The Jailhouse Lawyer

Five stacks of pancakes were placed on the table.....

We Were having a congratulatory breakfast in Olivia and My domicile....

We had really been working hard since Beverly and Nelson returned from their honeymoon....

Olivia had had three cases, All murder cases and Beverly had had three cases of her own..Two murder cases and one rape case...All acquittals and the duo has had three other cases, A union negotiation, A wrongful death suit and wrongful termination suit...All ending in their favor...The girls were exhausted , as was I...I rarely worked this hard as a cop......Neither did Josie who was working as a Para Legal on all of these cases and soaking up knowledge...So Olivia closed the office for three straight days.

Nelson had had three cases himself..That he'd won.....It was our first break in awhile and Olivia had invited everybody up for Breakfast...

Hot Steaming tumblers of coffee was served......We didn't do much talking, we all chowed down....

''This is sooo nice...No to have any cases for awhile...I'm thinking about closing the office Thursday and Friday and giving us all a nice long weekend..." said Olivia..

"Ouuu yes Auntay, We've earned it.." said Beverly....

"Unfortunately....I've got to work.." said Nelson.

''Come work for us and you'll have all of these perks.." said Olivia..."I'm serious.." she said.

"He might not be able to concentrate on his work..." added his wife, Beverly...

Nelson smiled and kissed Beverly...he put his arms around her waist and hugged her....

"That's right...I can barely concentrate now...She's so scrumptious" he said and smiled..

"Oh Hush up silly." said Beverly, blushing..

"I know the feeling...It's all I can do to concentrate sometimes...." I laughed......

I pulled Olivia to me and gave her a wet sloppy kiss...

Olivia giggled like a school girl and blushed...

Josie laughed...and shook her head...

II-

After Breakfast....

Nelson and I washed the dishes..While Beverly and Josie dried...

We were all sitting back and relaxing for a minute.....

"Well I hate to leave you good people, but I have to work today.." said Nelson , who kissed Beverly passionately..

"See you tonight babes." he said...

"You'd better..." said Beverly, who plopped down on our couch.....

Olivia smiled....and waved...

"This is soooo cool!" she said....

Her phone began ringing.....

''Wonder who this is? That's my work phone.." said Olivia...

"I meant to disable that phone.." I joked....

Olivia looked at me and laughed...

"Too Late..." she said...

"It's from Dolly Madison ,Minimum Security Women's Correctional Center.." said Olivia.

"Who do you know up there Auntay? asked Beverly.

"Nobody!" said Olivia...

"Well somebody knows you...They have your work number....You gonna answer that?" I asked..

"Yes....Hello..." said Olivia...

"Long Time No see Livy." came a voice...A familliar voice Olivia hadn't heard in years....

Olivia looked like she'd seen a ghost....Then she said....

"Virginia???"

"You forgot me that soon Olivia..... It's me...Virginia Shaw, Attorney at Law...or uh I uh used to be Attorney at law..." she said.

"What are you doing calling me from the prison?  You got a client up there?" asked Olivia....

"I do...and uh I don't....I can't represent her..." said Virginia...

"Heavy Case load?" asked Olivia...

"You really should watch the news more.....I can't represent her fully because like her....I'm an inmate here.." said Virginia....

Olivia's jaw dropped...

"WHAT?  COME AGAIN? YOU'RE AN INMATE??" asked Olivia...

"I've been Disbarred and convicted of First Degree Murder, Attempted Murder and Conspiracy to commit murder....I'm serving a Life Sentence..." she said...

"Oh My God!!!" said Olivia...

"I'm not calling you for me...I'm guilty of my crimes....I'm representing a young lady that should not be here...See, I'm somewhat of a jailhouse lawyer now...The law is all I have...I help the girls write briefs and writs.....I review a lot of their cases ....It's my way of doing something good, something worthwhile, something that makes me feel good.." said Virginia...

''And you called me for what?" asked Olivia..

"You and your niece and your husband are the only ones who have a chance of springing this young lady...Liv, why don't you come up here and see me?..See us and you can get the full run down...I'd love to see you again..."said Virginia...

"This is a pretty big favor Virginia......" said Olivia...

"I know, but you're the only person I've called that didn't hang up in my face....Once they realized who I am...Will you at least meet her and talk to her?" said Virginia...

Olivia was quiet for a moment...

"Saturday we'll come up....To meet!  I can't promise you anymore than that..."said Olivia..

"Oh Thank you Livy girl.." said Virginia..."I can't wait to see you again and meet your new husband..." she said..

"I see you do your homework.."said Olivia..

"I know you and your niece have your own practice and that your husband is your investigator....I keep up with my friends..." she said.

"I see....Well we'll see you on Saturday.." said Olivia...

"Oh Thanks Liv..." she said and hung up...

''Who was that Auntay?" asked Beverly....

"Remember Virginia Shaw?" asked Olivia...

"You two had that contentious custody battle when you were corporate...I remember her....I also clerked for her before I graduated from law school and again after graduation and the bar...Very stylish lady...Hell of an Attorney.."said Beverly....

"She was a hell of an Attorney....Well now she's disbarred and serving a life sentence for murder.." said Olivia...

 "WHATTT?" said Josie

"Oh My God!" said Beverly....

"She's become somewhat of a jailhouse lawyer...She wants us to meet and represent this young women she has kinda sort of been representing..."said Olivia..

"Interesting.."I said..

"Donnie Ray, before we make a move can you get me the book on Virginia...?" asked Olivia..

"Sure." I said.

III-

It didn't take me long to get the information I needed on Ms. Virginia Shaw , Attorney at Law....

I passed Olivia and Beverly the file on her...

 "Ouuu you are a whiz!" said Olivia....

"Isn't he though?" said Beverly...as they leafed through her file...

"She was born in Chicago,  attended Chicago Public Schools, Got a B.A. in Administration of Justice at Northwestern University....Got her J.D. or Law degree there too...Passed the bar and worked as a Public defender and eventually an ADA....From there she worked for a very credible law firm.....and began representing Mr. Henry S. Lott Sr..." I said.

 "That's around the time I met her....I represented his ex-wife in a custody battle for their kids....It was long and drawn out....At times very heated........We agreed on a compromise in the end......." said Olivia...

"I clerked for her at that big firm she was working at...I was in my final year of law school....I graduated and passed the bar and she asked me to come back and clerk for her again..The pay wasn't much, but the education was incredible..She's a brilliant litigator."said Beverly...

"After the case, we became friends....We met for drinks, went shoe shopping..When she was in Philly.....She lived in New York....She commuted to Philadelphia often..."said Olivia...

"You said you wanted the book...Well there is more..
She eventually left her prestigious law firm to represent Mr. Henry S. Lott Sr full time.."I added.."Apparently , she and Henry Sr. had been sleeping together, going back to when she worked at her prestigious law firm...News of the secret affair got out and the VERY MARRIED MR. LOTT and his wife divorced and Ms. Shaw represented him...That's when your path's crossed Olivia. When he moved East to New York City...and then Philadelphia.She came with him.....  Henry Sr. became enraptured with another young Black female attorney, Brenda Reid  and after a whirlwind courtship....They married.."

"Oh wow!  She must have been crushed..."said Beverly...

"Yeah...You would think..." I said.. "The man she's accused of murdering is a Norman Funderberg....A thug, who was responsible for at least two murders himself...But Get this...The people she attempted to murder are all friends of ours...

.Kevin Morris and Bonnie Shay..."I said..

 "Oh My God!!" said Olivia...

"And the person who put her away is your friend, ADA Nina Rios." I said....

Both Beverly and Olivia paused in shock...

Then Olivia sighed....

"I'm not there to get her out...She more or less told me she is guilty of her crimes..She's trying to get this other girl freed." she said..

"She's lucky any of her old acquaintances even talk to her."I said.

"She's said as much....I was the only one who took her call."said Olivia..

"That's because you didn't know her past history." said Beverly....

"At any rate, we'll go Saturday and hear her out...I didn't commit to anything..."said Olivia.

"Coming Josie?" I asked..

"You don't have to if you don't want to.." said Olivia...

''I'll come...I look forward to road trips with you guys..."said Josie...

"This is going to be one of our more interesting trips.."said Beverly..

She didn't know how right she was..

(TO BE CONTINUED)