Requiem

Olivia peered out the window at the rainy streets....It had rained something terrible the night before...a little puddle had turned almost into an ocean across the street...I'm exagerating of course....but it was a lot of water and it was still raining....

"Donnie Ray honey, come here...Look at the rainbow..." she said as she peered out of the open window..

I put my arms around her waist and kissed her neck....I squeezed her gently....

"What rainbow?" I asked..

"That one!" she pointed with a child like glee...

A beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky....I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen one so beautiful...We both paused for a minute...

We had been in New Orleans and Miami lately....and I suppose we all were spoiled by the balmy weather of the South....

Now we were back in Philadelphia and with that...the realization that summer was gone...It was now definitely autumn...

It was nice to be home....and not to have some big case on our dockets....

There was a soft knock on our door...

I went to the door....It was my wife's niece, Beverly and her significant other, Nelson East.

''We uh weren't interrupting anything were we?" asked Beverly sheepishly...

Nelson giggled...

"Oh God, come in....Donnie Ray and I don't screw around the clock....We come up for air sometimes."exclaimed Olivia..

Beverly and Nelson both smiled sheepishly and held their heads down...

"Oh you two need to just stop it.." said Olivia ,laughing guiltily...

The night before we had made sweet love during that thunder storm on the couch, not in our noisy bed....

 "Ouuuuu Donnie Rayyyy..yesssssssssssssssssssssssss..." she screamed...

"Ohhhhh..Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness..Ohhhhhhhhhh." I yelled...

"Yes.....put it on me..put it onnnnnnnnnnnnnn me.." she yelled..

I was squeezing her breasts gingerly...

"Ummmmmmm.." I grunted...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu..ohhhh my goodness..ouuuuuuu." she moaned...

 and had topped it off with an early morning screw......again in the living room!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...""Ohhh baby, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph..."she cried out!

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... Olivia...Good lawd Olivia.....ouuuuuuuuuu, more, more... ohhhhhh..."I moaned..

"Donnie Ray...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...GIVE IT TO MAMA!!!"she moaned.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gooooddddddd lawdd it's soooo goood...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh damnnn girl...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweeeeet jesusssssssssss ..arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."I cried ...out!!"Morrre...Morreee....morrre...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. "

"Donnie Rayyy..ouuuuuu..Donnie Ray....OHHHHHHH. Donnie Ray I'm cumming...ohhhhh my goodness..ouuuuuuu!"she wailed...staring in my eyes with an almost look of fear.

She was sweating profusely....So was I.....

We were just in relaxation mode now...

I'm certain that Nelson..

who loved the ground that Beverly walked on wasn't over here twiddling his thumbs either...

In fact, the way Shortcake was blushing was a dead giveaway that she had her back cracked

 as they say in New Orleans last night too!

  "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Nelson...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she moaned..

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Beverly, this is the best...the very best...I've ever had.." he exclaimed.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Nelson...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she moaned..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu girl...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, oUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...BEVERLY....OH MY GOD!!!!!UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" he moaned...


"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Nelsonnnnnn." she cooed..


"Damn girl, you are driving me crazy..." he said...

"I make you feel good baby?" asked Beverly...

''Always..." he said..

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" she said..

 and well! I mused....

Beverly peered out the window...

''Did you see the beautiful rainbow this morning Auntay?? D.R.??" she asked..

''Sure did..." said Olivia..

''Sit down you two.....I put on Kureig of coffee..." I said...

I sat a place at our table for the four of us...

Nothing like a tumbler of hot steaming coffee on a nice brisk autumn morning...

II-

"Your place is so bright Auntay...Sometimes my spot feels dark..." said Beverly...

"I can have it painted a different color, help you get new furniture.." said Olivia...

"You always look out for me...Nah, I can take care of that...but thanks Auntay...."said Beverly as she sipped her tumbler of coffee....

''What do you guys have planned for today?" asked Nelson..

"As soon as you guys leave, we were going to strip naked and just relax.."I joked..

''Ewwwwww Auntay get your husband!" said Beverly cracking up....

"He's so silly..."laughed Olivia....who's phone began to ring.....

 "Hmmm, who is this?" she wondered...

It was Coroner and Forensic Investigator, Dr. Hazel Baylor...

"Hi Liv.." said Hazel..

"Hi Hazel, what are you doing working on a Saturday?" asked Olivia..

"I'm filling in for Doc Gibbons...His niece got married in Martha's Vineyard....I'd do anything to trade places with him or even you right now!"said Hazel...

"I know that's right....What's up?" asked Olivia..

"I was off yesterday and a body came in....I think you should uh come down and make Identification..." said Hazel..

"Me?  Somebody I know??" asked Olivia..

"I'm guessing so...I'd rather you see the body for yourself.."said Hazel...

"Okay....I'll be down shortly..." said Olivia..

"Everything alright?" I asked..

"That was Hazel...She wants me to come down to the M.E.'s office and identify a body..." said Olivia.

"Who?" I asked..

"She wouldn't say over the phone...." said Olivia...

"You think it's uh our friend, Mr. Graves?" asked Beverly...

"You guys haven't heard from him in awhile..." said Nelson...

"One way to find out for sure...Let's go to the M.E.'s office and find out." I said..

"It was still raining cats and dogs outside....but the four of us got in the SUV and headed for the M.E.'s office

III-

Hazel met the four of us at the door and ushered us inside..

Hey Beverly, Donnie Ray, Nelson... Follow me into the lab..." she said...

"This seems spooky.." joked Beverly....

"Don't worry...I'm here babe..."said Nelson..

"Awwww that's so sweet bae, but if it's a zombie...We are both in hot water..." said Beverly...

Olivia looked at Hazel and sighed and then shrugged...

"You'd never know they are accomplished Attorneys would you?" she joked..

"Awwww they're cute..."laughed Hazel...

Hazel pulled the sheet from over the body....

"Hey,I remember this woman....You know her....She's a lawyer..."I said...I couldn't remember her name..

 Olivia's eyes got as wide as saucers...

"Oh My God...It's Belle....." she said.

"Belle Gaddes...." said Beverly.....

I saw awe in both women's eyes like they couldn't believe that such a person could ever die......

"I thought you knew her....I remember when you passed the bar Liv...You went to clerk for her..."said Hazel...

"Who is she? Some Heavyweight? You guys go up against her before?" asked Nelson...

I had same the exact same thing nearly two years ago when we went up against her during a rape case..

''Nelson....I used to Clerk for her ,when I was a law student....and after I passed the bar....I worked for her briefly before I started working at the Public Defender's Office.....She lectured a few of my classes at Penn Law school...She was my mentor..."said Olivia..

"She lectured a few of my law classes when I was at Penn Law school and I clerked for her too on Auntay's recomendation when I was a law student...After I passed the bar...She wrote a recomendation for me....Helped me get my first job as an Attorney...She taught me so much..."said Beverly...

"Oh Wow!" said Nelson...

''Two years ago...We had to go up against her during a rape case...We won...Got our client off, only to find out he'd raped her years before.." I said..

"Whattttttttttttttttttt?" said Nelson....

"We worked everything out.." said Beverly.... "I can't believe she's dead!"said Beverly...

''What happened Hazel?" asked Olivia..

''She overdosed on Fentynol....She had an operation and she was using it as a sort of painkiller...I suspect she was self medicating.." said Hazel...

"Where....uh where did they find her?" asked Beverly....

"Her girlfriend found her at their home..."said Hazel..

"She was gay?" asked Nelson...

"Bi-sexual..."said Olivia...

Beverly smiled..

"Remember her big booming voice Auntay?" asked Beverly...

I certainly remembered it...

"MS. BENNETT!! IS THIS YOUR HUSBAND?" came a stern voice..She sounded like all of those teachers I had in grade school who had been strict and hard on me...but she was a surprisingly, strikingly beautiful woman with reddish brown skin and hair that was just starting to gray...
Belle Gaddes looked like she had been a head turner when she had been younger...She could still turn heads.

"Hello Ms. Gaddes....Yes..This is my husband...Donnie Ray Alexander....He's an investigator at my firm..."said Olivia..

She didn't crack a smile..

"So it's Mrs. Alexander now....And Ms. West....I see you're looking good...Doing well for yourself..A Partner at your Aunt's firm....You always were a quick study.."she said..

 "Thank you Ms. Gaddes..."said Beverly....

"You two girls were my prize students...I've been following you two...Winning some big cases...You just beat another of my former students...Tony Luke recently....I am so disappointed in him..Assaulting a young woman in a restroom...So tawdry...But sooo him...He never could keep it in his pants...Tried to get in mine..I knew that would be his undoing..." she said snidely...

 "Your client was Tony Luke, the Attorney?" asked Nelson...

"Yeah!" I said.

Olivia got her courage up and said-

"I-I- think he's innocent mam.."said Olivia meekly..

"You do huh?  I guess as his attorney you're supposed to...Good luck with that....Nice seeing you and your niece again Ms. Bennett...Oh excuse me...Mrs. Alexander....Ms. West...."she said and she walked off..

 "WOW!" said Nelson....

I remember doing my research on her..

Born Beatrice Gaddes...In Philadelphia...She had gotten her Bachelors from Temple and her Masters from St.Joes...In Education....

She taught school in the Philadelphia School System for years and then on the Main Line...

She got married briefly to an Attorney...The marriage ended suddenly after only six months..

After her divorce...She went back to school...

To Law School at Penn and got her J.D.  Quickly passed the bar...and became first a Public Defender, then an ADA, specializing in Rape and sexual assault cases...She became a civil rights attorney for womens issues and Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual and Transgender issues...

Ironically ,She herself was raped at gunpoint in a parking lot one night...after a lecture at Penn Law School..

Her assailant was never caught!  Turns out her assailant was a young Tony Luke...Who was interning at the time..

Two years ago, She married her longtime partner...Attorney Mary Knowles...a beautiful African -American woman who looked more like a swimsuit model than an attorney...There was a 9 or ten year difference in their ages..

Her wife was only two years older than Olivia...

"That's some story" said Nelson.

''So What happened to Tony Luke?"asked Hazel..

''He apologized to her...It had happened so long ago that the statute of limitations shielded him from prosecution...Today Tony Luke is free and clear and is still practicing law...but the label of rapist was put on him like a scarlett letter...Which slowed him down immensely with his womanizing...Amongst his female peers he suddenly became a pariah..Women avoid him like  the plague...A fitting punishment." said Olivia..

"I'll say....I guess you didn't keep up with Ms, Gaddes?" asked Hazel..

''From time to time I heard about her... She was a partner at Doelp/Orsini/ Brickman & Gaddes....The only Black partner....She continued to be brilliant in the courtroom....and as far as I know, she was happy with her partner...I never thought she'd go out like this...."said Olivia...

''So what happens now?"asked Beverly...

"Her family wants nothing to do with her, despite her brilliant career....Her father is a Minister..He doesn't agree or rather didn't agree with her Lesbian lifestyle....He disowned her a long time ago...
I called her partner, Mary Knowles...She said that Belle is going to be cremated  and a gold urn has already been purchased....I knew you knew her, I remember you talking about her years ago...I thought you'd like to see her one last time..."said Hazel..

"Thank you Hazel...." said Olivia...

"I suppose there is going to be a memorial service...If I find out...I'll let you now." said Hazel...

"Thank You Hazel..."said Olivia..

"You going to church tomorrow? Reverend Struthers is back."said Hazel...

"I just need to go...I've been out of town the past month or so..."laughed Olivia..

"I'll see you tomorrow...."said Hazel...

The two women hugged..

 "See you around Hazel...Tell Duke I said Hello." I said.

"I will."said Hazel.

 "Bye Hazel." said Olivia..

 "Bye Hazel and thank you.." said Beverly who fought back a few tears...

Nelson put his arms around her and kissed her forehead...

We got in the car and pulled off.....

The beautiful rainbow was still in the sky...

"Auntay look...It's Belle!" said Beverly as we drove away...

"Yeah, how about that?" said Olivia as we drove through the rain swept streets through the Autumn leaves...