VENTURES: San-Francisco Surprise

San Francisco was becoming one of my favorite U.S. Cities. It was my Third Favorite.. My Hometown of New Orleans being first...My adopted city of Philadelphia being my second and San-Francisco being my third.. Me, Donnie Ray Alexander, Investigator for my wife Olivia's law firm and the crew were headed here for a case....but also for a nice vacation from the city of Philadelphia..

I looked at Bresha, our newest attorney..

She was very excited... This was her first time going away with us on one of these junkets and her first time ever in California..

Her husband, Tony was along for the ride too...Olivia had hired him as a "consultant", the same way we used to do Nelson, when he and Beverly first started dating and before he became a part of our firm..

He and Beverly were sitting a few seats up from us kissing like newlyweds...

Josie and Paris, also newlyweds and veterans of these trips were also kissing like it was no tomorrow

.Paris was also hired as a "Consultant" He was not a lawyer...but all of our vehicles were rented in his name at the airport...and he helped with our luggage, our laptops and our law books being transferred to our quarters...

Olivia was always conscious that Josie and Bresha had husbands and that it would hurt, being seperated from them on both sides..When she took these jobs, she always made sure their husbands could go too..Just as she had done when Beverly and Nelson first got together.

We flew to Atlanta first, then changed planes and now were headed to San-Francisco...

We were summoned at the behest of Innocence Project Attorney and our good friend, Larry North...It had been two years since we had worked a case out here.. I suspected a lot had happened with him...

"Your brother know we are coming?" I asked Olivia.

"Sure did..He's over the moon...He just saw us in December... and here we are again four months later." said Olivia.

I smiled.. "He loves his baby sister doesn't he?" I said.

''Yes indeed and his daughter too!" laughed Olivia.

SAN FRANCISCO, THE NIGHT BEFORE!!!

At a beautiful Asian Bistro.....We find Larry North and his girlfriend, Assistant District Attorney, Teel

Porter

"Wasn't this food great? I told it was.. Wait for the wine.."said Attorney Larry North..

''He wants you guys to congratulate him on a good restaurant choice... Please do.. He is in such need of praise ." joked his girlfriend of two years, Assistant District Attorney Teel Porter , who now headed her city's WRONGFUL CONVICTED UNIT.

''Oh Teel..Don't be so hard on Larry,,This was excellent cuisine...Excellent choice Larry." said Former Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney, April Taylor, who had recently mailed and faxed a letter of resignation to the Philadelphia District Attorney's office and excepted an offer by the San-Francisco District Attorney's Office to become part of their staff.

"Larry this was an excellent choice for a restaurant and here comes the wine.." said Henri Edwards, Investigator for the District Attorney's office and the WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT!.

A Bottle of Wine picked by Larry himself and with four glasses were served to the group...

''This is really good wine...Teel, boss lady, I have to tell you...He's two for two tonight."joked April Taylor, who was now a part of the WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT..

''Don't Gas his head up.. April, I'm so glad we convinced you to be apart of our WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT...I needed another Attorney and an Investigator...That's all the city would give me a budget for...But welcome aboard."said Teel.

"It's nice not putting people in Jail for a change..."laughed April Taylor.

''We modeled our program after your program in Philly... I talked to Assistant District Attorney Karen

Page several times virtually and she came out here once. I understand she does it with no staff at all..but she has an office in a very beautiful new building at a law firm..

An office two gracious attorneys of that firm allow her to use and she's down the hall from the Innocence Project..

and two Innocence Project Attorneys, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband Charles Burrows, both of who I have talked to at length...and she has Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West, Donnie Ray Alexander, Nelson East,Josie Boyd, Bresha Billips

And Yvette Jones-Lockwood, Keith Jones,Beatrice Jones, Sofia Garcia-Ahmed, Kahlil Ahmed and Jade Lee-Ho

are all on speed dial and have all at one time or another acted as attorneys and did the leg work for the WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT!" explained Teel..

"I know all of those attorneys quite well...I've faced off in court against them several times...So glad I won't have to do that anymore."laughed April Taylor..

"Olivia ,Beverly and their crew will be here tomorrow...I'm meeting them at the Airport...They are working with me on an Innocence Project Case." said Larry North.

"How Nice...I can't wait to see them! I really like and respect Olivia."said April.

''Olivia is a real doll baby...I love her..I too went up against her once..right here in San-Francisco...She's very smart..Her and her niece.. Are you all settled in?" she asked April.

"Oh Yes...The Condo I was leasing was cleaned out

last week...when I went home....I was able to get my things out without incident...

I want to thank the city of San-Francisco for moving my stuff out here..

I sub leased my condo to a new Assistant District Attorney named Vanessa Stevens." she said.

"Well you got everything covered...I'm certain my investigator is quite pleased...He's quite enamored with you.." said Teel..

Henri smiled..

He and April had been spending their nights together....

locked in coital bliss.

She loved San-Francisco.

II-

Our Plane arrived on time....

"SAN FRANCISCO!!! WE ARE HERE AGAIN!!" I proclaimed.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" gushed Olivia.

"WOW!! MY FIRST TIME IN CALI!" exclaimed Bresha..

"Mine too! This is Madddddd Cool." exclaimed her husband, Tony...

"Not my first time, but I love it even more everytime I 'm here.." said Josie..

"WOWWWW! CALI!" said Paris... This was his third time in California and all three times were courtesy of Olivia and Beverly and of course his wife, Josie..

"I hope Larry knows a great place to eat..I'm starving.." said Nelson..

"You're always hungry.." joked his wife Beverly... "Heyy there's Larry and Teel.." said Beverly smiling..

"Well if it isn't my old friends from the Public Defender's Office, What'cha know good Olivia, Beverly, Nelson?" said Larry North..He hugged Olivia and Beverly and shook Nelson's hand...

"Hello Larry.." said Olivia.

"Hi Larry, Hi Teel." said Beverly, hugging Teel..

"Hello Larry, Hi Teel.." said Nelson, also hugging her..

"Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, You guys still look good...and Josie girl.. You were a Para-legal last time I saw you....You passed the bar...You're attorney now and you're married!!! Is this your husband?" asked Teel..

"Yes, this is my husband, Paris.." said

"Hello!" said Paris.

"Congratulations... Hello to you...And who is this? You've added some new people Olivia.

"This is my newest attorney-Mrs. Bresha Billips...She joined us last year, right after she passed the bar.

and this is her husband, Attorney Tony Billips...He is not a part of my firm, but he has been hired as a "Consultant" on this trip."explained Olivia.

"Pleased to meet you." said Bresha.

"Yes Pleased to meet you." said Tony.

"Pleased to meet you all.. Heyyy Donnie Ray, my mannnn." said Larry..

''Heyyyy Larry." I said.

"Heyyy Donnie Ray." said Teel, giving me a nice hug,.,..

"I know you guys must be starving....Let's get in our cars and you can follow me to a nice place." said

Larry.

'That's what I'm talkin bout." said Nelson..

''You happy now?" laughed Beverly as we all pulled off.

Larry North could rival me easily when it came to knowing and picking fine dining establishments...

''I know everybody loves Italian.."said Larry North..

As Our meals and wines were served..

''Larry, everything is delish." said Beverly.

"Yesssss, it is.." said Nelson.

''As usual Larry, you have excellent tastes." said Olivia.

"I've got to step my game up when I get home." I joked.

"It's a favorite of ours...Larry brought me here when he proposed to me a few months ago...I wanted to call you Liv, but Larry said you guys would be coming out here soon ,so wait until then." said Teel.

showing her engagement ring.

"Oh Teel, it's beautiful...."said Beverly, hugging her.. "Congratulations Mr. North."said Beverly..

"Thank you....Thank you..."said Larry.

''Congratulations man."said Nelson. He and Larry North had competed bitterly for Beverly for years and now the long battle and the animosity between the two was buried.

"Oh My God, that ring is beautiful, Congratulations to you both." said Olivia..hugging and kissing both of them.

''Congratulations to you both!" I said.

"That ring is beautiful." said Josie.

"Yes it is." said Paris

"Ohhh Congratulations...That ring is beautiful.." said Bresha,.

"Congratulations." said Tony.

"Thank You, Thank You...Please stay for our wedding,....We would love for you to be there." said Teel.

"Yes...We would." said Larry.

All in All, It was a beautiful night....

III-

We got the same Air BNB we had the last time we were in San-Francisco two years ago....Thanks to our friend, Yvette Jones-Lockwood of McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

She was a Managing Partner now , so she didn't have to go to one of the partners...She authorized it to us herself...

and we picked up the keys from her Office Manager, Virginia Shaw herself...

"I sure wish I was going with you." she said, smiling..

"Yeah, so do we.." said Keith Jones ,who was standing there with Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil and Jade.

"Take lots of pictures"said Bee Bee.

"Yes..you know we'll be living vicariously through you." said Sofia.

Kahlil thought that was funny...

So did Jade..

"Bee, Sofia..You know I'll Zoom call you as soon as we get set up.."said Beverly hugging both of "her girls"

"You all just have a good time and come back to us safely..." said Yvette, hugging her friend..

"Oh we will and I'll call you when we get settled." said Olivia.

We were dog tired from traveling and then eating and drinking...but we had to get settled in..

Beverly, Olivia, Josie and Bree unpacked our clothes and set up each bedroom...

With help from Paris, Tony and Nelson we unpacked and organized the law books, the laptops and tablets....into one room..We had also brought a 64 inch monitor for our zoom calls...

Once that was set up, we retired to our rooms..Tomorrow we would go to a supermarket

We weren't going out on the town to eat every night. Olivia was very practical...she believed in being self sustaining.

AND IN PHILADELPHIA-

Lt. Tragg sat in Curley's... It was a Friday Night.. He hadn't heard from Bert Vandenberg in a month..

He called his office and was told he had left New Orleans and was actually in San-Francisco on a case..

He didn't believe it, but whereever he was.. He'd been spooked into leaving Philadelphia.. There was no one else he trusted to do his dirty work, be his hatchet man and spy on his enemies..

He wondered if he'd ever see April Taylor again...She had been in San-Francisco for a month now on a leave of absence.. He was going to go talk to Garcetti, first thing Monday Morning and find out when she was coming back... He was Horny...He needed her..

He saw a drunken Judge Cowley sitting a few seats away...He was tempted to go over and gut him..

It was his handsyness that caused April to slap him and knee him in the groin...Some newsy loser filmed the whole incident with their phone and the incident of a Judge getting frisky with a prosecutor trying a case in his courtroom became a national scandal...resulting in April asking for a "Leave of Absence " and the Judge having to recuse himself from the trial.

He was slapped again, at the table..

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU NEARLY RIPPED MY PANTIES!" screamed a young woman, getting up from the table and storming out..

''Alright Judge...That's enough....You've had enough for the night.Tome for you to go home..Shirley, get the Judge some coffee." said Curley, who was surprised that it wasn't Artie getting slapped.

Lt. Tragg had it in for that Judge...He'd get his...As soon as Bert Vandenberg returned to Philadelphia.

AND IN SAN-FRANCISCO , the Next Morning.

We had breakfast at the Original Pancake house with Olivia's brother and Beverly's Father ,Jimmy West.

''Always good to see my baby sis and my daughter." said Jimmy West, hugging his sister,Olivia and his daughter, Beverly..

''We would have called you last night but we got in kind of late.. You know we had to go out and test San-Francisco's great cuisine." laughed Olivia.

"Yes indeed....Hey How's Malinda?" asked Beverly...

"She's fine, she's coming in tonight from Chicago...She was doing some press for her latest movie."said Jimmy.

''Still got your morning TV/News and Entertainment show?" I asked.

"Yes sirrrr Brother in law and it's number two in the Bay Area... I'm shooting for number one.. In fact I want you all on my show before you leave.. I see you have some new members to your team huh?" said Jimmy.

''You remember Josie, she was out here before..Since you last saw her,,,She's passed the bar and is now one of our attorneys and she's gotten married and this is her husband, Paris.." said Nelson.

''And this is our newest Attorney, Mrs. Bresha Williams and her husband, Attorney Tony Billips,

He is with another firm. We hired him as a consultant with the case we are out here working on."said Beverly..

Bresha and Tony both smiled...

''Can you tell me what kind of case are you working on?" asked Jimmy.

''To tell you the truth...We don't know..Larry asked us out here...He said he needed our help on this case and he sent us airline tickets.. My girlfriend Yvette...You remember her.. She's a partner at her law firm..She gave us the keys to that same Air BNB that we stayed in before, so we are there...." said Olivia.

"Nice... You guys are out here free and getting paid... Way to go Little Sis.. Oh here comes our food."said Jimmy.

Our breakfasts of Pancakes,bacon, Hash Browns, Orange juice and coffee's arrived.

I loved San-Francisco!

IV-

In a stylish condo in downtown San-Francisco New ADA April Taylor looks lovingly at Investigator for the D.A.'s office, Henri Edwards..

"This is so wild, you and me living together...I haven't lived with a man since I was married."said April Taylor.

"What about that cop you told me about....You two were pretty close, weren't you?" asked Henri..

"No...That was strictly about sex....He was safe..... He was good in bed...but an intellectual zero..We couldn't talk about anything important or interesting...He had no interest in anything...His idea of fine dining was this cop bar he frequented that served pretty good steaks.... I mean with you...I've been able to talk about Politics, Art, Books, Law.....and by the way...I'm going to be there when you take the bar soon...I'm so proud of you...I feel so close to you..." said April, who had first met Henri ,when she was out in San-Francisco last year for a law summit....Now she was back to stay.

"And I thought you were with me for the great sex." he laughed...

"That's the icing on the cake." laughed April..

as they kissed passionately...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu." he moaned in a deep baritone that got her aroused..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, you are so hard, sooo big...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD!!" she moaned..

He slipped her panties and bra off..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HENRIIIIIII...OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned..

Henri was a perfect gentleman..He wasn't handsy or boorish like Lt. Tragg and yet he dominated her just as much in the bed...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he moaned and like Lt. Tragg , he had just as much stamina..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HENRI, GOOOOD LORDDDDD! WOUUUUUUUUUU!" she screamed .....

For the next NINE TO TEN HOURS, April and Henri made sweet ,sweet love in their condo.... She had just moved in with him a week ago and she was ecstatic..she was in Heaven...she loved San-Francisco...This was her home now. She was glad to have gotten her things and gotten out of Philadelphia without running into and having a possibly tearful break up with Arthur Tragg..This was better.

She was certain that while she was gone.. he hadn't exactly been a Monk

Attorney Brenda Jordan

Attorney Maureen "Reenie" Thomas

And New District Attorney Jill Jones had all shared a bed with Lt. Tragg in the month she had been gone...but still he longed for her..

Still he worried about why he hadn't heard from her. She had changed her number...

He drove down her street...To his surprise , he saw lights on and heard music coming from her house...

He rang the doorbell and bammed on the door.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums answered the door..

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" he bellowed..

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" bellowed Lt. Tragg.....

"He was visiting me Lieutenant.. We haven't met...I'm the new Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Stevens." said Vanessa, a cute Black woman who was standing behind Todd Dellums.

"Okay, but what are you doing here?" asked a stunned Lt. Tragg.."House sitting?" he asked.

"I live here.. April quit the Philly D.A.'s office last week!!!! April has moved to San-Francisco...She took a job with their District Attorney's Office, last week..For now I'm sub letting this condo from her...but I live here now." said Vanessa.

Todd Dellums laughed.. Lt. Tragg had tried to ruin his life twice...sending photos of him and two different women to his last girlfriend, causing them to break up.. He was enjoying this.

"You didn't know did you? She left and didn't say anything..HAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed.

He then slammed the door in Lt. Tragg's face..

He stood there with a Blank stare for a long time trying to process that he may never see April again..That she broke up with him and didn't even say anything..She just left..