Hey Guys! I know you are all waiting for the Bachelor and I should be updating it soon. I already started. But I bring this story to you based off of one of my favorite books. I just gave it a little Samcedes twist. Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or Samcedes, or the plot!

Mercedes sat stunned on the cold, mahogany courtroom bench. She couldn't believe the verdict of guilty. The high profile court case of her notorious, kingpin boyfriend, Sam, ended in the worst possible outcome. After seeing the expression of defeat and frustration on Sam's face, Mercedes broke down in tears as numbness ran through her entire body. Her mind raced frantically as she reflected on what seemed like her life crumbling in front of her eyes.

The trouble began when she returned from Los Angeles. Sam paid for her to fly from Richmond, Virginia, to California to shop for her prom dress and accessories. For some reason, she couldn't get into the shopping spree that led from Saks, to Bloomingdales, to boutique shops. Mercedes had a bad migraine and a weak stomach the entire time. Sam's mother, Sandra accompanied her as a favor to her son, though it was no secret that she could not stand Mercedes. Sandra felt the girl was entirely too young for her son. She did not like the hold Mercedes had over Sam and she couldn't understand why he loved Mercedes so much. She knew if anything ever happened to Sam, Mercedes would be gone as fast as a speeding bullet.

Sandra had a lot of style and class, which is why Sam asked for her help. If anybody could put an elegant ensemble together, she could. Sandra was big boned white lady that wore her hair in a flipped under mushroom style. She had a big and nasty shaped butt, the kind of butt that one could sit a drink on. She was shortchanged in the breast area with a chest as flat as an ironing board. She drank lots of coffee so her teeth had stains on them. She wore large EK lizard print frames. With her jewelry, she resembled the female white version of Mr. T.

Mercedes thought she was feeling pukey because Sandra was up close and personal with her. Sandra made Mercedes extremely uncomfortable. She was always in her space. The two of them kept their distance, even on this too close shopping spree coordinated by the one man who loved them both. Sam wanted more than anything for the two of them to get along. Mercedes counted the hours until she returned home, away from Sandra's rolling eyes, and back into Sam's loving arms.

With the most beautiful prom-wear money could buy, the mission was accomplished! Mercedes was back into the comfort of her home and settling into the usual domestic lull after being away for the past four days. Upon entering her home, it was most obvious that Sam had not attempted any housework.

Mercedes stood at the entrance of the kitchen. Watermelon décor was everywhere, which was a sure sign she was home. Mercedes smiled when she glanced at the watermelon calendar hanging on the refrigerator next to the watermelon magnet with her and Sam's photo in it. They had taken the picture at the Virginia State Fair. Mercedes was happy to see that Sam had circled the appropriate day on the calendar and wrote, "Wifey Returns".

Upon learning that his baby was back in town, Sam returned home with roses in hand. He greeted Mercedes who he had missed being next to, with a passionate kiss. Later she treated him to his very own private fashion show of which she modeled her beautiful prom gown. They spent the remainder of the night holding one another, making up for the past few nights they had spent apart.

Mercedes fluttered around her watermelon themed kitchen, putting a load of underclothes in the washer while humming, "At least we're lucky we got em, Gooood Timmes eeehhh," to the end of the theme song. To catch up with the local news, she changed the channel on the 13 inch television sitting on top of the refrigerator. The six o'clock news began with the voice of the anchorwoman.

"Covering the news where you live, this is News Six. Veronica Reade joins us from the city's south side with today's latest groundbreaking news."

"This is Veronica Reade reporting live from Midlothian Turnpike. This car wash behind me," she turned with index cards in hand and points, "is the crime scene of the city's latest homicide. A man was shot and killed execution style while getting his car, a 1985 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, washed. The suspect fled on a sports motorcycle and was reportedly wearing all black. The victim has been identified as Cameron James. Authorities are questioning members of the alleged "804 gang".

Mercedes sprinted over to the television knocking the watermelon motif statue off of the wall to turn up the volume. She stood all ears, eyes and in pure disbelief.

"Yeah, I knew Cam real well," an afro-wearing bystander spoke at the scene into the camera. "I knew he had a contract out on one of the '804' boys, so they probably did this."

With that powder keg on-street interview under her belt, Veronica Reade smiled, "This is believed to be drug and gang related. Stay tuned. We will be updating you with further information as it becomes available to us. Back to you Susan."

Mercedes ran over to the red and black lip shaped telephone in their living room and sent Sam a text message that read 000. This was an emergency.

As the time on the digital clocked changed, Mercedes questioned where Sam could possibly be. He usually called right back. Mercedes paced the floor. She reflected over words her girlfriend, Santana, had planted in her mind weeks before:

"Girl, I am only telling you this because you are my homegirl and I want you to be aware of the word in the streets. This dude Roy put a contract out on Des because he owed Sam $60,000 that he lost tricking and getting high with some freaks. He figured Sam was going to try to kill him, so Cam put out a $15,000 contract on Sam. He didn't have the heart to kill him himself. He knew Sam wouldn't have any type of understanding about his money being short. Everybody knows Sam don't take partial payments. Cam tried to hire this guy name Smoke, who got his name and reputation from his ashy complexion and doing murder for hires. It just so happened that Smoke had a lot of respect for Sam, so he went and told him. And I heard that Sam gave Smoke $10,000 for the valuable information."

Tears formed in Mercedes eyes, how could this be? She sat down on the oversized black leather sectional sofa staring at the phone wishing it would ring. 'We were just together all morning and afternoon. We were in Aunt Sarah's Pancake House eating chicken and pancakes when this occurred, so I know for a fact Sam couldn't have anything to do with this. He never left my side for a minute. Why they gotta be messing with him?' Mercedes thought to herself.

Meanwhile Across Town On the City's South Side:

Sam is kneeling down on the ground watching the dice like a hawk. Everyone is quiet while waiting to see where the dice fall. When all of a sudden the loud Beep ! Beep! Beep! Interrupts the game. Des looked at his phone in panic 000? In the whole two years we've been together she's never used the emergency code. What the hell is going on?

"Yo Tank come on," Sam called out to his right hand man, as he jumped into his red 2015 Ferrari FF almost forgetting to pick his money up off the ground that he had just bet with. "Something ain't right man, Mercedes just text me with our emergency code. She's never used that code the whole two years I've been with her." Heart pounding as he dialed he spoke to Tank in a disgruntled tone, "Yo, if something happened to my wife it's going to be a bunch of dead bodies, man, I'm telling you." The phone didn't sound a complete ring.

"Hello," Mercedes sweet voice managed, not trying to muffle the fact that she had been crying ever since she heard the news report.

"Baby Girl, what's wrong? Talk to me, baby," Sam replied worried.

"I need you to come home right now, I've got to talk to you, it's extremely important."

She told him. "I'm on the way. You alright?" Sam said.

"Yeah, I just need you here, that's all," Mercedes replied. "Anybody there with you? Just say Yes or No."

"No, Baby. It isn't what you think. Now please just come home!" "I'll be there in less than 15 minutes" "O.K., I love you, baby." "I love you too, Baby Girl."

Sam pushed the accelerator to the floor, doing 100 mph in a 55 mph zone, weaving in and out of traffic on 95 North. Sam almost missed his exit to 64 West where he just about caused a Camry to hit a Benz . The Camry driver honked the horn at him as he stuck his middle finger up in the rear view mirror. He turned down the music and looked at Tank who was bopping his head to the beat.

"Yo, man if any of them scandalous hos done told my wife something, oh I am going to straight pistol whip one of em. That's my word. If any of these local dudes done disrespected my wife, oh he's going to die," Sam raged.

Mercedes paced the floor looking out of the window every few minutes. Sam pulled up in front of their Sundance Station Apartment, taking up two parking spaces. Almost stripping the gear shift as he quickly put the car in park, he hopped out of the car. His size ten, crisp new blue and white Nikes hit the pavement as he sprinted across the wet lawn avoiding the sprinkler system with Tank trailing behind him. He never acknowledged the mud that splashed on his one-hundred dollar sneakers, as his only concern was to get to Mercedes. Three steps before he approached the door, he reached under his shirt and pulled out his 9mm semi-automatic. He then gave Tank the key to open the door.

Mercedes ran to the door, throwing her arms around Sam and laid her head on his chest as she cried. He embraced her tightly as he put the safety back on the 9mm and laid it on the end table. Tank stood on guard with his .45 Magnum pistol in his hand.

"Baby Girl, tell me what's wrong," he said in a comforting tone while holding Mercedes in his arms. His whole attitude had changed. Whenever he dealt with Mercedes, his persona turned into that of a teddy bear. It was like Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.

"I was watching the news, and the reporter said they were questioning people from the '804' for killing that boy Cam and with you being the leader, I was afraid the cops had you." Mercedes sobbed while sniffling and blowing her nose with the tissues she'd gathered while waiting for Sam to arrive.

"Baby Girl, you don't have anything to worry about. I know the police will probably pick me up for questioning because of my reputation, but they can't hold me. Nothing has changed. I am giving all this up in a couple months once you graduate. You know what we planned, right?" He asked her as he stroked her hair. Mercedes shook her head, wiped her tears and smiled up at him.

The plan was that as soon as she graduated from high school, they were moving to Norfolk . She had been accepted to Old Dominion University. He was going to give up his current lifestyle and open an exotic car lot near Virginia Beach. He'd had a good run. He'd been flooding keys of powder cocaine into the streets of Richmond for the past few years. Sam had every drug house, corner, strip, block and neighborhood in the streets of Richmond, and all surrounding counties, on lockdown. He owned and operated every single after hour, crap, number and liquor house in the town. The ones he didn't own in the rural areas, got blessing and approval from Sam. He was the ringleader of the "804" and ran the most successful and organized crime ring in the state of Virginia. He had found Mercedes and wanted to share the rest of his life with her. Amazed that he had gotten away with everything this long, Sam was certain it was time to move on. He knew that this life was a trap. He had enough money stashed and decided to quit while he was ahead.

The day she graduated, the police indicted him on murder charges. He was held with no bond. Mercedes wanted to drop dead and die. She was devastated. The funny thing is, everybody thought she was distressed over the money. She was ravaged due to the fact that her husband, her soul mate, her best friend, her confidant, her life, her everything, her all, was gone.

Mercedes sat on the mahogany bench listening to the verdict knowing he didn't commit this crime. He was dining with her at Aunt Sarah's at the time of the murder and he never left her side. That was Mercedes' testimony when she was called to the stand. But the testimony of the others was more damaging. Cam's mother, Shuckey, a frail, brown -skinned, bald headed woman, with her front teeth missing or rotten from getting high for so long, testified that she'd seen Sam fleeing the scene. She was a junkie. Shuckey had a possession charge pending in another court, which was going to be dismissed after she hung Sam. The Commonwealth attorney agreed to the deal. Shuckey was a freebasing, cocaine-addict, low life, but they had wanted Sam for a long time, so her character was ignored.

Sam was sentenced to 60 years. Mercedes vision blurred. She couldn't hear or interpret anything anybody was saying. All she could hear was "guilty" and feel the weight of her own sobs coming like huge waves in her arms. Mercedes immediately looked as Sam screamed out to Shuckey, "You lying junkie bitch! You reap what you sow. Just because I'm in here don't think it ain't others who can't get to you. You better leave town because this here town ain't big enough for you to hide in!" Sam was taken away chained and shackled. When Sam reached the door, he stopped in his tracks. He glared at Mercedes and hollered out, "I love you, Baby Girl, forever and ever! These walls can't stop our love, Baby!" Mercedes couldn't look at Sam. Sam's bow tie wearing lawyer explained to her that he would have to do at least 15 years before he would be eligible for parole, providing good behavior. The lawyer informed her that the longest the state could hold him was 35 years. Thirty-five years was a long ass time. She had to figure something out.

Mercedes finally got herself together and left the courtroom to face Sandra, who had been removed earlier from the courtroom for trying to intimidate Shuckey from testifying. Shuckey had a restraining order out on Sandra for threatening her not to go to court to testify against Sam. When Mercedes delivered the news to Sandra and her first concern was his material possessions.

"How long before you're going to be home because I need to come and get Sam's jewelry and also I need to get his cars from over there. You're going to have to sign that Benz in your name over to me, too." Sandra was harsh and to the point. She never liked playing second fiddle to Mercedes, and now it was time for her to position herself as numero uno, as his mother.

The nerve! How dare she? Mercedes thought speechless. She could not utter a word.

"You can act like you don't hear me, but I'm going to say it one more time," Sandra stressed. "I need to get all my son's belongings from you and I mean that."

Mercedes' palms began to sweat and her heart began to pound rapidly as she looked up into Sandra's eyes and said to her in a stern tone, "Did you just comprehend what I said? I said they just gave Sam sixty years for a crime he didn't commit, and all you can do is worry about his possessions. I simply can't focus on any car or anything else material right now. Just so you know, I am not giving anybody any of his belongings until I speak to him. As a matter of fact, I can't even talk to you anymore because I feel like you are tempting me to disrespect you, and overall, you are Sam's mother." Mercedes put her hand on the strap of her Gucci soft stirrup crocodile shoulder bag that Sam had rewarded her with for making all A's the next to last 6 weeks of school. She pushed it all the way on her shoulder and turned to walk away.

Sandra followed behind her making a scene. "Listen to me, you little grown-ass gal. You don't get sassy with me, missy. See, you might have a hold on Sam, but I don't care nothing for you, never liked you and never will. You ain't nothing to me. See, Sam ain't here to take up for you now." Sandra was so mad, foam gathered in the corner of her mouth.

Mercedes couldn't control the tears from rolling down her face as she walked faster and faster to get out of the pathway of Sandra's words. Everybody from the bondsman, to the inmate trustee mopping the hall, and the lawyer holding a file talking to his clients, stopped what they were doing to watch the distraction Sandra made as Mercedes expeditiously tried to escape. Once she was out of the courthouse she ran to her car, threw her purse onto the passenger seat and just sat in the driver's seat and sobbed. As the tears flowed down her face then to her neck she screamed, "WHY ME?!"

After Mercedes boo-hooed a while, reality sank in. Where was she to go now? She knew she wasn't going to ask her family for any type of assistance. She was too ashamed to after she had moved out from her mother's house and in with Sam. She had vowed at that very moment that other than moral support, she would never ask anything else from her family. She would learn to take care of herself, but where would she start?

Somehow she managed to drive herself to her favorite aunt, Millie's house. Millie was a small featured, cocoa-colored woman with very thin eyebrows and long eyelashes. She wore finger waves gelled neatly across her entire head. Before she could ring the doorbell, she reflected on something Millie had taught her years ago. The Bible said that if two come together and agree on something, whatever they ask for will come to pass, but Mercedes needed confirmation. Mercedes asked God to give her the will and the strength to be there for Sam and to love him unconditionally. To be with Sam always, even through incarceration. She prayed for some of the tension to lessen between her and Sandra. She knew that the only breakthrough and miracle would come from God.

Millie had already heard the verdict on the evening news. Mercedes explained to Millie in detail the performance Sandra put on as they were leaving the courthouse. To Millie's surprise, Mercedes wasn't really concerned with Sandra's actions. Her focus was on Sam and his well-being. Millie tried to comfort her by sitting beside Mercedes on the loveseat and placing her arms around her asking her, "Baby, would you rather have 12 people convict him or six people carry him?" That was not comforting to Mercedes at all.

"Auntie, no disrespect but somebody dying and someone going to jail is two totally different things. In jail, everything is stripped from you. Your freedom, your self-respect, and your loved ones are all taken away. Yeah, you can still see them and touch them, but at the same time you watch them get conditioned. You watch them get bitter. You watch and hear of your loved ones getting disrespected by some egotistical, control freak, toy cop, who probably doesn't have any authority at home, so they come to work and abuse what little authority they have. I'm sorry, Auntie," Mercedes said shaking her head as she continued, "There is just no comparison."

Millie said, "Right," as Mercedes continued.

"Then we get stripped of our rights as well. We have to be searched when we visit. We can't wear this. We can't wear that. They can search our cars at any given time if it's on their premises. Does prison actually corrupt our people to be more scrupulous? What is the fear now?"

Aunt Millie couldn't get a word in.

"The way I see it is, one day you're living a regular everyday life and the next day you're in prison being treated like an animal. Locked in a cell 23 hours a day, then they wonder why when you're released you act like an animal" Mercedes raged.

She thought about all these things and just began to pray. She had always prayed every night, but now she really pulled out her Bible and started to read it. Her mother had always instilled prayer in her life. Mercedes had been through a lot of things and she knew that she would or was to be faced with some unknown obstacles that had yet to be revealed to her, and ultimately, God would be the only one who would carry her through. She knew that God would be with Sam no matter what the outcome was. Millie kneeled in front of the sofa with Mercedes. She left her Aunt Millie's house feeling a lot better.

As Mercedes approached the apartment, she could see from the street that the door was cracked open. As she approached the door, she realized it was off the hinges. She automatically thought the police had been there, but for what reason? Sam was already in jail. She walked into the apartment. The living room furniture was gone. There was only a broken frame on the floor with a painting of Sam and Mercedes that Sam had gotten to hang over the fireplace. She walked to the eat-in kitchen and the table was gone. There was only one bar stool pulled up to the counter with one-watermelon placemat. She stepped into the dining room – cleaned out! She proceeded to the bedroom— nothing left! Only Mercedes clothes were hanging up in the closet and her jewelry box. There was a note attached to the jewelry box with duct tape. Written on a brown paper bag with a black magic marker in big bold letters was. "YOU WILL NOT BE FUCKING NO OTHER GUY ON MY SON'S SHIT".
She couldn't believe Sandra was behind all of this. Mercedes screamed out, "That dirty bitch!" She broke down crying hysterically.