An Outburst Of Guilt

THREE DAYS LATER-

Yvette was standing with our client, Isiah Ransom, a 24 year old slightly Autistic Intern at the hospital accused of murdering a young woman awaiting the start of his murder trial when Bee Bee and I walked up..

"Ms.Yvette, have you heard?" asked Bee Bee..

"Unless you tell me ,I haven't."said Yvette, smiling at Bee Bee..and hugging her playfully......

"ADA Bobby Bushay resigned from the D.A.'s office yesterday....Abruptly...."she said...

"Everybody's talking about it...They said Billie Lawrence was running after him begging him to stay,promising him she'd marry him...He pushed her away and took his box with his belongings in them and left...and she was crying.."I said..

"WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?" said Yvette, laughing and shaking her head...Sofia and Khalil walked up..

"You heard huh? Well check this out.."said Khalil..

"Spill the tea boy, Spill the tea.."said Yvette..

"The Mayor has withdrawn his backing of her for D.A.  He's backing another candidate.." said Kahlil

"And she's thinking of dropping out of the race..."said Sofia..

"Oh My God!!!...This morning Gary got a Manilla Envelope....I thought it was more of her foolishness,but it was all of the negatives of the photos taken of me and Gary...And check this out..It had a return address on it...Robert Bushay."said Yvette,totally amazed..

"There is definitely trouble in paradise.." said Bee Bee laughing...

Billie Lawrence was walking our way...She looked like she'd been crying...Her make up was a bit smeared....She looked like she hadn't slept at all the night before..

The four of us went in court with our client...

She addressed Yvette...

"Alright Yvette you win!" she said.

"Excuse me? I win what?" asked Yvette...

"What do you want?" she asked..

"What do I want? Have you been drinking?" asked Yvette...

Billie stared at Yvette hard..

"Then you don't know do you?" she asked..

"Know about what?" asked Yvette..

"The Zip Drive...Come on, stop playing....You've already ruined my life.." said Billie..

"You're insane....Are you ready to try this case or what?" said Yvette...

?

"You don't know do you?" asked Billie..

"Look ,my boyfriend Gary got another of your little Manilla Envelopes this morning with the negatives from the photos you had taken of me and Gary....Your little boyfriend should have taken his return address off of the envelope...You can play all the games you want...but it won't work...I'm going to tell Rockland about Gary and me...I'm tired of hiding our relationship..And you know what, Rockland likes me enough even still for it not to matter, So send whatever photos you have left...It won't work and I don't want anything from you."said Yvette, who did not know about the Zip drive and it's contents of Billie and The Mayor making love in the Mayor's secret love nest..

''So this wasn't you?....It has to be one of my political enemies.."said Billie as she walked off..

Yvette shook her head..

"She's out of her mind."said Yvette..




II-

The trial began...

Billie Lawrence, even in her present state was still a formidable opponent and she weaved a story of murder and a young man with an imbalanced mental state that would have convinced the layman that Isiah was a killer..

Yvette and Bee Bee countered with information about Autism and several Autism experts agreed to testify to counter Billie Lawrence's theory...

On cross examination, they made her look like a fool...

Lieutenant Tragg Testified that he found fingerprints belonging to the defendant on the murder weapon...

 Yvette said that the defendent pulled the knife out of her chest, thinking he was helping...

Khalil asked Lt. Tragg if he and his men had checked the security cameras on the floor or if they checked for other prints besides Isiah Ransoms in the room and on the knife..

He angrilly admitted he had not..

Billie Shook her head and stared daggers at him...She had begged him to re canvas...And he had assured her he had an airtight case...

The two eyewitnesses under tough cross examination by me..

Admitted what we already knew...That they saw him pull the knife out ,but that they never saw him stab the woman....They knew Isiah and they admitted that if he did pull the knife out...He thought he was helping the situation...

Bee Bee talked to the doctor who pronounced Barbara Monroe dead...He said that by the time Isiah pulled the knife out of her chest...She had been dead for at least a half hour..

Billie was furious, but there was nothing she could do or say...

Yvette called Abel Fortune to the stand....

He admitted that he had had a torrid affair with murder victim Barbara Monroe that had gone on for a year, when his wife discovered it...They seperated for a time and then just as he was about to break it off, they had a tryst ..A kind of one for the road tryst the night the President of Operations came to visit the lab...The lab exploded,killing him.....  Abel Fortune was cleared of any wrong doing , he broke up with Barbara Monroe and became the new President of Operations shortly afterwords..He also got back with his wife..

Billie argued passionately for relevance...

Yvette promised there would be....

Bee Bee questioned his wife...Who said she forgave her husband and that they were having a harmonious relationship since then....She admitted that she didn't like that Barbara Monroe was soon working there again as a consultant.....and that shortly afterwords, Abel Fortune began getting sick...So sick he resigned...

Sofia questioned Abel Fortune again...

She asked him about the payments of $1800.00 a month to Barbara Monroe.....He admitted that she was blackmailing him...He had covered up some unsafe things he had been doing that may have caused the accidental explosion...If that had ever gotten out...He would have been fired...

The Jury gasped...

Billie argued that slandering the victim still didn't absolve Isiah Ransom of his guilt...

I called the Present President Bob Sennett to the stand...

I asked him how long he had been President Of Operations..He said "Little over a year.."

I smiled.. I asked him if it wasn't true that he had been next in line for promotion at the time of Gondos death in the explosion...

"Yes...but Abel Fortune got it...He had no business getting that promotion..." he said.

Yvette now had him...

"Abel Fortune was being blackmailed and you found out why....And soon after, he mysteriously got sick...I have Doctors here ,who will testify that he had Barbituates and Arsenic in his food...Food he ate at work...He was so sick ,he stepped down and gave you the position....But Barbara Monroe..She was losing her meal ticket....You planned to get rid of her...but she knew what you did to Abel, So now you had to pay her...and you weren't going to do that were you?" asked Yvette..

At that Bob Sennett stood up.

"Mr. Sennett would you please sit down" admonished the judge...

"NO, I WON'T SIT DOWN!" he screamed...

"Mr. Sennett,I'll ask you again, would you please SIT DOWN!"said the Judge...

"NO...I WON'T SIT DOWN!!!!!NO.,...NO I WASN'T, I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT JOB...NOT ABEL....SO I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO!!!..I GOT HIM OUT OF THERE, AND I WILL BE DAMNED IF THAT DAMN BARBARA MONROE WAS GOING TO BLACKMAIL ME TOO!!!HARD AS I HAD WORKED TO GET THAT PROMOTION.....SHE WAS ALWAYS HAN GING AROUND...ALWAYS TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING OUT!!! HELL NO......I POISONED HER  TOO, BUT NEITHER ONE OF EM WOULD DIE FAST ENOUGH...I DRESSED UP LIKE AND INTERN AND STABBED HER...BLACKMAILING BITCH....I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT JOB! " HE SCREAMED....

 "Mr. Sennett,I'll ask you again, would you please SIT DOWN!"said the Judge...

The Jury was stunned !!! So was the Judge and spectators...

" I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT JOB! " HE SCREAMED....

The Baillifs immediately handcuffed Bob Sennett....

 ".I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT JOB! " HE SCREAMED...."I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE IT...THAT WAS MY PROMOTION...MINE...SHE WAS WRONG TO TRY AND BLACKMAIL ME...I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO! I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT JOB! " HE SCREAMED...

"GET HIM OUTTA HERE, GET HIM THE HELL OUT OF MY COURTROOM!" screamed the Judge..

 ".I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT JOB! " HE SCREAMED...."I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE IT...THAT WAS MY PROMOTION...MINE...SHE WAS WRONG TO TRY AND BLACKMAIL ME...I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO! I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT JOB! " HE SCREAMED..

Bailiffs dragged Bob Sennett kicking and screaming out of the courtroom.....

The Judge ordered Isiah Ransom released immediately and all charges against him dropped..

His Mother and Sisters and his church members applauded and hugged all five of us.

It was a great victory...

Lieutenant Tragg made the fastest exit ever out the side door.....Once again he had made the wrong arrest....

The Press awaited him outside the courtroom...

''Tragg, how does it feel screwing up so many cases?" asked one reporter..

"Your exploits would make a great sitcom"said another..

''Whyyyyyyyyyyy youuuuuuuuuuuuuu..I've had it with your smart aleck remarks.." screamed Lt. Tragg...

Tragg angrilly lunged at the reporter ,grabbing him in the collar as several policemen wrestled Lt. Tragg down to the ground out in the streets.

."I've had it with your smart aleck remarks.." screamed Lt. Tragg...as he and the reporter fell to the ground, while police officers attempted to seperate them...

Billie Lawrence had lost the case and the bad press she was getting about trying to put a Black Autistic man behind bars for a murder it was proven he didn't commit was going to haunt her...She knew it..

That afternoon, she announced that she was dropping out of the race for District Attorney...She looked sick!

Bobby Bushay wouldn't answer his phone... Neither would the Mayor...Cecil "Get Right" Brown  blocked her number in his phone and put his loft up for sale....He was taking no chances...

III-

Yvette and Gary were kissing passionately in the Judges Chambers..

"Ummmm Gary,I'm just glad it's over and I don't have to see Billie Lawrence..."said Yvette..

"And you don't have to worry about us being blackmailed...I have the negatives...Bobby gave them to me..He assured me this was all of them..."said Gary...

"What happened between them?" asked Yvette..

"I think he found out she was cheating on him.."said Gary...

"Probably another young ADA...She likes em young..."said Yvette...

''That's not what I hear" laughed Gary as he and Yvette began kissing some more..

IV-

We celebrated at a local restaurant...

Bee Bee sat in my lap...

I held her tightly...

"Bae, I know you love me...I love you too...but you're squeezing the life out of your Bee Bee.."she said gently...

''Sorry" I said, laughing sheepishly...

"That's alright Bae.." she said and put her arms around me and kissed me passionately....

Khalil and Sofia sat across from us kissing passionately..

and sitting a few tables down was ADA Billie Lawrence..She was observing us...

She was crying profusely...She had had the worst day of her life...She had lost a case, dropped out of the D.A.'s race  and lost her boyfriend and her side piece...

Nobody wanted to trade places with her...Not today....

EPILOUGE-

A FEW DAYS LATER-

Ms. Yvette walked into the office..

"Good news folks...winning that case and the case we won in Houston got you all nice little bonuses..Which you'll see in your next check...Plus...The Innocence Project said that the next big case they have requiring an out of town trip..We all will be going along with Olivia,Beverly and crew...They said we made a great team.."said Yvette..

"WOWWWWWWWWW THAT'S MAJOR." I said..

Bee Bee clapped her hands...

Sofia whistled...

Kahlil smiled...

"Niceeee" he said..

 Jade and Gary walked in.....

"I Saw our good friend Bobby Bushay in Aqua bar last night...

 He was a wreck...

 Crying and drinking himself into a stupor..."said Jade..

"Wow, He had it bad for Billie Lawrence,

but it would have never worked...She's a psychopath...She only loves herself.."said Gary... "And speaking of which...You guys notice Ice Agent Shawn Columbsy

hasn't been around much?" asked Gary..

''What did you do , kill him?" joked Bee Bee,.

 "If you did...Don't tell us..." said Sofia..

''Already planning an appeal."joked Khalil..

I just cracked up laughing..

"You guys got jokes..I went over to ICE..I told em I was from the D.A.'s office.. I told em about Ms. Jade and his stalking and harrassment...They didn't want anymore bad publicity...And with his record of taking photos in a woman's window and exposing himself in Houston, they thought he'd  be better off somewhere else..

They transferred him to New Mexico about three days ago..." said Gary..

"Thank You Gary" said Jade who hugged him and kissed him on the cheek...

Yvette just beamed...

"You are a hero.."said Yvette..

"Awwwwwwwwww Shuckins mam!" said Gary jokingly...

"Turn your heads kids...I think Mom and Dad have some private business to attend to.."I said..

"Mommmy ewwwwwwwwwwwww.." squeeled Bee Bee, who used to do that when her own mother and father would kiss in front of her...

"Mami ,Papi Nooooo." laughed Sofia,who used to do that when her own mother and father would kiss in front of her too!...

Khalil cracked up...

"Must be a girl thing!" he said..

 "Or an American thing!"

Jade laughed...

"Ummmmmmm let's take this in my office....Byeeeeeeeeeee kiddies...You have the rest of the day off."said Ms.Yvette.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm yess." moaned Gary as Yvette closed the door to her office...

Yvette and Gary kissed passionately in the privacy of her office.. We all joyfully headed towards the elevators.


FOR L. Chantay