Royal Flush

The civil trial of Soloman Foster for sexual harrassment began with both sides believing they had the hot hand...or royal flush...

Attorney Dallas Houston looked a bit frazzled...He gave a brilliant opening argument casting Ms. Lucy Luckette as a hapless victim of Soloman Foster's sexual advances..

A poor woman ,who had just been cast aside by a charismatic preacher after seven loyal years as his lover and confidante and who needed her job because she was in danger of losing her home..

It sounded good,but it was all a load of crap...She sat in the courtroom in a short, but tasteful business suit which showed just enough leg to tantalize the male jurors and the judge....She played the role of poor frightened career woman who had been taken advantage of by powerful men who held her future in their hands...

Olivia's opening statement presented her client as a man who had been taken advantage of by a scheming and skillful woman who knew of his proclivity for the ladies..and was counting on it...she argued that she would prove that Lucy Luckette had done this before and was still doing it as we spoke..

Dallas called Jim, the white man we saw the night before to the stand...He testified that Soloman had had a huge erection the very first day that he brought new employee ,Lucy Luckette in his office and that he had closed the office door and locked it and that they had been in the office for most of the afternoon..

Olivia presented photos of Jim coming out of her apartment just the night before, fixing his clothing and with a huge erection of his own...Olivia  asked him the nature of HIS relationship with Ms. Luckette..

Jim looked like he swallowed a canary upon seeing the photos of him kissing Ms. Luckette in the doorway...not to mention what she was wearing...A White sheer babydoll and a matching pair of  string bikini panties...

The men in the jury checkled...The women looked at Jim side eyed....but worse...Members of his firm in the audience looked aat him sideways...He was as red as a beat....He slithered out of court silently...

Dallas showed the jury lurid videos of Ms.Luckette on her knees servicing Soloman in his office and at her apartment and with her girlfriend..

Beverly said- "That doesn't look like she's being forced to do anything to me...Here is the email she sent to him saying that she  uh "Needed some" And then Beverly showed her in the same video with the same woman and Reverend Dr, Cecil Copeland, Seymore Butts and Georgia Jones and called them all in to testify and tell their stories...Stories that they stuck to and that all sounded simular to Soloman's story...Dallas was unable to shake them, try as he might...Georgia James's outrage moved the women in the crowd..

Olivia asked the jury wasn't it strange that all of these people wound up on video and all of them wound up having to pay out huge amounts of money to keep these videos from going public?? She then showed the jury copies of Lucy's Bank statements and argued that she was nowhere near in danger of losing her very expensive condo...

Dallas objected ,but Judge Freeman over ruled him and allowed the statements...

Dallas next called Josie Boyd to the stand..

"She works at your own firm Mrs. Alexander...Your own firm...This young lady was victimized by Soloman Foster..."he screamed...

But Josie's testimony was not what he expected...

Josie said that she and Soloman had a nice date and that the sex was consensual and that she bore no ill will toward Soloman Foster...that he in no way forced himself on her or tricked her...or promised her anything other than a return call. Neither Olivia or Beverly bothered to cross examine Josie ,which Dallas found strange...

Dallas Houston looked exasperated...

Because he couldn't mention Soloman's past legal battle and his incarceration there was no need to call ADA Keith Wallace...but he called his wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace

Carlotta's testimony didn't help...She said that Soloman had asked her out on dates a couple of times and she had refused...but that he had never physically imposed himself on her or threatened  job reprisals in anyway....

Dallas asked if the requests for dates and sexual overtures ever amounted to sexual harrasment...Carlotta said no because she didn't interact with Soloman that much.

Dallas called a surprise witness next...Detective Sirena Pile...Olivia objected ,but was over-ruled by Judge Freeman....

Detective Pile admitted that Soloman pursued her vigorously for months before she finally gave in and dated him...She was asked if she considered it sexual harrassment..She said no because she wasn't promised anything or threatened in anyway..He was just persisitant...She said she dated him for six months and that they ended their relationship amicably...

Lt.Sissy Van Buren was next..

She said that she met Soloman as far back as when she was a young patrol cop and that he had asked her out several times, but that she had rebuffed him..

Dallas tried to get her to say that the "Harrassment" continued during her time as Detective and after she made Lieutenant of Homicide..Sissy vehemently denied that..

Olivia didn't cross examine Sissy, Sirena or Carlotta...Their testimony had helped her more than it had Dallas..and he seemed to sense that...

Finally Dallas Houston called his last witness...Detective Angela Belton..

She admitted that Soloman had pursued her aggressively for a relationship, even after he knew she was involved with someone else...but that he never used his influence as an ADA to cause her any professional problems...

Olivia asked her if she didn't in fact consider a relationship with Soloman...Angie admitted that she did ,but decided not to...Dallas objected, but Judge Freeman over-rulled him.

Dallas asked her if it was because of his reputation of harrassing young women...Angie said that she had never heard of such reputation...She merely didn't wish to be involved with him...

Finally looking flustered, Dallas rested his case...

II-

Olivia called Lucy Luckette to the stand...

She looked at Dallas Houston who turned away from her...He appeared to be somewhat hurt...With his knowledge that she had betrayed him with another man the night before...She had no idea what was up with him.

"Lucy Luckette...Is that your name?" asked Olivia..

"Yes.." she said and smiled..

"I'm going to ask you again...Is Lucy Luckette your name?" said Olivia..

"Yes it is.." she said ,getting a bit testy..

"It in fact is not...Your name is Juanita Evans-Townsend and you're from Miami,Florida...Is that in fact true?" said Olivia...

She looked like she'd drank a can of paint..

''Is that true Mrs. Townsend?" asked Olivia..

''Yes." she said quietly..

''What was that?" asked Olivia..

"YES!  YES OKAY?" she said.

Dallas Houston now looked like he'd drank a can of paint.....This was his first time hearing this...He didn't know! He smacked his hand on the table in front of him....and shook his head.

 Beverly played the videos we had taken to the jury on a huge 50 inch flat screen of statements by her husband, Johnnie Lee Townsend of her lover,Lionel Cohiba, who she and another husband, ripped off for 70K...and her other lover who she married while still being married to Johnnie Lee Townsend...Barry Dickerson...

She looked at Beverly like she wanted to strangle her....

Olivia then showed the audience a photo of the real Lucy Luckette, dead now for 20 years , whose identity Juanita Townsend had stolen...

Dallas tried to get all of this testimony stricken from the record, But Judge Freeman ruled against him...

Exposed...Lucy Luckette couldn't refute any of the evidence against her...Evidence that Attorney Dallas Houston didn't know...He was just as shocked as everyone else was...

Olivia called Soloman Foster to the stand and had him tell of how Juanita Townsend,aka Lucy Luckette came on to him, offering him oral sex on her first day at the office and for a few weeks and then finally demanding a bigger desk, a new chair and other consessions ,including days off with pay and flexible hours...

He said that he had no idea that their sex sessions were being taped...and he said that he had never threatened her job...

With that, Olivia rested her case...

Dallas argued that regardless of what the women said..that Soloman had a history of sexually harrassing women to get what he wanted...and that these women were still under his sway., Which made Sissy,Carlotta,Sirena and Angie bust out in gales of laughter...The jury saw that and they smiled too!

Olivia argued that for all of the so called harrassing he was accused of ..."What had he gotten?"...Four women who said they rebuffed him and suffered no consequences and one woman who had consensual sex with him....She didn't work for him ,so what did he take from her??She said on the other hand...The plaintiff had lied about her name, and lied and scammed people for close to twenty five years..

Olivia hadn't cross examined not one woman who had testified for Dallas Houston, which had him perplexed....but he knew she had done damage to the credibility of his star complaintant...Probably all she needed to do..

It took a jury less than 15 minutes to rule in Soloman and his company's favor...They did not have to pay a red cent to Lucy Luckette ,aka Juanita Townsend...

Nelson had come to watch the trial...But he wasn't the only visitor..A Miami Homicide Detective and three patrolmen, along with three Philadelphia policemen arrested Juanita Townsend, shortly after the trial...They wanted to talk to her about a 17 year old unsolved murder...The Murder of the real Lucy Luckette!!!

She looked helplessly at Dallas Houston...He was exasperated...He turned away from her...He had not only lost a big case...but he realized he had been made a fool of by his client...She stomped her foot and angrily turned her head both ways like a petulant child as she was dragged out of court...

Detectives who had tossed her condo found videos of Dallas Houston and Lucy and her girlfriend in the bathtub....the same girlfriend that was in the other videos..She was possibly setting him up to be her next pigeon...They were kissing, fondling him and splashing in the huge tub....Laughing and carrying on...

III-

Olivia and I stood outside the courtroom kissing passionately like nobody else was there...

Beverly and Nelson were off to the side doing the same..

They had just won the biggest case of the year....Olivia and Bev had beat a man who had been their mentor...

Soloman walked up and hugged both women...

"Oh My God...Oh My God..We won!! I'm vindicated and neither the firm,nor I had to pay a dime...and best of all...That scheming grifter is going to jail where she belongs..You two are brilliant..!!!" he said.

Dallas Houston walked over to Olivia...

"You played the game well Livy...Just like I taught you...You had the royal flush and you held your cards close to the vest....I failed to do my research..."he said.

''By the way..Where is Coretta?" asked Olivia.

"We broke up yesterday...I believe that coniving harpie,Lucy Luckette sent her some photos of ME and her!"he said angrily!

"Oh My God.."said Olivia...

"Yes...she punched me in the eye the minute I walked in the door.. There were photos of me kissing Lucy in the doorway and of her uh, ruh stroking my privates in the doorway...Lucy must have been across the street snapping these photos, I hope I can get my hands on them."he said.

"I'm so sorry" said Olivia...

Beverly and I looked at each other and turned our heads...We didn't want him to see us laughing.

Beverly and I laughed and high fived each other..For once Lucy Luckette aka Juanita Townsend was innocent of something...We had had Nelson deliver those photos...

"It's okay....I'll move on...Good job...You and your niece are great attorneys.."he said and walked away...He didn't even look at Soloman Foster....

Josie walked over to us..We all hugged her...Soloman couldn't keep his eyes off of her..

"Uh Josie...Could I uh take you out for a drink tonight?" he asked...

"I am going out with someone tonight..Sorry..Maybe some other time."she said.

He hung his head..

"Okay.."he said and walked away...

''Wow! That was rough.."I said.

"I don't really have a date..but I didn't want to get caught up in that with him again."she said.

''Sure you have a date...With us!!!We are all going to AC tonight to celebrate.. On me."said Olivia.. ''And we don't have to drive...I ordered car service."she added.

"Me too?" said Nelson..

"Yes...My niece has got to have some company too." she said.

 We all busted out laughing...Beverly playfully punched his arm...

And I hope you don't mind Josie...But I invited Paris along too" said Olivia...

 ''Paris is good people...he's a good friend."said Josie...

"Then it's settled...We'll all go home, put on something comfortable and meet at the office...The car service will pick us up around 7:00...We'll go to AC, get some dinner,some drinks and hang out on the beach....There's a nice bar on the beach."said Olivia..

"Sounds like a plan"said Josie..

And we all smiled...and that's just what we did!

EPILOUGE:

Juanita Townsend was extradited back to Miami to stand trial for Murder...While she was gone she was sued by Seymore Butts, Georgia James, Cecil Copeland, Lionel Cohiba and Barry Dickerson...Practically all of her holdings and property were liquadated to pay these people...Olivia and Beverly represented all of them...We got paid well off the back end as Dallas was so fond of saying..

She was found guilty of Manslaughter and sentenced to 30 years in state prison...It was less than she deserved...We never found out the identity or the whereabouts of Juanita's female accomplice who appeared in all of the videos...Each man was given a different name for her...None of which were real names...She simply vanished...Smart Woman!

One day a few weeks later, Soloman Foster stopped by our office- It was closing time, we were getting ready to go out..

 "Heyyy Guys...You guys going out tonight huh?" he said...

 "Wow Soloman...One thing you are is perceptive."said Beverly, who then laughed...
"Just kidding."she said.

 "What's up man? How you doin?" I said, shaking his hand..

"I'm doing alright...I'm glad I caught you all...I had to say Thank you to your wife.."he said.

Olivia appeared in the door at that moment..Neither Soloman nor I could take our eyes off of her..She was dressed to the nines.

Soloman shook his head and laughed...

''You are one lucky man Donnie Ray...Lawd have mercy." he said.

"Heyy Soloman...We are all going to Mulberry Street tonight to see the Liquid Love Band and then to Stoleys afterwords."said Olivia..

"I just came by to say thank you....Especially to you Livy...If not for you I wouldn't be practicing law and I might have been disbarred again if convicted of sexual harrassment." he said. "You've saved my life like two times." he said.

"Awwww,just doin my job..."she said.

"Well despite the fact that my firm didn't have to pay a dime and the charges were proven baseless they strongly suggested that I tender my resignation and I did..But don't worry about me...I spoke to Larry North on the phone and he's offered me a job out in San Diego with him with his Innocence Project...We'll be working on a few cases of wrongly accused and convicted people...It's something different for me..I uh leased my condo to this guy I knew and I'm headed out to San Diego tomorrow..Larry said that he has a place I can crash at until I find an apartment...I couldn't leave Philly without thanking you guys..." he said.

''Wow Soloman...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually gonna miss you."said Beverly..

"Awww, Sometimes a change of scenery is good for you. I certainly wish you good luck." said Olivia...

He hugged her and Beverly and shook my hand...Then he turned his attention to Josie ,who hadn't said anything...

"Josie, you're always going to be the biggest regret of my life...I'd finally found Ms. right and I was too stupid to realize it...I-I-I got scared."he said.

"Scared of what?" she asked..

"I dont know...I felt so good after I left you , better than I had ever felt before ...and I was just too scared to call you back...You are something else..."he said.

Olivia signaled for me and Beverly to leave the office so they could talk alone..We did..We'd wait for Josie in the car..

Josie came from behind her counter and kissed Soloman passionately...He grabbed her and kissed her and held her for dear life...

"Wow that was some kiss.."he said.

"That's what you're going to miss "she said and placed her index finger on his lips..

"Damn right I am...I'll be back....I'm not askin you to wait,but if you're available when I return..."he said.

"Don't say it...We'll see...Have a safe trip Soloman." she said...

"Can I.....Kiss you again?" he asked...

Josie kissed him and he held her and kissed her again for a long time...moaning a little...

Josie finally eased out of his embrace...

"I gotta go Soloman..."she said.

They walked out of the office...Josie locked up and then got in the backseat with Beverly...Olivia and I were up front...

"You okay girlfriend?"  asked Beverly.

"Yeah...I'm good." said Josie.

Soloman waved as we pulled off...

 I thought I saw a bit of a tear as we pulled off and he was standing there waving.....