Cherry On Top Of The Float.

Yvette Jones sat in Sam Mother's Diner....

She poured herself a tall glass of Coke..

She smelled a very expensive and nice fragrance and noticed she wasn't alone....She looked up to see Elwood Barnes, Her good friend, Olivia's

 ex-husband...

She had never liked him or the boyfriend Olivia had before him, Reggie Hamilton, now deceased..In fact ,Olivia's husband, Donnie Ray Alexander was the only man in Olivia's life, Yvette had ever liked..

Elwood was given a glass of cold milk....

"Milk?  Wow you're riding tame today aren't you Elwood?" said Yvette...

"Alcohol has not been my friend lately....I imagine you've seen and heard.." said Elwood...

''So you've stopped drinking?" asked Yvette.

''For the time being.. I'm banned from Josies for a month...Aqua Bar and Stoleys are a little too young for my tastes and going to Mulberry Street or Red Bar just brings back unpleasent memories.." he said..

''Still thinkin about her huh?" she said...Talking about the attorney she and Bee Bee were facing in court, Alexandria Miller..Who he had lived with for three years.

 "I've seen you in the visitors section of my trial almost everyday...You still just want a glimpse of her huh?" asked Yvette, who all of a sudden wondered why she was even talking to Elwood.. She could care less about his woman problems...Whatever problems he had, he brought them on his self...

"You've been doing pretty good ....During your case....That Young lady got around quite a bit.. Involved with three of the deceased guys in that IVY Green Murder case , including the defendant, Involved with that rapper...She was just a regular social butterfly.." said Elwood..

''Did you sleep with her? You seem to know an awful lot about her!" asked Yvette.

''Nooooo,  Nooooooo,  Not me...but the uh defendant in your young protoge's  murder trial down the hall did....She lives a floor down from him...Meaning she had access to his apartment...You see where I'm going with this?" asked Elwood.

''No I don't...but you go right ahead...I'm listening." said Yvette who sipped her coke,

She was intrigued.....

"You need DNA from her...Now you can follow her around and wait for her to eat or drink something and toss a soda can away or collect knives and forks or you can ask the defendant in your protoge's murder case for a pair of her panties and her bra..and there you have it...She and he were friends with benefits...and she was in and out of his place...I'm certain she's left a pair of panties and a bra in his apartment.. You've got a man.. aren't a pair of your panties and a bra over his place?"  said Elwood smiling slyly, imagining Yvette in her bra and panties or better yet, naked.

He finished his milk and tossed a few quarters down on the counter...

Yvette didn't answer his question...He was right though...She smiled.. Several were over Gary's house.. She had to remember to collect them the next time she was there..

"You would be the expert on that from what I've heard.." she said..

Elwood laughed...

"Touche' .... Ask him about the panties and the bra...You've got your DNA....It could help you and young Mr. Jones." he said..

''How do you know so much about this case??? Waitttt a minute...YOU!  You're the one who slipped Jade that information..."said Yvette..

"Not me...I'm just giving you a little tip...One Attorney to another...You want to win don't you?" said Elwood..

Yvette looked at him...She didn't believe him...He was trying to get a little revenge...Make sure that both Alex and Miles lost their cases....She didn't care about his motive.. She wanted to win .

She poured her last glass of Coke..

Elwood smiled..

"You're welcome..." he said and walked out....

II-

The arguments continued in courtroom A where Ms. Yvette and Bee Bee were defending Justin Fairlaine.

They had begun their defense and they were portraying him as seductive yes...but a rapist no way!!!

Which was in contrast to the way Attorney Alexandria Miller was portraying him....As an arrogant and entitled young man who felt he was supposed to have any woman he set his eyes on and if he couldn't have her, he would force himself on her...

She was very good at portraying him this way.....

The women jurors were more inclined to believe Yvette and Bee Bee's version of him..,,,

The day they brought the rapper , Time Bomb in to testify , the courtroom was crowded with women...

Alexandria tried to get his testimony stricken, but the judge over ruled her...and allowed him to testify how her client

came to his hotel room and practically threw herself at him and when she was removed by his bodyguards, she charged him with sexual assault..A charge which was eventually dismissed...

Yvette and Bee Bee made a lot of headway with this and the jury was turning against Tina Tyson almost unanimously...

Alexandria, try as she may didn't have much left....Things got worse in the coming days...

Yvette and Bee Bee called Tina as a hostile witness..to the stand...They showed photos of the three young men, recently slain in the Ivy Green Case...They asked her if it was true that she'd had romantic relationships with all three of them...

Before Alexandria could stop her she answered and admitted that she had...

They showed affadavits showing that she had accused all three of them and the man accused of murdering them with sexual assault from one time or another and dismissed all charges....

''You do that a lot don't you? when a relationship doesn't go your way you make these accusations.. You're a drama queen aren't you?" asked Bee Bee..

''She's badgering the witness." screamed Alex...

This time the Judge agreed....

Yvette asked her..

"Aren't you still seeing Kyle Jennings , who is on trial for murder ?  You once accused him too ,Didn't you?"

"We had a misunderstanding..We are friends..."said Tina..

"Friends with Benefits.." said Yvette...

The entire courtroom erupted in laughter...and with that...Yvette closed...

Alexandria closed...Her argument was the same...Despite her clients romantic past....She said...Justin Fairlane was an entitled elitist who felt he deserved her body whether she consented or not...

It was too late...Her argument had fallen on deaf ears and she knew it...

Sitting in the very back of the visitor's section laughing his head off was he former boyfriend, Elwood Barnes..

In the hallway...

Justin smiled weakly...

"I kind of felt sorry for her...just a little bit..." he said..

"You think she'd feel sorry for you if you went away for up to ten years?  "said Bee Bee...

"Don't worry, I think we got this.."said Yvette...

"I think so too...but my fingers are crossed.."said Justin...

Elwood walked by and whispered in Yvette's ear...

''Don't forget about the panties and the bra.." he said as he headed down the hall to Courtroom C.

Yvette just stared at him...That sounded like a come on, she thought.

III-

Courtroom C. Where Sofia, Myself and Kahlil were fighting a more difficult battle against a far more savy ADA...

ADA Miles Ellis

who was trying to send my boy, Kyle Jennings

to death row for six murders I knew he didn't commit...

Lt. Tragg, who led the investigation that snagged him, sat stone faced...

Sofia pulled a 50 inch Television Monitor into the courtroom....The Judge was watching her closely...His eyes nearly falling out of head, admiring her pretty shapely legs, Her nice round figure and her sexy voice..

Miles Ellis was staring at her and smiling too...

"Lawd I love me some Latina women " he thought to himself and laughed a little.

He wasn't laughing long...Sofia showed the jury Kyle's credit card activity for the night of the murder...She re-iterated that the murders occurred between 11:35 pm and 12:05 am...This was said by witnesses accounts of when they last saw the couples alive at the party and the Medical Examiner's office..

"At 9:50 pm...Kyle Jennings made a purchase at Fresh Grocer...Several Purchases...An Italian Hoagie, A Pizza and a case of beer..."said Sofia ,who showed film footage of him in The Fresh Grocer....

Kahlil showed Traffic Cam footage of his car going into the lot of his apartment complex...

''10:25pm, An Hour before the murders began..." he said  and he showed film footage of him going inside his apartment complex...

He produced his keycard which recorded him going inside at 10:30 pm..

"The next time he is seen is 9;30 am  Saturday morning on his way to the laundromat....He never left his apartment."said Kahlil...

"You don't know that...He could have left with someone else's card...in someone elses car.."protested Miles Ellis.

He looked at Lt. Tragg..

''Did you  check his key card, his credit card purchases for any type of alibi?" he asked..

''Alibi??He said he was in his apartment alone....There are no witnesses to that...We found a gun in the trash,registered to him, ballistics match...He's your guy...Trust me.."said Lt. Tragg.

"That's speculation.." I said and I showed a phone record and I called a young woman to the witness stand..She was short, petite, shapely light skinned  African-American woman with cute little freckles..Though her freckles weren't what interested Kyle..

"This is a record of his phone calls that night...He made this call at Midnight to this young woman Tessa Smith ,is that right?"I asked..

She smiled.

"Yes, he did...He asked me if I could come over...And I said for what? Don't you have a girlfriend, don't you go with Tina Tyson???...And he told me they were just friends with benefits..."she said..

"Your Honor...relevance?" asked Miles Ellis..

"Ms. Smith...What time did he call you?" I asked..

"Around Midnight...a little after...I could hear the television..I could tell he was home.."she said..

"And if he was talking to her at midnight ,asking her to come over...There is no way...NO WAY.. he could have been six blocks away at Ivy Green killing six people." I argued..

"He could have made the call from IVY GREEN...she was home in bed...She doesn't know where he called from."said Miles...

It was all for naught...I could see that the jury..almost 11 of them was starting to lean my way...in my favor...and what was worse...Miles could see it too....He glared at Lt. Tragg, who had never checked his phone records and was hearing about this phone call for the first time..

He was as red as a beet!  He couldn't believe this case was unraveling right before his eyes....

We were one day from closing...And we had to close big.....

 Court was over for the day....

 "I think we did good , we made some great points guys..."I said..

 ''We've created hella doubt."said Sofia..

 "I'll say...I think we've got the jury in our pocket.."said Kahlil..

"I hope you guys are right.."said Kyle...

'I'm doing the best I can." I said to him...he gripped my hand...

"I know...I know you are..I appreciate all three of you....I didn't do this guys...I swear.." he said.

''We believe you.."said Sofia..

''Let me ask you something...This Tina Tyson..She lives in your building...You two used to have a thing right?"asked Kahlil..

"We were off and on...Here of late we had been on..She was up my spot quite a lot.."said Kyle..

''Where was she Friday Night?" I asked...

"I don't know...I hadn't seen her in a week.."said Kyle..

"I hate to ask you this...But uh when did you two last have sex?" asked Kahlil..

"Two weeks... two weeks before the murders.." said Kyle..

"Right around the time your gun went missing..."I said..

"You think? Nahhhhhhhhhhh come on man..."said Kyle...

Yvette and Bee Bee walked in our courtroom just then...

 ''Hey Guys..we rested our case today...It went to the jury...

"I think we got this in the bag...How did you guys do?"

''We did good good enough to at worst, get a hung jury...11 our way, maybe one undecided..."I said..

Jade walked up...

"I've been following her...She doesn't smoke and she hasn't bought a soda and discarded the bottle or can yet..Hasn't eaten at even a fast food restaurant...We are running out of time..I need a DNA sample..." she said.

"You talkin bout Tina....You need her DNA?" asked Kyle..

''Well Yeah...We found some latex gloves, that have fingerprints and DNA in them...Whoever it belongs to is not in the system..."said Yvette...

''And you think ...You think Tina?" said Kyle..

"She had access to your apartment...Your gun went missing...The gun has no prints or DNA on it...but the latex gloves discarded by the killer has DNA and fingerprints inside..We need her DNA to compare with what we have...Did she drink out of a glass in your apartment? Did she use a knife or fork.?" asked Bee Bee.

"I got somethin better.."said Kyle.. "A bra and a pair of her panties...

She was at Aqua Bar..We were both there...

We uh came home after a night of salsa dancing and uh..she uh spent the night..

When I woke up she had gone downstairs to her apartment..She uh left them..."said Kyle, blushing....

Elwood stood to the side,laughing..

"And that is the cherry on top of the float."he said as he walked away, laughing....




IV-

We all met at Ms. Yvette's apartment that afternoon....

Bee Bee sat on my lap and laid her head in my chest....

Sofia sat on Khalil's lap and leaned her head into his chest.....

Several pizzas were ordered....Yvette opened a nice bottle of wine...

"What a few weeks we've been having..." said Yvette...

"Yessss" said Jade...as she sipped her glass of wine.. "The whole time this case has been running, I've been getting the feeling that we both have been getting a lot of outside help.."said Jade..

"Yeah ,like somebody was pointing us in a direction and watching us connect the dots." I said..

Yvette smiled.

"Yeah...I've gotten that feeling too." she said.

The doorbell rang...It was Gary...

''Hey babes...Hey guys...I got good news..Hazel got a lot of DNA off of those panties and that bra that Kyle supplied..It's a DNA match for the latex gloves we found in the sewer!!!!...I think ole girl, is your killer...I'm getting a warrant for her arrest as we speak.." he said..He passed Jade another piece of paper..

Jade smiled..

''Won't she be surprised.."she said.
V-

I asked for a continuance..

I told the Judge and ADA Miles Ellis

that we had new evidence...It was Friday...The Judge gave us until Monday....

 "They got nothin...They're stallin for time..Trust me.."said Lt. Tragg..

"You'd better hope so...Go back over this case from top to bottom...Don't leave anything to chance.."said Miles Ellis.

Sofia and Khalil were relieved...

Kyle was on pins and needles..

"Hold on Homie...We're gonna get you out of this.."I promised him...

Two courtrooms down...

 Attorney Alexandria Miller looked sick..  Her client had kept things from her, she had constantly been surprised and she didn't think she had a snowball's chance in hell of winning this case...

For some strange reason...Tina Tyson looked like she thought she was going to win a nice settlement..

 Bee Bee allowed Justin to hold her hand...He was afraid..He was shaking...

 Justin was not trying to flirt or mack..He was really scared..

But Yvette looked confident..She had every reason to be...

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" asked the Judge..

"We have your honor.."said the Jury foreman, who passed the verdict to the Bailiff, who passed it to the Judge..

''All Rise.."

The Judge read the verdict..

"WE THE JURY FIND JUSTIN FAIRLANE , NOT GUILTY OF ALL CHARGES!"

 "WE DID IT MS YVETTE!" said Bee Bee, high fiving Yvette..

''Yes we did Baby Girl.."said Yvette..

Tears flowed down Justin's face...He was crying....He was relieved....

"OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!!" he said...He had been vindicated..He hugged both of his lawyers...

An angry Tina Tyson turned to Alexandria..

"You lost the case...Oh My God...I knew I should have gotten a  white lawyer...Oh my god!!..." she said..

Alex was relieved to be done with her...

"There are plenty...Good luck.." she snarled at Tina..

Jade walked up to Tina...

"Hello, Christina Tyson?" she asked..

''Who are you?" she asked..

Jade passed her a piece of paper...

"This is a Subpeona..You are called as a Hostile witness to testify in Courtroom A on Monday Morning..The Trial of Kyle Jennings...Don't be late." she said and smiled and walked away...

"Oh My God, what?  Hostile Witness??...Alex girl, you gotta rep me...What they want with me in that trial?" she asked, suddenly starting to sweat...

''Nahhhh you're on your own...Get you a white lawyer..."said Alexandria, who wanted nothing more to do with Tina Tyson and was glad to be rid of her.

"Girl I was kiddin...I didn't mean it..I didn't mean it..Please....I need you..." she begged...

Elwood stood in the crowd laughing his head off...

He had gotten a Banana Split from Mr. Softee..He scooped up some ice cream and ate it..He pulled a cherry off the top and ate it..

"Ummmmmm The Cherry On Top of the Float." he said..

One down..one to go.." he thought...

Outside the sun was starting to go down...

''Come on Guys, let's get out of here...I hear it's Hot Wings night at Josies and if we hurry, we can still get Happy hour prices."said Gary..

 ''Hey ,I'm down, how bout you babes?" I asked.

 "I'll go for a while...but I really just want to go home...It's been a day.."said Bee Bee.

 "I feel you, but I could use a few cold ones and some wings.."said Kahlil..

"I'll go...but I want to get out of these heels.." said Sofia..

"I hear you girl...Come on let's go get some drinks..."said Yvette..

"I'll pass tonight guys...I'm going home.."said Jade...

And on the outside of Sky Bar a few blocks away.....Miles Ellis nurses his wounds..

"I gotta feeling I'm going to lose this case..." he said..

Alex sat in his lap...

"I lost mine today...My client has been subpeonaed as a hostile witness in your case...She has history with three of your victims and your defendent.."said Alex....

''Wowww...She got around huh?" laughed Miles..

"We are ones to talk."said Alex drolly...

They kissed passionately as the early spring air blew across them on the deck..

(CONCLUSION NEXT)