Wiggle Room.

The next morning, Olivia, Beverly,Nelson and I met at a "Jazz" Bistro that had ironically been suggested to us by Larry North...

Beverly and Nelson fed each other breakfast and just kept smiling at each other sheepishly....

Olivia was beaming....She had that satisfied glow about her...She kept looking at me and smiling...

And of course I had what she called that satisfied look on my face....Last night had been amazing for the four of us...

Sylvia Glenn met us at the Bistro....

"Well good morning guys....Wow!  You guys always look like this?...I don't know..It's something about you all this morning....And who do we have here?" she said looking at Nelson, who smiled sheepishly..

"Hi Ms. Glenn." he said..

''Sylvia...This is my boyfriend...Attorney Nelson East.." said Beverly....

"Ohhhhh,I remember you...You ate so many of those bacon wrapped shrimps ,I thought you were going to get sick."she said laughing...

We all busted out laughing....

"Is he helping with the case also?" she asked...

"Welll...he actually just came out here to see my niece..but uhh.."she said..

"I can help if you guys don't mind...Since I am here....I might as well make myself useful..."he said..

"I welcome all the help I can get...By the way, Where is my co-attorney, Mr. North?/" she asked..

"He was supposed to be here..."said Olivia....

"Well we have to go...Livy, Bev and Mr. Nelson....You can ride to the courthouse with me...It's in Sacremento....What are you going to do Mr. Donnie Ray?"she asked...

"I have his address...I'll go get him...You guys go on..." I said...

 Olivia kissed me softly....

"See you this afternoon baby." she said...

I smiled...

"It's a date.."I said.

Sylvia Glenn smiled...

"That was some kiss....I KNOW he'll make it a date..." she said..

Beverly and Nelson were kissing by the door...

"Ahem!  Oh Ozzie and Harriet...Let's go."laughed Olivia as the four of them got in Sylvia's SUV and pulled off.

Just then...Larry North walked in...He had on the same clothes he had been wearing the day before...It was obvious he had been drinking...

"You look like hell." I said..

"Good Morning to you too Donnie Ray ."he said..

He looked around just in time to see Olivia,Bev,Nelson and Sylvia Glenn getting in her SUV and pulling off...I don't know if they saw him..

"Was that Nelson East?" he said derisively....

"Yeah...He came in last night.." I said.

"Beverly has got him soooo pussy whipped...He can't allow the girl to go away for a day without him flying out..." he spat...

"You know jealousy does not become you." I said, trying hard to hide my smile...

"Ahhh,come on...We got to visit a few prisons..." he said..

"Nice ride man."I said as I got in the passenger side..

II-

 A jealous woman was one thing...a Jealous man was a whole new arena...Of course men were jealous..but very few I knew..including myself made it known verbally...

"Can you believe Nelson East? Coming out here to San-Francisco?" said Larry North..

"That's his woman...."I said.

"His woman...He can't handle Bev."said Larry North...

"He has been for the past two years..."I said..

"Hmmph...I know she runs the show..If she says jump....His next response is how high."Larry retorted..

"You know ,Bill Withers said it best...."I wanna spread the news...If it feels this good gettin used..You just keep on usin me...Until you use me up.."I laughed..

He finally lightened up....

"Beverly does have a body on her....I imagine he loses his mind making love to her....Her skin is so soft, she is so round and curvaceous....her lips are so soft..."he said..

"I uh get the general drift....Now uh about this case.." I said trying to change the subject...I saw Beverly almost every day...I was quite aware of her and her aunt's curves ...I didn't need him to remind me that I'd rather be riding with them than him right now.

"Oh yeah...We are headed to what they call "New Folsom"..It's really the California Correctional Center at Sacremento....It's a new prison as prisons go....We are going to talk to Jessie Gibson...He's the inmate who was Mikey Gloss's cellie at San Quentin...who said in a deposition that Gloss told him that Richard Lingdon didn't have anything to do with the killing...but that if he were to back up off of his story...He might be facing death by lethal injection.."said Larry North...

"Did he sign a deposition?" I asked..

"He did...but his testimony never made it to court ...."said Larry North.

III-

Speaking of Beverly....She was as happy as a lark...Once again, she was actually working with her boyfriend, Attorney Nelson East...

The two of them were arguing in a Sacremento courtroom the constituionallity of the drugs being used for capital punishment in general and in the upcoming execution of Richard Lingdon in particular..

Beverly argued passionately for hours about seven botched executions using alternative lethal injection drugs....
California prison officials testified that they would be keeping their primary lethal injection drug in place despite the state's supply expiring, but they've added a second drug option for executioners to address the shortage.

Prisons spokeswoman Jo Ellen Pickens said the powerful sedative pentobarbital will remain California's primary method of administering the death penalty. A policy posted to the prisons department's website listed a combination of midazolam and hydromorphone as an alternative if sufficient pentobarbital isn't available or if the existing supply "is deemed unusable" by the medical team.

Beverly argued that Midazolam was largely untested... "This is somewhat of an experiment on a living human being,"she said...

"If midazolam hydrochloride doesn't fully work, my client could suffer, potentially violating the Eighth Amendment — cruel and unusual punishment." she argued...

Nelson pressed them to reveal just what cocktails they planned to use...The California Board of corrections fought tooth and nail to keep that a secret....but the Judge ruled in Nelson's favor and they revealed that they would be using their regular drugs and not Midazolam...

He got them to concede that their supply was running short and that in the near future they would indeed have to resort to an alternative.

 In another courtroom ,also in Sacremento.... Olivia and Sylvia Glenn were a little luckier..They found a judge who was sympathetic to them...

Olivia argued simply that this entire case was built on hearsay..One man's word against another and that there was no physical proof that Richard Lingdon had anything to do with this...

Sylvia Glenn argued that the killer had every reason to put someone else in...To give the appearence of
turning in State's evidence and to spare his life....

The Judge , an Old Black man seemed to be more interested in the ladies curvaceous figures and shapely legs than most of what they were saying...But he granted them a 37 day stay of execution....He told them to return with credible and hopefully new  evidence if they wanted further consideration...

It wasn't a slam dunk...but it was what Olivia liked to call "Wiggle Room."

The two women high fived each other...

IV-

Attorney Larry North and I sat in the waiting room inside of the prison they called "New Folsom " and waited for inmate, Jessie Gibson to appear....

He was tall,skinny,Blond haired white guy....He was wearing the standard orange jump suit and white sneakers...

He recognized Larry North....He smiled...

I sat down and picked up a phone...He picked up his phone..

"Mr. Gibson...I'm Donnie Ray Alexander....I'm not a lawyer..."I said..

He smiled...

"I buy that....Your movemants seem like those of a cop..." he said..

I smiled...

"You know Attorney North...So you know why we are here...You said in a deposition a year ago that when you and Mikey Gloss were cell mates ..He told you that Richard Lingdon, his old supervisor had nothing to do with the killing of Barry Van...Is that correct?" I said.

He smiled..

"Yeah I said that.." he said..

"So he through his old supervisor under the bus to keep from getting the death penalty.."I said.

"Hey ,people do what they gotta do..Happens everyday...Hey it's survival babes.."he said.

"You think that's right? I think it's bitch ass myself..."I said..

"Yeah you right" he said.

"So we want you to testify to that."I said.

"In Open court?" he asked..

"Just to a judge...we can keep your name out of the papers.."said Larry North...

"Okay...but I want you to do something for me..."he said.

''What is that?"I asked..

"I'm doing a 25 year bid for manslaughter....I been down 10 years....If I do this..Can you put in a word for me at the Parole Board?" he asked..

Larry North eyed him ,then said-

"We can do that...but you know...Us being on the side of the table we are on...Can't guaruntee you anything right?..But I give you my word...We'll do what we can.."said Larry North...

"Okay..deal...I'll testify." he said...

On the drive back....I laid back...I took in the cool breeze...I looked at the beautiful horizon...I could really get to love California...

"Man Larry, first you move to Texas...Then San-Diego ,Now San Francisco...You love this warm weather  don't you?" I asked..

He was in a better mood...

"Yeah man...I may never live in Philly again...I know you'd miss her...But when I convince Beverly to be my woman..We gonna live out here in Cali...She aint gonna have to work...Well not at first...She's just going to lie around in her bathing suit all day ,so I can look at that sexy body all day.." he said.

I said nothing...He was delusional...

Back in San Francisco...We drove back to the restaurant where we began...

Olivia,Beverly and Sylvia were standing outside...I didn't see Nelson... Olivia greeted me with another long and soft kiss...

"We had a good day babes..We found another judge in the Appellate court that granted us a 37 day stay...Wiggle room."she said smiling..

I smiled and whispered in her ear....

"Can I see you wiggle?"

Olivia blushed and whispered...

"Tonight...Okay?" she said..

"That's a bet....How bout you Shortcake?/ How did you do?" I asked..

Beverly smiled...

"Well..probably not as good as Auntay and Ms. Glenn...but we got them to thinking...Nelson and I argued about the use of the drugs and we got them to disclose which drugs they will be using...Nelson got them to admit that they are running short and that they may have to use an alternative drug in the future...And that's when I hit them with cruel and unusual punishment...but it didn't convince them to grant a stay on those grounds.."she said.

"That's okay...you two tried...every little bit helps..."said Sylvia Glenn...

"And where is Perry Mason Jr." asked Larry North derisively.....

"He's back in the room getting some sleep...He's exhausted...He flew here from Philly last night,hardly had any sleep and was in court with me all day today...I'm bringing him a doggie bag "said Beverly with no rancor at all..She was cheery,like a sweet little girl..

"Poor thing...How did you guys do?" asked Sylvia.....

''We got a commitment from your witness to testify and if he tries to balk on that commitment....I was wearing a wire...and I recorded our entire conversation..."I said.

"Tomorrow we all go up to San Quentin to meet Richard Lingdon...By now he's probably heard the news that he has a little longer to breathe in and breathe out..."said Olivia..

"He has ,what do you used to call it..Wiggle room right Livy?" said Larry North...

"Exactly" she said and we all laughed....

As we were walking in ..Larry pulled Beverly gently to the side..

"A word Beverly?" he said.

For the first time today..Beverly appeared annoyed...

"What?" she said..

"Last night I gave you a chance to stop being a baby...to be a woman...I told you to leave your door unlocked..."he said..

"I was a woman last night...Nelson will swear by that!! So what do you want me to do...Come by your house tonight and see if your door is open?" she said..

"Still with the smart mouth...You think I don't know what's going on here? You hide behind that smart mouth to protect yourself.."he said.

"Do I now?  " she said.

"You do...You're scared of this...You're scared of me and the power I bring...." he said.

"You know what?  You're right!" said Beverly, who laughed and turned and walked inside...

Larry North stood there scratching his head..

Olivia met her at the door...

"Oh I was worried about you...I came to see if you were alright.."said Olivia..

"I'm fine Auntay..."she said laughing...

Olivia sat next to Beverly and across from me...Sylvia Glenn sat next to her... When Larry North came in he was forced to sit next to me...

"Uh Syl...Do you want to change places?" he asked..

"What are you, four years old Larry?  I'm not changing my seat." she said...

He was visibly preturbed...He looked at Olivia...but before she could say nay or yay...Nelson appeared..

"Hey guys..."he said...

  "Nelson...I thought you were asleep...We would have gotten a bigger table."said Olivia..

"I'm more hungry than sleepy." he said.

"Bev told me you did your thing today in court."I said...

''She did her thing... I didn't do that much.."he said humbly...

"Hmmph...That sounds more like it."grumbled Larry North....

"You can sit here baby...I'll sit on your lap.."said Beverly....

Nelson smiled sheepishly....I looked at him and smiled..

Beverly gave him her seat and sat on his lap.....

"I don't know who is cuter....Livy and Donnie Ray or you Bev and Nelson." said Sylvia Glenn smiling...

At that ,Larry North got up..stomped his foot and stormed out....

"What's eatin him?" asked Nelson...

"Nothing Nelson...It just got a little too crowded at this table...Not much wiggle room."said Olivia...

We all busted out in gales of laughter...

(TO BE CONTINUED)