Right Sizing

TWO DAYS LATER- SUNDAY MORNING-

Lem woke up and looked out the window....He had spent the weekend in Zoey's Loft...There were no court appearences or meetings with Olivia ,Beverly and Donnie Ray.....

The last time he had seen them was Friday Night after the last court hearing, when they'd all went out to dinner at the Green Room

 and then partied and drank at Aqua Bar ..

They'd all had such a good time....Especially Zoey....

Who was quite a salsa dancer ,it turned out!

He had spent Friday Night and Saturday Morning and Saturday afternoon and now Sunday morning in Zoey's loft...

Making sweet love seemingly non-stop....He had only known Zoey for about two weeks, but he was crazy about her...It had all happened so fast...

Zoey was still dressed in her blue neglige' and black garters...She passed him a hot cup of coffee..

"Wake up sleepy head." she said...

"I'm woke....Nice place you got here Zo."said Lem...sipping his coffee with Zoey..He couldn't stop staring at her and smiling...She noticed him, but didn't say anything...

He kept looking around and marveling at her loft...It was so bright, he thought.


"Your place is soo nice." he said.

"How would you know? You've spent the better part of what ,nearly 72 hours???...in my bedroom." she said laughing...

"I'm just saying...I like what I see...Shame you're thinking about moving.." he said..

"Did I tell you I found a place? It's about four blocks north of where Livy and Bev live...beautiful place..I already signed for it....Monday, after court....I have people coming to move my stuff into storage...So today...I'm going to start packing...As you see I already have boxes..." she said.

"Want some help?" said Lem...

"Awwww you just want an excuse to stay with me ,longer don't you? That's sweet...I appreciate the help..." she said..

''So your stuff is going into storage huh?" he said..

"Yes and I'm going to stay with Olivia and Bev for two days until my place is ready...You can come see me...Bev has an extra room...We'll have privacy...She said it was okay if you spent the night." she said.

"Nice." he said.

He looked around and smiled..

He took Zoey in his arms and kissed her passionately...

"Didn't you get enough last night? Not to mention this whole weekend..?" asked Zoey..in between wet, sloppy kisses and much laughter....

''Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." he moaned..

"I'll take that as a no..." she giggled....

Zoey laughed as he eased her on her couch, softly slid her panties down and entered her slowly... "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Lem, baby...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" she moaned..

What followed was THREE to FOUR HOURS of sweet ,slow lovemaking....The legs on the small couch were squeaking...This couch was old.. She hoped they didn't break the legs....but right now ,she felt so good, She didn't care....


She wondered where he got his stamina from...Tears and sweat was running down her face and her body was trembling something terrible...Water was running down the small of his back...


"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh girlllllllllllllllll.." he moaned....It was feeling good...He was almost sorry he began cumming and cumming so hard, he couldn't control himself...


Zoey was cumming hard herself and holding on for dear life.....


"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..Lem....Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness...ouuuuuuuuu!" she moaned quietly......

Zoey got herself together and sat on the floor...


"Wow....When you catch your breath...Let's take a shower....We have work to do.." she said..She was still shaking a little bit...she felt tingly in a way she hadn't felt in a long time...

"Wow...I feel like I've already done a days work..." he laughed..

She loved Lem's laugh...


"You certainly have...whooooooooooooooo...."she laughed..

 They began kissing again....and breathing heavily...

"Lemmmmmmmmmmmm..?" she cooed..

"Ummmmmmmm yes baby?" he answered...

"We aren't going to get any work done today are we?"she asked..

"At least not now.." he said...

"Ummmmmmmm....I don't care...It's Sunday....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" she moaned....and continued kissing him...

He lifted her up and took her into her bedroom and laid her across the bed and was soon again ,making sweet love to her...

"Oh My god Lem...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed to the top of her lungs...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrll.." he moaned...

One thing he had in common with Elwood...Neither of them seemed to ever get enough of her!!!

Her bed had never got this much action....It was squeaking something terrible and the headboard was nearly split...Good thing she had bought a new bed for her new place....

Meanwhile, Outside...Elwood Barnes sat across the street in his car..

He had never acted this way towards one woman before...Zoey had done a number on him...He had become a stalker.. Following her to Liv's place, To court....To the gym, to her 12 step meetings and to this clown's loft....


This guy was now up in her loft....probably screwing her brains out ,like he had done in Ocean City , a month ago...


He had no idea she was getting ready to move....


What was wrong with him?  He hadn't slept with anyone since that young girl ,who it was revealed was sending sensitive information about clients to some gangster.. That was so unlike him... He hadn't been to work in two days...He'd spent his every working moment, following Zoey around...Thinking about her....Lusting after her....The night before he'd dreamed he had both Olivia and Zoey in his bedroom...Making sweet love to them both....He shot off like a gusher in his sleep....It seemed he was obsessed with both women....

He put his key in the ignition and pulled off..He was going home, Shower, Shave, Change his clothes and try to forget Zoey Easter.. If that was possible.


II-

Monday Morning...We were all in court....


All except the lead Attorney and the accused murderer...Sarah Pinkston...

"The hearing starts in twenty minutes...I don't like being late.." said Olivia..

"They'll be here Auntay..." said Beverly...

"This isn't like Lem.." said Zoey....Who had spent the night at our place...Lem had been by, but had left ,early in the morning..Zoey felt a tinge of guilt...She hoped Lem hadn't overslept...

They had had another night of marathon sex...Lem just didn't want to stop...Finally, she had to make him leave so he'd have time to get some rest...

"Relax ladies...Here they come.." I said..

"Wow" said Nelson..."Talk about a make over.." he said..

Lem came in with three prison guards and Death Row inmate, Sarah Pinkston...If you didn't know she was facing Lethal Injection for murder , you'd of never of guessed it..She looked Great...New Hairdo...Conservative Business Suit...Short skirt and make up..

She looked like an Attorney herself..

"Don't you look nice" said Olivia..

"WOWWWWWWWWWWWW!" said Beverly and Zoey in unison...

"I owe it all to you...I hope I can be free one day and have more days like this." she said..

"Let's get inside and get this done.." said Lem...

The hearing was short, a half an hour...With both sides presenting their arguments and their evidence...


The Judge ordered the trial to start in two days...

Zoey watched intently as Nelson and Beverly polled the jury pool and picked jurors...
Ed Lawless rejected several...

They came back with more selections...More arguments...Finally, The three of them settled on Six White males...All in their twenties, early thirties...A Black male, A Hispanic male and four women...one Black, One Latino ,One Asian and one white...
It was the best jury they could get...

Since he was the lead Attorney...Lem opened up with a synopsis of the case.....He gave a brilliant synopsis...He was a good storyteller..

Olivia addressed the audience next...She talked about the inconsistancies in the State's case and hinted at prosecutorial misconduct..

Ed Lawless objected loudly.....He gave his sumnation.....and it was game on...

I whispered to Zoey...

"Well, we are in it now baby...This is for all the marbles.." I said..

"Wow...I'm sweating." said Zoey..

"You're sweating? Think of me.." said Sarah...

Nelson nodded..


"Yeah...I can imagine..." he said.


III-

The first three days of the trial ,Lem, Olivia and Beverly paraded a series of Forensic experts before the jury....Some who had actually worked on the case and a few who had looked at the evidence since then...

Lem, Olivia and Beverly knew how boring this kind of testimony could be to jurors ,so they brilliantly kept it light hearted and explained things in ways the layman, like me, could understand..

All of them said the same thing...They found forensic evidence linking Edgar Singelton and Harry Pierson to the crime...but not a shred of evidence linking Jimmy Valentine or Sarah Pinkston to the crime...

Under tough cross examination by Ed Lawless...They stuck to their stories...He was a ver good attorney himself and if they weren't careful ,he could very well sway some of the jurors to his way of thinking...

He was desperate..He couldn't afford to lose this case and he was playing more not to lose it than to actually win it!

The next day...We brought the case Detectives who actually made the arrests, Wallace Headron, the primary and Teddy Price...now retired...

."..I never thought she had anything to do with it...I refused to testify to the contrary at her trial...We had our guys...Singelton and Pierson...Those two had pulled a number of heists...and were known box men....Valentine drank with them...and had did some time with them...But he didn't really hang out with them like that...We told Lawless that..We told him...But he wouldn't listen....He was dead set on pulling those other two into it.." said Detective Wallace Headron, the primary on the case...

Ed Lawless grilled him brutally....but the old detective wouldn't budge...


His partner, Teddy Price was equally adamnit..

"We had Singelton and Peirson for the murders and the Heist and we were good with that...But Lawless kept saying he wanted the mastermind and that he believed more people were involved than just these two...He kept saying Jimmy Valentine...We knew who Jimmy Valentine was...Valentine was small potatoes...He had done his time...He saw his Parole Officer every week on time...He had a job and a girlfriend...He wasn't trying to go back to the joint...Valentine drank with Singelton and Pierson...and had did some time with them...But he didn't really hang out with them like that...We told Lawless that..We told him...But he wouldn't listen....He was dead set on pulling those other two into it.. The woman, Sarah Pinkston...She had dropped out of law school...Neither she  nor her mother liked Singelton or Pierson and they weren't allowed in her mother's house...It is highly doubtful that Sarah Pinkston would have entered into a conspiracy with any of them....."he said.

"Why didn't you testify to that in 2010?" asked Beverly...

"You have to understand...Ed Lawless was popular then..Like ADA Keith Wallace is now...The darling of the Mayor and the City....We had pressure on us to fall in line with Ed Lawless ,even though we knew he was full of shit...I refused to perjure myself ,so I sat the trial out..." said Price..

"I OBJECT!!" screamed Ed Lawless...

"Sustained...Mr. Price, just answer the questions....No personal attacks." said the Judge dryly...

Olivia recalled Headron and asked him the same question-


"I did testify... I gave only the basic facts when I testified...but I felt so rotten that that poor woman got the death penalty and the real killers got Life, No Parole....I even felt sorry for Valentine...He got 25 years...but he got paroled in three....and then the poor guy died the next year..." said Headron..

Ed Lawless looked sick....He did not want this dog of a case to rear it's ugly head again...Especially since he was contemplating yet another run for State's Attorney this year...He had already picked an exploratory committee..

He called Sarah Pinkston to the stand...He showed the jury photos of her with Jimmy Valentine, Ed Singleton and  Harry Pierson....He called witnesses who testified that she brought groceries for and to the elderly couple and had been in their home several times....

Lem asked her if she knew about the safe. She said she did, but had no idea how much
money or if any was in the safe.


He brought up her sterling record...Her school record and the fact that she was in law school and had no criminal record prior to this.


Ed Lawless had no questions...He just shook his head and stomped his foot!

The fourth day of the trial was  priceless....

Lem called Polly Russell, the ex-wife of Ed Singelton...Since she never testified in the original trial ,she was in no danger of being accused of perjury...

Ed Lawless took one look at her and slumped down in his seat...He kept shaking his head as if he couldn't believe how his fortunes had changed...He was on the short list for District Attorney and here out of nowhere...this dog of a case that he had long forgotten came up to hound him!!

"Look...Lawless came on to me...He said if I was uh nice to him...He'd lower my husband's sentence...get them 10 -15 on manslaughter...He said that Singleton and Pierson were too stupid to have masterminded this themselves....They had to have had someone else to give them the blueprint of the house and the safe.. I gave em Jimmy Valentine...He said the same thing about Jimmy Valentine...Too stupid to be the shot caller...In fact, he doubted that Jimmy was involved at all...I couldn't give him the real shot caller...That guy was heavy..he'd have you killed.." she said.


''Who was the real shot caller?" asked Lem..


"Dante Peppers...he was the local neighborhood boss. Had guys selling drugs, fenced stolen goods and had women on the street and everybody knew he put down scores...Robberies." she said.


"Hear say...Dante Peppers is not on trial and was not indicted for this." protested Ed Lawless..

Lem smiled..


"You had a sexual relationship with ADA Lawless?" he asked..

"I OBJECT!" screamed Ed Lawless  "RELEVANCE!" he screamed..

"It is very relevant ADA Lawless...Let's hear the witness." said the Judge..

"Yes...He came on to me...My husband noticed it and he told me to sleep with him, to get him and Harry a lighter sentence...Manslaughter instead of  1st degree Murder ,which carried the death penalty....But the case got news coverage and it was right around the time Mr. Lawless was running for State's Attorney...He threw the book at them...Eddie and Harry got Life, No Parole and Jimmy got 15-25 years and he made Sarah the sacrificial lamb...She got the Death Penalty....Eddie told me that Jimmy and Sarah had nothing to do with it...He couldn't find Jimmy that night..."she said.


"LIES!!! ALL LIES!I WANT THAT STRICKEN FROM THE RECORD!" shouted Ed Lawless...

Beverly had a tape recorder...


"Your honor...may I present this as evidence...? It was recorded two nights ago." said Beverly, smiling sweetly...


The judge ,who was Black and about Beverly's age was kind of sweet on Beverly...He had been making goo goo eyes at her the entire trial..


"Why yes...Of course.." he said, smiling..


"Hello, who is this..?

"An Old friend Polly...It took me a while to find you...I see you've gotten married and cleaned your act up...Got two kids...Live in the suburbs almost huh?"

Ed Lawless....

"Yes....Does your husband know you used to be a whore? Does he know about your arrest record? I'm bettin he and your fancy neighbors don't have a clue...And it can stay that way as long as you don't testify at that trial in a few days.."

"You threatening me Ed?"

"No...I'm promising you...I'll make sure your husband gets a phone call about our nights in several hotels and the things you did to me in bed...You still do those things Polly.?"

''Don't threaten me."

"Then keep your mouth shut and don't testify.. This case is over.. Everybody is dead..."

"An innocent woman is on death row..."

"A Jury of her peers says she's guilty....It was seven years ago Polly...Just leave it at that."

"You're a bastard Ed."

"That I am."

(Click!)

Beverly smiled...She looked at Ed Lawless..


"That sounds like you!" she said..


Ed Lawless was beet red, he screamed to the top of his lungs at Beverly,


"You and your aunt have pulled some low down tricks before ,but this takes the cake...You recorded me without my consent...A first year attorney knows that that is wrong!" he shouted..

Olivia stood up...


"You're right...It is wrong...but we weren't recording you...We were recording her calls and she gave us her consent...." she said.


She showed the judge and the jury a written form of consent...


The Judge was flabbergasted...


He stood up..


"I am dismissing the jury....SIDEBAR!!!! EVERYBODY! Everyone else is free to go! Thank you all for your time!" he bellowed..


Ed Lawless smiled...The judge was going to tear these two a new one for this stunt, he thought.


The Judge, instead glared at Ed Lawless and said...


"Lawless....this is low, Even for you...Trading sexual favors for false testimony...and witness intimidation...Oh My God man...A woman is on death row for something you KNEW she had nothing to do with....and an innocent man spent three years of his life in prison, again for something you knew he had nothing to do with...Just so you could look like you busted up a major crime conspiracy??? My God Lawless...Have you no shame?" he said..


Ed Lawless attempted to explain...


"Your honor...If I may explain..."he said.


"You've done enough....YOuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu disgust me.....I'll deal with you later Lawless.." he snarled..


Ed Lawless looked like he'd swallowed a can of fresh paint...He was stunned.....



The Judge called the defendant to the Bar...

"Ms.Pinkston approach the bar." he said.

Zoey, Nelson and I walked up with her..

The Judge looked at her...


"Ms. Pinkston...I am sorry for the seven years we took from you...This should have never happened and I'm going to make sure you get some financial renumeration...I see no evidence that you had anything to do with this....So I am overturning your death sentence and dropping all charges...You are free to go!  Even though he was paroled and he is deceased...I am taking this conviction off of James Valentine's record and declaring him legally innocent!" he said and pounded his gavel.....He glared at  Ed Lawless-

"YOU!  IN MY CHAMBERS!  The rest of you can go!" he said to Olivia, Beverly and Lem...

 "We've done it again baby girl." said a Jubilant Olivia ,hugging her niece....

 "We sure did Auntay." gushed Beverly....

"We make a great team don't we?" said Lem, hugging both of them...

Sarah burst into tears and hugged Lem


"Thank you....Thank you soooo much, this has been a long time coming." she said as she cried profusely....

"I told you I'd do everything I could to get you off.." said Lem....

 "Zoey, you're the real hero today....You can work a trial with me anytime.." said Olivia.

 "Did you see the look on Lawless's face when I played that tape?" laughed Beverly.

 "It was priceless..."I said laughing....

"Man...I was laughing so hard...I had to walk out in the hallway....Especially when Bev said.." That sounds like you." said Nelson.

Olivia, Beverly, Myself and Nelson all turned to Zoey...

She was the real hero...That idea of taping Polly and getting her consent and trapping Ed Lawless was a stroke of genius....

"Awwwww shucks guys" joked Zoey.

Lem pulled Zoey to him....

"Come here girl...." he said.

He kissed her passionately for a few minutes....He had gone home the past few days ,so that he'd be well rested for the trial...Zoey had missed him, but as she told Beverly, She had welcomed the sleep, Lem wanted to do it all night.......but now that the trial was over, she missed Lem something terrible...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu Mr. Anderson...This is so inappropriate..." she joked as they continued kissing..She then whispered in his ear...

"Tonight I'm going to do everything in my power to get you off.." she said..

"I look forward to that!" he said...smiling sheepishly.

Lem blushed something terrible...Zoey just laughed...He was soo cute, she thought

Sarah Pinkston smiled..


"Look at them! I knew they had something goin on...He tried to act like they didn't." she said..

"I know right?" laughed Beverly..

I pulled Olivia to me...


"Come here girl...Give daddy some sugar..." I said...Zoey and Lem kissing had gotten me excited...

"Ouuuuuuuu!" she said, as I grabbed her and kissed her..

"I'm always giving you sugar....Ummmmmm ,mama  is gonna give you some more sugar tonight." she said as we kissed...

Nelson looked at Sarah, He asked her..."So what will you do now?" he asked..

"I have some cousins...They're here now..They're going to take me to their place until I can get situated...I'm going to try to go back to law school...Finish that last year and who knows what then? " she said.

"Good Luck to you Sarah." said Beverly....

"Thank You....Now kiss your sweetie like everyone else is doing.." she laughed...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh alright...Come here goofball." said Beverly to Nelson,jokingly ...

Nelson smiled.. as Beverly kissed him...


"I love you boo." she said....


"Ummmmmmmmm, I love you too." he said.

Watching all of this was Elwood Barnes , who had been in the spectators section everyday watching the trial...

He didn't mind seeing Olivia and I kissing ..He had resigned himself to us being married....nor Beverly and that other young Attorney, Nelson East... but right now, he felt some kind of way about Zoey kissing this clown of an Attorney.... He was too young for her...He wasn't the man for her...He wasn't seasoned enough!!!but regardless...He was the one she was kissing right now!


Elwood  quietly slipped out of the courthouse...He didn't want Zoey seeing him and thinking he was stalking her...Even though he was!~

The case was won...Lem had laid out a masterful strategy and with Livy, Bev, Nelson and my help and a last minute save from Zoey..We had saved a woman's life...


It wasn't much..but it was enough for me...Enough for all of us and certainly enough for Sarah Pinkston...

The six of us piled into Lem's new Escalade and pulled off....A light rain began to fall...and a nice warm wind began to below...A sign that the case was truly over I gathered..


EPILOUGE-

ADA Ed Lawless was censored once again for his handling of the case...The District Attorney and The Mayor demanded his resignation...He gave it...He wasn't disbarred, but his political career was all but over.

Dante Peppers ,already serving a life term was indicted and tried for masterminding the murder...He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years for conspiracy...

Sarah Pinkston did return to Law school and graduated a year later and passed the bar..Olivia, Beverly, Lem ,Zoey and I were at her graduation..

She went to work for the Innocence Program , which was responsible for her freedom...

The next day, Olivia closed the office...We all traveled four blocks north of where we lived to Zoey's new loft....for a house warming party...

Her new place was beautiful...

''Wow..Zo.....Nice!" said Olivia.

"Ouuu Zo, we have to have a slumber party one night...Just us girls." said Beverly...

"Yeah..." said Josie...

"Anytime...Oh Liv.. it's so nice.. Us being neighbors.." said Zoey...


Nelson ,Lem and I came in the front door just then....

"Heyyyyyyyyyy ladies....The food is here." said Nelson..

He brought four large pizzas with him and spread them out...

I came in with the beers...

"I brought a case of these." I said...

"And I brought wine." said Lem...

"Alright!!!" said the girls...


The door bell rang....


It was Celeste Tate and Soloman Foster..

 '' Zoey girl." said Celeste

"Hey guys" said Soloman...

 "CELSETE!" said Zoey, smiling..

 "Hey girlfriend." laughed Olivia..

 "Hey Celeste.."

"Hey guys." said Josie...

"Is it enough Pizza?" asked Nelson...

"Who cares...We got all this beer and Wine.." I said.

Donnie Ray ,you're a man after my own heart" said Lem..laughing...as we all took slices of Pizza and bottles of beer and poured glasses of wine...

The door bell rang....Olivia's cousin, Kayla and her boyfriend Ray also arrived...

They brought more Pizza and a case of Beer....

Zoey stood quietly and looked out the window..

She had a new place...New Man...Near her friends...And the best thing was , She was pretty sure Elwood didn't know she had moved...She had quit her gym and joined the one around here in the twin shopping malls owned by Chris Thompson and Chess....She had found a new Church ,Reverend Struther's church with it's own 12 step program....


Maybe Elwood would stop hounding her...She was certain he could find her again, but he might not want to be caught slipping around this close to his ex-wife...She really didn't want to have to get a restraining order on him...

As for Elwood, he was halfway across town at Zoey's old loft discovering the news...

"She moved??, When??"he asked.


"A week ago.." said the woman...


"She say where she was going?" he asked.


"Not to me.. Apparently not to you either." she said and slammed the door.


Zoey had been gone a week and someone was already in her Loft..


He stomped his foot and kicked the trash can hard...


"DAMN IT!" he yelled..

Zoey never explained why and I never asked...but she and Lem boxed her stuff up later that Sunday and she gave me the keys...That night, Nelson and I and Clerow and Owen Todd moved all of her stuff out of her loft and into her new place and after the first day of trial...Clerow,Owen,Nelson ,Lem and I helped her set up her new place...She stayed with Beverly until the last day of the trial..

Elwood didn't know that..He was staked out ,outside of Lem's place looking for a sign of her and Lem...There was none!  Zoey and Lem were at Livy and Beverly's place the last two days , until Zoey's place was ready...

He found out she had quit the 12 step program in the area she lived in and was no longer going to the gym in her area...He had no idea where she could be..She still worked at Cowen,Cowen,Young and Associates..but was told that after the end of this case, she had requested and gotten a few days off..

Zoey was completely off of his radar now...She had changed her phone number and had gotten a new email address...

Elwood headed to a nearby bar...He would need some drinks...Plenty of drinks.

and back at Zoey's place..

Slow music was playing...the lights were dimmed and couples were dancing..

 "Watch your hands Donnie Ray..Ouuuuuuuuu..." laughed Olivia..

"I am watching them.Ummmmm and they like what they are feeling" I laughed..Rubbing her legs and running my hands up her sundress...She didn't even try to move them, she just laid her head on my chest....and smiled..

"Ummm, you are sooo nasty.." she laughed..

"Ouuuu Nelson...Oh my goodness...I'm going to have to take care of that..." whispered Beverly...

"Yes, you are....I don't know if I can walk out of here just yet..." he whispered to her..

Kayla and Ray danced like an old married couple..Slow...Her head on his shoulder...oblivious to everybody else..

"Ummmmmm, I wanna give you another baby." moaned Soloman..

"I think you did, you horny goat." said Celeste..

"For Real?" he asked..

"No silly." laughed Celeste..

Josie and her boyfriend, Paris said nothing, they just danced slowly...as was Lem and Zoey...

"Damn girl...you feel good." said Lem..As he ran his hands up Zoey's dress and softly caressed her legs and buttocks..

"To know you is to love you baby..Ummmmmmmmmmm" he said.

Zoey giggled...

"I'm glad you like it boo." she said...Beverly always calls Nelson her boo...Now she was calling Lem her boo..It felt wonderful, she thought...This felt wonderful.

Zoey moaned softly...Right now...All was right with the world.