VENTURES: Love and Law

FIVE DAYS LATER- TUESDAY

For the next five days, we weren't seen on the street...We weren't in court...We would leave our homes around Seven in the morning..

Jazzy would meet us at our place after kissing Dabnis in her front door for minutes..

She never imagined him to be so affectionate....or was he super horny or both? she mused...
She settled with it being both.

''Ummmmmm girl I can't let you go..." he moaned..

''Well you gotta...I have to go to work...I'll be back this afternoon...Calm yourself down..." she giggled.

and we would all ride together in our SUV

to the building that housed her law firm, a big new building near Penns Landing.

''Wow...I haven't left for work this early since I was a Public defender or an ADA.."said Jazzy..

"It does bring back memories, except we have a much larger and more accommodating work space.."said Olivia.

"Jazzy your office is beautiful and that Law Library not only rivals ours...but is nearly as big as the one downtown we used to study in both in Law School and at the Public Defenders Office." said Beverly.

"Yes...I was saying that the other day....Your place is fabulous Jazzy.." said Nelson..

"It really is.." said Josie..

I smiled and drove while they talked....It was almost like we were out of town, except that we were working downtown instead and coming home every night...

Jessica and Chip drove in one car too and usually met us there....

Our meals from Sam Mother's Diner were delivered shortly after we arrived

and then we all retreated upstairs to the law library in Jasmine's Law firm , where we hunkered down in one corner...

Olivia , Jessica and Jasmine , the lead Attorneys operating in on section....

...They All Agreed that Olivia would be the lead attorney...

with Jessica being second chair

and Jasmine being third chair.. Jasmine was so happy to be entertaining us and to be a part of this..She felt like she was doing something good,something worthwhile.. She was dreading when this case ended and she went back on rotation as an Attorney at her firm.. she truly loved the company..

And Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Chip in the other section..

Beverly and Nelson loved working together and took to the research like champs..

Josie was an expert at this, As a Para-legal this had been her forte..

Chip's ego wasn't bruised in the least bit...After all...He was actually Tiffany Brown's attorney, but he was smart enough to know he might be in over his head, so he took it to his fiancé, Jessica Sanchez, who took it to the WRONGFUL CONVICION UNIT and contacted us for help..

While they worked in the Library, ADA Karen Page and our client

met in her office, which was down the hall from us and a few feet from Jazzy's law firm. They were the same age and had a lot in common...From the same neighborhood...Knew some of the same people growing up.

Lt. Tragg didn't know Karen had an actual office...when he ventured up into our building

He found an empty conference room with no trace of us being there...He didn't know that Jasmine's law firm was five floors above and that most of us were in the law library located in her firm..

He didn't know that Karen had an office across the hall from her law firm...It was so new ,it wasn't listed yet...she was still contacted by phone or email..

II-

Gary Lockwood and I were on the street running down information, getting signed affadavits and doing videotaped interviews...

We took Yvette Jones with us a few times when she wasn't busy....I always liked to have an Attorney present when I did interviews with people...which was why I always took

Shortcake and or Josie.. but both of them were busy now because they were working on this woman's appeal and on getting her renumeration...

Yvette joined us for lunch a few times.

This of course was driving Lt. Tragg crazy as he sat in Sam Mother's Diner, without seeing any of us..

He wasn't looking for us of course...He was looking for Karen...B.L. returned to Philly in two days and he hadn't been able to see Karen let alone make any headway with her..

He was stunned when he saw Yvette's snot nosed kids as he called

Attorney Keith Jones

Attorney Bee Bee Evans

Attorney Kahlil Ahmed

Attorney Sofia Garcia

Jade Lee, their investigator

and that pompous , arrogant jerk, Attorney Dabnis Coley..

They were eating lunch and having coffee..

and their conversation was basically on their cases, which they had all just completed.. Their upcoming days off and going to Aqua Bar on the weekend....

He finally couldn't resist , He walked over to their table and asked..

"Haven't seen your boss in awhile..Is she alright?" he asked.

"Ms. Yvette? She's fine...I saw her this morning before I left for court..."said Keith Jones..

"Awwwwww,You're concerned about her? I'll be sure to tell her you asked about her."said Bee Bee, sounding just as sarcastic as Yvette had sounded a week ago earlier when he inquired about them..She reminded him a lot of Olivia's niece, Beverly....Both of them had smart mouths..

"Haven't seen your counterparts either, Olivia and Beverly....." he said.

"Oh they're working...They're uh working with ADA Page, on the uh Wrongful Conviction Task Force." said Kahlil.

"Yeah like we were a few weeks ago.."said Sofia..

''Why are you so worried about them and where everybody is?" asked Dabnis.

"You know , I wasn't addressing you...You'd better button it buddy before you get a fat lip.."snarled a suddenly angry Lt. Tragg..

"Heyyyyyy , Heyyyyy let's not get out of sorts here...Ms. Yvette is at our office and Olivia and Beverly ,Donnie Ray, Nelson and Josie are with ADA Page in The new Bridge Building near Penns Landing."said Jade..

"I was there this morning...I didn't see any of them."said Lt. Tragg...

"Why? Are they in any trouble?" asked Keith Jones..

"No..No..No...No...I'm just used to seeing you all in here.." said Lt. Tragg..

"People do find new places to eat." said Dabnis.

Bee Bee, Sofia and Jade giggled at that remark...

Kahlil, sensing the tension said..

"Yeah...I'm sure they're taking their meals closer to where they work...They are near Penns Landing..
They Probably drink down that way too! We did when we worked that Wrongful Conviction gig a few weeks ago...This place was too far away to come for lunch."said Kahlil, who knew where they actually were eating and drinking..Ms. Yvette had told him..

They also knew that we were ordering our meals from Sam Mothers via UBER EATS...but they weren't about to tell him that...

"Why don't you cut the crap? You don't care what Olivia and Beverly and Donnie Ray are doing or Ms. Yvette...You really want to know about ADA Page...Well she aint here...She's wherever she is.."said Dabnis, who believed now that Lt. Tragg had something to do with setting him up recently and was pissed.

"I'm One second from knocking you the hell out!"snarled an angry Lt. Tragg...

"You feelin froggy, Jump gotdamnit!" said an angry Dabnis Coley, who rose to his feet...

"Hey..heyyyyyy, Heyyyy you guys....chill!" said Ms. Yvette, getting in between them.

"You happy now? There is Ms. Yvette... The Lieutenant was very concerned about you." said Bee Bee to Yvette with tongue in cheek....

Yvette smiled..she loved Bee Bee...Bee Bee was her Beverly...

"Dabnis...It's okay baby...go over there and sit down...She said Softly...

Dabnis yielded and sat down....Calming himself...He didn't like everyone seeing him lose his cool but he was not going to be disrespected by Lt. Tragg.

Sofia, Kahlil, Jade and Keith Jones all smiled at what Ms. Yvette had said to Lt. Tragg and breathed a sigh of relief that she appeared when she did.

Lt. Tragg found little humor in any of us right now.

"You were concerned about me? well that's nice to know..I'm fine!" said Yvette...

''Don't start Yvette, don't start! I'm not in the mood..." said an angry Lt. Tragg.

Dabnis sat back down...He looked at Lt. Tragg and smirked.

Yvette walked over to Sam Mother..

She whispered in his ear...

She passed him a credit card...He rang up something and gave her a receipt.

Lt. Tragg was wondering what they were whispering about.

She then walked over to the table...she whispered to her guys...

"See you guys tonight.." she said and winked..

Lt. Tragg heard what she had said.. He wondered what she meant? Where were they planning to meet? What Bar??

They all smiled and got up and filed out...

"I'm fine Lieutenant...Just so you know...Me and my guys are going to be off for the next three days ,so you won't be seeing us...but we are fine.." she said with a smile as she followed her group out...

He was livid!! He wanted to punch Dabnis Coley out... Yvette had saved his ass, he thought.

He walked over to Sam...

''What was going on between you and Yvette just now..I saw her give you a credit card and whisper."

''Damn Artie..Is she under suspicion of murder? She was paying her tab... She was short of cash last time she was in here.. She paid me today...Now you want anything else you're going to need a warrant..."said Sam Mother.

Lt. Tragg didn't believe him... Yvette Jones didn't run short of cash ever,,She was a Big Time Attorney, not some slob...He was lying, covering for her....he reasoned.

III-

Back at our building...We had finished up in the Law Library and were back in the conference room

Karen wanted a report..

"It's an uphill battle...One I would not want to take before a jury because the average layman would just get confused by the application of law..but I think we can win over a fair minded judge." said Beverly.

"As you see we have several predicates that apply here."explained Nelson...

"Chip and I have good grounds for her being compensated.."said Josie...

"Pain suffering and the ruining of her good name and reputation making her unable to pursue her happiness."said Chip..

ADA Karen Page and Olivia cracked up laughing..

"That's good...keep that."said Karen..

"Yessss. Keep that...we are going to win this thing.."said Olivia.

"My baby is very dramatic....but that's what makes him a good attorney..."said Jessica.

Jasmine felt weird hearing another woman refer to Chip as "My baby", Just awhile ago..He was sharing a bed with her, making her toes curl...but he was Jessica's baby now...She knew he probably had her speaking Spanish and French in the bed,..Her time with him had passed...

"Okay! Good Job guys.. Tomorrow we meet for strategy sessions and I pick a judge...We ordered Dinner for you guys from Sam Mothers...and you've got some surprise dinner guests." said Karen..

When they filed down to the conference room they not only found myself and Gary

"Look whose here guys." I said.

''They missed you."said Gary.

But Yvette Jones and her crew....

''HEYYY YOU GUYS!" said Olivia ,pleased to see them..She hugged Yvette...

''Lt. Tragg is going crazy trying to find out where you guys are and what you're doing ."said Yvette.

"Oh My God...We've been using the law library in Jasmine's firm upstairs for research.If he did come here, he couldn't find us...We were five floors up!"said Karen.

"Trying to horn in on our action?" asked Beverly, hugging Bee Bee and Sofia.

She loved them....She thought of them as her little sisters..

"Hey Guys.."said Nelson..

''We didn't get our meals here when we worked the task force.I'm pissed"said Keith Jones, laughing with fake outrage!

"We ate at the spots along Penns Landing.."saod Kahlil..

"Sam just told us last week that we can order on line through UBER EATS from him.We didn't know he was set up for it." said Josie.

"Hey Guys...so Nice to see you again, Jade...."said Jessica.

''So Nice to see you again too!" said Jade, hugging Jessica. The two had formed a close friendship when they worked together before.

''Hey Baby!" said Jasmine, glad to see Dabnis..

"I'm going to be on the next task force.."said Dabnis, smiling...

We had meals from Sam Mother's Diner and Mabel Jenkins Soul Food Joint delivered to us through UBER EATS...

The Task Force and it's guests and our client

all sat down and had a meal together...

We discussed the case over dinner and laughed about Lt. Tragg and his seemingly going crazy trying to find us and find out what we were doing...

IV-

Like Every Night before.. We all retired to our new quiet spot.. We were all going to long for the music and loudness of Josie's, Aqua Bar, Stoleys and the Mermaid Crab Tavern....but for now, we were enjoying this quiet little bar across town where nobody knew us..

I was getting drinks for the girls...The bartender said to me..

"So you all are a bunch of lawyers huh? I thought so...The nice clothes and briefcases...Past three weeks you guys have been bringing me more business than I usually get in the middle of the week, Keep comin.." he said.

''We like it here..The drinks are cheap and you can chill out after a hard day in court or a board room."I said.

Something slow was on the Juke box..

Nelson and Beverly, Josie and Paris, Keith and Bee Bee, Kahlil and Sofia danced slowly...

Beverly leaned her head into Nelson's shoulder..

"I love you boo and I love working with you everyday.."she whispered..

"I love you too Bev..." whispered Nelson..

They kissed slowly and softly...

"I'm so glad to see you Paris...I missed you.."said Josie..

"I missed you too."said Paris..

Soon they were kissing....

"Ummmmmm girl...your curves have curves.."moaned Keith Jones..

Bee Bee giggled like a high school girl and leaned her head into his shoulder..

They were kissing like two high school teenagers...

''What a day today was huh?" laughed Kahlil..

"I know right? I'm so glad to be out with our friends..like this.."said Sofia. She leaned her head into his shoulder and swayed with the music..

Sofia leaned in and kissed Kahlil...

"Love you Papi." she said.

''Love you too Little Mamasita." he said..

I stared into Olivia's eyes..

"I love you." was all I said.

She smiled shyly...

"I know that.....I love you too! Thanks for showing me that everyday.." she said...

and we kissed each other...

Romance was in the air tonight..

''Heard you almost got in a fight today....Don't you be getting your self arrested to get out of marrying me." laughed Jasmine who was slow dancing with Dabnis..

"Never that...I'd marry you tonight..if you'd let me.."said Dabnis, hugging Jasmine and squeezing her tight...

''Awwwwww I love you..." she said ,nearly in tears and kissed him passionately...

"Thank you , for giving me this opportunity to meet and work with some really great attorneys and learn more...I really appreciate and love you Jessie.."said Chip ,who was dancing slowly with Jessica.

"I love you too boo...You know a lot...But everybody can use help...Never be afraid to ask for it.."said Jessica, who leaned her head into his shoulder..

Soon they were kissing deeply...

And in the booth our client was asking..

''So Why? Why is this cop so interested in us, where we are...what we are doing?" asked Tiffany..

"He's not interested in us...He's interested in her.."said Gary,pointing to Karen...

"He's been trying to get me in bed since he met me... I was trying a case...He had his hands all up my skirt, rubbing my legs... He knows I have a boyfriend and he still asks me to go to a motel with him,To come home with him, if he can come up to my condo...And everywhere I go...There he is..I tell you this past week has been so peaceful, working with you guys and hanging out in this bar..without him showing up and watching us..You guys just don't know...I can't wait until Thursday, when my boyfriend comes home from Los Angelas."said Karen..

"You're just going to have to give him some Karen...Settle him down.."said Yvette.

"Yeah, that will do it. That'll settle him down....Then she'll never be able to get rid of him.." laughed Olivia,,,,,

"Or you could file sexual harrassment charges against him or get a restraining order.." I said in all seriousness..

"Or mail him a pair of your panties spiked with some magic herbs from the orient...I guarantee you he'd stay away then."said Jade Lee ..

We all burst into laughter then...

"You guys are a riot! I like you guys.."said Tiffany Brown..

The Bartender smiled.. People dancing slow to the juke box...A near packed house..Buying drinks..He was as happy as a clam...