VENTURES: Black Out

MONDAY MORNING!

I can tell you, Most Monday Mornings Don't start like this...

I am Donnie Ray Alexander, Once upon a time I was a Homicide Detective, who moonlighted as a Trumpet Player..I lived in New Orleans...I met a lonely Attorney from Philadelphia named Olivia Bennett, who was on vacation...who was in town for Esssence Fest..I was playing in a club nearby...
We had a one night stand that turned into several long distance phone calls and a life altering decison..

I fell in love with her...I retired from the NOPD, Got my P.I.'s license and moved to Philadelphia, where I found her..She was starting her own law practice with her young niece, also an Attorney...I moved in with them, became their investigator and here I am..

within a year, this Attorney, Olivia Bennett and I got married.. Today her law practice has her niece and her husband, also an attorney and Josie Boyd, her office manager, when I first arrived , who has since become an attorney and her niece's mother, Olivia's brother's former girlfriend...now our new Office manager as employees..They've taken on several big cases and made lots of money and gained National fame...

Today this Attorney and I were in the kitchen ,kissing..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh my god Donnie Ray....we've got to stop before we wind up back upstairs in our room and I can't...I have work to do this morning.." she said as we continued to kiss and kiss more passionately...I kept trying to go up under her dress and slip her panties down and she kept laughing and removing my hands..

"Not in here...The kids will be back any minute now...Horny mannnn." she laughed...

As we continued kissing.

That work was nothing compared to what was coming...One of our most bizzare cases to date.

Her niece, Beverly, her husband, Nelson and Josie were just coming in...They had just finished up some work in court....

"Woww glad that's over huh?" laughed Beverly..

"Yeah, you know it...You got a good education today ,didn't you Josie?" said Nelson..

''Sure Did..Ouuuu look, ummm smell...Hot doughnuts.." she said..

They were met with a plate of hot doughnuts and coffee, left for them by Beverly's mother, our office manager, Alfreda Johnson..

"Heyyy guys...dig in..."said Alfreda..

"Where's "Mom and Dad" , Beverly's comical nickname for me and Olivia...

"In the kitchen, sucking face..."joked Alfreda..

"Here we are....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu doughnuts.." said Olivia finally emerging..

"And they're hot too....."I said, sitting down and trying to calm myself down...

We all laughed and talked for a few minutes until the doorbell rang..

It was Attorney Arthur Trout, An Attorney and our friend, who the girls had gone up against many times over the years...They enjoyed a friendly rivalry...He wasn't alone.. he had a very pretty Black woman with him....she was pretty, big boned they used to say,like a lot of women I knew back in New Orleans..

"Liv...Liv...we need your help desperately...."he said ,sounding frantic..

The woman burped., rather loudly...

"Baby, are the bars even open this early? You smell like a distillery.." said Alfreda, wincing..

"I'm drunk.." said the woman...

"Of that there is no argument.." said Alfreda..

''What is the problem? You didn't bring her here because she's uh drunk? "asked Olivia..

" I THINK I MIGHT HAVE KILLED SOMEBODY....I'M NOT SURE....I HAVE THESE BLACK OUTS!" she said.

"Whatttttttttttttttttttttt!?" said Beverly..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh crap!" said Nelson..

I felt the same way, but for a different reason...I was certain I could have coaxed Olivia back upstairs and into bed and now, now we had a case!

II-

"Liv she came to me because I'm the only Attorney she knows...I've uh represented members of her family over the years...but if the story she tells is true..then she needs a criminal defense attorney..You guys are the best I know."said Arthur Trout."

"Well Okay...first...let's get you some coffee...." said Olivia..

Beverly poured her some coffee...

"Here, this will make you feel better." she said.

"Sit down over here and tell us what you think you did or saw."said Nelson.

"Maybe you dreamed this or imagined this..." I said.

"Yeah." said Josie.

"Nawww...When I woke up, he was dead on the floor and this gun was in my hand !" said the woman ,who produced a bloody .40 caliber pistol...

and laid it on the table..

"Oh My Goddd!" said Olivia..

"You shouldn't have handled that...Lay that on the table!!!" I said.. "Somebody get me a zip lock bag." I said immediately..

Josie got a ziplock bag and passed it to me..

Nelson got a pencil and used it to lift the gun off the table and deposit it into the ziplock bag, so that none of our fingerprints were on the gun..

"Ah didn't even know the man....He was a white man...Bill or somethin was his name..He flirted with me from time to time and tried to pick me up....Asking me if I'd go to his hotel room with him..I never did..Anyway...He was talking to another man...They had a loud argument...The man left...That's all I remember...I was drunk then... I passed out...and when I woke up...I was on the floor in this man's bedroom, he was lying beside me on the floor, with a nice sized hole in his head...and I had this gun in my hand that I'd never seen before and I was drunk and scared..I got the hell out of there."said the woman..

"Did you call the police? How did you wind up in this man's room?" asked Beverly..

"No, I didn't call the police..I got the hell up out of there..I don't know how I wound up in his room..He'd been trying to get me up there for the longest, but I wouldn't go....We certainly didn't sleep together...At least I don't think so...I blacked out..I get like that when I drink."said the woman..

"So you don't know if you shot anybody or not..You don't even remember going to this man's room and that's not your gun>"said Olivia.

"I don't own a gun...and No...I would never go to that man's room, He wasn't my type..I wasn't the least bit interested in him in that way...I don't think I killed him...but..I was drunk...I don't know how I got in that man's room and I was on the floor next to his dead body with this gun in his hand.."said the woman..

"First of all, what is your name?" asked Olivia...

"It's Ruby...Ruby Cottrell...I got out of there and I ran as fast as I could...I called Arthur...Because he's the only Attorney I know...He told me he'd pick me up ...He did and I told him what I just told you..And he brought me here..He said you guys were the best Defense Attorneys he knew."said Ruby.

"Liv, I'll pay her legal fees...She's in trouble.."said Arthur Trout.

"Anybody see you with this man? Anybody see you leaving?"I asked.

"First of all, where were you?" asked Beverly..

"People seen us at the bar.. We was at Cappy's...I'm uh er ruh a regular there...Tee Hee Hee."laughed Ruby..

Beverly smiled, she was familliar with the establishment..

"I know where that place is...Nelson, you took me there when we were dating..We spent the night, remember?" said Beverly..

"The Bar is on the rooftop." she said.

"Oh yeahhhh, we had a great weekend there.."laughed Nelson slyly..

"That's the place."said Ruby, finally relaxing and smiling.

Olivia smiled..

So did Alfreda.

III-

Olivia was silent for a moment, then she spoke...

"Okay...first of all..Beverly, You and Josie take her to her apartment..Get her washed and cleaned up, Take off all of those clothes and put them in a plastic bag, everything, Dress, Bra, Panties, Shoes even, That could be considered evidence..Get her cleaned up and get a change of clothes for her and bring her back here...Pack an overnight bag for her too!"said Olivia.

"Come on Josie." said Beverly..

"We'll take my car" said Josie.

"Oh Thank you sooo much.." said Ruby as she prepared to leave with them..

Alfreda smiled...

"Livy, I love the way your mind works." she said. "Can I get you some coffee Mr. Trout?" she asked..

"Yes...Thank you.." he said..

"What's our next move?" asked Nelson...

'Well we need to know about her? Who is she? What does she do? And what happened? She may not even be a suspect?" I said.

"Donnie Ray is right? Who is this woman Arthur?" asked Olivia.

"When I first graduated from Law School, Ruby's Father and Mother allowed me to rent a commercial property that they owned...They lived above it..That was my first law office...Their daughter, Ruby had just finished two years at Community College..She had an Associates Degree in Accounting....Secretary and Book keeper..She had a very good head on her shoulders..She worked for me for three years...Then I moved onward and upward...

I took a job at the law firm I'm at now...I wasn't as successful with my practice as you ladies are...I took that job and I took Ruby with me..She worked at my firm as an Administrative Assistant..I put ruby through college..Two more years at Temple and she finished with a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting.. Soon she moved on...

She was doing good for awhile and then she got married...Her first husband was a dog, ...He would hump a mannequin in a department store...." said Arthur Trout.

Olivia and Alfreda cracked up laughing....

"She had three Miscarriages...brought on by his constant cheating and stress...I handled her divorce..Her Father died shortly after that and I handled the will...Ruby's second husband was killed in a car accident six months after they got married..

Ruby changed after that...She got let go by her firm...She took little jobs here and there and did freelance work and began drinking and hanging out...She hasn't been the same since then...I think she's clinically depressed..I'd really like to get her some help and get her in rehab...She drinks so much that she blacks out for days and can't remember how she got someplace or what she said and what she did...but take it from me..She's no killer... Somebody set her up."said Arthur Trout.

"Did you know this man she was talking about? This "Bill" person?" I asked..

"No...I didn't know any of her friends...The last time I saw Ruby was last year at Christmas...In town..She was so drunk, I couldn't understand a word she was saying and she smelled like a saloon."said Arthur Trout..

"Kind of Like today huh?" said Alfreda..

I smiled..

So did Nelson..

Olivia thought about how her life mirrored Ruby's....But for the grace of god go she...She too was married to a womanizer, who's non-stop skirt chasing had caused her to miscarry twice and how she too might have drifted into a drunken haze had she not had the single vision to start her own very successful law practice..

ONE HOUR LATER-

Beverly and Josie returned with Ruby...She had taken a shower and changed her clothing.. and had put everything she had been wearing the night before in a plastic bag.

''We are back Auntie...We did everything you asked.."said Beverly.

"She's a new woman." said Josie.

Indeed she was...All cleaned up and with new clothes on...plus sober, Ruby was indeed a diffrent woman.

"Thank you sooo much Ms. Olivia for your help.." she said.. She had packed an overnight bag.

"I want you to check into a hotel, use your real name and lay low...We'll see what develops in the next few days...I'll give you my phone number...and I'll need yours...We'll keep in touch..."said Olivia..

"Thank you all so much, for everything." said Ruby..

"We are going to keep your clothes and this gun here for now...but if you get arrested and or charged..We are duty bound to turn it in, because it's evidence...but don't worry, it doesn't prove guilt or innocence right now..."said Olivia..

"She's right...she can't conceal anything they would deem evidence, but like she said this doesn't prove anything one way or the other... I'll drive you to wherever you need to go Ruby...Thanks again,Liv, Beverly, everybody."said Arthur Tragg as they got in his car and pulled off.

IV-

End of another day....and Olivia and I retired to our domicile upstairs..

"Just when you think things are getting quiet...A new case comes up.."laughed Olivia..

"Yeah...I'll check and see just what happened tomorrow, but right now...I want to check you out.."I said.

We began kissing passionately again....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I know you waited all day for this.." she whispered..

"All dayy long.." I said..

I slowly unzippered her dress and took it off...I ran my hands up and down her pretty legs and deep into her panties...She unzippered my trousers and I stepped out of them...she slowly unbuttoned my shirt and slipped it off..while smothering me in soft kisses...

She took me by the hand and walked me into our bedroom...

I slowly entered her...We once again didn't bother to pull the sheets back...We just began making love on top of the bed..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu hussssssssssssssband....Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." she moaned softly...\

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" I found myself saying..

Olivia was so soft, so wet....I was out of mind with desire as I finally got to do what I been dreaming about all day, make sweet love to her...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!..UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" I moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed in response...

I loved this bed...It didn't squeak or make any noise...The headboard rattlled, but not much....

EIGHT TO NINE HOURS flowed by easily without either of us being aware...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Donnie Ray, ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
ohhhhh my goodnesss..." Olivia exclaimed as we continued making sweet love ,not knowing what was transpiring at this very minute near the interstate..

"She just left here Lieutenant...I think she's over in the Straight Up Motel.." said the Bartender

''Let's go boys...We'll knock on every door until we nab her."said Lt. Tragg.

once again leading a tactical squad..

"HEY GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HERE!"

"CLOSE THE DOOR...I'M UNDRESSIN.."

"WHAT ARE YOU SOME KIND OF NUT?"

"GET AWAY FROM THIS DOOR"

came the shouts from the patrons, but eventually Lt. Tragg found his man or in this case, woman.