Guardian Angel

My wife Olivia Bennett-Alexander, a renowned Philadelphia Attorney and I sat in the new bar that overlooked the city of Philadelphia and peered down at the streets and admired the skyline.... She smiled as I her husband , Donnie Ray Alexander..the firms Investigator walked over to our table and placed our drinks down...

"Isn't this place gorgeous Donnie Ray?" she asked me dreamily...

"Not what I'm used to...but yeah...it is stylish ." I said admiring the ambeince of the joint...

The bar glowed with a beautiful aqua light and like Aqua Bar...water filled the insides of the bar stand and the back walls...minus aquatic life....

"Not many people in here." I said ,looking around..

"Oh they'll come....This isn't the first time I've been here." said Olivia...

"No...?? This place looks new." I said.

"Looks can be deceiving...It's renovated...Used to be a dump....I represented the owner of this bar...won him a huge settlement..back when I worked for that downtown law firm...He took some of the money and had this place refurbished into what you see tonight...He was so grateful that he said my money was no good here...So...We..You and I can drink free tonight..." said Olivia smiling..

"You know what? I think I love you." I said smiling and leaning over to kiss Olivia .......

"Good to know.." she said....She had the softest lips I'd ever kissed in my life...."I think I kinda love you too.." she said smiling at me...

We were supposed to be meeting her niece and partner in our law firm, Attorney ,Beverly West here tonight..

''Did Bev say what it was that she wanted? I saw her briefly in court today, but she was busy..she just said she'd tell us tonight..."I said.

"No...she didn't...I saw her after my trial today...She said it was important and that she needed our help..."said Olivia..

"Then it's something that must have just come up...Hmmm...There she is now." I said as I saw her niece, younger by only nine years approach us and sit down...

"Heyy Auntay, D.R.  Sorry I'm late...but I had a few things to finish up now that my trial is over...and then I had dinner with Nelson before I got here.." she said..

"What's on your mind baby?"asked Olivia..

"Auntay, Donnie Ray...I have a case...A case in which I'm going to need your help..both of you."she said.

"Yeah? So what is the big deal...We've worked plenty cases together." I said.

"You might not like this one..It's uh out of town....Auntay how is your schedule?" asked Beverly...

"I'm good..I just finished up a case today...I was looking forward to a few days vacation....With my man and what not!" she said ,pretending to be sarcastic and nodded her head towards me...while giving her niece a playful side eye...

I smiled...we had been working back to back cases lately....Olivia had been involved in three cases and Beverly had just finished three her self...Both of my girls had kept me busy, busier than I had been when I was a Homicide detective on the New Orleans Police Force..and now we finally looked like our heads were above water and here comes Beverly talking about another case...and away from home too!

II-

More drinks were served...Beverly put a photo of a handsome Black man on the table..He was a little older than her...Brown flawless skin...and slicked back hair like a young David Ruffin of the Temptations..

"Recognize him?" asked Beverly..

"No...Should I?" I asked..

''Well you haven't lived in Philly long Donnie Ray...but Auntay ,surely you recognize him? Look again."said Beverly...

Olivia stared at the photo good and hard and then said...

"Oh My God...That's the guy in the late night TV commercials...Barry Fontaine..The ambulance chasing Attorney... Let me be your Guardian Angel babyyyyyyy...I'll make the law your protector,bayyyyyyyyyyyyyybeeeeeee...."said Olivia doing her best Barry White Imitation...

I cracked up laughing...So did Beverly...

"You're too funny Auntay....but he's in trouble...He's in jail in Long Island City....Charged with murder...And I know he didn't do it...We have to help him."said Beverly...

"Whoa...Whoa..Whoaaa...He's charged with murder?  Him?  An Attorney??" I asked..

"Yeah...He is charged with killing an ADA...He was found in her room,with her... drunk and nude....and the murder weapon, a gun...is registered to him!!!...I know it looks bad..." said Beverly..

"I'll say...Looks like a slam dunk for the prosecution." said Olivia..

"But Auntay....He didn't do this...This isn't him. He didn't do this." said Beverly..

"Shortcake, How do you know this...?" I asked...

"Because I know him Donnie Ray... I know him ...We went to law school together....I know him..."said Beverly holding her head down...

''Oh my God..I remember now!!!...You used to date him!!!....when you were in law school...I remember him now!!...." said Olivia.

 "Yes Auntay...He was my boyfriend at one time...We were lovers...but that was a long time ago...Water under the bridge.."said Beverly..

''Not that much water under the bridge Shortcake or we wouldn't be having this conversation...So after all of this time...He calls you when he gets in trouble?" I asked.

"Welll uh Actually...He called you Auntay?" said Beverly...

"Me? I hardly know him."said Olivia..

"But he knows you....Or at least of you...A few days ago...You and D.R. were in court...I was at the office and a call came in for you..I took it..It was from ,I guess, the girl he is seeing now..A Regina Wesley...She's an attorney too.. She had heard about you Auntay...The Richard Graves Case, The Death Row inmate we freed in Texas and a couple of  our other big cases and she requested your services...When she told me that it was Barry Fontaine...I explained to her that I was your niece and that Barry and I went to law school together....She begged me to ask you if you'd help him....I said that I'd ask you...but that I would help him in whatever way I could."said Beverly..

"Shortcake..You sound like you still carry a torch for this guy..." I asked, smiling wryly...

"No...No..Not really...that was a long time ago...but uh...I would be pleased if Nelson not know all of the details...It's...It's just that..it's been a long time and I haven't seen Barry in years and...."said Beverly...

"I understand baby....I understand....You know I can't say no to you....Okayyyyyyyyyyyyyy...If  you don't object terribly Donnie Ray...I suppose We are off to Long Island City..." said Olivia..

''You lead..I'll follow. I uh kinda love Shortcake too.."I said jokingly...I peered at Beverly....

"What?You know you love me almost as much as you do Auntay." she said...hugging me...a few tears running down her cheeks...

I hugged her....

"So many layers to the Beverly onion.." I said smiling and kissing her cheek....She was right...I did love her almost as much as I did her Aunt....In a short time these two women had become my new family!

Olivia looked at both of us and smiled..

"I remember vaguely when she was dating Barry...My mother hit the ceiling...She said-Talk to your niece, that guy is too old for her.. and my brother wanted to kill him...That dude is too old to be messin with my baby.said Jimmy....And I said -Jimmy have you looked at YOUR BABY lately? She's a woman..'' He frowned and said ,yeah you right baby sis...(He always called me baby sis..)She is a woman...That's what scares me...I smiled and told him...Don't worry...I'll always be around to make sure she doesn't get completely out of pocket..and he smiled and said... You always have looked after Bev..I thank you for that baby sis.."

"And you always have Auntay....You've always kept me straight..." said Beverly,hugging her aunt.

''Did the relationship end badly?" I asked.

"We didn't have a knockdown drag out if that's what you mean....Barry is so smooth...he never argues...but I eventually just had to leave him...He is not a giver...He is a taker though...I did his term papers for him..I helped him practice for mock trials...I helped him study even when I had to study myself and when it was time for me to study...He wanted to have sex...It just got to be too much...Plus..he cheated on me occassionally..I just couldn't take it....I eventually left him.....It was the most freeing thing I'd ever done...

Barry draws you in and just absorbs everything from you....You don't know where you begin and where he ends...After I broke up with him...I put my nose to the grindstone..Got better grades...and graduated from law school with honors...

He tried to get back with me, right around the time we both passed the bar...I had just started working in the Public Defenders office...He begged me to come to New York with him..I refused...I am sooo glad I did...

But I never could bring myself to hate him or even be angry with him...He was just....just ....well...HIM!" said Beverly...

"I totally understand Beverly....I only met him once...He was too afraid of my brother to come by our house...He probably doesn't remember meeting me.." laughed Olivia...

"He ever meet Jimmy?" I asked..

''Lawd Noooo!"they both said in unison..
 

III-

Long Island City  is the westernmost residential and commercial neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. L.I.C. is noted for its rapid and ongoing residential growth and gentrification, its waterfront parks, and its thriving arts community.

Long Island City has among the highest concentration of art galleries, art institutions, and studio space of any neighborhood in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Hazen Street, 49th Street, and New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek—which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brooklyn—to the south. It originally was the seat of government of Newtown Township, and remains the largest neighborhood in Queens. The area is part of Queens Community Board 1, located north of the Queensboro Bridge and Queens Plaza; it is also of Queens Community Board 2 to the south.

Long Island City is the eastern terminus of the Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge, which is the only non-toll automotive route connecting Queens and Manhattan. Northwest of the bridge terminus are the Queensbridge Houses, a development of the New York City Housing Authority and the largest public housing complex in North America.

I hadn't been in New York in years... We took the train up and then caught a cab and drove to the Law Office where Barry Fontaine worked...

It was there we met Regina Wesley...the young attorney who called us..

She was a petite and attractive Black woman much like Olivia and Beverly...but clearly older than Beverly....About six or seven years...She was closer to Olivia and I in age than Beverly....I could see that Beverly was surprised to meet the new woman in Barry's life and find out she was older...

''So you're Olivia Bennett-Alexander..Barry has followed your exploits for years...He's often talked about being just like you one day."said Regina..

"He's doing just fine...He's on Television...I'm not." said Olivia, smiling and shaking her hand..

"Please...those cheesy commercials of his?  Half of our clients are on a payment plan....No you..You Mrs. Alexander...you take on heavy hitters....With his Penn Law degree,I don't know why he's out here with these bottom feeders and chasing ambulances." said Regina..

''Where did you go to Law School?" asked Beverly..

"I got my Bachelors at St. Johns...I went to Columbia for a minute and finally went to NYU at night and got my JD...I worked Process service during the day to pay for some of it. You're Beverly West...He's told me about you...You and he went to PENN Law School..."she said.

''So did I...My Father and my Brother, Beverly's father... worked at the University and so the both of us were able to attend college for free....mostly...We both did our undergrad at Temple University and our grad at PENN ...I supplemented some of my grad school expenses with modeling jobs...I used to come up to New York quite a bit.....We both worked as Public Defenders for years until I started my law firm."said Olivia...

"And it paid off in spades...I was a Public defender too for years....Then I worked at a few law firms...and eventually..I wound up working with Barry...

 "So tell me about the case." I said.

"You look more like a cop than a lawyer." said Regina Wesley, smiling...

"Excuse my manners...This is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander...and he's an ex-homicide detective...He's our firm's Investigator.." said Olivia..

"You have good instincts."I said smiling..

"I hope those instincts can save my Barry..." said Regina.

''What happened?" asked Olivia.

"He was found in a sleazy hotel room with Assistant District Attorney Yolanda Lockett...nude....she was in the bed ,with a gunshot wound to the head...and he was on the floor...his gun next to him.....He swears he doesn't know how he got there...and that he didn't hear a thing...He admits that the two of them went out drinking that night...but that's all he remembers.....He certainly had no reason to kill her."said Regina.

"How do you know that?" asked Beverly....

"He was sleeping with her.." she said...

My mouth dropped...This was a whole new basket of worms....The type of case I actually liked...More here than I thought...I smiled wryly.

"I thought you two were...I mean..I thought you and Barry are.."said Beverly....

''We are seeing each other...but not exclusively...I know Barry sees other women...I was hoping one day he'll see that I'm the one in his corner..He has other women...but he's all I've got." she said and held her head down..

Olivia looked at Regina as if she wanted to say something...but thought better of it.
So did Beverly..

(TO BE CONTINUED)