A Family Matter

 We sat around our table in Sam Mother's Diner enjoying a peaceful breakfast....

Our intern , Bree, who we were now representing ,while I tried to find out just what happened to her aunt, a Flashy Activist Black Attorney, who was also an Assistant District Attorney

whose body was found floating in the river in 2005 and whose murder was never solved , sat intently as  Olivia began to explain her family history with Captain Jack Tragg, 

the Captain in command at the time of her sister's death, who  inexplicitedly pulled the two detectives who were investigating the case, including his younger brother, 

Lt. Arthur Tragg Sr. off of the case and essentially closed it..

"You have to understand..Jack Tragg was this big racist bully of a cop who terrorized the Black Community, as a beat cop and as a Detective and especially when he made the rank of Captain..

"But he made the mistake of crossing paths with my father one night...A very big mistake.."said Olivia.

"Liv told us this story...Bree, Josie, you're going to enjoy this.."said Nelson..

''Yes..this is a good story." I said..Looking around to make sure, the current Tragg, Lt. Arthur Tragg Jr. was nowhere in sight.

"Ouuuu tell me, tell me." said Bree..

''Yes...I must hear this.." said Josie..

Olivia smiled and began to tell her story..

II-

It all began years ago....

 Captain John "Jack" Tragg

and his younger brother, Lieutenant Arthur Tragg Sr. were tough cops, brutal cops.... They cracked cases, they cracked ribs and jaws too...

Both men had so many brutality complaints filed against them when they were uniformed Beat Cops that it was suggested that Detective Work would be better for them..

But they weren't much better as Detectives...Most detectives question people, rely on forensic and scientific evidence to solve crimes...and sometimes informants..

These two would forgo all of that anytime they thought a good beating would do...

 Captain Jack was the biggest asshole..

Believe it or not Lt. Tragg's father, Arthur Sr was a little more level headed, but he too never hesitated to put a beat down on a suspect when all else failed..

Their father had also been a Detective.....So it was a generational thing.

One night my father witnessed a pretty brutal beating of a man suspected of selling drugs...The man had been beaten close to death....but he gave up the names of his crew..

Doc Gibbons was not the Chief Medical Examiner then...He was the head of the EMT Units..

"Jack, you gotta cut this shit out...You damn near killed this boy....and this is the third one this week.."he said..

"Hell , He shoulda co-operated...Then I wouldn't have beat him as bad." laughed Jack Tragg..

Several other cops laughed..

My Father was in the crowd..

"Yeah you beat the wrong one...One of these days ,You gonna hit somebody and they gonna kick your ass." he said.

Captain Tragg walked over to my dad..

"You got somethin you wanna share with the crowd boy?"

''I don't see no boys around here..I said what I had to say...One of these days , That badge and that gun aint gonna save you..You just aint hit the right one yet...You beat up on people that are smaller than you and afraid of you....One day you gonna meet somebody that aint afraid of you and that will hit you back...What you gonna do then?" said my father..

"WHY I'LL KNOCK YOU THE HELL OUT!!" snarled Jack Tragg..

"Come on..Come on Jack...One beating tonight is enough...let's go..The man is obviously drunk.."said Arthur Tragg Sr.

"You better watch your mouth sonny boy.."said Jack Tragg...

A week or so later we were all at the diner...Well not my brother Jimmy, he had a game...

My Dad and my mom were there 

 With me..I was 23...I was a second year Law student..

And Beverly was 14...

My dad was parking the car when Jack Tragg walked in...He was drunk as usual...

He walked over to me...

"Heyy Sugar don't I know you?" he said.

 I didn't say a word..

''Silent Treatment Eh?"  He said..I still didn't utter a word..

Beverly didn't either..

"That's my daughter Olivia...She's in law school, her second year and that's my grandbaby..Beverly..She just finished the 8th grade."said My Mom intervening.. She didn't like the way he was leering at both of us..

"Cute girls...She's in the 8th grade? " he said leering at Beverly.

"Boy she's developed for an 8th grader... " he said looking at Beverly's breasts and hips a little too long and making her feel very self conscious and uncomfortable.

"This her daughter?" he asked looking at me very leeringly...

"No...Nooo...I have a son...He's much older...This is  his daughter...My daughter is 23...My Grandbaby is only 14..Just nine years between them.." said my mom..

"You people have been known to have babies real young... I'm just sayin...I got a nephew...My brother's son...He's a little older than your daughter...He's in the Police Academy..." said Jack..

Everything was cool until my dad walked in.. and we all sat down..

Jack walked over to our table..Much like his nephew does today..

"Mister Big Mouth...This is your wife? Your Daughter?? and your grand-daughter?/" he asked.

Looking at the three of us..

"Glad they get their looks from your wife and not from you boy." he said.

"I don't see no boys in here ! Get away from my table...I'm not going to ask you again.." said my dad..

''What are you going to do if I don't?" said Jack..

Everybody started backing up..

''Alvin please...We don't want no trouble.." said my mother.. But My Father never took his eyes off of Jack Tragg..

"You're a tough guy with that gun and that badge...I bet without it you're a straight chicken shit..You strike me as someone who was a punk until he got a gun and a badge.."said My father..

"I'm off duty..." snarled Jack Tragg… He foolishly took his gun 

and laid it on the table.. Then he took his Gold Sheild

 and laid that on the table...

"Wanna Step Outside..? If you're smart you sit down and shut up and have your meal with your wifey and that cute daughter of yours..." he said.

''Right so you can arrest me for assault of a police officer." said my father..

"I give you my word , you won't be arrested...You'll be in the hospital, but you won't be arrested...Sure you want to do this in front of your wife, your daughter and your grandbaby?..." he snarled.

''Step Outside." said my dad..

"Oh Captain Jack was sorry he did that.."said Beverly..

"Oh My God yess…"said Olivia, who continued the story...

Jack swung two haymakers...both of them missed by a mile..

My father hit him with about 16 lefts and 16 rights to his face...and then followed up with an uppercut that sent Jack Tragg flying into a row of stacked trash cans...They all fell on him...

He was bloody and hurt, but he was a tough old bird..He crawled from under all that and charged my father, who side stepped him and tore his mid-section up with more lefts and rights...

He got a few lefts and rights in on my dad...but my dad sidestepped him and delivered another upper cut that sent him flying into the side of his car and down into the street..He picked up some dirt and threw it into my fathers face and charged him..pummeling him with lefts and rights..but my dad delivered about 16 or 17 more lefts and rights to his face ,which sent him spinning like a top..

He couldn't believe he was being beat like a drum by this little man...Neither could the crowd who had stepped outside to watch...

Captain Jack  tried to throw another haymaker and missed and slammed his fist into the light pole...This broke  three fingers on his left hand...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GOOOD LAWWD!" he yelled in excrutiating pain!!

My father hit him one last time and old Jack Tragg collapsed like a sack of potatoes..

The crowd clapped and whistled...

Old Jack had finally had his ass handed to him...

My father didn't have a scratch on him....

One man paid for all of our meals... I can't tell you how many people shook my father's hand...

Jack Tragg had a broken hand...A broken Nose...A Fractured jaw...Both of his eyes were swollen shut..and his ribs were bruised...He was lying on the ground struggling to catch his breath and bleeding profusely...

He lie there in pain, listening to people clap and cheer that he had gotten beaten up...The embarrassment and pain broke his heart because he cried like a baby....

What Jack didn't know was that my father had been a  pretty good middleweight boxer..He had fought when he was in the Army and briefly as a professional..He could handle himself.. Which was why he wasn't the least bit afraid or intimidated by either Tragg brother..

An ambulance came to get him....

Someone had stolen his service revolver in all of this...

My Father walked over to him....Passed him his sheild

.

''See my little girl over there..

Her name is Olivia...Remember her name...She's going to be a Lawyer one day and dirty cops like you are going to pay for what you do to the people around here.. and my grandbaby,

Beverly....She gone be somethin too....Remember their names." he said.

"WOWWWWWW! Pops was Gangster!" said Bree...

"Sho Nuff!" said Josie.

"That's what I said.." said Nelson.

"Old Captain Jack got reprimanded for losing his revolver and getting into a street fight..He was in the hospital for about six months...When he got out things were different...Everybody knew that he'd been beaten up by my father and that somebody had stolen his gun...The fear of him was gone..He was more like the laughing stock of the streets.. His pride and his ego couldn't take it...And he retired at the end of the year..."said Olivia.

"Within a year and a half...he was dead...A massive stroke took him down...Nobody in the Black community mourned...In fact there were several parties at the local bars in the areas he patrolled..Nobody liked him..."said Beverly..

"From what I've since learned about this guy, Jack Tragg, he was a brutal and corrupt cop... He's the type of cop I hated when I was a cop...I put a few of them in jail before I left the police force and became a Private Investigator. We just had a case a while ago where we found out that Jack Tragg beat a confession out of a suspect, who was convicted of murder and executed...We cleared the dead man's name..but there is obviously nothing we could do to Jack Tragg... Now we find out that the police officers and the detectives who were being investigated and prosecuted by your aunt were from his precinct.." I said..

"You're not saying he murdered my aunt are you?" asked Bresha.

"I'm not saying that...but he'd have every reason to want her investigation stopped...And I wouldn't put it past him that he'd cover up her murder if he knew or had an inkling of who might have been behind it." I said.

III-

''Wow, no wonder you guys come to court so prepared...You do excellent legal research and Donnie Ray does excellent investigation...wowwwwww..In two days I'll bet he found out as much if not more than the original detectives on my aunt's case." said Bresha.

"Donnie Ray is like our secret weapon..."laughed Beverly...

"Don't Gas his head up..."laughed Olivia.

"We could have used him when we were Public Defenders." said Nelson..

"So what's your next step Donnie Ray?" asked Josie.

"I've got to find and talk to those two homicide detectives who originally investigated the case..The two officers who were being investigated are now dead....but the Detective, who was the focus of the investigation is still alive and still on the force I've heard." I said.

"Uh Oh...Trouble just walked in.." said Olivia..

Lt. Tragg walked in with U.S. Attorney ,Julie Baisden...Rumor had it that they were seeing each other.. It was actually more than a rumor.

She remembered Olivia from the short time they worked together at BACH & ROACH,

She waved....

"Hi Olivia..." she said..

"Hiiii Julie..." said Olivia.

"She's dating him?  That's just proof that every dog has his day!" laughed Beverly...

Nelson whispered in her ear...

"WOOF!"

''Yes, even you my dear horn dog!"she whispered back....

and she rewarded him with a slow, soft kiss......

"If he's with her...He's not bothering us...And maybe, just maybe I can get this investigation finished with no interference from him." I said.

"Hope Springs Eternal." laughed Josie..

"I love you guys..."laughed Bree.

We paid our bill and left....

Later that afternoon, I took Beverly with me to Curley's Bar...For a cop bar, it was the classiest joint I'd ever been in...Cop bars in New Orleans tended to be dumps.....

I was meeting with the two Homicide detectives who were originally on the Juanita Townsend Case...

Bert Reed and Henry Malloy...

"Hi guys, thanks for agreeing to meet with me...I'm Donnie Ray Alexander, I'm a former Homicide Detective myself, New Orleans Homicide...I live here in Philadelphia now with my wife...

She's an Attorney, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and this is her niece, Mrs. Beverly West-East, who is also an Attorney." I explained.

"Donnie Ray, I think they know who we are." whispered Beverly...

"Nice Intro...but we knew who you were the minute we saw her...That's Niecey of Auntie and Niecey, uh no offense, that's uh what we refer to uh Olivia and Beverly as...Only in the most flattering of ways.."said Bert Reed..

Beverly smiled snidely..

"But of course." she said.

"I understand you two guys caught the Juanita Townsend case in 05..." I said.

''Wow...What's the matter, Olivia is bored?, Didn't you guys just get that school teacher off?  Now You're digging up this old case...?" said Malloy,laughing..

"We are representing her niece."said Beverly.. "She wants to know what happened to her aunt." she continued..

"Wellllll, we found her floating in the River....Early in the morning of August 5, 2005...We thought it was a jumper at first, or an accidental drowning...Then we found multiple skull fractures... She had been beaten on the head with a blunt object,like a pipe or something...So we knew it was a homicide..

When we saw who it was...Were were certain it was a homicide.."said Reed,

"We found her car about a block away, door open, keys in the ignition...and her pocketbook about a block away...Drivers License , lipstick, about $250.00 cash , credit cards, debit cards and an unopened condom....So robbery wasn't the motive..." said Malloy.

"There was a palm print and a latent fingerprint on the car...and a latent fingerprint , not hers on the condom." I said.

Reed and Malloy smiled, they looked at each other...They realized that everything they told me, I already knew...

"You're good....but you said you used to be on the job...We sent that Palm Print and both latent fingerprints to the lab...We never heard back from them..."said Reed.

"We knew she lived with a girlfriend and a guy...That was temporary...She was looking for an apartment at the time she died..They both said that she had gotten a call around 11:05 pm from a friend, a Gladys Daye, whom she had repped a couple of times... Daye insisted on meeting with her at a local coffee shop they both frequented...She got up, got dressed and went to meet her... Daye was at the coffee shop, but Juanita Townsend never showed up...That was the last known phone call she took.."said Malloy.

"We looked into Gladys Daye...but she didn't tell us much....She died in 2009...Townsend wasn't known to have any boyfriends, and yet there was a condom in her pocketbook.. Before we got any further in the investigation, Captain Jack Tragg reassigned us both to other cases and shut the whole thing down.."said Reed.

"I always wondered about that case..She was uh not too popular with the police, She had prosecuted a couple of Bad cops, corrupt cops...and was looking at two officers and a detective, a detective from our old precinct who had supposedly set up and framed a Black Motorist. His name is Marlow, Phillip Marlowe...He's still around..Check him out..If he'll talk to you...He aint exactly the talkative type. She was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and a lot of protests...So people like Captain Tragg weren't too sympathetic and wasn't too interested in solving her murder." said Malloy..

We all drank our beers and finished our wings...We were right back we started..at a dead end.. They hadn't shed any new light on this case...They had told me what I already knew, with only a few new little details. This detective, Phillip Marlowe...I'd be interested in knowing what he had to say.

Beverly and I thanked Detectives Reed and Malloy and we paid the bill..

They thanked us and the four of us left together...

Lt. Tragg was coming in as we were leaving...He saw the four of us... He was curious as to why Beverly and I were talking to two old Homicide Detectives...

But he was with AUSA Julie Baisden and he wasn't about to stop any of us and ask us...But I knew he'd be asking soon enough.

IV-

Shortcake and I went home...

In Olivia and I's apartment...

We were having n Indian food catered meal..

"So the two detectives didn't shed any new light on what you already knew huh?" asked Olivia.

"No...except that they gave me a name...The name of the detective that was being investigated by Juanita Townsend and the D.A.'s office, Phillip Marlowe...As I said..he and two uniformed officers allegedly set up and framed a Black Motorist with drugs...He was bringing suit against the city at the time." I said.

"So what happened to these people?" asked Olivia.

"Both of the officers are now deceased......The Black Motorist , Eddie Jefferson dropped the law suit and he was not charged with any crime...He unfortunately is also dead...The only person still alive is the detective , who was part of her initial investigation...Phillip Marlowe...I understand he is still on the force...I'm going to look him up tomorrow." I said.

"Wow!  Something is fishy here...Something smells like cover up....She didn't just go out and get murdered randomly...Why did she have to go out and meet with Gladys Daye at that time of night?

Seems like what she wanted could have waited.. I wouldn't have gone out to meet anyone that time of night unless it was a matter of life and death." said Olivia..

"Maybe it was..."I said. "Breesha what happened to your Aunt's law firm after she died?  And are her records still around?" I asked.

"Her partner took over the law firm....and it's still up and running..Any records she would have had are probably still there..I can get them for you tomorrow."said Breesha.

"Good, I need to go with you tomorrow." I said.

"Okay, dig in , make yourself a plate before all this good food is gone."said Olivia.

Paris, Josie, Kayla, Ray and Bresha were making their second plates now....

"Where is uh Nelson and Shortcake?" I asked.

"They went downstairs for a minute...I uh may just make them a plate for later.." said Olivia, Smiling..

"Josie and Paris are spending the night, they can take these two plates down to them." she added.

Downstairs , I'm sure Beverly and Nelson meant to come back upstairs...

''Woof!" said Nelson...

"Meowwwwwwww!" purred Beverly as they stared into each other's eyes..

They began kissing passionately, deeply.....

Beverly could see that his trousers were standing out like a circus tent...She softly rubbed his erection and continued deep throat kissing him.... "Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Nelson...We need to take this back to the bedroom, somebody might walk in on us.."she moaned...

He lifted her up and walked her into their bedroom, closed the door and locked it..

He took her top off, she shimmied out of her skirt.. and he began to take his clothes off...

He unhooked her bra and slipped it off..

Nelson sucked on her breasts and kissed her breasts, her neck and her cheekbones and finally her lips....She moaned and leaned her head back........She was giddy with excitement....

Nelson started by kissing Beverly from her mouth down to her breasts, He began giving her french kisses,He moved his lips slowly across her breasts down to her body, He kept kissing her body as he lowered himself to her waist and hips. Beverly was wearing a short skirt and Nelson lifted it.. As he got to her panties, He placed a hand on both of her shapely legs and slowly spread them, Instead he kissed her vagina through her panties and even squeezed it slightly with his lips, "OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ,OHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDD!!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, NELSONNN!" she moaned. Beverly was near delirium.. 

Nelson ran his tongue softly over her panties... He kissed her through her panties for a few minutes He moved slightly lower, kissing along her inner thigh. He licked & kissed her inner thigh... Then he began deep throat kissing her again...She was breathing heavily and her body was shaking.. "OH MY GODDDDD NELSON....UMMMMMMM!" she cooed. "OHHHHHHHHHHH BEVERLY....OHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nelson moaned.

She slipped her panties off...

She eased herself down on him slowly and moved up and down slower and slower, driving him crazy....

She was going crazy too! She kissed him slow and softly as she moved up and down on him even slower.....

Soon they were on top of their bed, making slow, quiet tender love......

"Nelson, I love you!" whispered Beverly...

"Beverly, I love you too.." he whispered back!..

For the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS, they'd be engaged...

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS....OUUUUU YESSSSSS!" Beverly moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" moaned Nelson..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" moaned Nelson...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HUSSSSSBAND!" cooed Beverly softly.

It was good Olivia made them a plate...They could have it for lunch tomorrow, No way they were coming back upstairs tonight..

(TO BE CONTINUED)