Redemption

San-Francisco's Chinatown...The next night...Olivia, Beverly and I visited a very tony Chinese Bistro and was enjoying the hot steamy and very delicious food... Beverly looked at me...

"You think she'll show up?" she asked.

"She'll be here..." I said confidently...

"Curiosity will bring her here more than anything else." said Olivia...

Danny Greenberg..., clean shaven and wearing fresh new Khaki's and a matching Polo Shirt and sandals walked in and sat with us..

My wife Olivia and her neice Beverly smiled...

"Wow Danny, you clean up nice...and that fragrance you're wearing..It smells awesome." said Olivia...

"How's it feel to be a free man for the first time in 90 days?" asked Beverly...

"It feels great...I never want to see the inside of a jail again." he said.

"Hopefully you won't have to." I said.

"I can't thank you enough for taking my case and paying my bail." he said.

"With the new evidence we provided...The judge and the DA had no choice but to drop the charges...and now for the final act in our little melodrama.." I said.

Veronika Tolkind, dressed to the nines walked in..saw Danny Greenberg and walked over to our table...She was surprised to see me...

"Mr. Alexander...Danny?? What's up...Who are these other people?" she said.

"These are my lawyers...Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Ms. Beverly West..."he said.

"So this is your wife ,eh Mr. Alexander.....She's Pretty....Married to a lawyer eh?  Figures...So Danny, They got you off huh?  How did you afford them? You guys are from Philly right?" she said.

"That's right...and you're from Santa Monica... Isn't that right ,Ronnie Healy"I said.

She looked stunned...

 "You know, you told me a little fib when I came to see you yesterday...You said on the day of the murder...you bought some groceries and got your hair done...Your credit cards say different." I said.

"I paid in cash." she said..

"No..you didn't...I went to every hairdresser in a five mile radius...Only one remembers seeing you and that was the day before the murder...I did the same with the markets...Same thing...Nobody remembers seeing you...But two of your neighbors remember you jogging early in the morning and hearing what sounded like a female's scream and a rather loud argument coming from Mr.Travis's house....You had a key....You walked in on him and Danny having sex...You heard the bed squeaking from outside and the moans...You thought it was another woman....You were already enraged...but when you saw Danny leaving...you realized what was going on...Your man was on the downlow...You confronted him...It got ugly and you plunged that ice pick into his chest,killing him in a rage...How lucky for you that Danny forgot his car keys and came back in there with his spare key and discovered the murder...along with Fairchild Jenkins, who was coming back to pick up a check...Everybody was there, but you!" I said.

She smiled wryly...

"That's a nice story, but you can't prove any of it.." she said.

"I'm afraid you're wrong...Forensics went over that bloody ice pick again...and then they sent it to the FBI...they not only pulled Danny's prints, but yours too. We take that and the lies you've told and I think they had enough evidence to make more of a case against you, rather than Danny here."said Olivia...

She hung her head...

"Do the police know?" she said.

"Yes mam...They do..." said Beverly...

"I didn't mean to do it...He just pissed me off...He was such a hypocrite, such a liar..bad enough it could have been a woman, but a man??? I was just so pissed...I didn't mean to do it..I didn't mean for you to get blamed Danny...Nothing personal."she said.

The case Detective...Detective Jack White walked in with two uniformed police officers....

I looked at him..

"Did you get it?" I said.

"Oh yeah...every word...Come on darlin....Time to go downtown."he said as the two officers handcuffed Veronica and took her away...I had been wearing a wire...The evidence I had was thin at best...but getting a taped confession, sealed the deal...

He looked at me..

"Much Obliged Donnie Ray.."he said...

I nodded...

"Wow, you got me off and caught the real killer....And we didn't have to go to trial..Thank you so much..How can I ever repay you?" said Danny Greenberg...

"We've already been compensated."said Olivia..smiling!

"Oh yeah...Val...My uh friend in unknown places...I guess that's guilt....or an attempt at redemption huh?" he said.

Olivia smiled...

"Yeah Danny...Something like that."she said..

"Well folks...Let's eat up and drink up...We got a plane to catch in the mornin." I said.

II-

A week later...We were back in Philadelphia and sitting outside in a beautiful park area...We were at the facility where Beverly's mother Alfreda Jones was staying..
Beverly's mother was a beautiful woman...I could see where Beverly's good looks came from...

She looked up when she saw us coming...

"Olivia?? Olivia...How have you been girl?" she said and hugged my wife...

''Alfreda...I would have come sooner...but we were out of town...Out on the west coast...We had a case..." she said.

Alfreda Jones smiled...She looked Olivia up and down...

"Olivia..Olivia..Olivia..Look at you...You're all grown up now..a big shot lawyer..God, I remember when you were a little girl jumping up on my lap, asking me to read you a story..."she said.

"I brought some people to see you Freda.."said Olivia...

She took one look at Beverly and burst into tears...

"Oh my God...Baby girl...Look at you!!!"she said.

"Hi mama." said Beverly, tearing up and hugging her mother..

"You're a lawyer now too...huh?" she said.

"I work with Auntay."she said.

Alfreda laughed...

"She still calls you Auntay...Wow...Thank you so much for taking care of her Olivia and seeing that she got an education and made something out of herself.."she said.

"Hey..She's the only family I have in the city...My brother comes in and out.." said Olivia..

"Yeah, with his new wife huh?" she said sarcastically.

"You know about that?" said Olivia..

"Yeah...he stopped by here with her..That was your girlfriend, Malinda wasn't it?" she said.

"No grass grows under your feet does it?"said Olivia...

"None at all." laughed Alfreda.

Indeed, Alfreda Jones was as sharp as a tack as my father used to say...There was really no need for her to be in this facility...

Alfreda smiled and looked at me..

"Speaking of grass growing under feet.....I heard that uh someone plants their shoes under your bed now Olivia...Is this he?" she said..

"This is he? This is my husband..Donnie Ray Alexander...He works with me...He's my firm's investigator..."said my wife proudly...

"Ummmmm Hmmmmm...He's a keeper Livy"she said smiling....She looked at Beverly and asked-''How about you little lady..you got a fella?" she asked..

"I do mama...He's a lawyer too..His name is Nelson...I'm gonna bring him to meet you next time I come." said Beverly..

"He's the one she's serious about...She got several others who she has to beat away..."joked Olivia...

"Auntay stop!..."laughed Beverly...Alfreda laughed heartily....

"That's my girl..." she said.

We all laughed...

"Where did the time go?Olivia , you was only eight or nine when I had Beverly....Just a baby yourself...with that cute little ponytail..Now look at both of you, grown women, got good jobs...husbands...men in your lives...I'm so happy for you..."she said.

''You'll be out of here soon Freda...don't worry.." said Olivia..

 "I'm good Livy ,Bev, Don't yall trouble yourselves...you just live your amazing lives...." she said...Then she looked at me...

"Donnie Ray....you're not a Philly guy are you?" she asked.

"No mam...I'm from New Orleans originally." I said...

She looked at Olivia....gave her a side eye and smiled...

"You got yourself a southern man eh....Ummm Hmmm..I hear Southern men are uh gooood..."she said.

Olivia kind of whispered to her...

"Girllllll you just don't know...." she said.

"Ummmm Hmmm...I know..I know...we'll talk." she said and they both laughed that conspiratorial laugh that women laugh..

All and all we had a nice visit...

EPILOUGE:

Olivia and I sat in the playground...The same playground where she met her shadowy friends, weeks before...

"Donnie Ray...This is my special place." she said.

''Your special place?"I asked.

"Yes...I've always loved this playground..I'd come here to think and dream...Came here with Bev to have those girl to girl talks that maybe she should have had with her mother, but that she had to have with me because back then, her mom and her dad just weren't in the right place.....Came here with Malinda to talk about some boy that one of us was liking...Came here by myself to pray and be thankful before graduations, deaths, new job opportunities....and I came here to be alone after you proposed to me.." she said.

"I get it.." I said.

She took my hand in hers and said- "I want this to be our special place..."she said.

I smiled...

"Thank you Livy...for inviting me into your life....for giving me a new life...in a new city.."I said.

"Thank You Donnie Ray, for making me a new woman..." she said.

I whispered in her ear...

"I like the old woman and the new woman equally..." and kissed her cheek...She rubbed my hand softly..

"I already told Bev....but when you check your accounts you'll see extra money was wired into them...a lot of extra money.."said Olivia...

''Courtesy of uh Reggie, right?" I said.

"Yeah....or Val...Naturally they used a phony name and an account in the Caymen Islands that is now closed...They were quite pleased that we were able to clear Danny..."

"You think you'll ever hear from either one of them again?" I asked...

''Maybe in another ten years..If I'm lucky...Never.." she said and smiled...

She leaned over and kissed me softly and tenderly for a few minutes.......

"Do you really want to talk about all that after a kiss like that ?" she asked..

I smiled...

"I'm not Nelson...You don't have to ask me twice ." I said and pulled her towards me and began kissing her passionately...She giggled like a school girl.

We sat there kissing like two teenagers, while a short distance away, children played  with innocent and reckless abandon under a warm and kind summer sun!