t tell me. Your license was suspended?”

“I wish it was that simple.” Now she was scaring me.

“You did something to Derrick, didn’t you? Oh, my God, you didn’t kill him, did you?” I knew my sister was upset about the video, but I didn’t think she was that upset. To be honest, I didn’t think she was capable of hurting anyone enough to get herself locked up.

“No, I didn’t do anything to Derrick; he did something to me. He left drugs in my car.”

“Oh, shit. No, he didn’t.”

“Yes, he did,” she sobbed. “Look, Steph I need you to call Big Momma and see if you can get me a lawyer. Tell her I need a good one, ’cause they’re talking about giving me fifteen years.”

So now here I was the next morning, watching my sister trembling in front of the judge, waiting for her lawyer. It was obvious she hadn’t slept a wink. She sighed when a tall, wiry, baldheaded white man stepped forward.

“Robert Smith for the defense, Your Honor. Waive reading.” The judge wrote something down on the file, then turned to the Commonwealth attorney. “Mr. Green, what have you got?”

“Your Honor, Ms. Johnson was pulled over for a routine traffic violation. Her car was searched after the arresting officer found marijuana within her immediate reach. During the search of her car, the arresting officer and his partner found approximately twenty grams of cocaine.”

“This looks pretty serious; Mr. Smith, how does your client plead?” the judge addressed Jasmine’s lawyer.

“Innocent, Your Honor. There are some mitigating circumstances involved in this case that the Commonwealth is unaware of.”

“I see. Well, you’ll have to discuss that with them.” The judge looked at the prosecuting attorney. “Bail, Mr. Green?”

“In light of the amount of cocaine, the Commonwealth suggests a fifty-thousand-dollar bond, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Smith, I’m sure you have something to say about that?”

“We feel that’s excessive, Your Honor. Ms. Johnson is a citizen with no criminal record and heavy ties to the community. She’s a supervisor at the United States Post Office and is not a flight risk. We ask that she be released on her own recognizance.”

“considering the amount of cocaine in her possession, we’re not going to release her that easily, but we will reduce the bail. Bail is set at fifteen thousand dollars, cash or bond.”

The judge banged his gavel, and Jasmine’s body sagged. Her lawyer had to grab her arm to keep her from collapsing on the floor. I wanted to cry. My sister and I might’ve had some rough spots in our relationship, but she didn’t deserve this. That’s why I was glad that I’d called the right person to help her out of this.

“Where the hell is she?” I was pacing across the tile floor in the lobby of the Richmond city jail.

“Stephanie, relax. The deputy already told you it’s gonna take a while. They have a lot of paperwork to take care of before they can release her.” I nodded my head at Dylan but continued to pace.

I had calmed Dylan right after I hung up the phone with Jasmine last night. Once I explained what had happened to her, he didn’t hesitate to offer his help. The first thing he said was that he’d have his lawyer represent her. And I didn’t even have to mention bail before he started talking about going to the bank first thing in the morning. The way he was acting, there was no doubt in my mind about how much he cared about Jasmine. I mean, when it came down to it, the brother put up his house as collateral after the judge announced Jasmine’s ridiculously high bail. If it wasn’t for him, Jasmine’s ass would be sitting up in that jail cell a hell of a lot longer than this.