Red Booth

Another day in Court...Olivia and Beverly were serving as second and third chair on a case being argued by their good friend, Attorney Calvin Hunt..

Who had hired them to assist him on a case he was working.....

He was defending a young Black Broker named Lonnie McLucas...who was married to the white daughter of his boss at the Brokerage firm he worked at....Accused of murdering an exotic dancer/stripper he had once dated....He claimed the woman had called him and asked him to meet her at her home at midnight...

"I attempted to get my car...but the lock on the garage door was jammed...So in haste I took an Uber...When I got there....She was already dead...I didn't kill her...I swear." he said..

The trial was in it's sixth day and the Prosecution was having a field day....Calvin didn't want to lose this case,so at the last minute, he called Olivia and Beverly in as second and third chair to help him out...

These two had stopped the bleeding somewhat, but were still on an uphill climb....I hated to see them in such dire straits...

As court was adjourning for the day..I walked in, I had missed today's proceedings....

Me?I used to be a cop...A Homicide Detective in New Orleans to be exact...A chance meeting of a lonely ,recently divorced Olivia in New Orleans at Essence Fest turned into a whirlwind romance and I wound up leaving the New Orleans Police department...A long story for another time...Moving to Philly, tracking Ms. Bennett down....She had formed her own law firm by then with her precocious niece, Beverly, also an Attorney and Ms. Josie Boyd..her girl Friday and I offered my services as their investigator..All in that order...Eventually, I married Liv and the rest is as they say...History or in this case...My story...

"Hey guys ,how did things go today?" I asked..

''A little better Donnie Ray....The ADA is going to rest his case tomorrow....or the day after...Liv and Bev slowed him down a bit...but I fear not enough..." said Calvin..

"You should have called us sooner Calvin.." said Olivia.

"Yes and you should have called Nelson too before he and Chance got caught up in their present case ...Nelson could have helped you with jury selection at least...He's very good at that...He's helped us a number of times ."said Beverly...

Olivia walked over to me and planted a nice juicy, wet kiss on my lips..

"Mmmmmmmmmmm I missed you baby...I thought about you all day.." she whispered in my ear...

"You might not want to kiss me when I bring you the bad news..." I said..

"Bad News?" asked Olivia..

"The Uber Driver....Lemon Jefferson...The one he said was trying to Blackmail him...The one who drove him there has vanished...I mean vanished off the face of the earth...They found his car in the airport....Keys still in the ignition....Wallet there too and not a sign of him....He hasn't been seen or heard from in a week, his dispatcher said." I said..

"What about the Office Manager at the firm who recorded the entire conversation between him and the Uber driver the next day,Myra Zanders?" asked Beverly..

"That's another strange thing...Can't find hide nor hair of her either...Neighbors say she went out two nights later in a car that looked a lot like the Uber driver's car...She had on a party dress...Heels and was real dolled up and that was the last time she was seen..." I said.

"That's two witnesses...They could either clear him or bury him and they're both missing?  Nuts....This case is going down the toilet.." said Calvin....

I was used to working with Olivia and Beverly's cases, which whether they worked as a team or seperately was well drawn out and strategized and well organized...No surprises and nothing like this...Two witnesses missing and two witnesses that could bury him or exonerate him....Too many variables..Too many unknowns..

II-

"Well, let's call it a day....We have to go back and do some strategizing.."said Olivia..

''Yeah, come up with a plan B." said Beverly...

''Let's wind down guys..I know a place...It's called Red Booth..." said Calvin...

"I know that place...It is nice and quiet..."said Beverly...

"Nelson took you there?" asked Calvin...

"I took him there...Actually, Larry North took me there , when we were dating briefly.." said Beverly....

Calvin Hunt laughed... "So many layers to the Beverly Onion.." he said..

"I always say that." I said and we all laughed...

Watching the whole thing from afar was another Attorney who we all knew well...Olivia's ex-husband, Elwood Barnes...

He walked over and spoke to us...

"Cal..what's going on?  Hi Donnie Ray, Hello Olivia...I'll even say hello to you Beverly..." he said..

"Hello Elwood." said Olivia..who whispered to Beverly...."Something's up...He didn't just happen to be here."

 Beverly nodded, but didn't say anything....She whispered back to her aunt...

"I know right?"

"Heyy Elwood." I said..

"Elwood!!! What's going on buddy?" said Calvin...

"I had a civil case the Insurance company was handling today...It just wrapped up and I just happen to see you guys going into court...I stopped by to see you work....Beverly....this may sound strange coming from me, but you were very good today in court..I see why Olivia partnered with you.....and Liv? What can I say?  You are always on point." he said..

Even I thought his compliments were a little shady...

"Look I'm glad I ran into you...I realize you guys are working together on a big case...but Liv,I uh need to see you about a confidential matter.." said Elwood..

"You're not dying again are you?" said Beverly referring to how we all met...Elwood pretended to be dying in a lame attempt to get Olivia to marry him again, so he could get on her insurance...He was actually as healthy as a horse...He just wanted her back...That whole incident drove me to propose to Olivia...To keep anymore of her exes or would be suitors from trying to take her away from me..

Elwood normally would have said something smart to Beverly, she would have countered and a war of words and quips would have filled the air...but he surprisingly laughed...pointed at her and said..

"Good One...I guess I deserve that...No...This is no scam...but Olivia...I do require your help...possibly your niece's too in a legal matter...of an extremely confidential nature.." he said..

"Are you saying you want to hire me?  Beverly too?? YOU MUST BE IN TROUBLE!!!" said Olivia ,laughing...

Beverly whispered in my ear...

"I don't trust him D.R."

"Hear him out Shortcake...He must be pretty desperate to come to us..." I said.

"Look man....We are going to Red Booth...Care to join us?  " said Calvin Hunt..

"Uh...I'll be there ...but only for a short time...Olivia...could I talk to you in private once we get there...I hope you don't mind Donnie Ray....Just a few minutes and I'll be gone...I promise.." he said.

"It's cool man, it's up to Liv...I trust her." I said.

III-

Red Booth was a very tony , high end bar....Beverly was right...It was the kind of place you went when you wanted to be alone, or at best unseen...

It was on the second floor of a one time Warehouse...Olivia ,Beverly,Calvin and myself  arrived first....

 "WOW! This is a nice place...I didn't know it was here.."said Olivia..

 "Yeah that's the whole point...People in the know ,know it's here...Real Low Key..."said Beverly...

 "Exactly."said Calvin Hunt.

I looked around...My cops instincts told me that a lot of Attorneys and their clients were here...A lot of players were here also..talking quietly....

Unlike most bars...The conversation didn't rise above a whisper..

Drinks arrived....We were all very thirsty......Including Olivia and Beverly's drink of the moment...The Citris Martini..

We all drank our drinks while some cool jazz played...

"Mmmm, I like the ambience of this place..."said Beverly...

''So Do I..This is a great place to relax..after a long day in court..."said Olivia..

''Especially after a loser case like this..Damn....I should have never taken this case.." said Calvin...

"Noooooooo, Don't say that...It's the difficult cases like this that are the most challenging...The ones that make you a legend..."I said.

Elwood walked in just then..

"Sorry I'm late...." he said..

''Andddddddddddddddddd there goes my high!"said Beverly...

Calvin and I laughed....

"You wanted to see me Elwood." said Olivia, smiling..

"Let's sit at this table right over here....I have papers to show you..." he said.. "We'll be right back folks...I won't keep her long..." he said apologetically...

"Bring my Auntay back....You take your time!" said Beverly...

I giggled...He didn't hear what she said...

Olivia and Elwood sat across from each other...

"So...What's this about?" asked Olivia..

Elwood opened up his briefcase and passed Olivia some papers...She looked them over and then said dryly...

''Welllllllll you're going to be a daddy, congratulations...You know what they say...Third time is the charm." she said smiling...

When they had been married...Olivia had been pregnant twice by Elwood and had lost both babies...

"I don't know if I'm the father of this child and this couldn't happen at a worse time..." said Elwood...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh I see...You're involved with someone else...??" said Olivia..

"Yes...I live with her.Her name is Alexandria Miller, she's an Attorney...

He showed Olivia a photo of her...

"She's very pretty Elwood...You live with her...Must be serious..."said Olivia, smiling..

"Liv...I've changed...No really...I have...You were the best thing that ever happened to me, sexy, smart, industrious...you drove me crazy in the bed....But I was a fool, I still kept looking for something better...When I had all I needed with you...By the time I realized that..It was too late...Donnie Ray did what I was too stupid to do...He married you and loved you and supported your dreams...Losing you was the biggest mistake of my life...

"You know by now...I was involved with Zoey Easter, your divorce attorney....Another great woman...My second chance....and I was going to do right by her, I swear....but -" he said.

''She said she found a pair of panties in your room the last night you were there that week in Ocean City....You had had sex with another woman while she was taking a nap.."said Olivia..

"It was this woman's panties...The plaintiff in this paternity suit..Her name is Tamika Carson, She's a model" said Elwood..

"WHATTTTT?" said Olivia...

"Remember when I worked at Delorean Motors two years before?? She lived three floors above me in my condo..she was...And you must keep this a secret...She was Calvin Hunt's then girlfriend...I was screwing ,the woman he's now married to and has a baby with,Della Killibrew...Calvin was away....Della was off shopping somewhere...Tamika and I made a connection and one thing led to another and we had a very nice afternoon of lovemaking..That was two years ago....I didn't see her again until early this year in Ocean City.." said Elwood..

''So you two ran into each other in Ocean City right?" asked Olivia..

"Is was just that one time...It was the last day Zoey and I were there....It was a one for the road kind of thing...I was going to ask Zoey to be my woman, to move in with me that night when she came over...Our last night there...and that's when she discovered the panties lying on the ottoman...She left and never had anything else to do with me again...When we got back to Philly...I tried..I tried to implore her to forgive me, but she wouldn't...She threatened to file a restraining order against me..When you and Donnie Ray saw me in the bar crying and drunk that night...the woman I was wrecked over was Zoey."said Elwood..

"Good Old Zo."laughed Olivia... "Oh I'm sorry, go on.." said Olivia..

"Remember that Saturday ...You, Donnie Ray, Beverly and her fella and the young lady who works for you were all on the train headed to a baby shower in New York City and you saw me?" asked Elwood..

"Yeah I remember.." said Olivia..

"I went to New York to see her...Tamika Carson...I spent the night...That was the last time I saw her...I tried to call her but her phone was disconnected...She told me she had photo shoots in Los Angelas, San Francisco and London..When I thought she was back  in New York I called her again...Again her number was disconnected..I even sent her a friend request on Facebook....Nothing! I never saw or heard from her again and now I get this..In the mail...I'm being sued for paternity...I wasn't her only lover...She put me out that morning you all were going back to Philly,because she was meeting some guy for breakfast..He could also be the father....It was around the same time." he said..

"God!  She sounds like....Well, Like YOU! That was seven months ago...She is close to being ready to deliver by now...She's gotten farther than I got...I take it this was before you met Ms. Miller?" asked Olivia..

"Oh yes...Three months before.." said Elwood..

"So level with her...Tell her the truth...These things happen..." said Olivia..

"Olivia I've changed...You remember finding bras and panties in your car, in my car in our home for god sakes when we were married....The two times you came to visit me at my loft recently... you found panties lying on the floor...That guy doesn't exist anymore.." he said..

''Did you hire a maid or do you clean up after yourself now?" asked Olivia, giggling..

"I mean I don't fool around anymore...I haven't slept with anyone but Alexandria since I met her...Any panties or bras on the floor in my place are hers..I blew two chances with two great women...You and Zoey....I'm not going to blow a third one..." he said..

"So what do you want from me Elwood?" asked Olivia..

"I need you and your....your niece to represent me.....I need your husband to look into this...I need to be sure it's my child...before I pay one red cent..." he said..

"You do know we are in the middle of a murder case right now don't you?" asked Olivia..

"Take your time...I know you start your defense next week....Oh and a word of advice..Ask your client why the cabbie came to see him the next day....It might uh answer some questions.." he said and stood up.....

"Will you help me Liv?" he asked..

"Yeah,Yeah Yeah...but it's not going to be for free.." she said.

"Of course not....And please...Don't tell Calvin...Please!!!....It's already weird him being married and having a baby with Della Killibrew...I don't need any other weirdness between he and I..." he said..And walked away...

"Thank you again Livy..." he said..

"So what's up with Bum Ass?" asked Beverly...

"We just got another job..." said Olivia..

"He wants you to represent him as many attorneys and investigators as he has at Cyclops? He got somebody pregnant...Somebody so important...He can't use them..." said Calvin...Who had no idea how right he was..

"We are in the middle of a murder trial.." I said..

"He's not in a rush....Not yet..." said Olivia , who pulled me to her and kissed me long and hard....

"But I'm in a rush  to get home and take this dress off.." she said..

''And I'm in a rush to take it off of you.." I said..in between kisses.

Calvin turned to Beverly...

''So, can I buy you another drink?"he asked..

Beverly busted out laughing...

''Sure"she said..

(TO BE CONTINUED)