Good News For Some

Early Morning, Houston, Monday....

It was the rare morning that we didn't eat a home cooked meal in our residence where we were staying...

We had an important meeting with two judges today...I had found a tony diner in downtown Houston and had taken the group with me to it to have breakfast....

The pancakes were to die for as was the

omelets and fresh coffee...

''Husband, I don't know how you do it...You always find the best places to eat, where ever we are."said Olivia, who gave me a soft kiss..

I blushed a little...

''I uh read up on this in the local newspaper." I said.

'Donnie Ray is the Black Anthony Bourdain, may he rest in peace."said Beverly as she devoured her food and cut and fed bits of pancakes to her husband, Nelson..

who just smiled..

"You two are the cutest couples....Bev and Nelson and Olivia and Donnie Ray...I just love yall. I just think it's so cute the way Mr. Donnie Ray blushes when Ms. Olivia kisses him ,even now after they've been married so long.."gushed Bee Bee...

"I blush that way when you kiss me.." said Keith Jones ,who was making short work of his pancakes...

"Yeah, but we just started going together...You haven't got tired of me yet..."said Bee Bee..

"That aint gonna happen no time soon.."said Khalil...

"No not hardly.."said Sofia...

"Well I think you all are cute couples.."said Olivia, smiling...

"It's a shame Ms. Yvette and Gary didn't choose to join us...They would have loved this place."said Josie..

"Oh I don't think food will be on their minds for awhile anyway.."said Jade Lee..

Beverly laughed...

"Yeah Jade..I think you may be right.."

We all looked at each other and cracked up laughing....

II-

We had all left early this morning....We didn't bother to knock on Yvette's door...We could hear the bed springs squeaking down the hall and the moaning...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, oh my god...Garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry..."

''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yvette!"

"I love you sooo much..."

"Love you tooo girlrrrl...ummmmmmmmmmph."

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu you are just showing off in this bed..."

"I missed you so much girl..ummmmmmmmmmmmmph"

"I missed you too.."

 "Ohhhh My.." said Olivia..

 "We sound like that.." I said..

"I imagine we all do..it's just that we are in our rooms and we are uh probably doing it at the same time.."said Keith...who stared at Bee Bee salaciously...

''Come on,let's give them their privacy...We ready? Let's go."said Bee Bee..who noticed how he was staring at her and blushed a little bit...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" came a loud moan from the room..

"Ohhh myy." said Bee Bee..

"Yeah,let's go.."said Sofia.. "It's getting hot and heavy in there..."said Sofia...

''So why are we whispering?It's not like they can hear us.." said Khalil..

"Righttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!"said Beverly,laughing...

Olivia, Beverly,Josie  and Jade cracked up laughing as we all exited..

I tossed Ms. Jade the keys as we all exited and I put the alarms on and locked the door.

Upstairs...Gary was cumming hard....So was Yvette..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm...oh girl...."he moaned..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu babyyyyyyyyyyyy.." she cooed..

"Ouuuuu, we made so much noise...I'm embarrassed to go out of the room, I know everybody heard us.."said Yvette..

"Listen...Hear that?  I suspect they all went to breakfast....They're not here."said Gary..

"You think they heard us?" asked Yvette..

"I'm sure you've heard all of them...They're all adults...They know I'm in love with you.They know I didn't fly all the way down here to sleep..."Gary joked..

Yvette laughed.....

"They know I wasn't going to let you.."said Yvette, who had gone into town and stopped at Victoria's Secret and bought the sexiest lingerie she could find...Not that she needed it..Gary seemed to always want it and her regardless of what she was wearing..She remembered him surprising her and dropping by her apartment when her hair was in curlers and she had no make up on...He wanted it then...and they had a nice four hour roll in the hay....This was another time she knew that he really loved her!

They kissed some more..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" he moaned...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."she cooed.



III-

We finished our meals...Everyone went to the restroom, including myself....Olivia used our company card and the McClusky card to pay for the 10 of us..

She was waiting for us when a White man approached her...

"Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Attorney at law correct?" he said..

''Yes I am...Who are you?" she asked and smiled sweetly...

The man didn't answer...

"I'm not a fan, but I've heard of you and your niece and your work on civil rights cases, women's issues, labor issues and what not, criminal cases...You guys have done good work...So now I'm going to have to ask you to cease and desist on this case...There is nothing to be gained here...Pack Up and go back to Philadelphia...You've already been paid..Just go home..."he said.

''Who are you again?" asked Olivia..

"Look I'm not going back and forth with you on this....Take your associates and leave Houston...Leave this case alone...I represent a pretty powerful concern...The person I represent can make you and everybody here with you lives an open book ...This person can have the FBI raid your office in Philadelphia so much and so often the foundation of that nice Duplex you and your husband and your niece and her husband live in will fall to the ground..Yeah,I know all about you,,,...and your friends at McCluskey, yeah we know about them too....The same thing will happen to them....Now he doesn't want to do that....We have no quarrel with you...But leave this case of this woman,Sofia Cruz and her daughter alone....Got that? Go Home or face having your finances and every bit of your personal lives made public...and I mean everything..." said Olivia..

''What I've got is this entire conversation on tape..My phone started recording you the minute you started talking...I had a feeling that someone like you would be approaching us sooner or later..and if you look to the side of you...My Niece just snapped your photo.." said Olivia ,smiling..

Beverly snapped several photos of him with her phone...

Beverly an Josie smiled and waved...and snapped a photo of him with her phone...

ENRAGED !! He lunged at Olivia..

"WHY YOU BITCH!!" he snarled..

 "Now you've done it.."I said..I saw them talking, but when he lunged at her...He'd gone way too far..I ran towards him....He didn't want any part of me...

 "Whoa!"said Nelson...Who followed my lead..

 Keith Jones and

Kahlil came running also.....

 "Ohhh Helll!" he said...

Seeing the four of us running towards him, he ran for all he was worth...

Bee Bee took her shoe off and hurled it at him , The heel struck him in his head..

"Owwwwwwwwwwwww!" he howled...

Sofia hurled her shoe at him also...It struck him in the head again.....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." he moaned....

He fell and knocked over a table and some chairs...The crowd stared at him......They started snapping photos of the incident...

"Heyyyy put those gotdamn phones down.." he snarled...

He got up and stumbled out the door..and continued running down the street..

The manager ran up to Olivia...

''Are you okay mam, Did that man assault you?" he asked..

"I'm fine...He threatened me..." said Olivia..

"You want us to call the police..?"he asked..

"No....I'll be alright.." she said..

I hugged Olivia..I hugged her like I never wanted to let her go....

''Who was that? What did he say to you?" I asked..

"I don't know.....He told me if we didn't cease and desist on this case...He said whoever he works for would have the FBI raid our offices...and MCluskeys....He said he'd make our lives a living hell..I have it all on tape..As soon as he started talking ,I activated the recorder on my phone.."said Olivia..

''So what do we do now?" asked Khalil...

"You have to ask?" asked Beverly..

"Nobody intimidates Liv.."said Nelson..

"We are going on with this case right?" said Sofia..

''We are aren't we?" asked Bee Bee..

"OF COURSE WE ARE!!!..NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!!ESPECIALLY SINCE HE MADE IT SO CLEAR THAT SOMEBODY IS VERY AFRAID! SOMEBODY IS VERY WORRIED ABOUT OUR PRESENCE HERE! I'LL NOT BE THREATENED!" said Olivia defiantly..

"Let's go see a judge.."said Josie..

Jade walked over to me with her tablet...

"I got him....I sent his photo to Philadelphia...I date someone on the Philadelphia Police Department...They did a facial recognition..That guy is an Attorney...A local attorney...He represents...A U.S. Circuit court Judge...George Tarnover...Very influential in Houston area politics , very wealthy and well heeled...His wife is loaded...They donate a lot of money to conservative causes..."said Jade..

"Dammmmmmmmn Jade...You're On it.."said Keith Jones..

"You and I would have made good partners on the police force..."I said to her...

"Come on guys,let's go see a judge."said Olivia.

IV-

In the Judges chambers of Federal Circuit Court Judge Claudette Robinson -

 Judge Robinson, a heavy set, but very pretty and stylish Black woman smiled when she saw us...

"Olivia Bennett-Alexander  and her niece Beverly West.....I've heard so much about you two....SOROR....I've always wanted to meet you...I thought I was gonna have to travel to Philadelphia where I have relatives...Instead...Here you two are in my courtroom..." said Judge Robinson...

Olivia gushed...

"Oh wow!" she said..

"Well ,I know your niece, Beverly..

introduce me to the rest of your staff..." she said..

''Pleased to meet you your honor.." said Beverly

''Well this is my husband, Donnie Ray, our investigator...

"Pleased to meet you your honor."I said.,

and our para-legal , Josie Boyd

 "Pleased to meet you." she said,.

and my nieces husband,Attorney Nelson East..

"Pleased to meet you.."said Nelson..

"And while they are not on my staff...They are here as consultants....Four of the most brilliant and passionate young attorneys I've ever met...I am so proud to be working with them.....

''Beatrice "Bee Bee" Evans..

"Pleased to meet you, your honor." she said.

Sofia Garcia

"Pleased to meet you your honor." she said. "Keith Jones

 "Pleased to meet you your honor." said Keith...

 and

Kahlil Ahmed.."said Olivia.

"and their investigator, Ms. Jade Lee.."

"It's an honor mam.." said Jade..

''Such a nice looking group....I know why you're here..You've been to three state appellete courts and one federal judge and you've been turned down...You're dealing with political dynamite Mrs. Bennett-Alexander and yet you persist....I like that....That girl Sofia Cruz...She's an Attorney and been here for over twenty years..Never garnered any attention until she called for the investigation into the police involved shooting of a young latino boy, Vincent Munez...who for god knows why was stopped by the cops and ran....They didn't find a weapon or any drugs in his car...His tags were up to date....He was a month behind in his child support..but that was it...He ran..and he was shot 13 times...13 times...He was unarmed...Sound familliar?"she asked..

"Sounds like the last case I had as a police officer.."I said..

"The police officer who killed the boy had only been on the force for seven weeks...He came to the Houston Police force from another county where he was about to be fired...He's the son in law of one judge George Tarnover...Very influential in Houston area politics , very wealthy and well heeled...His wife is loaded...They donate a lot of money to conservative causes...I can't stand him...I suspect he has dirt on every Judge you spoke to..He wants this kept quiet...I made a call and got that young girl released about an hour before you guys got here...SOFIA!!" she said..

To our surprise ,Sofia Cruz walked into the room!

Olivia smiled...Sofia hugged her...

"Thank you, Thank you sooo much Ms. Olivia and Ms. Beverly and all of you!" she gushed..

"I think you should thank Judge Robinson...I was dropping the ball on this one."said Olivia..

 "No you didn't...I heard how hard you guys were trying and I heard your arguments and it made perfectly good sense to me...I knew you might eventually get around to me, so I made a couple of calls.." said Judge Robinson..

 "Oh wow! You really came through Judge Robinson.."said Beverly.

 "I'll say.." I said..

 "Wow...we were prepared to argue and debate for hours.."said Nelson ,with a sigh or relief...

 Josie just beamed...

 ''Well at any rate, we still got a great education.."said Bee Bee.

 "That we did...Olivia and Beverly are tenacious and that's how you gotta be.."said Keith Jones..Who was now as big a fan as Bee Bee was..

 "That's why they win..They don't give up.."said Khalil..Who was Glad Olivia and Beverly chose to fight back...All of them were willing to fight..

 ''And they don't let small minded people intimidate them either."said Sofia..Perhaps the most pugnacious of them all...I have a feeling she would have stayed here in Houston and fought even if we all had decided to back down...

"Somebody tried to intimidate you baby?" asked Judge Robinson..

Olivia played her the tape of this morning's goings on..

"I'm not a fan, but I've heard of you and your niece and your work on civil rights cases, women's issues, labor issues and what not, criminal cases...You guys have done good work...So now I'm going to have to ask you to cease and desist on this case..."

 "Look I'm not going back and forth with you on this....Take your associates and leave Houston...Leave this case alone...I represent a pretty powerful concern...The person I represent can make you and everybody here with you lives an open book ...This person can have the FBI raid your office in Philadelphia so much and so often the foundation of that nice Duplex you and your husband and your niece and her husband live in will fall to the ground...and your friends at McCluskey, yeah we know about them....The same thing will happen to them....Now he doesn't want to do that....We have no quarrel with you...But leave this case of this woman,Sofia Cruz and her daughter alone....Got that?"

Jade showed her his photo and the information she'd gotten....

"I know him...That's Brad Knucklebaum...He's an Attorney ,He represents...A U.S. Circuit court Judge...George Tarnover...

Tarnover is very influential in Houston area politics , very wealthy and well heeled...His wife is loaded...They donate a lot of money to conservative causes. This is Obstruction of Justice....He didn't say his name, but he didn't have to....Ohhhhh I'm going to have a party with this.." she said..'Don't you worry soror.."said Judge Robinson...

Sofia looked a bit sad...

"Thank you all so much for getting me out of that center and getting my visas up to date...but I've got to find my baby..." she said..

Just then to all of our surprises..Yvette walked in with a little girl..

"Mami"shouted little Alani Cruz..

"BABY!" shouted Sofia.. who scooped her daughter up and hugged her and kissed her..

"That's taken care of...I saw the other district court judge that Todd told us about and he ordered her released to my custody immediately.." said Yvette...

Olivia hugged Yvette..

"Oh Wow!  Yvette...You really came through.."said Olivia..

"But how? You didn't have any transportation.."I said...We had both SUV's."

''We didn't ,but this guy did?" said Gary, who walked in with Josie's boyfriend, Paris.. "He called from the Airport and met us at the spot..and with a rental car!!!"said Gary..

"Hey guys...Look,I was missin Jo kinda bad and uh I had some days off,so I flew down...Listen..I know it's a lot of yall in that crib...I can crash on the couch..!"said Paris..

"Why would you do that when Josie's got a bedroom?" asked Beverly....

"Yeah?" said Olivia,laughing and hugging him....

"Hi Paris."she said...

"Dude stopped and brought some more groceries....and some beers...He's my kinda guy...We gonna feast tonight..."said Gary..

 "I was on the phone all morning with that Judge....As soon as I mentioned Tarnover's name, He said to go and pick the girl up, he was personally interceding.... I would have taken a bus, but Paris called from the airport and we picked him up and picked little cutie pie up and the rest is history.." said Yvette

"  Vettie, you are the bomb...but then again, you always have been my ride or die...Sofia, Judge Robinson, you are welcomed to join us tonight as we celebrate...."said Olivia..

"Awww Thank you wonderful people, but it's my wedding anniversary...Me and My husband have a dinner date tonight and then we are going to a nice hotel.....but let me take a photo with all of you.." she said..

She took a photo, a couple of photos with all of us...

Sofia hugged her little girl..

''We are going home..I just want to take a nice long bath and sleep in my own bed.."she said..

"We perfectly understand....Gary and I will drop you and your daughter off and then we'll meet up with the rest of you.."said Yvette..

Josie and Paris were kissing passionately....

 They rode back with Gary and Yvette...

in Paris's rental car..

Olivia and I, Beverly and Nelson and Keith and Bee Bee rode back in the first SUV...

While Sofia and Khalil and Jade

Rode back in the second SUV.

We all met back at our residence...

Where we enjoyed a celebratory meal.... Fried Chicken, Fried Fish, Collard and Kale Greens, Sweet Potatoes and Stewed Tomatoes... We washed it down with some ice cold Ice Tea...

and relaxed in our lounge...  Laughing and talking...It appeared our job was over or was it?

V-

While we kicked back and relaxed...The press hounded Federal Judge George Tarnover with questions about why his personal Attorney was on tape threatening another Attorney and her associates about the Sofia Cruz case...

The tape recording had been anonymously leaked to all media outlets...Judge Tarnover was denying any association with the tape and with the Attorney...

"He's my former attorney, I haven't talked to him in months...I had nothing to do with this..I certainly would never threaten anybody...I don't even know Olivia Bennett-Alexander or anyone associated with her..." he protested...

Attorney Knucklebaum was censored and told to take 120 hours of remedial legal training before he'd be allowed to renew his law license for the coming year...

"I think my comments were taken out of context." he protested...His several calls to Judge Tarnover were unanswered and it appeared his number had been blocked from Judge Tarnover's personal phone..

No one believed him...He was incensed that Judge Tarnover had thrown him under the bus...He made a call late at night...

"This is U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums...Who is this?"he asked.

The next day, even more press was hounding Judge Tarnover..

"Is it true your son in law is accused of shooting an un unarmed Mexican-American...??" asked a reporter..

 ''Did you try to cover it up by having Ms. Cruz arrested and detained and her daughter too?"

''Did you know her daughter is an American citizen?"

"I have no comment.NO COMMENT!! PLEASE.!!!!!"said the Judge, now furious and embarrassed...

"Ouuuuuu Mrs. Bennett-Alexander...You'll hear from me..YOU WILL HEAR FROM ME!!!!!" he snarled under his breath...As he ran down the corridor, trying to escape the mob of reporters...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)