VENTURES: Natika

A Nice warm Summer Morning...

Natalie was outside her building ordering coffees from the food truck..

She heard a distinct voice calling her...

"Natalie...Natalie!!! I thought that was you.....You look amazing...WOWWWW!" said the woman..

"Oh My God! Natika? Natika is that you? Oh wowww....Up here visiting from D.C. eh?" said Natalie.

They had gone to Girls High together...Though they hadn't been close. Natika had gone on to Howard University and they had met up again at Georgetown Law School...Where although both were from Philly, had still not been that close. A Hi here, a Bye there...

"I'm back for good now....I'm staying with my parents in Chestnut Hill until I can find a suitable Loft or Condo to live in...

She saw Natalie's hand...

"OH MY GOD!! YOU'RE MARRIED!!! WHEN??" she asked.

"It's been almost two years now....Here is my address.." said Natalie passing her a card.

"Ohhhhh you live in that relatively new section where Josies Bar is...New Homes, New Lofts, New Condos, New Apartments.... I think I'll look in that area.... Hey do you still see Jasmine Jenkins, Kayla Bennett, Beverly West and that young girl, Renee Cantrell?? You all were inseparable in High School. I used to see Renee in D.C. She went to Howard too. Wonder what she's doing now?" laughed Natika.

"Jazzy works down the hall from me in this building.. She made partner at her law firm and then was given the option to buy a piece of it out...She and Kayla own it outright and Renee Cantrell Jones works for her and Kayla,along with two other Attorneys...

Jazzy's husband, Dabnis Coley works on the floor below...He also made partner and was given the option to buyout also and he did and he employs four attorneys.. One of them is Kayla's husband, Ray St. Jacques and the others are Renee's husband, Tyrell Jones, Paris Boyd and Tony Billips, the husbands of the two young lady attorneys who work for Olivia and Beverly.."said Natalie..

"Oh My Godddd ,so you guys are still tight..And you all work in this building huh? Wowwww! Work in the same building huh, wowww.....and I know Beverly and her Auntie went in together and formed their own law practice....

"They're practically celebrities. They have a nickname for them down at my office... "Auntie and Niecey.""laughed Natika. "Ever run into her? Beverly West?" she asked.

"She lives down the street from me and across the street from Jasmine, Kayla, Renee and their husbands..." said Natalie. "Beverly's husband, Attorney Nelson East works for them, her Auntie's husband is their investigator, They have two additional Attorneys working with them, Josie and Bresha, married to two of the attorneys who work for Dabnis, Jazzy's husband. and Beverly's mom is their office manager."said Natalie.

"Oh wow, Good for Beverly....I'm glad to see you all are still together and all of you are married too! Good to know you all landed on your feet. I've missed out on a lot... I was married for a year...It didn't work out.." said Natika.

"Sorry to hear that...Here comes my husband now..."said Natalie. "David, this is Natika Sommers, She and I were in Georgetown Law School together and prior to that we attended Girls High...Natika this is my husband, Attorney David Charles, We work together at WRONGFUL CONVICTION/CONVICTION INTEGRITY UNIT," said Natalie.

"Pleased to meet you." I said...She was a very attractive and seductive woman..

"Oh My God...That is where I'm heading...Wrongful Conviction/Conviction Integrity Unit...I have a meeting with a Karen Page-Benz..."said Natika.

"She's our supervisor." I said.

"GREAT!!!I'm with the D.A.'s Office....I'm an Assistant District Attorney....Well, we are practically on the same team..." laughed Natika.

and got on the elevator to our floor.

We entered the office where Natika saw another face she recognized..

"BROOKE KENNEDY!" said Natika.

"Hello Natika. And it's Brooke Marks." said Brooke.

"You know my Brookie?" asked Natalie.

"Yes , we worked together in D.C. for a hot minute....Quick enough for her to take Sean from me.." Natika said Cattily....Then smiled...but it's all good..I moved on...How is married life?" she asked.

"Married life is just beautiful...Sean works down the street in the federal building..."said Brooke.

"I was being sarcastic...I know you two got divorced.."said Natika.

Brooke showed her her hand....

"We did and a year later, we got married again...This time for good! It's Brooke Marks." said Brooke.

This Natika person looked like the sun had fallen out of the sky...

"Oh!" she said.

To break the obvious tension in the room, I started laying the sandwiches out on the table.

"You do that so well....Let me guess...You worked in retsaurants to pay for law school and to supplement your income didn't you." asked Natika.

"Actually I did... One of the city's top restaurants...Snellenbergers... In fact I worked there a year after I graduated and passed the bar.. It paid off half of my student loans as well as my rent until I started working on a regular basis."I explained.

"You worked at Snellenbergers??Wow, talk about top of the line cuisine...I know you made top dollar...Have you taken Natalie there?" asked Natika.

"No not yet....but I plan to..Now that I can afford to eat there." I joked.

"I know that's right.....I didn't have to work fortunately....My daddy paid for my college and my law school...So I came out and went right to work." said Natika.

Both Natalie and Brooke bristled... I could tell that although they both knew this woman...They weren't particularly fond of her.

Karen walked in just then...

"Oh hello everybody...Sorry I'm late...You must be Natika Sommers...I was told you would be coming..

I see you've met my staff...Well sit down help yourself to a sandwich and some coffee...Don't eat that uh

Carmine Sandwich though, that's for Sean, Brooke's husband...He's on his way.."said Karen..

"I have history with your two staff attorneys...

"Natalie and I have known each other since the ninth grade at Girls High..and then years later in Law School at Georgetown....

"And Brooke and I were U.S. Attorneys for a short period in Washington D.C." said Natika.

"It's a small world huh?" said Karen...

Brooke's husband Sean walked in just then, to prove what an even smaller world it was..

"Hey Guys, sorry I'm late." he said and then got the shock of his life..

"Natika?" he said.

II-

''Well Hello Sean, Congratulations on the wedding." said Natika, not hiding her bitter sarcasm.

"Thank you."said Sean, who couldn't hide his uncomfortableness. I felt for him..

"Sean is a Federal Public defender who often helps us with our cases.. and Natalie,David and Brooke are my right hands...They handle 90 percent of our cases....So what brings you here Natika.?" asked Karfen..

Natalie, myself, Brooke and Sean all sat together and chowed down on coffee and sandwiches.

Natika held the floor....

"I was looking at some old cases to pass the time when I first got the job....No one had a case for me to take on and I came across a case prosecuted by the Late Carmen Upton...."Known as "Tough Cookie."

She had the highest conviction percentage of all of the ADA's with only a few exceptions, Keith Wallace, Rockland Cambridge and James Taylor...Unfortunately...I hear she was murdered awhile ago.

I was looking through her cases and I came across this one.. One I think she got wrong.

Willie Crockett, he was convicted of First Degree Murder and sentenced to life for the murder of his girlfriend. Willow Latham....They had been in a bar the last time she was seen alive...They had an argument...a loud argument and she left with two other guys and a woman...They apparently went to another bar a few blocks away and it began to rain...

Willie Crockett called her 9 times...She was still so angry at him that she refused to answer the phone.

witnesses say he left the bar in a huff...

He says that by the time he got to the bar she was at....Willow and the three people she was with were gone.. A New Bartender had started his shift and didn't remember them being there...

Willow's body was found in an alley , a few nights later..She had been strangled...Sexually assaulted and bitten." said Natika.

"Bitten?" I asked incredulous..

"Yes..Bitten....Now the prosecution found two of Willie Crockett's ex-girlfriends who said that he liked to bite them during sex and they took a sample of the bite marks on her neck and tried to match them to his teeth....He has perfect teeth, no extractions, no fillings...no nothing...Even I can't brag as to that...How many people have perfect teeth...Whoever bit Willow had a couple of teeth missing...but they ignored that...

Blood was found in his garage...but no examination was done to prove if it was human blood or if the DNA matched Willow... This investigation was sloppily done.... A footprint from a Sketchers Sneaker ,the same size as Willie Crockett's was found in the alley....but that could be anybody's sneaker....See what I'm getting at....There was enough holes in this case for reasonable doubt...

I brought my findings to D.A. Garcetti and that cute Deputy D.A. and they suggested I come here to see you guys... and I'm glad I did..." said Natika.

"Who was the investigating detective on this case?" asked Natalie.

''A Lieutenant Arthur Tragg. Homicide."said Natika.

"Oh My God! Why am I not surprised? Natika, you're new...but ask around...None of the Assistant District Attorneys want to work a case he has anything to do with...They are almost always sloppily thrown together, poorly investigated, witnesses not questioned..and more. We have to look into this case. An innocent man is in prison...how long has he been up?" asked Brooke.

"It was one of her last cases.....He's been locked up since February...He's in Phoenixville....I'm told that is a new prison and local."said Natika.

"Yes it is...Come here tomorrow for Breakfast...We'll work out the particulars...See if we can get a hearing before an appellate court judge and we'll go and see him the next day." said Karen.

"Thank you.....I just want to make sure the right guy is behind bars...." said Natika.

That night at our house....

"So Natalie, did you tell Jazzy, Kayla and Renee that you saw your old high school friend, Natika Sommers.?" I asked.

"Yes, I told them....Natika wasn't really our "friend"..She was a girl we knew...She didn't hang or associate with us... Unzip my dress..." said Natalie.

I unzipped her dress and helped her out of it...

"She seemed happy to see you..Not so happy to see Brooke." I said and smiled.

"She accused Brooke of stealing Sean from her... Sean dated Natika about three times ,but nothing became of it...They didn't sleep together...He and Brooke dated and they did sleep together and they got serious....That's just the way it happened...It's not like Natika was his girlfriend...That's just the way it went down." explained Natalie...

"If I remember you weren't that close with any other guys at the Public Defenders Office except, Chip and the only other attorneys you talked to was Me, Brooke and Jessica..." said Natalie...

"All those other guys were just trying to get in your panties...They weren't interested in being friends with me." I said.

Natalie walked by me again....

"Well look at you now...You're getting what they only dreamed about...I went out with two of them and nothing more... I'm married to you..." she said and smiled.

"And kissing you..." she said as she gave me a soft kiss..

We continued kissing....

"I love you Natalie." I said.

"You better!" she said ,giggling.. "I love you too David!" she said.

I unhooked her bra

and slipped her panties down...

I laid her on the bed and parted her legs....She was so wet and so warm and smelled so good that I was delirious...

I couldn't get enough of Natalie and she couldn't get enough of me...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU SWEET HUSBAND!!! OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed softly...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWWD!" I cried out...

We were really going at each other...Natalie had her arms wrapped around my neck and her legs wide open and wrapped around my back...

She was having an intense orgasm! She wasn't speaking but she was smiling broadly....and her body was trembling....

"Is it good to you? Is it good to you baby?" she whispered..

"YES...YES!" I cried out..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU, UMMMMMMMMMM! I'M GlADDD! OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....DAVID.....OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"Natalie finally moaned loudly.....She was having another intense orgasm!!!!

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM NATALIE....YOU ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY!" I cried out..

"YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY! THIS IS WHY YOU'RE MY HUSBAND!! OUUUUUUUUUU OH MY GOD!!! THIS IS WHY YOU'RE MY SWEET MANNNNN" she said...."OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned. Her body trembled and her head turned from side to side...Tears streamed down the side of her face...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU SWEET HUSBAND!!! OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed softly...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWWD!" I cried out...

We made love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

Ending our night with Natalie lying on top of me, breathing heavily.....

"Look at you...Big smile on your face.." she said..

I continued to smile as she lay her head on my chest....I wrapped my arms around her back...

She snuggled in the crook of my arms...

"I'm glad I make you happy." she whispered and smiled at me....

"I'm glad you do too! Give me a kiss baby" I whispered as we both dozed off.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" moaned Natalie, kissing me..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWD!" I moaned.

And Next door at Brooke and Sean's house..

"Natika is still claiming I "stole you from her...You guys dated what, Three times?...Did you two even kiss?" asked Brooke.

"Once...that third date...but we didn't sleep together..."said Sean...

"You were trying to get in my panties on our first date...You were a real horn dog.."laughed Brooke.

"Yeah, I was a little too forward with you....I apologize.."said Sean..

"Too late for that....You got me in the bed on the second date and it was game over after that...We've been going at each other since then...got married, got divorced and were still sleeping with each other..

And now here we are married again..."said Brooke.

"This time for keeps." said Sean...

"That's right...This time forever...." said Brooke, smiling..

They kissed each other slowly and sweetly....

Their kissing got hotter and more passionate....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Brooke you drive me mad!"said Sean....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu good, that means I'm doing my job..." she said.

"AWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWD! YOU DO IT SO WELL!" he exclaimed.

Brooke giggled.

He unsnapped her bra..

and softly and slowly slipped her panties down...

He spread her legs and entered her slowly....She was wet and warm and smelled good...He was delirious...

OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! LAWDDDDDDDDDDD! BROOKE!" he moaned...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYY GODDDDDD!!OUUUUUUUUUUU
WOUUUUUUUUU! Oh My God Sean, you are so hard....ouuuuuuu and so big! Ummmmmm" moaned Brooke.." she screamed. Tears flowed down her cheeks!

Her body trembled and she had a quick almost embarrassing orgasm....

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.LAWWWWWWWWWWD BROOKE, MY SWEET VANILLA!!!" he moaned.

The bed squeaked loudly and the headboard rattled....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! CHOCOLATE DADDY!!!" she moaned..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HUSBAND! OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"he moaned loudly...

"Chocolate Daddy ,I'm about to cummm....OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!"

"OHHHHHHHHHHH BROOKIE...SO AM I....AWWWWW LAWWWWWD!" he yelled out.

They made love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

Brooke rested on Sean's chest, breathing heavily and eventually dozing off to sleep.

End of another day.

III-

Natika arrived at our building early the next morning..

She loved this building...It hadn't even been built the last time she lived in Philadelphia...It had A Spa and a Gym in it...A Fantastic Cafeteria and wonderful office spaces....

She took the elevator up to the cafeteria.

The Cafeteria blew her mind....It was huge and had such a large offering of food choices.....It was like a five star restaurant....

The first people she saw was Jazzy and Kayla and their husbands..

"Jasmine? Is that you? Kayla?" she said. She was genuinely glad to see them...She hadn't seen them since High School....

"Hello Natika.. Natalie told me you were here yesterday...This is my husband, Dabnis.."said Jazzy.

"Pleased to meet you." said Dabnis...

"Hi Natika...This is my husband, Ray St. Jacques..

"Pleased to meet you." said Ray. She thought Ray was sexy.

She was introduced to the rest of the crew, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband, Chip Burrows of the Innocence Project...

"Pleased to meet you." said Jessica.

"Pleased to meet you." said Charles "Chip Burrows..

"Well Ms. Karen, this is a great cafeteria you guys have here..." said Natika..

"Glad you like it."said Karen..."This is my husband, B.L. Benz." she said..

"I know who he is... He hosts the TV show- HARD BOTTOM...I watch it often...YOU'RE MARRIED TO HIM? OH WOW!" she said....

"Yes..unfortunately for her she's married to me.."laughed B.L. "Pleased to make your acquaintence.." he said, smiling.

"Natalie...this is so nice.. All of my girls together here in this building....I love it." she said.

Natalie smiled...Neither, She ,Beverly,Jazzy, Kayla or Renee had ever been one of her "girls"They knew each other in High School to say Hi and Bye...They may have all had a class or two with her, but they were not friends..Not by any stretch of the imagination...and even years later in Law School at Georgetown, Natika hung with a different crowd..She spoke to Natalie in passing , but didn't hang out with her or Renee, who was at Howard. Natalie and Renee did hang out in D.C., but not Natika.

She smiled at me... The Fact that I worked at Snellenbergers , a very High class and Tony Restaurant to help pay my law school courses seemed to endear me to her.

She had "forgiven" Brooke for "stealing" Sean from her..

This was good especially since she was going to have to work with both Brooke and Sean on this case..

Better to be cordial and to bury old hatchets...

She was introduced to Jazzy's two other attorneys, Zoey and her husband, Lem..

"Pleased to meet you." said Zoey...

"Pleased to meet you."said Lem, who she thought was very handsome.

"Renee, Renee, so nice to see you again..." said Natika.

"Hi Natika." said Renee, who certainly remembered her from High School and from seeing her in D.C. , but felt no special closeness to her..

"This is my husband...Tyrell, he works with Jasmine's husband, Dabnis." she said.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance."said Tyrell.

She was introduced to Jazzy's husband's other two attorneys, Paris Boyd and Tony Billips.

"Hi..."said Paris..

"Hello." said Tony...

''Wow all of my contemporaries havwe acheived their career goals...Not just been successful attorneys, but have gotten married and are all in homes.I've got some catching up to do..." she thought..

She got another surprise when she came face to face with Beverly and Olivia....

"Oh My God!!! Beverly!" she said.. She actually hugged Beverly...

Beverly was really surprised... Out of all of them, Beverly had never really liked Natika.. She thought she was a phony and a snob... But that was High school...That was almost a lifetime ago...She was willing to let by gones, be bygones...

"It is sooo good to see you all..." said Natika...

"Natalie told me she saw you yesterday....We are here because we are working some more Immigration cases. ICE Detainment cases with the Innocence Project and our friends from upstairs, Yvette Jones -Lockwood and crew from McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt." said Beverly... You remember my aunt. don't you?" said Beverly.

''Who doesn't know the great Olivia Bennett-Alexander.???...I've followed your cases for years....People in D.C. didn't believe me when I told them I went to High School and College with Beverly West."said Natika.

"Pleased to meet you Natika. So you all went to High School and to Tyemple eh? I don't recall Beverly ever mentioning you.. Just Jazzy,Renee, our cousin Kayla and Natalie."said Olivia. "This is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander." said Olivia.

"Pleased to meet you..."said Donnie Ray.

"And this is my husband, Attorney Nelson East..."said Beverly...

"Hi, nice to make your acquaintence."said Nelson.

"I'm Josephine Boyd...."said Josie..

"And we've already met." said her husband, Paris..

"I'm Bresha Billips."said Bresha..."And My Husband, Tony Billips." she said.

"We met just before you guys got here." said Tony.

Natika was introduced to the rest of our group... Yvette Jones-Lockwood, Keith Jones, Beatrice Evans Jones, Sofia Garcia-Ahmed, Kahlil Ahmed, Jade Lee -Ho, Virginia Shaw Dukes and her husband,Judge Jetty Dukes. , our neighbors from down the street, Nina Rios, a former ADA, now a Staff Attorney for the Women's Legal Center, her boyfriend, Carlos Diaz, also a Staff Attorney for Women's Legal Center and Staff Attorney Lee Phillips...

She loved this group of people...A sprinkling of people she used to know and people they all worked with...She was happy that her five people, Natalie, Jasmine, Kayla ,Beverly and Renee were all happily married and living in a relatively new and hip area with lots of new housing...An area she was going to stake out herself. soon...She was missing a house and a love connection...She had to do something about that.

THE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, NATIKA SOMMERS...

ADA Bruce Greene delivered a bouquet of Roses..

He asked her whereabouts and told that she was" across town on business"and nothing more.

He had met Natika on her first day in the office , Had taken her to lunch at Sam Mothers and Dinner at a Tony Rooftop the night after that and was enthralled with her..

Deputy District Attorney Lester Burke stopped by an hour later...

He had Two Bouquets....A Red bouquet and a Blue One...He didn't ask where Natika was...He had sent her there...He just left the two bouquets and a card and left.

Even though he was technically her boss , He too had been enthralled by her...He planned to ask her out in the nearby future,.

One half of her problem might already of been solved.

IV-

We once again met in our conference room...

"It sure was nice seeing Jasmine, Kayla, Renee and especially Beverly....." said Natika.

"I've got a good investigator on this case...Yvette Jones Lockwood's husband, Gary Lockwood..He's an investigator for the D.A.'s Office that I share with ADA Rockland Cambridge. He'll be here tomorrow and Sean and I are going to try and get a judge....Meanwhile... You,Natalie, David and Brooke will be going to Phoenixville to meet with our potential client." said Karen...

"I have a car...I can meet you all up there." said Natika.

"That's great....We can all go in my car."said Natalie.

"That's great...We'll get a little breakfast at Sam Mother's Diner and then head on up...It's about an hours drive." I said.

"Fine with me..." said Brooke... "Natika...how bout we pick you up? Leave your car in the City Hall Parking lot...Meet us at Sam Mother's Diner and we all go up together?" said Brooke, extending an olive branch.

"That's nice....I think I'd like that." Thank you all."said Natika.

Sean looked at her...A lot of her old swagger was gone..She was back in her hometown for the first time in years and she found that she didn't really know anybody....Didn't really have any friends...She almost seemed desperate.

The Next Morning, Natalie, and I and Brooke had Breakfast at Sam Mother's Diner....

"Mmmmmm sure is nice to eat in Sam Mother's once again." said Natalie.

"Yeah, reminds me of when we all were Public Defenders...This was the go to place." I said.

"Here comes our food....Mmmmmmmmm and it smells good."said Brooke, smiling.

The Three of us ordered Pancakes, Sausages, Hash Browns and Hot Coffee.

Natika came in, saw us and sat at our table...

"Good Morning Everybody...." she said and ordered Steak and Eggs and hash browns and coffee....

"That's my car out front." said Natalie.

"Oh Nice!" said Natika. "House, Car, Husband...They had it all." she thought to herself.

ADA Bruce Greene walked in....he saw Natika and walked over to our table with a smile...

"Ms. Sommers, good morning...Did you get my flowers?" he asked.

"Flowers? If you sent them to my office, I didn't see them because I wasn't in the office yesterday....I was at the Bridge Building...I'm looking at a case with the WRONGFUL CONVICTION/CONVICTION INTEGRITY UNIT here...but thank you any way....I'm certain my assistant put them in water....I won't be in today either...We are going up to the prison in Phoenixville to see our perspective client...." she explained.

"Oh I see...Well uh we have a date Friday at Gazspachos....One of the City's most Tony Eating Establishments....I'll see you then." said Bruce as he headed to the counter without saying a word to the rest of us...

"I take it you all know Bruce....Huh? He's been on my ass ever since I started working in the D.A.'s Office... We have a date for Friday.....I've been hearing about this restaurant, Gazspachos...and I've been wanting to go...but the guy I wanted to ask me hasn't asked me yet....Bruce seems like a nice enough guy....but he doesn't seem to be my type." said Nakita.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to be a lot of girls type....Next time you see Renee, ask her about him."said Natalie.

"Oh is he her ex?" asked Natika.

"Noooooo, not even close....Just someone like you, who he courted and who was not her type either and had to learn the hard way....She'll tell you...."said Brooke.