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“Thanks, Coach McKinny,” she shyly says. This girl needs to find her backbone because with her natural talent, the vultures are going to come after her and do whatever it takes to make her doubt herself.
We start over and throughout the day, her confidence in me grows and when we wrap up, she’s hit every point precisely.
“Gorgeous. Tomorrow we’ll work on the beam so I can see where you’re at, but before you head out, we’ll go over this again at the end of every practice until it becomes muscle memory. I’m very happy with today’s progress. How are you feeling about the routine?”
“It has a lot of hard passes, but I think I’ll get it,” Krista says with a satisfied gleam in her eyes.
“You’ll have a lot of competition to face, we’ll need those high point passes to get you recognized. I have faith in you, Krista. You accomplished every task I gave you without argument.”
“Thank you. See you tomorrow, Coach.”
“Make sure you hit the trainer to undo those wrappings and jump into an ice bath before going home,” I instruct, pointing a playful finger at her because she loathes them.
“Yes, ma’am.” When she rolls her eyes, I giggle.
I’m different from most coaches in the industry. I don’t yell, berate, or disrespect my girls in any way. I had that coach and he nearly made me drop from the team. I don’t want that for my girls. I want to be someone they can come to when they’re feeling defeated. My form of instruction comes with compassion and understanding of the sport and their struggles. I want to encourage them, not dissuade them. Their dreams become my own, I will fight for them and with them until they're underneath the spotlight—finding their glory.
I may have given up my chance to shoot for the podium, but that doesn’t mean I need to hold a grudge and take it out on my girls.
CHAPTER
TWO
ARIS
TWO WEEKS LATER
Dadand I are in the conference room going over a new case that was brought to us by the little girl’s parents. It’s a case of neglect by the school system and teachers. She was left on the playground after all of the other kids had been lined up and taken inside. Nobody noticed she was missing until half an hour later when the teacher walked in and did an afternoon roll call.
They do head counts, so how did she get missed? That’s the main question we need an answer to. While Kayman was outside, she climbed the monkey bars, ended up on top of the bars and jumped off. With nobody there to watch over her, she hit her head on the hard ground and ended up with a brain bleed. Her left arm and leg were shattered and she underwent extensive, emergency surgery to save the limbs, as well as stop the subdural hematoma.
The blood flowing through my veins is boiling at the neglect of those responsible for her well-being. They have a responsibilityto this child and her parents. They entrusted their only daughter, their only child, to the public school district and were sorely mistaken in that trust they so easily gave.
We expect more from those who hold the title of teacher, as we should. In our opinion, the administration is just as accountable for this incident as the individuals that were charged with the kids’ care in the schoolyard. They expect less than a handful of teachers to keep up with over three dozen children during recess. It’s ludicrous and things need to change.
“I’ll go do a follow up with the Dyers and check in on Kayman’s prognosis, Dad. When I get back, I’ll have one of our paralegals file the paperwork with the doctor’s findings to the courts and get the ball rolling on the lawsuit.”
“Sounds like a plan, son. The quicker we get things moving, the better off it’ll be for the family. If we drag our feet, the school will think they’re in the clear and the Dyers won’t be pursuing them to take responsibility for their lack of provisions in regard to their child’s safety,” Dad says, releasing an exhausted sigh.
“You know, I wasn’t gung-ho on becoming a lawyer, I’ve made that clear throughout the process of law school and earning my degree. It’s cases like this, however, that makes me happy I went through with the hassle. These types of suits have become my passion,” I confess, reaching out and placing my hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, Dad. For pushing me to the brink of exhaustion. For not giving up on me when I was ready to give up on myself, and for helping me discover that it’s not all desk work and mundane shit.”
“Wearing suits can get a bit annoying though,” he chuckles, rearranging the knot on his tie. He looks at me with pure, unadulterated pride shining in the depth of his eyes. “Like allcareers, Aris, there are good, honorable attributes to what we do. Unfortunately, there’ll also be times when you feel like you’ve been kicked in the teeth and wonder why money-hungry assholes exist in the same world as you do.” Shrugging his shoulders, he continues speaking, “You have to take the good with the bad. At the end of the day, it’s all worth it to make a difference in somebody’s life.”
I nod in his direction as I gather up my files, shuffling the papers and putting them back into an organized fashion. Making my way into my office, I roll my eyes when Sasha, my personal secretary, adjusts her bra and shoves her chest out into the air. I’ve given her a warning in the past about her flirting, told her in no uncertain terms that it’ll never happen. I’m not your average, everyday run-of-the-mill lawyer who bangs his assistant to release the tension of the day.
My daily catchphrase and mantra is,‘You don’t shit where you eat’, end of motherfucking story. Thankfully, my dad is of the same mindset, he’s never given into the prowess of his past secretaries when they tried to seduce him. He made sure I knew on my first day employed at the firm that most of these women are looking for a payday, a way to blackmail you and hurt your family. Simply, he stated that it’s not worth it and reminded me that the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the pasture.
“Sasha. Last warning. If I can see the lace of your bra, you’re not in compliance with the dress code and I’ll send you home without pay. You need to make up your mind on if this job is worth it to you or not.”
“Yes, sir.” She gulps as she reaches up and relatches the buttons on her shirt. Deflated, she plops down into her seat as I give her some files I need pulled and placed on my desk before I return. Like a switch has been flipped, she goes into professional mode,jotting down notes. “I’ll have this ready for you when you return, Mr. Davenport.”
Going into my office, I retrieve my briefcase, keys, and recording device before heading out to my car and jumping in. I’m anxious to get to the hospital and see how Kayman and her parents are. I know the little girl is unresponsive, but they’re hopeful the swelling on her brain will go down enough that she’ll start to rouse.
Twenty minutes later, after a shit ton of horns honked and middle fingers waved—gotta love road warriors, I made it to the parking garage and stepped out of my SUV. Moving my head from side to side, I’m relieved when it cracks and the muscles give. Every single damn time I visit this hospital, I’m reminded of the ghosts from my past and how much I miss them. Berlynn and Berkley haunt me. The friendship we had was unlike anything I’ve found again. Their father ruined that for us. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I make sure that I know what’s going on in Mr. McKinnys daily life and it gives me some form of comfort as well as pleasure every day and time that I check in to see how far in debt he’s fallen.
The devil pays his dues, after all, and that asshole is paying for his in spades. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy—no pun intended. An evil gin stretches across my face because I’ve made it my life’s mission to spread the word amongst our peers of his debauchery. He’s been blacklisted and will never find a place to practice again as long as I’m alive and breathing. If it makes me an asshole to cheer on his downfall, so be it. What has me more pissed than anything, is the fact that he disowned his children.Both of them. What happened to Berkley was just that—it was donetohim, notbyhim. Instead of being an upstanding man, he turned his back on them and walked away as if they never meant a damn thing to him.
Their mother is no better because she stood by his side as he all but threw them away like last night's garbage. Lucinda and Marcus McKinny haven’t seen the last of my schemes. Not even the criminal masterminds of the underworld would spit on them let alone hire them for jobs no other attorney will touch. That’s how far down his reputation has plummeted. He’s less than an amoeba and Lucinda won’t even be able to procure a job at a laundromat in the ghetto.
