VENTURES: In Between Today and Tomorrow

Ms. Yvette sat on her bed , looking at her laptop... She was googling our new Assistant District Attorney , Astrid Delaney, who we'd be facing in court.

Astrid Delaney

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Father, Attorney for Shell Oil, Mother, Attorney for the Philadelphia School Board

Graduated from Hallahan High School, Philadelphia PA.

B.A. -Liberal Arts/ History -Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York

J.D.- Harvard School of Law, Cambridge , Massachusetts.

Passed the Bar in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylavania, New Jersey and Deleware.

Public Defender, Boston , Massachusetts

Assistant District Attorney, Boston , Massachusetts

Married to Attorney Kyle Baxter, Divorced

Taught Criminal Law and Justice at Harvard University, Boston MA.

Assistant District Attorney- New Haven, CT.

Married to Attorney James Jordan of Philadelphia, Divorced

Co- counsel for Shell Oil, Chester Pa.

Assistant District Attorney- Philadelphia PA.

''She's got quite an impressive record doesn't she?"said Gary, who had just finished his shower and

had poured them both steaming hot cups of orange herbal tea..

Ms. Yvette had been drinking this at night ever since he days she first started dating Gary and he introduced her to it..

"Ummmmmmmmmm this always goes down good." she said as she sipped her tea...

''You know what goes down even better?" whispered Gary in her ear...His hot breath tickling her ear and making her giggle.

''Tell me, what is that?" asked Yvette with a seductive smile, running her index finger across his lip...

''Me going inside of you.." he said.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuu, really?" she said.

"Yes, really!" he said as they both engulfed each other in slow, warm, kisses....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm you just might be right..." she cooed..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YESSSSSSS!" he moaned..

Yvette eased herself down on his penis and began to move up and down slowly..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she screamed.

She rode him cowgirl style.

"VETTIE!! VETTTIE!!" he moaned..

"UMMMMMMMM WHAT?" she asked..

"I JUST LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOO DAMN MUCH...UMMMMMMMM!" he moaned.

"I LOVE YOU TOO!"she cooed. "OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.

"Oh My GOD!! OH MY GOD! YOU ARE MY SWEET SWEET GIRRRRRRL!!" Gary moaned...

The bed was soon squeaking loudly and the headboard softly banging on the wall......They made love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS...

The Laptop with Astrid Delaney's picture and information was on the dresser drawer...The only light in the room..

As Yvette and Gary continued to make sweet ,sweet love...

Hours later,

Lt. Tragg once again stormed into our old building

and our former office..

which he once again found empty , dark and locked..

He was beyond livid.. He attempted to have arrest warrants sworn out for me, Keith Jones, my wife, Beatrice Evans Jones, Sofia Garcia-Ahmed, Her husband, Kahlil Ahmed and Yvette Jones-Lockwood as well as Lonnie Dellums..

"I hate to do this to these kids.. I've got nothin against them, They're nice mannerable kids..but they can not keep defying my orders." he said.

He was rebuffed by Judge Cummings and by the D.A.

His charges were groundless.. It was explained to him by both that Mr. Dellums attorneys did not have to turn their client, Lonnie Dellums over to him if he didn't have a charge or a warrant accusing the man of some crime , nor did they have to share any information with him that the client had told them. (Attorney /Client privilege.)

Mr. Dellums, whose trial was scheduled to begin in a day, was not compelled to answer any questions by him either.

He next tried to have Ms. Jade's P.I. license pulled which would effectively leave her unemployed.. Again, he was told he had no grounds.. She had in no way obstructed his investigation and had not even been present when he was conducting it.. She was not compelled to share any information with him regarding her case if her employer didn't wish for her to do so...

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A COP? WHY DO I STILL HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU?" said trial judge Elise Cummings.

He was livid.

Meanwhile, We were all in the safety of our new building .

having breakfast in our cafeteria explaining to our friends about the night before.

"I like Curleys, but because of him, I hate being in there...He just can't come in and go somewhere..he has to stop by your table and brow beat you to death or whine and complain.."said Jessica.

''I liked it better when he didn't know us." said Chip.

"He's a bully and his Father and his Uncle were bullies too when they were living."said Kayla.

"Yeah but Olivia and Beverly told me your uncle beat the snot out of his Uncle Jack, beat him so bad he retired. I tried to beat the snot out of him too!" said Ray.

"I heard...you'd think after having been beaten senseless at least four times, he'd mellow out."said Jazzy.

"I owe him an ass whooping." said Dabnis.

''Yeah so do I."said Tony Billips.

''He needs a woman.. Where is April Taylor anyway?" asked Ms. Yvette.

''She's in San-Francisco. My friend at the courthouse told me she asked for a leave of absence after that embarrassing mishap with that Judge." I said.

''That nasty dog. He's still practicing too.. I saw him the last time I was in court."said Bee Bee.

"I saw him too! Nasty Buzzard!" said Sofia.

"I think Lt. Tragg has the hots for our new ADA.. Did you see how triggered he got when he saw her with Todd Dellums.?" said Kahlil.

"Him and her? I can't see it... She's a decade older than him..She said he clerked for her." said Jade.

"I don't think it was romantic...There was another girl with them...I think they were just out hanging, but that miserable creep can't stand to see anybody happy."said Ms. Virginia.

II-

Lonnie had done a good job of keeping a low profile for the past few days...but even he got tired of sitting in the house....The weather was breaking and very nice.. The first few days of Spring.. He met with Angie for lunch at Sam Mother's diner.

"I understand there is a larger unit in your complex suitable for two people?" asked Lonnie.

"Yes it is....You're really serious about us moving in together aren't you?" asked Angie..

"Yes, I told you I was... I looked the other day while you were at work.... I can swing it easily...Angela, I have found that I like waking up with you in my arms....I like having dinner with you everyday..." said Lonnie.

"Well I won't have to move my things too far." she said and smiled.

We failed to warn him and her about eating in Sam Mother's Diner.

Lt. Tragg walked in and upon seeing them sitting there strutted over to their table.

"Wellllllllll what have we here.. The murderer and his lunch date." he snarled.

Their lunches arrived , Ham Salad Sandwiches, Chicken Salad Sandwiches and Ice Tea...

They both ignored him and began to eat...

" I'm sure I can round up some people to help you move your things.." said Lonnie. "Mine too!" he said.

"When do you want to do this? After the trial or before the trial?" asked Angela, also ignoring Lt. Tragg.

''Whatever you're planning with him ,you should forget it.. He's going to jail for the rest of his life." snarled Lt. Tragg.

"Excuse me ,I don't believe either one of us was talking to you and I don't want you standing over our table..GET AWAY FROM OUR TABLE!!!! This man is innocent until PROVEN GUILTY!!! We aren't going to debate his guilt or innocence in here...NOW GET AWAY FROM OUR TABLE!" said Angela.

"Are you yet another lawyer?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"GET AWAY FROM THEIR TABLE LIEUTENANT...I'LL NOT ASK YOU AGAIN!!!" said Assistant United States Attorney Todd Dellums..

"You've got nothing to do with this!!!...Nothing at all...THIS IS NOT A FEDERAL CASE!" snarled Lt. Tragg,

A Black woman he had not seen before was behind Todd Dellums......She was Vanessa Stevens, Attorney at law and soon to be an Assistant District Attorney.

ADA Astrid Delaney walked in...

"Lieutenant, what are you doing? Did you get me that evidence and information I asked for , regarding this case? We go to trial tomorrow....I haven't seen anything...." she asked.

Furious and embarrassed , Lt. Tragg stomped his foot and stormed out of the diner...

''What you guys have looks good...I'll get us a table." said Attorney Vanessa Stevens.

"Yes , I'll join you ." said Astrid...

Lonnie looked up...

"Thank You Cousin." he said.

''Don't mention it Cuz..." said Todd, smiling.. he looked at Angela and smiled..

"I understand you will be graduating from The University Of Pennsylvania School of Law in a few months...Congratulations!!!!!!... When you get ready to study for the bar, give me a call....I can show you how to take it." said Todd.

Angela was surprised....

"Thank You...Thank You sooo much!" she said...

"My Cousin thinks very highly of you...He has talked about you a lot over the years.....I think he likes you!" said Todd, winking.

and joining Astrid and Vanessa Stevens at their table.

That night after hearing what had happened.. We all decided to fill up Sam Mother's Diner in solidarity.

''We should have warned them about coming here to eat." said Ms. Yvette.

"A person ought to be able to eat in peace without being harrassed." said Gary.

"You're right....We are going to present a united front tonight." I said.

"Something has got to be done about him."said Bee Bee.

''A Class Action lawsuit would stop him." said Sofia.

"That's a good idea..Let's look into that." said Kahlil..

"I like the idea of hiring a hitman." joked Ms. Jade.

"Girrrrrrrl!"laughed Virginia, high fiving Jade.

"Let's get some dinner... We can't allow Lt. Tragg to live rent free in our heads...If he comes in, ignore him and continue your conversations as though he's not there." said Olivia.

"We always do that, don't we?" asked Donnie Ray.

''We've got to learn that we can eat here and not be harrassed."said Beverly in all seriousness.

"I have never worried about him...but I'm not going to have him standing over my table." said Nelson.

"Me neither."said Josie.

"How did he get so unhinged?.....I mean he was always an idiot, but not like this.."said Paris.

"He gets on my nerves ."said Bresha..

"I owe him an ass whooping." said Tony...

Angie was in tears...

"I can't believe all of these people came out on our behalf.." she said...

" Yes, these are some wonderful people, I feel very secure." said Lonnie, who was seated in between everybody.

"We are going to have a good meal and not worry about any trouble."said Jazzy...

"Yeah, to hell with that jackass."said Dabnis.

Kayla didn't say anything...She placed her order...She could feel the tension...She much preferred dinner in the cafeteria in her building or at cousin Olivia and Beverly's house.. She enjoyed the food at Sam's immensely, but she did not like sparring with Lt. Tragg.

Her husband, Ray was as cool as a cucumber..He had already beaten Lt. Tragg into unconsciousness and he didn't mind doing it again.

Jessica was equally cool...She ordered her food and laid back.

Her husband, Chip was equally cool..

Sam Mother was overjoyed to have us in his diner tonight....This was the largest dinner crowd he had had in a long time.. He made sure all of our orders got out to us quickly and were piping hot.

We were all enjoying our food.... We actually finished our meals without incident and were ordering dessert, when Lt. Tragg sauntered in..

He looked around.. He was amazed that we all were eating this afternoon... He walked in between us to Lonnie and Angela's table.

"Tomorrow your trial begins and your road to death row begins." he said.

"Okay, you've delivered your message , now leave ...."said Lonnie.

Before he could say anything else...

''He got the message."said Yvette.

''Please Leave." said Olivia.

"Uh I believe you have visitors" said Dabnis..

Two Philadelphia Sherrif's deputies drove up in vehicles and pointed to Lt. Tragg.

''What the hell? I came in here to eat...What is this?" he bellowed..

"You're not eating...You're within 200 feet of all of the people you aren't supposed to be around...You're harrassing... we got an anonymous call and video...Let's go Lieutenant."said the Sherrif's Deputy...

They handcuffed him...and for the fourth time , He found himself arrested....It was met by cheers and clapping as he was hauled out..

None of us called... Apparently an undercover FBI agent was sitting in the diner amongst us and had made the call with none of us knowing....

We all erupted in raucous laughter..

He was once again locked up in "The cooler"

"This was Dellums!!! This is his doing... He's got undercover FBI agents following my every move...Damn him...I'm going to get him......Where is Bert Vandenberg? He can't possibly still be in New Orleans." he said as he paced back and forth until he got sleepy and lied down.

Lt. Danny Ho walked in with a number of detectives..

"What did I miss?" he said, laughing..

"Lt. Tragg got arrested by the Sherrif's Deputies for violating C& D." said Jade.

''Again? that's four times this week."said Detective Jimmy Barlow.. "He's been in the tank more than any of the perps we've arrested." he said.

'I was going to get in his ass about the way he talks to you."said Detective Duke Baylor to his wife ,Hazel.

"Well at least we saw him in handcuffs."laughed Dr. Hazel Baylor. "Wait til I tell Marcy."laughed Hazel.

"Peace for a few days." said Carlotta.

"Yeah, he won't be coming over to our building trying to take over our investigations."said Detective Tyriq Pile.

"I know Siss will be relieved." said Detective Sirena Pile.

"Yes indeed!"said Angie.

''We can eat in here in peace for the next few days." said Hop.

His wife Sharon recognized two undercover FBI agents , eating in the restaurant...She didn't say anything..She just smiled.

"Hallelujah"said Sissy who was with her husband, Eddie C.

Who waved and smiled at all of us..

As we all filed out!!

Sam Mother loved that he had such a crowd tonight...

III-

Nightfall came.

at Angela's apartment complex...Soon to be the home of her and Lonnie..

''What a day today.. Lunch and dinner... It's just nice to chill out at home." said Angela..

"Yeahhh Home.. I can't wait to get this over with so that we can live together." said Lonnie.

"Ouuuu you really are excited about living with me.."laughed Angie.

"I'm very excited..." he said.

"I know that...You are very excited about uh something else right now." she laughed..

He slowly slipped her mini skirt off

and slipped her panties down...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she cooed..

He lifted her up and began to long stroke her...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDD!

OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.. "OUUUUUUU LONNIE, you're so BIG, SO HARD!! OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" he moaned..

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! OUUUUUUUUUUU YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" she moaned..

"I can't get enough! " he moaned..

"I see....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"she cried out..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lonnie moaned.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" she moaned..

They wound up in her bed, really going at it... In many ways...Angie had been his "Work Wife" for the entire time they had worked together.. Acting as Administrative Assistant/ Para-Legal , warning him and giving him heads up and bringing him either home or here to sleep off his drunkenness... It was inevitable that they would be making love and be in a relationship at this point.

He had believed in her...A High School graduate when he met her and paid for her to go to Community College and get her Para-Legal certification and Associate Degree.. He had made it possible for her to take the LSATs and he had lobbied a grateful client to give her a three year tuition and books paid for scholarship to PENN LAW... She was going to be an Attorney... Something beyond her wildest dreams..She owed him a lot...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDD!

OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.. They had been making love every day he had stayed with her....She had never had this many orgasms in her life....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MORE, MORE...MORRRRE" he moaned..

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! OUUUUUUUUUUU YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" she moaned..

"I can't get enough! " he moaned..

"I see....OUUUUU.. I CAN FEEL IT !!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"she cried out..He did seem like he never wanted to get off of her once he got going...She giggled...She never imagined she turned him on as much as she did..She wondered how long he had harbored these sexual feelings for her?

THE NEXT DAY-

The Preliminary Hearings began...

We entered the courtroom with Lonnie..

ADA Astrid Delaney was there too.

Lt. Tragg was missing..He was spending one of three or four days, locked up in the cooler.

For the Next Three Days, The Preliminary hearings was like a replay of the Arraignment..

ADA Astrid Delaney argued that due to the cruel nature of this crime, the victim shot in twice in the chest and once in the back of the head, and blood on the defendent's clothes and his penchant for gambling and welching on his debts...He should be considered dangerous . She brought up the fact that he fled Atlanta due to gambling debts and an angry husband of one of the women he was fooling around with being after him... She did her homework. She argued that his motive was revenge for being tossed out of the club.

Yvette and I brought in witnesses from the club who stated that Bennie Ling through him out at least three times a week...And that he always allowed him back in when he was sober.. as well as lent him money to stay in the game.. Something he didn't do for anyone else.

She used his bloody trousers as evidence.

Bee Bee used me and a dummy to demonstrate how leaning down to take a pulse was a way to have blood transferred to your trousers.... Lonnie arrived at the scene to see Bennie Ling in a pool of blood and slumped on his living room floor. He bent down and got blood on his trousers.

Sofia noted that his hands had no residue from firing a weapon on them. She also brought up the fact that the defendent was the one who called 911.

Astrid argued that he had time from the time he reported the murder until the time the police arrived to wash his hands..

Yvette and Kahlil argued that this was speculation...

Kahlil showed crime scene photos of the sink in the kitchen and the sink in the bathroom...both were bone dry...

Ms. Yvette and I asked her then where was the gun? The police searched that place from top to bottom and all of the dumpsters and they found nothing I said.. If he left the apartment, Somebody would have seen him and he would have been picked up on the street cam...I added..None of the witnesses that night reported him running or leaving the building before the police got there. We had the witnesses there to testify.

After three days, Astrid felt as if she was taking a beating..She silently cursed Lt. Tragg for not getting enough evidence to her and not giving her any heads up on what could be used against her..A thorough investigation by him that didn't include harrassing the defense attorneys and getting himself tossed in jail would have been welcomed.

Jade had done an expert investigation, she thought. she had used the time well, interviewing witnesses, cops, Crime scene investigators, Medical Examiner personnel and people in the apartment complex..All the things a good homicide detective is supposed to do...But then ,she suspected ,Lt. Tragg was a lazy investigator at best.

She knew Lt. Tragg had not read the Autopsy report...It was still on his desk, unopened..

and she doubted he has seen the Crime scene report or photos or else she would have known about the bone dry sink and the street and traffic cam photos before she made a fool of herself and nearly lost the case in the preliminaries.

DAY FOUR-

"I see enough discussed here to hold the defendent over for trial...It's Friday...Trial will begin Tuesday Morning at 10:00 AM. Be on time attorneys and be ready for trial."said Judge Cummings.

''Wow, we might have to work over the weekend." said Bee Bee.

"I'll ask Liv if we can use her office on Saturday Morning...and maybe part of Sunday." said Ms. Yvette.

"You two are good friends aren't you?" said Sofia.

"Liv and I are beyond friends..We are sisters" said Ms. Yvette.

"We might get a good breakfast out of it." said Kahlil.

I hollered... Sofia ,Bee Bee and Jade screamed.. They were laughing so hard.

Ms. Yvette got off of her phone.

"Liv said we could come over.. Her and Donnie Ray and Ms. Alfreda are fixing breakfast..." said Ms. Yvette..

We all cheered and whistled.

IV-

SATURDAY MORNING-

We were at Olivia And Donnie Ray's domicile, across the street from us..

There was Pancakes for everybody, Sausage, Hash Browns, Orange Juice and Coffee.

Donnie Ray, Olivia and Alfreda cooked.

Olivia loved to entertain.. She and Beverly and Donnie Ray and Nelson and Josie had been alone in this neighborhood for a long time.. They loved that all of us now lived here..Especially us..Our two groups mirrored each other and we had always worked good together.

Beverly, Nelson, Me and Bee Bee, Josie and Paris, Sofia and Kahlil, Bresha and Tony, Ms. Yvette and Gary, Jade and Danny , Ms. Virginia and Rockland all had a delicious Pancake breakfast...

Olivia and Beverly graciously allowed us to use their conference room.

Ms. Yvette dilligently worked on her argument and trial strategy..... Gary, Donnie Ray, Olivia, Alfreda, `Virginia and Rockland sat at the other end and talked quietly.

They allowed us to use their law library to research predicates, laws and related cases.

Beverly ,Josie and Bresha sat in with Bee Bee and Sofia and graciously helped them with the research.

Looking up Predicates and Laws and like cases.. They really appreciated their help...It was after all ,Saturday.

Paris sat in with them, saying nothing, just listening and observing... Happy to be in the company of his beautiful wife and so many other beautiful women.

They allowed us to use their media room to survey the jury pool and decide on what kind of juror we wanted based on the breakdowns Jade did on each of them.

Nelson sat in with Jade, Kahlil and I and Bresha's husband, Tony sat in too, taking notes and learning.

We were thankful to have good friends and mentors like them.

We didn't bother Lonnie and Angie today..

I'm sure they were relaxing before the trial was to begin..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GOOOD LORD!"he moaned in between kissing and her moving up and down on him on the side of the bed..

He stared in her hazel brown eyes and continued kissing her....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,

OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"she cooed.

The bed began to move up and down and squeak a little , the headboard began to softly hit the wall.

And on Saturday Morning, Lt. Tragg was released from custody...He had spent four days in the cooler, a day longer than the other three times.. He was hungry.

Naturally, he went to Sam Mother's Diner. It was empty of any of his favorite people. Which was good, no one to trigger him.

Or perhaps I spoke too soon... Assistant United States Attorney Todd Dellums and Assistant District Attorney Astrid Delaney walked in together, they took a table and ordered their food..

''Astrid she's wonderful...We went to Bottom of the C last night and Ralph Scallion out did himself..He cooked a fantastic meal.. We enjoyed the meal and the drinks and then we drove out to Penns Landing and walked along the pier and just looked at the water and the moonlight reflecting off the water... No Pressure, no nothing.." he said.

"Ouuuu you sound like a man in love....Vanessa certainly was impressed with you....She was two classes ahead of you in Harvard Law and she clerked for me too.....I was so glad she moved back to Philadelphia and is taking a job with the District Attorney." said Astrid,,

As their orders came up.... Eggs, Bacon, Hash Browns ,Coffee and Orange Juice ......

Lt. Tragg was standing over them...

"ADA Delaney you two have quite a cozy relationship considering the fact that you will be prosecuting his cousin on a Capital Murder charge...." he said. He mistakenly thought that Astrid and Todd were in a relationship...

"Lieutenant, you're wayyyyyy out of line here...I'd advise you to go back to where you were eating...I'm not some defense attorney who you can bully...Apparently you didn't serve enough time in jail." said ADA Delaney.

"I intend to speak to the Judge about you recusing yourself from this trial because of this relationship..."

Todd sat back and laughed.

"You find something funny Dellums?" snarled Lt. Tragg.

"You really like to waste your time don't you? When you aren't sticking your hands up some woman's dress, ripping her panties off, you're bullying and harrassing defense attorneys, stalking them at home and in their place of work..everything except gathering evidence to help a prosecutor with a case... You're pathetic..." he said and turned his back to him and began eating as if he wasn't there.

"GET AWAY FROM OUR TABLE!" said Astrid coldly....