Between Now And Then

We arrived at the City Jail early the next morning.....

Bull Bailey was there as usual to greet us..

Once again we used one of Olivia's Buses to transport us...

Bull frowned a bit at the make up of our crew....The Mixed race couples in our crew, Lee and Matthew, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and Charles "Chip" Burrows and especially  Brooke and Sean Marks.

He frowned , but what could he do?  This was the way of the world.

Natalie and I

and Karen brought up the rear....

In the visiting room 

Our Client Owen McCallister was ecstatic upon seeing us...Glad to no longer be facing the death penalty....Happy to be in the general population....not locked up for 23 hours a day...allowed one shower and a half hour of gym time alone...Able to talk to other people directly and not a voice behind a wall...

"HOW ARE YOU?  HOW ARE YOU? THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!" he said.

We brought him fresh doughnuts

Fresh Bagels with cream cheese and jelly

Pastries...

A Thermos full of hot coffee 

and orange juice...

"My investigator has turned in the bloody shirt found in your apartment to an independent DNA Lab, THE FBI and the DNA lab in our Medical Examiners Office... "said Karen.

"There was semen in the victim's body, in her panties and saliva on her bra that was never tested for DNA..as well as other unidentified liquids found in her apartment..."said Natalie.

"All of that is being turned over to the three DNA labs we are using." said Brooke.

"Before we leave today...We are going to need your DNA, Blood, Urine, Saliva and possibly semen..."I said.

"We are going to make this case on DNA as you have guessed."said Sean.

''We need to know where you were that day..The day and afternoon of the murder.."said Jessica.

''And your relationship to the girl."said Chip as we all munched on our food.

"That's just the thing....I didn't have a relationship with the girl...I barely knew her..." said Owen..

''We used to all drink in the same bar... Joey and her took a liking to each other and he asked her out a few times...I don't know if they dated or not.. Another guy we knew casually names..Boone Jordan,

also had a thing for her... He and Joey had words over her a few times...On the afternoon in question...She invited us over her apartment for drinks.. Me and Joey..I didn't go...I went home..I lived 

downstairs from her in the same apartment.. I don't know if Joey went or not...All I know is she was found dead and Joey and I were arrested and charged."said Owen.

"They charged you and convicted you first....I understand they were getting ready to indict Joey Williams and he uh unfortunately committed suicide."said Lee.

"That was the "Official" story...I never believed it." said Owen.

"Oh, what do you think happened?" asked Matthew.

"I think he was murdered!   He was killed to shut him up...I think he discovered who and he tried to make the officials aware...and somebody decided he had to go." said Owen.

"That's something I'm going to have our investigator look into..."said Karen..

"You have no idea where Boone Jordan is or if he's even still alive do you?" I asked.

"I've been locked away from civilization for 10 years...I have no idea." said Owen McCallister...

"Don't worry...We'll find him." said Natalie.

Owen couldn't believe it...He was off death row ,awaiting a new trial, something he thought he'd never get and represented by 9 young attorneys...He couldn't believe his good fortune... A Parting gift from his friend, James Thomas...now dead for two days....He was solemn as he thought about that.

II-

We had dinner at Olivia and Beverly's house tonight..after our great visit with Owen and our return of Olivia's bus,.

As usual, there was plenty of food and everything was delicious.

"Olivia...Thank you so much for the use of your buses..It made life so much easier for us....

"Oh don't mention it Karen...We are family...We help each other out.."said Olivia.

"Yes we do...and now, we can do it even closer.."laughed Natalie.

"You guys can use our law library now and walk home when your finished.."said Beverly, hugging Natalie.

"Yeah ,before we used to drive home.."I laughed..

"We are almost finished our research...We just need a few things tamped down." said Brooke.

"Yeah, we are waiting to hear from Gary..." said Sean.

"I'm sure he'll bring us some good news.."said Jessica.

"We are practically there...Practically there.." said Chip..

"I'm interested in this other dude...Boone Jordan and why no one looked into him or his whereabouts at all." said Matthew.

"You know if this happened in Philly, I would swear this was a Lt. Tragg case, but it wasn't...and the detective on the case is now deceased..." said Lee.

 

"Who is the Prosecutor?" asked Olivia.

''Someone named Lloyd Jenson..You guys know him?"asked Karen..

 

"Don't ask me....You know him Bev?" asked Donnie Ray.

"Nope...He's a Bayside guy...I know the Philadelphia Beat."said Beverly.

"Same Here." said Nelson as he ate his food.

"The way he played fast and loose with this case....I suspect he's a sleaze." said Josie.

"Sleaze with a Capital S." said her husband, Paris.

"There is always a dragon that has to be slayed at the bottom of every case." said Bresha.

"Such is a lawyers life babe. That's why we do this...We are the good guys."said her husband,Tony.

"I like the way you said that."said Alfreda.

"I know Jenson....He was an ADA in Philadelphia a few years back and you're right...A Total sleaze...He'll use every trick in the book to get a conviction...He is a total man without principles."said Rockland..."Watch out for him." said Rockland. 

Tender was the night.

After dinner at Olivia's, we all walked home...Jessica and Chip and Karen walked across the street and Brooke, Sean, Natalie and I all walked home...

The four of us got our laundry and headed to the new laundromat at the corner of our block...

"I'm gonna miss Laundry day...but I like that I can do my laundry quicker and it doesn't have to pile up." said Natalie.

"Ouuu Girl yesss." said Brooke..  She thought about how far she'd come from her old neighborhood and her friends..Here she was...Married to a Black man...Her bestie, A Black woman and most of her neighbors and friends were black...John Thomas, now two days dead and her were so far from this.

 

Sean and I quietly loaded the washing machines with our laundry.....This was a successful night.

Meanwhile at Lee and Matthew's house..

Lee was in her night shirt.....

"Come to bed Matthew....I no longer have to put the "Please Don't disturb" sign on the door handle....Remember that?" she laughed.

"Yeah ,I remember that...Hahahahahahahahaha. We don't have to close the bedroom door either..."said Matthew..

"No we don't...tee hee."giggled Lee.....

He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately....

" You have the softest lips...They drive me crazy... All we have to do is kiss in the doorway like we are doing. You drive me crazy Lee." he said...

"I like driving you crazy..."said Lee.

"Yesssss....you are good at it." said Matthew.

"Ummmmmmmm how are you?" he asked...

"I'm fine..."she said..

"I'm Hard! Hard as a brick!" he said..

"..Ouuuuuu I see that you are!!! Ohhhh myyyy"she giggled, stroking him lightly...

"MMMMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed...

He slipped her panties down...and off..while she continued to stroke him...

"OHHHHHHHH LEEEEE!!" he moaned softly.....

"OUUUUUUUUUUU YOU ARE SOOO HARD AND SO DAMN BIG!" she said softly..

Matthew laid her across the bed...Her legs were shaking....as he slowly and softly entered her warm and wet center....It was the best feeling in the world, he thought...

He tossed her on the bed...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Husssssssssssssssssssband.." she moaned... It felt good to say that..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmph.."he groaned in his low baritone as the bed began to squeak and the headboard began to rattle..

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" she squealed..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" he groaned..


"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOO HOOOOO, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
OUUUU HOO HOO...OH MY GOD!!!! OUUUUWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! ''Lee screamed..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SWEEET BABY!!!" he moaned 

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU TALK TO ME DADDDDDDYYYYYY!!!!" cooed Lee...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" he groaned..


"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOO HOOOOO, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
OUUUU HOO HOO...OH MY GOD!!!! OUUUUWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! ''Lee screamed..

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!  OHHHH Matthew!!! OH MATTHEW!! OHHH Matthew, you aren't making any damn sense!  OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU AYE  YI YIIIII!"said Lee.

''OOOOOOOU..AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" moaned Matthew

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! MY SWEEET GIRRRRRRRRL"he moaned..

"TALK TO ME BABY...DO YOU LOVE YOUR SWEET GIRL?" she asked.

"YES!!! YES...OH YESSSSS!"moaned Matthew..who didn't know if he was coming or going...

"YOUR NEW WIFEY LOVES YOUUUUU TOOO!!! OUUUUUUUUUUU!!! ..YOUR SWEET LITTLE GIRL LOVES YOU SO MUCH!  YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND!" she cooed...

NINE TO TEN HOURS SLIPPPED BY

Matthew fell asleep... Lee lay on top of him...He wrapped his arms around her waist...They both drifted off into a deep sleep.

III-

The Next Day we were at work...

Eating Breakfast in our cafeteria....

"This is the first time we've all eaten together in a few days.." said Jazzy.
 

"Lawyers life Baby...Even me and my guys had court appearences.."said Dabnis.

"Yeah and I had a few downtown litigations."said Kayla.

"Well it's nice to all be together this morning."said Ray with a smile..

We were all eating at a long table...communal style...

"We've got a trial date..." said Jessica..

"Between now and then...let's hope nothing goes wrong." said Chip.

"I'm crossing my fingers." said Karen.

"I'm getting my camera crew together."said B.L.

"This is going to be epic."gushed Natalie.

"This is already allover the Media..."I said.

"Bayside hasn't had a trial this big in years." said Brooke.

"I wish it was in Philadelphia." said Sean...

"Wowww!  I'm not familliar with the courts or the players in Bayside."said Zoey.

"Neither am I." said Lem.

"I tried a few cases in Bayside..." said Renee.

''Wow you've gotten around."said her husband, Tyrell.

"Ahh Bayside...I got to know it quite well in law school...all of the restaurants .."mused Paris.

"Me too!"said Tony...

"Me as well..I spent two years at Middleton Law School in Bayside before transferring to Drexel." said Lee.

"I went to Middleton too." said Brooke.

"You did?" asked Lee...

"Sure Did." said Brooke.

"WOW!  SEVEN DEGREES HUH?"laughed her husband, Matthew, a Harvard Law School Grad.

"I went to Harvard." said Nina.

"I went to Yale....Where did you go Carlos?" asked Matthew..

"New York University and Columbia Law School.."said Carlos.

 

 "PENN LAW SCHOOL." said Yvette proudly...

"Karen, The DNA tests are conclusive....The Blood on the shirt and the fluids are not Owen McCallisters...The semen in the panties and the saliva on the bra strap are not Owen McCallister's either..but they do match whoever's blood is on that shirt..100 percent DNA Match.." said Gary.

"Any luck locating Boone?" asked Yvette...

"Not yet,but he's a longshoreman...He won't be hard to find.." said Gary...

"You can make this case on DNA alone." said Keith Jones.

"Had this been used in the first trial..Owen McCallister wouldn't have been convicted." said Bee Bee.

"There was a lot of corruption going on with that trial."said Sofia.

"Well you heard what was said about Lowell Jensen." said Kahlil..

"Somebody needs to do a deep dive into Jenson.."said  Jade.

''Well maybe that will happen when Owen McCallister is set free." said Virginia.

"Don't look for too much...Jenson is well dug in and well insulated there."said her husband, Jetty.

After Breakfast in our conference room-

"You all have worked very hard....and I believe we are ready to put on an aggressive defense..."said Karen.

"I am so proud and so grateful for you all..The trial begins next week...Let's get this man out of prison." said Karen.

"He's been locked down for ten years.." said Natalie.

"That's ten years he can't get back..."said Brooke.

"But we can make sure he doesn't lose anymore." I said.

"We gotta be vigilant...Between Now and Then Anything can happen..."said Sean.

"By Now this Lowell Jenson knows all of us and all about us..."said Matthew.

"Yes, we've got to be vigilant..."said Lee..

"Yes...He's going to make a move....before the trial..I know it!" said Jessica.

Chip put his arm around her.

It was a sobering moment.

IV-

That afternoon upon arrival at home...Ice Agents were waiting for Matthew Akes..

"Heyyyyy what are guys doing here...I'm an American Citizen." said Matthew.

"My Husband is an American Citizen, leave us alone."said Lee.

"You were born in Lagos, Nigeria pal."said an Ice Agent...

"I've been in Philadelphia since I was 4 months old..I have my citizenship papers.."protested Matthew..

"Don't give us any problems sir, come quietly...."said the agents as they handcuffed him and put him in the car.

Lee was in tears....A crowd had gathered...

 

''We are his neighbors...We are all lawyers and you are not going to get away with this.."said Olivia,.

 

Everyone else in Olivia's group stood stoically....

 ''We are his original Attorneys,....We can prove his citizenship."said Yvette.

"Well you can come down to the courthouse tomorrow morning mam and argue this before a judge ."said the Ice Agents..

They were outnumbered and getting frightened.

Gary, Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil, Jade and Danny, Virginia and Jetty stood stoically....

Jazzy held a distraught Lee in her arms and rocked her back and forth..

"It'll be alright baby girl.. He'll be with you tomorrow night, I swear." she said.
 

"Don't worry Baby girl."said Dabnis.

"Don't worry Baby girl, we got you." said Kayla.

''Damn" said Ray.angrilly bamming his fist in to the palm of his other hand.

"This is Jenson...He made his move." said Jessica.

"We said Between Now and then he was going to make a move."said Chip...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU!"said an angry Karen Page.

Her husband, B.L. put his arms around her.

Natalie and I, Brooke and Sean were shocked into silence..

"WOWWWWW, Talk about Vindictive..." said Zoey.

"WOWWWW, This is deep." said Lem.

Renee, Tyrell, Nina and Carlos were all silent...

(TO BE CONTINUED)