Chapter 6 - Brother vs. Sister
"Judge!" Ray screamed, slamming his hands on the table. "Do something! Arrest her!"
Judge Harrison sat paralyzed, looking at the wire transfer document on the wall. He knew his career—and his freedom—was over if he took another step to help Ray. Slowly, Harrison lowered his gavel.
"This hearing... is adjourned," Harrison managed to choke out. "I am recusing myself from this matter immediately."
"You can't recuse yourself now!" Daniel yelled, panicking. "Judge! We need that money today!"
"Shut up, Daniel!" Ray grabbed Daniel by the collar, throwing him back into his seat.
As the judge fled through his chambers door, the courtroom devolved into chaos. Pendelton was frantically stuffing documents into his briefcase, realizing he was caught in the middle of a federal takedown.
Ray turned on me, his face twisted in pure rage. He lunged toward the bar rail separating us. "You bitch! You think you can destroy my life work over a stupid old woman?!"
Before Ray could reach me, Marcus stepped between us, his massive frame blocking Ray completely. "Step back, Mr. Vance. One more inch and you’ll be booked for assaulting an officer of the court."
Ray gasped for air, stepping back, his chest heaving. He realized he was trapped.
I looked past Ray, directly at my younger brother. Daniel was trembling, clutching his phone like a lifeline, tears of terror forming in his eyes.
"Daniel," I said softly.
He looked up at me, his lip quivering. "Maya... please. You don't understand. Ray told me we had to do it! He said Mom was going to lose the house anyway to taxes! He promised he’d give me $200,000 to pay off my gambling debts!"
"So you sold your mother for two hundred grand?" I asked, walking around Marcus to stand in front of him. "She took extra shifts at the bakery so you could have air jordans in middle school, Daniel. She mortgaged her own retirement so you could go to college. And you signed her over to a monster."
"I was desperate, Maya!" Daniel wailed, dropping to his knees right there on the courtroom carpet. "The loan sharks were going to break my legs! Ray said it was the only way! Please, tell the bank to unfreeze my account! I have nothing!"
I looked down at him with an expression of pure, unadulterated disgust.
"You have nothing now, Daniel," I whispered. "And by the time I'm finished, you won't even have your freedom."
"Maya! Please!" Daniel grabbed at the hem of my coat.
I pulled my coat back from his grasp as if touching something filth. "Fifteen years ago, when Ray called me useless and threw my bags onto the street, you stood on the porch and laughed. You said I’d come crawling back begging for family money."
I leaned down until I was level with his tear-streaked face.
May you like
"Look at me, Daniel. Who's begging now?"
I turned away from him without waiting for an answer. Behind me, Daniel began to sob openly on the floor, while Ray stood alone in the center of the courtroom, his empire collapsing around him like a house of cards in a storm.
