Folded

The trial that should have never been started early Monday morning of the next week...We didn't get any more late night calls from Judge Crawford... He had heard an ear full that last time he called...

His entire demeanor had changed when he appeared in court...Usually jovial, he now seemed stern and all about business..

"Auntay...I can't believe you and Donnie Ray did that..."she said chuckling....She then looked at me..
"Who is this and what have you done to my Auntay?" she said and busted out laughing again..

"Wasn't my idea Shortcake...In fact...I'm a little embarrassed the way your auntay was carrying on..Making all that noise.."I said laughing..

"Oh hush up...You were making just as much noise as I was." said Olivia ,laughing and rubbing my shoulders..

"Oh My God...My Virgin ears.."laughed Beverly pretending to be outraged...

Olivia and I gave her the serious side eye and the three of us began chuckling again....

"A-hem...Court is beginning in a few minutes...Please carry yourselves with professional decorum.."said Judge Crawford sternly....I noticed he said nothing to ADA Fowler, who was chatting and laughing with a female attorney...Then he looked at me..

"And you...If you don't have anything to provide to the attorneys..I don't want you in my courtroom." he said.

"You can't do that....This is an open trial...Open to the public...." I said.

"Then sit in the visitor's section." he said.

"He's sitting with me!! He's my investigator, he's part of my team...."said Olivia sternly...

"Well Alright then!!" he snapped and stormed off...

"Damn...Things couldn't get much worse for me could it?  I get the two finest lawyers in the city and they get stuck with a lovesick and hostile Judge." said Eddie Vinson...

"It'll be alright.." I said.

II-

 The trial gathered Local media attention...

My wife  and her niece, Beverly had been on numerous television news shows being questioned about the case and her plans...They didn't say much except that they were disappointed that this matter had gone so far...A direct dig at Judge Joe Thompson ,without saying his name..

Nobody expected a conviction for Vinson and NOBODY expected it to last longer than three days...

He ran into Olivia one day, a few days before the trial...

"Olivia...My god you're a sexy woman..." he said nearly drooling at the sight of her....

Olivia was by herself ,without Bev or me..She ignored him and attempted to walk away,....He grabbed her arm...

"Olivia wait...wait....This has gone too far..Why don't we have a drink and work this out?" he asked..

"Take your hands off of me!!...There is nothing to work out....It's way too late for that."she said..

"Is it Liv? Is it too late for us to go back to my place and relive just one last night of passion...Like the one we shared many years ago...???  I know I left an impression on you...I know I did...The way I put it down that night...Left you speechless .." he said.

Olivia busted out laughing..

"You did...but not for the reason you may think." she said...

"Look...Let's go someplace close by and make love...I just bought a vintage wine..You'll love it...No one has to know...I can't get you off my mind..."he said.

"You're delusional Joseph....You need help.Serious Help..."said Olivia..

"So that's No?" he asked softly...

"Yes..That's a No.. A Definite NO!"said Olivia.

"WELL ALRIGHT THEN" he bellowed and stomped his foot and stormed off...That had been three days before now..

Olivia and Beverly called 25 witnesses...People who had been at the party that night...All four years older..all with somewhat faulty memories...Which ADA Fowler attempted to exploit...Except that Olivia and Beverly had coached them well for the week leading up to the trial at both our home office..

And at the larger office of Robert Foxworth and Associates ,where Beverly's boyfriend, Attorney Nelson East..helped us coach them too..

Nelson was there in the courtroom with Josie, our office manager in the visitor's section...watching the trial..

I had never seen Olivia and Beverly so much on top of their game....They were making ADA Evan Fowler, a pretty skilled Litigator look pretty much like an inexperienced first year attorney and he was making Judge Crawford who was doing his best to help him...Very,Very exasperated...

What was making things worse was the star witness...Karyn Duval, who had been scheduled to appear ..Was no where in sight...It wasn't even certain that she was in the city...

The entire case was built around her claims...that she had been sexually assaulted..Of the 25 witnesses..Not one could testify to that and three of the guys claimed that they had consensual sex with her at the same party...Three women testified under oath that they witnessed all three events...

Eddie Vinson testified that he had met with Karyn on several occassions and had had consensual sex with her several times before..

Olivia and Beverly called several more witnesses, Football players, Baseball Players, Basketball players from Miami,Atlanta and Philadelphia who testified that they all had relationships with Karyn from time to time and that they got the impression...She was just after money and bragging rights.....

I located her one time husband, who told of how she left him asleep with their wedding band on the pillow...He got divorce papers within a week....

By now the jury of six men, three Black, two Latino and one white...and six women...Four white and two Black...were pretty convinced that Karyn Duval was not assaulted but a gold digging groupie...

ADA Evan Fowler had really put his foot in it this time and there was nothing he could do to save himself..

He met with Olivia and Bev and offered them a deal...He'd drop the Sexual Assault charges and they would agree to lesser charges in which no jail time would be served and a small fine paid..

Olivia and Beverly flatly refused.....

Judge Crawford said..

"Ladies ..I think that's a great offer.." he said.

''We don't...Our client is innocent."said Olivia.

"This is just a way for you to save face Fowler.."said Beverly....

"If your client is found guilty...I will throw the book at him...Take the deal...It's a good deal...Don't risk losing and having your client do a four year stint in State Prison...I'll see to it that he does every day of the four years." barked Judge Crawford..

"No.Our answer is still No...If he had a chance of being convicted...We wouldn't be here being proffered a deal would we?" asked Olivia and she and Beverly left the office...

ADA Evan Fowler stomped his foot in frustration and stormed out behind them.

 "She is a stubborn woman." the Judge thought...." "A damn sexy woman too..Lawd today..."he mused..He was aroused and frustrated...

He called Olivia's cell phone...

 "Hello" she said.

"Olivia...I'm Aroused!!!" said the Judge..

''Sounds Like a personal problem to me."she said dryly...

 "It is personal...very personal and I need to get personal with you." he said.

"You know this conversation is so wrong and unethical on so many levels...don't you? What is wrong with you Joseph?" she asked..

"I can't get over you, I can't get past you...I'm crazy about you Olivia...I need to be inside of you..I need you to scratch this itch I have for you.." he said.

"Goodbye Joseph...Lose my phone number..." said Olivia, who hung up!

III-

TORONTO, CANADA-

 Karyn Duval AKA Karen Smith was at the condo of her lover, Jacques Duvalier...She was on her knees and had his entire penis in her mouth....

She was supposed to be in Philadelphia the day before to testify.....She purely had no intention of showing up for that trial..

Her head was bobbing back and forth....She looking up at him and smiling...

He smiled approvingly....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my godddd...girl you are driving me crazyy...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he moaned...

She was moving back and forth, slurping and humming...

His eyes were going back into his head, he was in so much glee...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"he continued to moan...

The shower had just turned off....

Another woman was in the suite with them....

She toweled off and walked out into the living room...

"Ummmmmmm, get over here.."Jacque said....

"Hi Jacque Baby.." she said...She was like him, from Trinidad and had recently moved to Toronto..

They began kissing passionately as Karyn continued to lick and slurp his engorged penis....

"Ouuuu your lips are so soft..." said the other woman as they continued to kiss passionately...

"So are your breasts....Ahahahahahahahaha." he laughed as he squeezed them gently...

Within an hour...Jacque and the other woman was on the floor making sweet love....She straddled him and was moving up and down on his engorged penis...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."he moaned...

"Ohhh Jacque..Jacuqe....Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness.."moaned the woman...

 Karyn walked over and kissed him passionately as the other woman moved up and down on his penis...

"I want some more of this..."she cooed as she continued to kiss him....

Jacque was in heaven....He had two sexy women pleasuring him....

None of them saw the door slowly open or the white man with the huge gun pointed at them..

"JACQUE...YOU PIG!!!...WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE WITH MY WIFE??" said the man...

The three of them looked in horror...

"Renard...What are you doing here? How did you find this place?" screamed the woman who had been moving up and down on Jacque's penis..

"The question is...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" he screamed...

"Renard please...I can explain...This isn't what it looks like." pleaded the woman...

"No? Because it looks just like it is." said Renard who fired the big gun......The bullet hit Jacque between the eyes and exited out the back of his head...killing him instantly....!!!

"Renard PLEASE!!! OHHHHH MY GOD!!!" pleaded the woman....She got a bullet between her eyes that exited out the  back of her head and one to the chest that knocked her backward and on to the living room floor, killing her instantly....

Karyn Duval pleaded with him...

"Renard...Renard...I had nothing to do with her being here...Please...Please don't kill me..." she begged...Tears running down her cheeks...

"Don't kill me..Please...Just let me get dressed and get out of here...I won't say a word...I swear...I swear!!" pleaded Karyn....

"I don't give a damn about you Karyn....YOU WHORE!" he said...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed and tried to run..before she caught three bullets in the back and one in the back of the head....

Karyn Duval aka..Karen Smith fell to the floor dead!!!...She was supposed to be in Philadelphia to testify in a four year old Sexual Assault trial that had been settled and that she had received a huge payoff from...Ironically...If she had been in Philadelphia testifying...She'd still be alive!!!!

Renard reloaded the gun with one last bullet...He put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger..blowing the back out of his head..His lifeless body fell and slumped near the door....

It would be another two days before the horrific triple murder-suicide would be discovered and the bodies identified...

IV-

 A week later ,Rapper/Singer, Eddie Vinson sat with his lawyers, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West when the news was announced in court...The trial was just one day from going to the jury...

 Olivia rubbed his hands...

"Courage Eddie..Courage...I see an ending to this.." she said.

"You gotta know when to hold them and know when to fold em...I think ADA Fowler is about ready to fold.."said Beverly...

"Yeah ,I think so too Shortcake...He looks like a whipped puppy."I said.

''That was something...A triple murder -suicide....What a mess....I saw the report on CNN last night..Apparently that guy's wife was involved in a threesome and he walked in on em...Shot all three of em...."said Nelson.

 "I saw that too..  Wow, she was a pretty active girl." said Josie..

We chuckled at that...

I sat next to Olivia and Beverly with Nelson and Josie...when the news was announced...

A side bar was called..

The judge looked at ADA Fowler...He gave him a side eye...

"Your honor..due to the extraordinary circumstances and the lack of any other conclusive evidence...The District Attorney's office moves to dismiss all charges against Mr.Vinson." said ADA Fowler...

"Are you sure Mr. Fowler?" asked Judge Crawford...

"Yes Sir..There is no case here to make..." said Fowler, holding his head down....

"Uhhh,Okay..Then so be it...Case Dismissed. Mr. Vinson, you are free to go." said Judge Crawford...

"YESSSSS!" said Eddie Vinson....who hugged and kissed Olivia and Beverly...

"I'm so happy for you Eddie."said Olivia ,laughing..

"Me too." said Beverly...who kissed him on the cheek...

"Congratulations man." I said smiling and shaking his hand...

''Wow..Great job guys...but you would've won anyway..You had the jury and Evan Fowler knew it too!"said Nelson..

"Wow...Looking good Bev, Mrs. A." said Josie...

"Mrs. Alexander...Ms. Bev...I'm serious about putting you two on my team...I just got a new offer from a major label...I'd like you to look it over and be with me when the negotiations start and I'd like to keep you on retainer..Is that okay?" he asked..

''We'd be honored.."said Olivia..

"Wait until I tell Kayla..."gushed Beverly..

"Richie Graves is definitely on to something...."he laughed.."You guys for a little lightweight celebration?  Chinese Bob's...my treat?" he asked..

"You don't have to treat....but we will eat with you....I'm in the mood for Chinese.."laughed Olivia..

I stood by the door of the courthouse as everybody exited...

Olivia looked at me and smiled..

"I couldn't have done this...without your patience and your moral support Donnie Ray...Not to mention your great investigation job....I love you baby." she said and pulled me to her and kissed me passionately for a few minutes...

Judge Joseph Crawford was leaving the courtroom and saw us kissing again....He stomped his foot and turned and walked the other way....

I hoped my wife and Beverly never found themselves in his courtroom again...but I had a feeling we hadn't seen or heard the last of him...

EPILOUGE-

That show trial cost Evan Fowler dearly....He was crushed by his opponent in his race for Judgeship that spring....He was so depressed that he quit the D.A.'s office...

He wanted to get as far from Philadelphia as possible...He moved to the Washington D.C. area and took up a job as Counsel for a lobbying firm....

And in the Appellate court ,Judge Barry Paret soon found himself in hot water....After numerous complaints from several female Attorneys about his sexist and insulting remarks and paternalistic attitude...Including Olivia and Beverly ,who prepared a review of this recent case for the ethics board as proof that he made fraudulent judgements based on his personal feelings for certain attorneys....He found himself censored and under review by the Ethics board....They stopped short of disbarring him..but they removed him from the court....

He worked for a small law firm for a few months and then quit...Then he went back to being a public defender...A long fall for someone like him....

Distraught, he took his life...He was found in a hotel room ,hanging from the ceiling...

Surprisingly ,Nothing happened to Judge Joseph Crawford...Olivia stopped short of hitting him with a sexual harrassment suit.  Olivia got her personal phone number changed and blocked his number just in case he ever found out her new number..Thus the late night phone calls ended...

But tonight was a night for celebrating...Livy, Bev, Nelson, Josie and myself joined Rapper/Singer Eddie Vinson at Chinese Bob's for some good hot steamy chinese food...

"I can't thank you guys enough...and I promise...from now on...Our legal work will be in boardrooms and conference rooms...Not in courtrooms.." said Eddie Vinson..

"Here ,Here.."I said and hugged my wife, Olivia and kissed her on the cheek..

Beverly sat in Nelson's lap with her arms around him and her head nestled on his shoulder..

"Looks like we both got a few days off babes...let's take that short vacay, we been plannin.."said Nelson..

"Sure lover.."she said and kissed him...

"Josie...I know you have a boyfriend.." said Eddie...

"I do..He's probably at Josies or Aqua Bar with his friends tonight..." she said...And was genuinely surprised when Paris walked in ....

"Heyyyy babes...." he said..

''Paris...How did you know where we were?" asked Josie ,surprised and visibly happy to see her boyfriend..

"Your girl Bev told me my favorite artist was having dinner at Chinese Bob's with you guys and I had to stop by..and holla..I can hang with Blake and Chance and the guys anytime...Plus,I wanted to see my baby." he said and kissed Josie passionately...

Josie looked at Bev and smiled..

"I looks out for a sista.." laughed Beverly....

"You guys are so lucky to have each other...I'm going to find me a good woman....No more groupies or hangers on..."said Eddie Vinson...

"Good for you Eddie...

Just then Chinese Bob brought a bottle of wine to our table..

"It's for you Ms. Olivia." he said.

"I didn't know you served wine in here Bob." said Olivia..

"We don't....A man just came here and gave me twenty dollars to deliver it to you.." he said..

"A man?" asked Olivia..

"An older man..tall  brown skinned...with a graying beard." said Chinese Bob...

Beverly and Josie smiled and looked at Olivia..

"Judge Crawford!!!" they both said in unison..

"Donnie Ray clock that guy...I'll even help you."said Eddie..

"No Need my man..He's clocking himself with all these vain attempts...I actually feel sorry for him."I said..

"That's right...He's wasting his time....If he thinks he's going to get me away from this man here."said Olivia,kissing me passionately...

"She's right about that...Cause she love her some Donnie Ray..."joked Beverly...

Then she passed the bottle to Chinese Bob...

"You can have this....My Auntay doesn't want this." she said..

Chinese Bob looked at Olivia..

"My niece is correct!!!I don't want it..." she said..

He smiled..

"I don't drink wine." he said and took the bottle and poured the contents down the drain and tossed the bottle out back in the trash..

We all continued to laugh and talk and eat...The rest of our night was uneventful...

 Judge Crawford stood outside the window of Chinese Bob...He saw us celebrating...

Olivia feeding me Chinese food..in between sloppy kisses..

Beverly and Nelson eating and spitting rhymes with Eddie and laughing..

And Josie and Paris feeding each other and kissing in between....while laughing at Beverly,Nelson and Eddie...

Nobody was drinking wine...In fact his wine wasn't even on the table....He was furious...He kicked a trash can over and walked away...

Into the city afternoon and night.....