All The Good Ones

My wife Olivia stood outside of Roxy's bar talking to a client of hers...His name was Jake Robinson...He was supposedly engaged, but the way he looked at her sometimes and openly flirted with her made me wonder how committed he was to any woman..

He didn't see me as I moved through the crowd to get to the them...It was a Friday afternoon ...The weather was warm and crowds of people were milling around...

"So Livy, once again...I can't thank you enough for all of your help in settling that little matter of dispute with my company and those imposters.."he laughed...

"That's why you pay me Jake.." she said dryly...

"I'd like to uh pay you personally in another way if you know what I mean and you know I do." he said...

"Jake...I'm married now and as I told you last year....I never...NEVER mix business with pleasure..."she said sternly...

"Well business is over now Livy....Heh ,Heh ,Heh.."he laughed....What a snake..

"Yes and aren't you engaged?" she asked...

"Oh...uh ,yeah...yeah...but I haven't put a ring on my finger yet."he said...

''What about what she said don't you understand?" I asked him.

He looked like a cat that had just got caught with a canary in his mouth...

"OH!  Oh..uh..Ummm, you must be the lucky guy....Olivia's husband..."he said...

I just stared daggers at him.....

Olivia came in between us and held my hand...

"Jake...This is my husband...Donnie Ray Alexander...He is an Investigator for my firm.....In fact it was his legwork that gave me the legal ammunition to win your company's case.."she said.

He smiled nervously and then extended his hand...

"Oh...Uh, well thank you sir." he said...

I said nothing...I just looked at him... Just then, my wife's neice and fellow attorney, Beverly West walked up on us...

"Auntay, D.R.  Fancy meeting you here....I guess we all had the same idea tonight huh?" she said.

I smiled upon seeing Bev...Younger than her aunt Olivia by only nine years, she was Robin to my Batman, when I did some of my investigations...I even referred to her as "Robin"...She was my niece too and not just by marriage, but in spirit...Her showing up was the only thing was saving this guy right now...

He looked at Beverly and practically droooled..

"My...My...My ..Ms. West...you aint married.." he said smiling...

"Save it Jake...My man is on his way here.." she said without even looking his way..

"All the good ones are taken." he said with fake disapointment... Beverly looked at Olivia and shook her head...Olivia smiled..

"Aren't you engaged?" asked Beverly....

"Yeah, Yeah ,Yeah...I wished I hadn't told you guys that." he said.

"Come on..Let's get a table...First round is  on me.."I said holding Olivia's hand..

"Okay cool"said Jake..

I turned around....

"Not You!  My wife and my niece!" I said...

"Oh...Yeah, right...Of course." he said.

The man had no shame.

II-

We drank a first round....Then Nelson, Beverly's boyfriend entered the bar...He saw us and walked over to our table...

Beverly gave him a long sensual kiss that lasted a little longer than publicly acceptable...

"Ummmm My baby is in the world of private practice now.." she said...

He smiled sheepishly and blushed...

I looked at him...

"Don't be embarrassed..Watch this." I said and kissed Olivia almost as long..

"Wowzers...What was that for?" she asked ,breaking my embrace...

"Because you're a sexy woman.."I said..

"Really? Or is it to make Jake jealous?" she asked ,giving me the side eye..

I laughed...

"He's already jealous that he doesn't have you." I said and kissed her again...

Olivia smiled...

She whispered in my ear...

"You know it really turns me on that you were kinda jealous when he was flirting with me."she said.

"Yeah?" I asked..

"Yeah" she said...

''Well let's go and do something about it then." I whispered in her ear..

I paid the check...Olivia and I got up...

Beverly and Nelson were still drinking..

"Don't come back too early kids.." I joked...

She looked at me..

"Don't knock on my door before noon."she joked...

Nelson's jaw dropped...

Olivia and I laughed...Beverly looked at Nelson seductively and then she giggled...

III-

While Olivia waited for me outside...I went to the men's restroom.... To my surprise..
Jake was in the restroom doing a line of coke with two white guys...They had a rolled up twenty dollar bill and were snorting three lines.

"Hey man...that stuff will kill you."I said as I washed my hands...

''We all gotta die of somethin." he said. The two white guys laughed as they continued to snort...I just shook my head and walked out of the restroom.

At the time..neither he nor I knew how ironic those words were....

IV-

The next morning...There was a loud knock on our door... I yawned and got out of bed and put on a bathrobe....Olivia was half asleep!

I walked to the door....It was Beverly....

"Yo....Aren't you kind of early Bev?" I said.

"Heyy you guys...wake up...it's Jake!" she said excitedly....

''Jake? Jake Robinson?" I said- "What about him?" I said.

"He's dead!" she said..

"What? Dead?" I said.

Olivia heard what Beverly said and walked over to the door...

"Jake is dead?  The Jake we just saw last night?" she said..."My client Jake?" she continued...

"Yes Auntay....One of Nelson's friends from the Public Defenders office saw you two in court yesterday and he knows you're my aunt and he called Nelson and told him that Jake collapsed outside of Roxy's around 2:15 last night..." said Beverly...

"Wowzers....I'm curious....Donnie Ray, you don't have to...but I'd like to go to the M.E.'s office and find out what happened to him."she said.

 

I actually felt guilty about the ill will I had felt towards him hours ago....I certainly didn't wish him dead..

"Yeah...let's get dressed and uh drive over to the M.E.'s office.."I said.

"Can I ride with you guys?  Nelson is going back to his apartment and he has a few errands to run." she said.

"Yeah..sure...I said.

Two hours later, Olivia, Beverly and I entered the M.E.'s office ...We asked to look at Jake Robinson's body...Doc Gibbons was there when we got there...

"Well Hello Olivia...Beverly...Haven't seen you two in awhile.."said Doc Gibbons...

"Good Morning Doc...This is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander....He's an investigator with my firm." she said.

He smiled and shook my hand..

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Alexander...Your wife and her niece used to come down here occasionally when they were public defenders...I didn't expect to see them anymore once they went into private practice." he said.

"Your latest dead guy is my client...or rather was my client...We settled our case yesterday.."she said.

''Yeah and I guess he celebrated a little too much..His alcohol level was way over the legal limit..and he had enough Heroin and Cocaine in his system to kill a horse.." he said.

"I saw him doing a line of coke in the bathroom at Roxy's last night." I said.

''Yeah, well he had Heroin after that and a lethal mix of the two sometimes afterwords...He suffered a massive heart attack."said Doc Gibbons...

''So it was natural causes" said Beverly..

"Indeed, but an un-natural way to go..." said Doc Gibbons.  'Oh, here comes his fiance now."said Doc Gibbons.

A very pretty Black Woman walked into the morgue...She was crying....

''Oh My God Jake...Jake...What did you do?" she asked...

Olivia and Beverly knew her...They put their arms around her...

"We are so sorry Gretchen for your loss..We were just out with Jake last night..."they said...

Just then another Black woman came walking into the room...she was crying...

"Oh My God...Johnnie..Johnnie..It's true...What I was told was true...Oh My God...What happened?"she cried...

"Mam...This is Jake Robinson.." said Doc Gibbons...

''Yes...He's my fiance.." said Gretchen.

"Fiance?? That's My HUSBAND!! And his name is John Pryor!" she said and produced his drivers licensce and a work ID as Identification...

Doc  Gibbons and I looked at each other....

"It's a good thing he's dead...because right now...He is sooooooooooo busted." I said.

Doc Gibbons cracked up laughing....

"Liv..I like this guy...He's got my sense of Humor...

Olivia just smiled and shook her head.

(TO BE CONTINUED)