VENTURES: Nobody's Home

THURSDAY-

Today was the first day of our big Task Force....We met at Karen and Jasmine's building as we were instructed...

We entered the humongus conference room...

"My God"I said.."We could fit three of our conference rooms in here..

''I told you it was huge and intimidating...This is where I did my litigation in the class action suit last month.."said Josie..

''You didn't exaggerate...Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" said Olivia.

"WOWWWWW, This is huge.." said Beverly...

"I'll say." said Nelson...

"Hey Guys...welcome to my building...My law firm is a few floors up, but we utilize this conference room when needed."said Jasmine..

''Heyyyyy sorry we are late."said Jessica Sanchez..

,who had Chip Burrows in tow..

"Hey Everybody.." he said..

''You're not late... Your Breakfast orders from Sam Mothers is in." said Karen..

There was Pancakes

Waffles and Scrambled Eggs

Omelettes to order

Sausage

Hash Brown

and hot coffee..

"I didn't know Sam Mother's delivered." I said.

"Neither did I."said Beverly..

"They apparently deliver through UBER EATS..."said Jasmine.

"We wouldn't have even been able to eat Breakfast in peace with Lt. Tragg around..This is perfect.."said Karen , who was relieved..

"Yeah....I just feel better here in a closed door meeting"said Olivia.

"Away from all prying ears.."said Nelson..

"Right."said Josie..

"The food looks delicious.."said Jessica..

"Let's dig in." said Chip...

"Yes, please.."said Karen..

"Vettie is going to be soo mad when she finds out we had a catered breakfast and lunch.."laughed Olivia.

We chowed down.....

While at Sam Mothers Diner, Lt. Tragg sat, sipping coffee..

'Hey Sam Breakfast is almost over..Where is uh Olivia and Beverly and crew? When they're working a big trial they almost always stop in here.." he asked.

''What you really mean is where is Karen Page? They didn't come in today..." said Sam Mother drolly...

Lt. Tragg paid his tab...

"I'll catch em at lunch." he said.

II-

The First surprise when seeing our client was that she was white...The name Tiffany Brown made me think that we were talking about an African -American woman...

Tiffany Brown was a white woman, about my age, with Blonde Hair...A nice figure and dressed smartly...Nothig about her demeanor revealed that she had spent five years in state prison...Until you looked at her left leg...she was wearing the orange electronic ankle bracelet that monitored her movements...

Chip Burrows introduced her..

"This is Tiffany Brown..I am the Attorney that was initially representing her...What we want to do here is have her conviction thrown out completely...Our goal is the have the conviction overtirned and her record expunged..So that she does not have to register as a sex offender..We also want the State of Pennsylvania to compensate her for pain and suffering.."said Chip..

Jessica next spoke...

''When Chip told me about this case, he was planning to take her case to the State Appellate court..Which we could do...but that could be long and grueling.."said Jessica, having done this before..

"Yes, My Niece and I have had to go to four Appellate courts for one case,one time it can be grueling."said Olivia .

"It's no walk in the park.."said Beverly...

"Then I remembered the Wrongful Conviction Initiative and I called ADA Karen Page and spoke with her and she said to bring the case to her … I contacted Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West-East, Donnie Ray Alexander , Nelson East and Josie Boyd,

who I had the pleasure of working with before to assist me on this.." said Jessica Sanchez..

"Oh My...I've heard of Olivia and Beverly....I feel better about this already....Thank You Chip and Thank you Ms. Sanchez for putting this team together.. And Thank you Ms. Page for agreeing to hear my case.."said Tiffany Brown...

"I won't lie to you...None of these types of cases are easy to win...but so far...I haven't lost a case yet... 30 wrongfully convicted and now free individuals can attest to that. We work in teams....

"Olivia, Jessica and Jasmine

...You will be the lead Attorneys...You don't mind do you Chip?" asked Karen..

"I'm here to learn..."said Chip..."I have no ego about this.." he said..

''Very Good, You will be working with Beverly , Nelson and Josie...

"You'll be doing the research ,looking into predicates and application of the law here..The boring legwork that attorneys do that you don't see on television...In other words you'll be structuring the basic argument of Olivia, Jessica and Jasmine..

she said..

''We are ready to start work now."said Beverly...

"Let's break into Teams..Me and Beverly, Josie and Chip/.." said Nelson.

"That'll work." said Josie, who thought Chip was cute.. She felt good that nobody was babying her , nobody thought she wasn't up to the task at hand..

"Excellent." said Chip.

"I'll take you guys upstairs to our law library... You can have full usage of it." said Jasmine..

"Jazzy I love those earings." said Beverly...

''Girl, you me and Kayla should hook up this weekend...I'll show you where I got em."said Jasmine.
as the five of them exited for the elevators..

''Donnie Ray...I borrowed Gary Lockwood from Rockland...He'll be here tomorrow..I've got a list of people you guys need to interview." said Karen.

"I'll be ready.." I said..

'When I heard about how you were treated and the Judge, H.Stanley Stanlison who sentenced you, I just got angry....I beat him in court when he was an ADA and had him censored as a Judge, which is why he is no longer on the bench.."said Olivia.

''You guys are the kind of fighters I was looking for."said Tiffany...."I just want my life back.." she said.

"Yours is one of the worst cases of rush to judgement justice I've ever heard of...The ADA made the entire case on hearsay...Who was the ADA by the way?" asked Jessica.

''A guy named Tad Thornton...He's a judge now."said Tiffany..

"I know him...He and I were Public Defenders once, then he became an ADA, Then we wound up working for the same law firm, then he left and became an ADA again...Now he's a judge..He wanted to date me once.. and after I turned him down..He tried to date my niece.."said Olivia.

"Oh My God..Like he didn't think you two were going to talk? God..."said Tiffany..

Karen shook her head..

''We tried a case in his courtroom recently...We won the case..He seemed to be okay...he may have mellowed." I said.

"He's still a snake." as far as I'm concerned."said Tiffany..

''Believe me I certainly understand how you feel, you got a raw deal." I said.

"You've lost a lot...We can't get you those five years back..but we are going to clear your name and we are going to get you some money...We can do that much.."said Olivia..

"That's the least we can do." said Jessica, who was as outraged as Olivia.

"I've got a damn good legal team.."said Tiffany...

"You guys get me something I can work with and I'll get a good Judge to hear this case and get you justice." said Karen.

III-

Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Chip followed Jasmine to the law library used by her firm...

''WOW, this nearly rivals the law library in town.."said Beverly..

''Bev remember when we used to study for a case in that one?" asked Nelson.

"Yeah and you always tried to kiss me at the end of the night.."laughed Beverly..

"Awwwww you two were sooo cute with your on and off selves...I'm happy you two got married." said Jasmine.

''You're about to get married soon too Chip!" said Josie..

"Yeah in about two months...You all will be getting invitations.."said Chip..

"I'm Happy for you...You deserve to be Happy."said Jasmine.

"I'm Happy for you too...When am I going to meet Mr. Coley?" said Chip..

"You can met him tonight..we are all going to a nice quiet spot after work.."said Jasmine..
"Bev..You,Livy, Donnie Ray,Nelson and Josie..should come..Josie, call your fella invite him."said Jasmine..

"Okay....We aren't doing anything special are we honey bunny?" asked Beverly.

"Nah...and I'm sure Olivia and Donnie Ray will be down." said Nelson.

"I'll text Paris right now."said Josie.

The five of them worked hard into the after noon... Much harder than Karen, Olivia, Jessica and I and our client..

All we were doing was talking for now...

Lunch Arrived..

Salads

Hoagies

Cheese Steaks and

Cokes..

"I'm ready to Chow Down.."said Beverly...

"Me too! I love this..We didn't have to leave." said Josie..

"Nice" said Josie.

"Yess.." said Chip...

"We take care of our guests" said Jasmine..

''Yes You do."said Olivia..

"Nicccceeee."said Jessica.

"Pass me a coke." I said.

"You're welcome to our food there is certainly enough."said Karen..

"Oh Thank you."said Tiffany.

Meanwhile at Sam Mother's Diner..

Lt. Tragg saw Yvette and Gary eating lunch..

"Liv texted me...She wants to meet for drinks tonight, at another Bar..You coming?" asked Yvette..

''Sure...I'll be working with them starting tomorrow...They're on the Wrongful Conviction Task Force this week..So I'll be working for Karen and working on the investigation with Donnie Ray." said Gary, who made sure to whisper..He knew Lt. Tragg was trying to hear their conversation..

"Uh Have you seen Karen today?" he asked.

"I have not...I've been in my office all day...haven't been in court.."said Yvette.

"Where are your kiddies?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"Two of them were in court...Keith and Sofia, I believe...

and the other two had litigations...That would be Bee Bee and Kahlil

They'll probably be heading home soon..

I'll be sure to tell them you asked about them."said Yvette sarcastically ..She knew he could care less about her young charges

and Jade..who had a day off today.

"Heard you'll be working for Karen this week." said Lt. Tragg..

"Tomorrow ! Today was my last day in court with Rockland...With that case over..

..I go to work for Karen tomorrow."said Gary.

"That's some building she's working in...I was there last week...Maybe I'll pay her a visit."said Lt. Tragg.

Yvette paid her and Gary's tab...

The two of them got up and quietly left...

Lt. Tragg watched them as they walked away, holding hands..

''She's got him sooo whipped.." he thought to himself..

IV-

End of the day...Lt. Tragg drove past Olivia and Beverly's Office/Duplex..

Alfreda put the alarms on and locked up...

ADA Rockland Cambridge drove up...

They kissed deeply, passionately for a long while..,Then she got in his car and drove off..

There was no sign that the ''Fab Five"were there...The place looked empty.

He headed to his favorite watering hole, Curly's….

He looked around...No sign of Karen... he knew her...After a hard day of work , she was in Curly's for a drink...He hoped she was alone tonight..

''She aint here Artie... I know you're just tickled pink that B.L. is in California.."said Curly.

"WHAT? CALIFORNIA?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"Yeah...He left yesterday...He'll be back next Thursday." said Curly...

"Ohhhh Really? She'll be in here..They all probably will.." said Lt. Tragg, who waited.

Meanwhile we all were halfway across town in another bar..A small quiet spot that we had discovered a few months ago during another case..

"You know, first time I came here with Olivia and Beverly....I didn't think much of this place..but now, I like it." said Dabnis who sat with his arm around Jasmine..

''I like this place too...It's quiet..A nice place to just talk."said Jasmine.

"I think this is the most people in this bar ever on a Thursday night."said Jessica, who sat across from them with Chip..

"On ANY night of the week..This is a great spot for couples.."said Chip, who had his arm around Jessica's waist..

Across from them,

Olivia and I sat across from them in a booth with

Beverly and Nelson and

Josie and Paris..

Karen sat in another booth with Yvette and Gary..

"I hate that B.L. is out of town...Lt. Tragg is going to build a bee line to me.. I am sooo glad I work where I do...Tomorrow I'm going to be in the law library with Beverly, Nelson , Josie , Jasmine and Chip in her firm, He can't come in her office..He doesn't even know where her office is..It's a few floors up.."said Karen..

"Girl if you don't give that man some, he's going to lose his mind.."laughed Yvette..

"Donnie Ray and I are going to be on the street." so we won't be there...It'll just be Liv , Jessica and the client." said Gary..."They can lock that conference room so he can't get in...He'll just be wasting his time."said Gary..

Our drinks came..

Beers for the guys

and liquors for the gals..

We could drink in peace without somebody watching us , waiting to see if we got into our cars drunk.

At Curly's....It was 2:00 am..

"Closing time Artie." said Curly..

"He couldn't believe it...No sign of anyone....He had stepped out and cruised to Josie's, Aqua Bar,Stoleys and The Mermaid Crabhouse..No sign of anybody tonight..He had no idea where anyone was...