The Learning Curve

After watching our friends take on numerous trials ,while we relaxed and sat on the sidelines...We wound up taking on a highly controversial and difficult murder case in which our client, Faith Grudin, a fashion designer was accused of murdering her business partner.. The case made big headlines and we as her defense attorneys of choice was drawn into it.. After a vigourous 4 week trial...We sat in the courthouse waiting area ,awaiting the jury's verdict...

"I'm starving...I sure wish they had come up with their verdict two days ago, when we actually closed our case."said Olivia.

"Yeah, I'm worried...I think I like it when they come back quick and don't ask so many questions."said Beverly, her niece...

''Well there are a lot of charges to go over which I hate...This jury is being very meticulous.." I said.

"This ADA was very good...I have to give her that...She prepared almost as well as we did... And she got 7 out of 12 jurors.... a 7-5 split , her way.."said Nelson...

"It's rare that I've ever seen you lose one of thes Voir dire battles Nelson...But anyway...Here is some coffee's for everyone." said Josie..

Bresha came with more...We really appreciated it...

"Thanks for the coffee...but it's breakfast I could use.."laughed Olivia..

"Same here, but thanks anyway.."said Beverly.. "How bout you..Faith, how you doin?" asked Beverly to our client...

"I'm doing as well as I can under the circumstances...I'll really be free, when I can cut this ankle monitoring device off my leg..." she said

"I hear ya." said Nelson as he finished his coffee..

"Look alive people...The Judge is coming back..and so is everybody else." I said.

"Okay people...Let's go.."said Olivia..

The Judge was our friend and one time client, Judge Elise Clemmons...

The Assistant District Attorney tried unsuccessfully to get Judge Clemmons to recuse herself from our trial citing that we once defended her and she couldn't be impartial.. She was informed of this and egged on by Lt. Tragg, 

But unlike past judges, She fought back and cited that she had heard numerous cases from us since then and had been impartial...just as she planned to be in this case.. She won...and she was impartial in this case...

Lt. Tragg was furious....He despised Judge Clemmons....The feeling was mutual...

We were seated in the courtroom...

"Has the jury formed it's decision?" asked Judge Clemmons..

"We have your honor." said the foreman..

"Bailiff, pass me the verdict.." she said.

She read it..Her face betrayed no emotion...

"Read it!" she said.

We all stood for the verdict..

ADA Hillary Newton looked cocky and confident she had won the case...

Then the Bailiff read the verdict.

"COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS FAITH GRUDEN ON THE CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER- WE FIND THE DEFENDENT-NOT GUILTY!!

ON COUNT TWO USING AN INSTRUMENT OF CRIME TO COMMIT A CRIME-WE FIND THE DEFENDENT-NOT GUILTY...

COUNT THREE- MANSLAUGHTER- NOT GUILTY..

COUNT FOUR- SECOND DEGREE MURDER- NOT GUILTY

AND THE MOST SERIOUS CHARGE- FIRST DEGREE MURDER-NOT GUILTY!

"WOW! STRAIGHT SET....WE WON ON ALL COUNTS!" said a jubilant Nelson...

Olivia and Beverly leaped up in the air and high fived....

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" they shouted jubilantly....

"Oh MY GODDD THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU..MY LONG NIGHTMARE IS OVERRRRR!" shouted a happy Faith Gruder... "GIRLS....LIV, BEV, JOSIE, BREE...I'VE GOT SOME GREAT NEW DRESSES..COME BY MY STUDIO AND TRY THEM ON....THEY ARE YOURS, ON THE HOUSE."said Faith.

"Awwwwww thanks girlie..We worked hard on your defense...I mean hard, overtime. We were up until midnight, a couple of nights."said Josie..

"Yeah, our husbands were glad when we finally went to trial.."laughed Bresha..

"Come on...Here comes the bailiff...He's going to cut the ankle bracelet off of your leg." I said.

"Oh yeahhhh, now I'm really free..." she laughed as the bailiff cut her bracelet off...

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT....I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!" snarled a totally livid Lt. Tragg...

ADA Hillary Newton still stung from losing the Jabari Howard case a few weeks before to Yvette Jones -Lockwood and her crew..

Now she had lost to us....The one common denominator being..

Lt. Tragg was the arresting officer in both of these cases and did an inferior investigation in both cases...Both Yvette and Olivia's investigators did a more thorough job than he did and both were homicide detectives at one time...Incredible!...She decided to stay as far away from any case having to do with Lt. Tragg as possible in the future...

She quickly exited the courtroom....

Olivia looked at her watch...

"It's 10:05 AM....We still have two hours left of Breakfast time." she said..

"I agree" I said..

She gave me a slow passionate kiss..

"Thank you baby...you did a stellar investigation Donnie Ray...You always do...Ummmmmmmm"she cooed.

"Come on let's go."said Olivia..

"Right behind you Auntay..."said Beverly...

"Yesssss...A Victory Breakfast..." said Nelson...

"Ummmmm I'm starving..."said Josie..

"Me and you both."said Bresha.

We headed to Sam Mother's Diner....Not realizing that our next case was right around the corner... 

II-

"Ummmmmmm A Denver Omelette." said Olivia..

"This is just like a Western Omelette...I think the Ham makes it stand out."said Beverly..

"You're correct Shortcake..." I said enjoying my everything Omelette..

Nelson smiled as he ate his cheddar omelette...

Bresha was the only one not having eggs...She was enjoying Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy....

Josie, like Nelson was enjoying a cheddar omelette...

There was Hash Browns, Sausage  and  Orange Juice for the table.

Lt. Tragg walked in...He saw us sitting at one big table, Happy, eating our food.. For once he didn't go anywhere near us....He went to the counter and ordered his meal..which he ate quietly. He didn't want to go back to the cooler or be physically tossed out...

He was watching himself....for once..

Meanwhile in the Judge's chambers..

The Trial was over.. Judge Clemmons was fixing her hair and applying lipstick, preparing to go home for the day....

A Man slipped up behind her and grabbed her around the waist.....

"Elise...you were great today in trial.." he said...

"Ouuuuuuuuu, you startled me Alvin.....Did you learn anything throughtout this trial?" she asked.

"Oh I learned plenty....The Defense and the Prosecution were very prepared...Both Very well versed in the law, but the defense had an advantage...a better investigator...That's why they brought out facts and inconsistances that created reasonable doubt within the jury.", said Alvin White...

Alvin White had just graduated from law school the year before and had recently passed the bar.. He was interning under Judge Elise Clemmons and had sat in on numerous cases....This being her most controversial case...

He kissed her on the neck...

"I also learned that you're the sexiest Judge on the bench." he said.

"Ummmmmmmmmmm, oh did you? " she cooed..

"Yesssss and this sexy judge is  making me as hard as hell!" he whispered..

"You should control yourself...We are kind of in public." she whispered,,

He kissed her passionately...... He was eight years her junior....She had no business doing this with him, she thought....He had come over her place one night, a month ago and had insisted...They discussed a particular case...She'd never let any of her past interns, Male or female come to her home before...but she had let him.. It was late, one thing lead to another....

And they wound up in bed, making love....She certainly knew better than this...What was wrong with her, she thought? She had told him the next morning that this shouldn't have happened and that this should never happen again...

She even suggested he intern for someone else...but then this last case came up with Olivia and Beverly and he said it would be a perfect learning experience for him.. She agreed..

Studying them would place him above the learning curve... She had told him that they once defended her in a case...He was fascinated... 

Alvin White, like every other young Black Attorney in Philadelphia was a fan and he begged her to let him sit in on the case....She did and for four weeks ,he soaked up everything he could learn from them....

He even visited their home and saw how they prepare for a trial.... He was a good student and he was going to be a great attorney... For four weeks after they had had sex, his mind was not on her...

He was a surprisingly good lover....He had brought her to orgasm at least four times their one night together...Had curled her toes....For days , she couldn't stop thinking about him....and he called her up at night begging for another round...She wisely turned him down....

But here she was kissing him passionately in the Judges Chambers.....about to go there again with him...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm we shouldn't be doing this....You're my Intern..." she said..

in between hot smouldering kisses..

"I can't help it...you're soo sexy..." he said...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm we've got to stop...we should have never started this..OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned....

 They were still kissing passionately.......They hadn't stopped...

He lifted her skirt up..and slipped her pretty thong down....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ALVIN!!!! " she cooed loudly...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!! Is that door locked?" she asked..

"Yes......I locked it when I came in....but no one is here...They've all gone for the day.. This thong is pretty!" he said softly..

"I'm glad you like it....." she whispered.....her legs shaking with anticipation....

He bent her over the bureau and entered her doggie style....She gasped as he entered her...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....UMMMMMMMMMMMM! YOU ARE A  BLESSED YOUNG MAN....OUUUUUUUUUUU SO BIG!  SO DAMN HARDDDDD!" she moaned..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.....OH MY GODDDDDDD! THIS IS SO GOOD! UMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned as he stroked her.... She was soft, smelled good , had skin like a newborn baby! and was surprisingly very wet!

They kissed hungrilly.....

and continued doing it doggie style...

"OHHHHHHHHHHH Elise!" he moaned.. He didn't know if he was coming or going...Neither did she.....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU, UMMMMMMMMMMMMM ALVIN!!!!MYYYYY GOOODNESSS...OUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!" she cooed.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed...She had an embarrassingly intense orgasm...which brought her to tears, her body trembling....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" he moaned..

They were rocking so hard, the legs on the bureau seemed as if they might break off..

TWO HOURS LATER-

She had another orgasm..Her head turned from side to side....She knocked her pocket book off the desk....Tears flowed from her eyes..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYY GOODNESSSSSS!" she cried out!

He came so hard, he felt as if he might be dying.....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned..

She pulled her panties up...She straightened out her dress..

She fixed her hair and her make up and applied her lipstick...

''Let's go back to your place." said Alvin.

" Uhhh ....Let's Not.....Go home Alvin....I'll see you tomorrow ,Okay?" said Judge Clemmons.

She kissed him one last time..

"That's enough...Go home!" she said.

Just as they were leaving... The Cleaning lady was opening the door with her key...They both said good night, looking sheepishly at the Cleanig lady, who had an idea what might have been going on in here, even though there was no evidence.

III-

AQUA BAR-

Our Big Case was Over....Beverly , Nelson, Josie and Bree and their husbands celebrated tonight at Aqua Bar with other young attorneys who had just finished major cases and were relaxing..

They had taken over an entire section of the bar.

And ordered a lot of drinks...

"I'm going to sleep sooooo good tonight, tomorrow morning.." said Beverly....

"Oh My God...Me too!"laughed Nelson..

''End of Another long case.... I'm going to talk to Dabnis about letting you sit in with us on our next case."said Josie to her husband, Paris , who had recently become a Para -Legal.

"I can't see where he'd mind.."said Paris.

"I hear you recently enrolled in Middleton Law School...Excellent choice.."joked Bresha... She and her husband Tony had graduated from Middleton..

"The Best lawyers come from Middleton." laughed her husband, Tony....

''I would beg to differ on that." joked Bee Bee, a graduate of PENN LAW, like the majority of the attorneys present... Her, Keith, Sofia, Kahlil, Beverly, Kayla, Jazzy to name a few...

Her husband Keith laughed.....

"Middleton has an excellent, accelerated program that allows you to work and attend classes and it adjusts to your schedule..."said Sofia..

"You sound like an advertisement for the school."laughed her husband, Kahlil..

"We all should go on a retreat...Like to the beach or something...For Olivia, Beverly and Kayla's Birthday." said Jessica.

"Nelson, you have that Summer Home your Uncle left you near the Beach..."said Beverly...

"Yeah...It can house about 20 of us...Everybody else would have to rent places along the beach..If you call in early enough...everybody could swing it..We'd have to coordinate."said Nelson.

"It's too late to do it for our birthday....but we could do it by Memorial Day...I'm down."said Kayla.

"To see you and all my fine in laws in bathing suits...I'm down...You know how I love all of you Bennett women." said Ray, smiling at the thought of Olivia, Beverly and Kayla in Bikini's..

"YESSSSS WE KNOW!" sighed Beverly and Kayla in unison...

Jessica's husband, Chip cracked up laughing...

''I think it's a great idea..."said Jazzy...

"Yeah, I've been looking to get away."said Dabnis.

"I remember the last time we went...It was so much fun.."said Kayla..

''Yeah Rehoboth Beach was fun too."said Ray..

"I simply love hanging out with you guys.."said Brookie, our newest friend...

"Me too! and I'm down for Nelson's beach house ,which he told me about or Rehoboth Beach." said Sean...

"Look at the two lovebirds over there."said Jazzy, pointing to David and Natalie,who were so busy kissing, the ice in their initial drinks had melted.

"UMMMMMMMMM UMMMMMMMMMPH!  HEY YOU TWO, COME UP FOR AIR!"said Kayla.

"HEY YOU TWO, COME UP FOR AIR!"said Beverly.... "I 've never seen Natalie so enthralled with a guy or so happy...I'm Happy for her."said Beverly, smiling.

Natalie and David finally stopped kissing...

Natalie looked a bit out of sorts...She fixed her hair...and smiled sheepishly....She took a napkin, dipped it in water and wiped the lipstick smudges off of David's face and off of his suit jacket....

"Damn, you are soooo sexy....I just can't control myself when I'm around you..."said her new husband, David..

"That's apparent...wowwwwwwwwwwww!" she said , in a daze...

Across the bar from them was Attorney Alvin White..

He had called Judge Elise Clemmons

He was begging her to let him come over and spend the night...She continued to tell him no...Finally he asked her to show him what she was wearing..

She sent him a photo of her in a black lace baby doll and black lace bikini panties...

"OH MY GOD!!! YOU HAVE GOT TO LET ME COME OVER!" he begged...

"Nooooooooooo I Do Not!!...You're at Aqua Bar!! Have a good time, then  Go home, Get a hot shower, or in your case, a cold shower and get some sleep...I plan to....In my own bed..Alone... Good night Alvin...Don't show anybody this photo.."said Judge Clemmons..

In Hindsight, maybe she should have let him come over..

''Hi Alvin....I guess everyone had the same idea tonight...A cold one at Aqua Bar.." said Beverly, smiling..

"Yeah...I guess so... Hey Nelson."said Alvin.

''Alvinnnnnnnn, what's going on my man?" said Nelson.

"You know Josie....this is her husband, Paris...He's a Para-Legal and he just enrolled in Middleton Law school.."said Beverly..

"Hi Alvin..."said Josie

"Hey man."said Paris..

"Hi Alvin...This is my husband, Tony, he's also an Attorney." said Bresha.  "Alvin interned with the judge in our last case...He also studied how we prepare a defense..."she explained.

"Oh then he got a good education...These guys practically run a University."said Tony.

Beverly giggled-'Stop it Tony....This is my cousin, Kayla, just a day older than me...She is also an Attorney and her husband, Ray...He's an Attorney too!" she said.

"Hi Alvin." said Kayla.

"Hey man." said Ray..

"Wow, your cousin, all your friends are lawyers...WOWWW!"said Alvin..

"I knowwwww. I gotta get out and meet some Doctors or something...Beverly joked... This is my lifelong friend, Jasmine Coley...We've been friends before we could fit training bras....She's also an attorney and her husband, Dabnis, also an attorney. This is Alvin....He's interning with Judge Clemmons and he studied with us, during our last case."said Beverly..

"Me ,you, Kayla and Natalie do go back a ways.,Bad Girls for life. Hi Alvin"joked Jazzy

"Hey Mannn."said Dabnis. "You all can certainly fit more than training bras now..lawd!"said Dabnis..

Alvin laughed...

"Hi Alvin...I'm Jessica Sanchez-Burrows , My Husband and I are attorneys with the INNOCENCE PROJECT...We are always looking for bright young ,un jaded Attorneys...if you're ever looking for a job." she said.

"Hi Alvin..."said Chip.

"Hey man...Nice bunch of friends you got her Bev."said Alvin...

"These are my babies..Beatrice "Bee Bee" Evans-Jones, her husband, Keith Jones, Sofia "Little Mamasita" Garcia-Ahmed and her husband, Kahlil Ahmed."said Beverly..

"Hello."said Bee Bee

"What's up man?" said Keith Jones.

"Hola."said Sofia

"Heyyy dude."said Kahlil.

"Pleased to meet you all."said Alvin..

"And last but never least...

This is Sean Marks, a Federal Public Defender.

His wife, Brooke Marks, she's with the Wrongful Conviction, Conviction Integrity Unit of the D.A.'s office.

Natalie Charles, another person I've known before we could fit in training bras....She's also with the Wrongful Conviction, Conviction Integrity Unit of the D.A.'s office.

And her husband, David Charles, also with the Wrongful Conviction, Conviction Integrity Unit of the D.A.'s office." said Beverly...

''You've got a nice group of friends Bev, a great brain trust.." said Alvin..

"You look tired...Look we all came on a Bus...As you know..My Aunt owns a Mini Bus company too!

Well a piece of it....All of us travel on the buses when we go out drinking...That way..We can drink as much as we want and don't have to worry about DUI's... We can drop you off at home if you like."said Beverly.

"Nah, I'm straight....I got someplace else to be.....Tell your Auntie and your Mom....I said Hello.

Nice meeting you all." said Alvin as he left.

"I hope he'll be alright...He looks buzzed..."said Nelson..

"I know."said Beverly...

While the young people were out at Aqua Bar....

At Home, Olivia and I were doing grown folks stuff.....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed

As I kissed her passionately...

and lifted her up...

slowly slipping her panties down..

and hoisting her in the air, long stroking her...Her head turning from side to side..tears streaming down her face...her body trembling..

as we made crazy love in the privacy of our home..

Alvin was still at Aqua Bar after Beverly and her friends had left...

He made a phone call... 

"Cynthia... I just want a place to crash tonight...No strings attached...For real...I can be there in 45 minutes...Okay....Thanks Baby!" he said.

45 minutes later...He drove to Cynthia's house...The lights were on and the door was open..He walked inside.

"CINDY!!! I'M HERE1!! CINDY, BABY It's Me..Alvin...Where you at?" he said.

He walked into the kitchen....

"OH MY GOD!!!! OH MY GOD!!" he exclaimed and hurriedly left the house.

IV-

"She was strangled...." said a CSI guy, looking at the body...

"She had sex before she died... It doesn't look like it was rape...It looks consensual.."said Dr. Hazel Baylor..

"There is a lot of fingerprints and DNA here guys....Don't miss anything."said Dr. Marcy Martin.

"What have we got here?" said Lt. Tragg, who arrived with six uniformed policemen...

"Her name is Cynthia Peterson, she was 30 years old...Cause of death, manual strangulation....It appears she had sex right before she died.. Body temperature indicates she's been dead about two hours."said Hazel..

''Was she raped?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"Hard to say...There is no vaginal trauma...The sex may have been consensual..."said Hazel.

"For now we'll say it was Rape and Strangulation..."said Lt. Tragg...

"For now YOU WON'T!  WHAT DID I JUST SAY?.The sex may have been consensual...we can't determine that yet...Would you wait for us to do a full investigation?"said Hazel angrilly...Oh how she despised this man.

''Yes please wait to see what the autopsy report shows...Don't go running off half cocked."said Dr. Marcy Martin.

It was as if they hadn't said anything.. "I'm going to say this once girls....It seems like I say this at every crime scene... I AM THE DETECTIVE HERE!! I MAKE THE FINAL DECISIONS!" he said.. There was a phone on the floor..He put on his latex gloves and examined it...

"There's fingerprints on it...she got one last phone call...at 1:45 am...from a Alvin White....Hmmmmmmm he could be our guy." he said.

Hazel looked at him and sighed exasperatingly....

HOURS LATER at our Office/Duplex-

"Breakfast is ready"said Alfreda,,, More like Brunch....It was 11:30 AM...We were all just getting up and coming to work...Olivia knew everybody was out last night and would want to sleep late this morning. we had just finished a big trial, people were out celebrating.

As usual, we had a nice hot breakfast of Pancakes, Hash browns, Sausage, Orange Juice  and coffee ready for our team.

Everyone was seated around the counter.

"Did you have a good time last night baby?" she asked her niece, Beverly.

"Oh yeah, it was me, Nelson, Josie and Paris, Bree and Tony, Jazzy and Dabnis, Kayla and Ray, Jessica and Chip, Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil, Brookie, Sean, Natalie and David and guess who we saw there??, Alvin....Alvin White, Judge Clemmons Intern."said Beverly.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh that's nice..How is he doing?" asked Olivia.

"He looked like he was doing alright..He was by himself.."said Nelson.

"Is he still interning for the Judge?" I asked.

"He didn't say..but I suppose he is...He took a few offers for jobs, from Jessica and Chip and others while he was there..but he was just like us...Just hanging out!"said Josie.

"I hope he made it home or where ever he was going alright...He looked a little buzzed."said Bresha.

Just then ,Olivia's phone rang....

"Wonder who this is ?" asked Olivia..   "Hello!" she said.

"Olivia..I'm sorry to be calling you on your personal line, but I need a favor...a big favor!"said Judge Elise Cummings.

(TO BE CONTINUED)