Can't Help Who You Love

Three days later. Olivia and I sat in Sam Mother's Diner eating breakfast....Unlike the day before...The sun was shining bright and we were enjoying a balmy 65 degrees....Olivia had French Toast and sausage, while I had Coffee , Grits and sausage with scrapple on the side..

I had heard of Scrapple , but had never had it until I moved here in Philadelphia..I loved it..and ordered it on the side with every meal.

She smiled at me as I ate...

''You really like scrapple don't you?" she said laughing..

''I do..it's great..."I said between bites...

"You think our girl will show up?" she asked.

She was talking about our client...Renee' Gentile...The former corrections officer who had had a steamy affair with former Philly drug kingpin, Malik Clarke and had not only gotten herself pregnant, but had had the baby and had it takenaway from her by the state.  She now faced a year in Prison herself and being labeled a sex offender...

"She'll be here..She knows what is at stake..and plus...we payin for her breakfast."I said and winked..

"The way you're eating..there might not be any food left by the time she gets here." joked my wife...

Her sense of humor was one of the things I loved the most about her...

II-

Renee Gentile was born here in Philadelphia...Educated in the Philadelphia Public School System...Raised by a single mother in the North Philadelphia housing projects...The youngest of two girls...Her older sister was a college graduate, married, employed in Atlanta, married with three children...Her Father lived just a block away..and she wasn't aware of it until she was 17 years old.

At 14, she went to Lower Merion to live with an Aunt....She graduated from Lower Merion High...She attended West Chester University of Pennsylvania for two years...She had to drop out when she got pregnant...

She had a miscarriage...She entered Community College for a year and then dropped out and began working a series of low paying jobs...Cashier, Administrative Assistant at a law firm, Sales Clerk, et al....

Finally, she got the break of a lifetime...The Federal Prisons Administration was hiring and had a training program...She trained and graduated and became a Corrections Officer!  She had a good paying job with a pension option and lots of benefits...

She got herself an apartment , a car and enrolled in community college...She graduated with an Associates degree in Administration of Justice and got a promotion at her job!

For a time...Life was good...Then she met up and coming Drug Kingpin ,Malik Clarke..  At the time they met...Clarke was a lieutenant in Fathead Newton's drug organization....When Fathead retired and left Philadelphia...a war for his territory broke out...Malik Clarke waited and bided his time and when all of the pretenders to the throne either died or went to jail...He made his move and became King!

His reign was short lived and brutal...17 murders caught the attention of both the FBI and Philadelphia Homicide and they put together a successful investigation that put 162 of his people behind bars and him also...He was convicted of 7 murders himself and sentenced to death!!!

He wound up being housed in the same prison that his girlfriend was working in and there the problem lies.

I had made Bev and Olivia aware of her past....Now...We were hoping we could salvage her future...For all intents and purposes...She had been a good girl who had been led astray.

III-

We were nearly finished our meals when Renee strolled in....

Olivia smiled at her...

''Almost thought you weren't going to show up." she said.

"I almost didn't...I can't believe this is real....I actually have a good lawyer to help me out....I-I- mean an experienced lawyer."she said.

"It's okay honey...I know exactly what you mean.....I cut my teeth in the public defenders office though...That's where a lot of lawyers start out." said Olivia..

"And people like me become guinea pigs." she said...

"More or less...It's not a perfect system...but it's all we have right now." said Olivia..

I was silent...but I recognized that Renee was absolutely right...Probably why a lot of people were in prison who shouldn't be....
IV-

"I guess you all are wondering how I could have been so stupid.." said Renee....

"Nobody is judging you..." said Olivia....

"I'm judging myself...I should have known better...I mean...I'm from around the way...I know his..I mean Malik's type...I knew who and what he was the minute I laid eyes on him..." she said..

"I was in a bar...with my girlfriends... We were celebrating...I had just graduated from Community recently and I had gotten a promotion at the prison...All my girlfriends were at the bar with their man...and I was the only one there that didn't have anyone...

Malik was sitting in a booth with all of his friends and he kept staring at me...I wasn't surprised...I had on a very short and tight skirt and some matching pantyhose and heels and I was getting a lot of attention from guys that night..but nobody I was interested in..

He sent me a drink over...and he winked at me...He was cute, dressed too nice for that bar...and throwing around money with no fear....In this bar, you didn't do that unless you were so connected that nobody would dare try to rob you...I knew right then and there he was in the game...

I let him come over and talk to me...I let him slow drag with me all night...and even after my girlfriends and their men left...Malik and I were still there talking ,late into the night...

My girlfriends always said that I was a bit too easy...and perhaps they were right...because that night or should I say, early morning...Malik and I came back to my apartment and we ...we got intimate...

From then on...He was visiting me three and four times a week and even though he never actually said it...I pretty much thought I was his woman.." she said.

I opened up a manilla folder and showed her several police observation photos of Malik Clarke, Olivia was able to get from her friend, ADA Keith Wallace ,who had run the investigation and prosecution of Malik Clarke...

These photos showed him with several different women ,some in uncompromising situations...

"You know any of these women?" I asked.

She held her head down...

"No...they must all be from West Philly." she said.

"I talked to all of them...They all thought they were his main woman too, just like you.."I said.

"Damn...I was such a fool...He would buy me expensive jewelry from time to time and once he took me to Atlantic City for a weekend and he used to tell me things...personal things...I thought he loved me.." she said.

"He told them the same things...Renee...He's a user..." said Olivia..

She hung her head down...Then she continued...

"I always knew he was a drug dealer...I just never knew how high up and then..He was the boss....and the next thing I knew..He was arrested and on trial....While he was on trial..He was being held in my jail...The same jail I worked at.."she said.

"Your affair continued.."I said dryly...

"Yes...He was suddenly so helpless...So needy..He told me he needed me...I got transferred to the midnight to six shift....I switched with a friend...I used to let him out of his cell...The prison was quiet...Most of the personell was home...We would go into  an empty cell or an activity room...

He'd kiss me...open up my blouse....unhook my bra and before I knew it..I had his trousers down and was fondling his penis and kissing him...That's how it started..
I wouldn't let him go any further...Not in there...but he talked me into giving him blow jobs and then from there..it was straight up, full blown sex...

We would do it...two and three and four times a night...and everyday that I was working..." she continued.

"Then you discovered you were pregnant." I said.

"Yes..." she said.

"But how did the prison administration find out who the father was?" I asked..I already knew...I was just wondering if she knew..

"I don't know...I guess somebody told..."she said.

I put another photo on the desk and a copy of a letter sent to the warden..

"That's Russell....Russell Grissom...He's also a correctional officer..."she said.

"He gave you up to the warden..."I said.

She shook her head in disgust....

"He wanted me...He had been on my ass since the day I started...but I was never interested in him that way." she said.

"But he was interested in you Renee' and word got to him through the prison grapevine...perhaps another inmate told him and he told the Warden...You wouldn't sleep with him, but you were sleeping with an inmate...This was his revenge."said Olivia..

"Wow! unbelievable.....And you know what?  After I got fired...He came over my apartment, all sympathetic...Talking about how he'd take care of me....What a phony...What a hater."she said.

"Indeed"I said.

"He did give me money sometimes...and I had to get on Welfare to make ends meet after I lost my job...I started drinking heavily and smoking a little joint...I was stressed out Ms. Olivia...and oh well...A Cop stopped me and arrested me...I had Malik and my son in the car seat...I wasn't high at the time...but the cop found a roach clip on the floor of my car and I guess the smell of marijuana was still in the car and they busted me for D.U.I. and the state took my baby." she said.

''As hopeless as it sounds baby..I've got enough to fight this case..Best scenario..I beat the DUI charge and get your baby back for you and maybe..keep you out of county for a year." said Olivia..

"And the worst scenario?" she asked.

"You know what that is." said Olivia.

V-

Josies was crowded this afternoon...I sat down and had my usual beer and chewed the fat with Gus for a few minutes....

''There's your niece counselor."said Gus as Beverly walked in.

I ran into my wife's niece ,Attorney Beverly West that afternoon in Josies...I told her all about our interview with Renee and everything I had found out about her...

"Wow...I know so many girls just like her....That could have easily have been me...But Auntay kept me on the straight and narrow..That's why I love her so much...Can't tell you how many times she had to put her foot in my butt to straighten me out...when I was a teenager and a young adult...Wow!  poor Renee'...We got a shot at helping her?" asked Beverly...

''Your Auntay thinks so...and having observed her in court...My money is on her.."I said.

Beverly laughed and gave me a side eye...

"You love my auntay don't you?  Your money would be on her anyway.." she said laughing at her own observation.

"Did you go to the jail to see our guy?" I asked.

''Sure Did..We got to talk in private..Guess what I found out?  Malik Clarke is practically running the joint...He has expensive gourmet meals brought into him in his cell..He's got cable TV ,use of a computer and a cell phone...Hell, he's got a Facebook page and a Twitter account...and he's got a connect!  He's selling drugs on the inside...He's got inmates who serve as his personal bodyguards, who stand outside his cell.....And anybody who doesn't toe his line can end up dead as one inmate did or seriously injured as several have..." she said.

"The only way he can be selling drugs in the prison is with help from the outside." I said.

''No...Try help from the INSIDE! "said Bev..."He's got a guard in his pocket...This guy" she said showing me a photo of Correctional Officer, Russell Grissom..

"Well I'll be damned...Look who it is?" I said.

"You know him?" asked Bev...

"This is the guard that blew the whistle on Renee...Told the warden of her sexual relationship with Malik Clarke and got her fired...Then showed up at her apartment professing his love for her and offering to take care of her....He's Malik Clarke's main man huh?"I laughed.

"He hangs out at The Mermaid Club and another bar...I think the other bar is where he gets his stash..." said Beverly..

"Looks like I'm going to give this bar a look see." I said.

"Good, want me to come along?" she asked..

"Not this time Robin...Batman has to do this one solo.."I laughed and pulled her to me and kissed her on the forehead...

"Your Auntay is not the only one I love....I couldn't bare it,if anything happened to you....This could be a little too dangerous. You did good work today girlie. Go see Nelson...I saw him in court today...He was brilliant...His case goes to the jury...He might want to see his girlfriend tonight..."I said and smiled..

Beverly smiled...

"Thanks D.R.  I will....I love you too!" she said and smiled as she headed out the door to her boyfriend's apartment.

Olivia joined me later...I was still in Josies...

"You just missed your niece." I said as my wife joined me..

''Yeah...Where is she off to?" asked Olivia.

I gave her a side eye...

''You have to ask? She's going to see Nelson." I said.

"Yeah, you're right...My friend Robert Foxworth is getting ready to offer him a position at his firm...This could very well be his last case as a Public Defender."she said.

"Good for him...Time for him to make some good money...Like you two did."I said.
"It appears Guard Russell Grissom is playing two sides of the coin.."I said.

"Oh yeah?"asked Olivia..

"He's Malik Clarke's drug connect....."I said.

"Oh really? And making a play for Malik Clarke's girl too?" said Olivia..

"Yeah..Imagine if THAT information got out?"I said.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to find out where that connection originates and how deep it runs first."I said.

(TO BE CONTINUED)