Jack Be Humble

Early Morning.....London...

Josie's boyfriend, Paris stood out on the deck of our houseboat...His association with Josie Boyd,

an aspiring attorney had taken him to Houston, New Orleans, San Diego and now London..Places he wouldn't have traveled to otherwise..

He owed that all to Olivia Bennett-Alexander

Josie's boss and mentor and her wanting all of her people to be comfortable on these trips..

After all...

Nelson, though an Attorney, didn't even work for Olivia's firm then..but he was her niece, Beverly's boyfriend...

Olivia hired him as a consultant and he got to come along and be with Beverly....These trips could be long and lonely...Olivia realized how lonely and horny and tempted one could get on the road..

Today, Nelson and Beverly are married and he now works for Olivia.. He, Paris hoped to be married to Josie one day and to be able to make himself useful to them, as a driver or whatever , just to be able to travel with them.

"Hey, what you doin out here by yourself Paris? Come on in...Breakfast is ready.." I said..

Gary and Nelson and I had got up and cooked this morning..

 We had pancakes...

 Waffles....Beverly had brought her waffle iron with us..

 Omelettes to order...

 Hash Browns and

Hot coffee..

 "Ouuuuu look at this spread.." gushed Bee Bee..

 ''Wow....Don't we have some great guys with us?" said Sofia..

 "Yes indeed." said Ms. Yvette..

 "We are such lucky girls, aren't we?" gushed Olivia..

"Indeed" said Jade...

 "They used my waffle iron."said a smiling Beverly...

 Keith Jones laughed..

"I remember the last time we all went somewhere you brought that...Touche'" he said..

 "Not Touche' , Tally Ho..We are in England, not France.."laughed Kahlil...

 "You're stupid..."laughed Josie at Kahlil...

Paris hugged Josie affectionately.....

We'd all had quite a first night in London...Drinking and Dancing until the early hours of the morning and then returning to this houseboat...

Most of us, making love until the early morning light...

Today was still like a day off...

Despite our initial reaction to being on a houseboat...It was very nice on here..very comfortable...

It's not like we were out to sea...

II-

After breakfast...We all sat out on the deck at the tables and looked at the water and the city of London before us...It was a great view...

"As we learned in law school...Our American legal system was based off of the legal system here in Great Britain with a few differences.." said Yvette..

 "Bev, Nelson and I read up on the differences during the plane ride over here.."said Olivia..

 "Plus we've been here before..We actually tried a case over here."said Beverly..

 "You two are incredible.."said Nelson, just in awe of his one  time mentor and her niece, his new wife..

"I expect this to be quite an education."said Josie, who was far ahead of a lot of classmates in law school by leaps and bounds , due to her association with Olivia and Beverly.

 "I read up on this in Law School, so I have a little bit of an idea.."said Keith Jones.

"Remember that class we took?  Constitutional Law in the U.S. and the U.K.?" said Sofia.

"I remember."said Bee Bee...She didn't make the cut for that class...A special class that they took..She had really wanted to be in that class to be with Keith Jones, who unknown to him, was the object of a big crush, Bee Bee had on him...He had stopped persuing her.

"I wanted to take that class."said Kahlil.

"This should be an education for all of you.."said Jade, who as a former member of the Tokyo Police department had been here and had studied Parliamentarian law a little bit.

"Our Client, An Attorney for our international division has been accused of a murder..A Murder he swears he didn't commit."said Yvette.

''Couldn't he use diplomatic immunity?" asked Nelson.

"He uh could, technically, except he's accused of killing a fellow American Citizen and he wants to clear his name."said Yvette...

"And this is where we come in." said Olivia..

 Gary looked at me..

''Donnie Ray, you and me...We were just cops...I walked a beat at one time before I made Detective,I suspect you did too."said Gary.

"I rode around in a squad car...We used to call em rollers...I couldn't wait to make Detective."I said.

"Did you ever imagine you'd one day be hooked up with a lawyer, who's not only smart, but sexy as well?" he said.. He was speaking of both of our situations..

"Never in a million years.." I said.

We both smiled while peering at our girls..

Yvette and Olivia.

III-

It was a foggy overcast day....Paris drove us to the Holding facility where we met our client....Attorney Jack Fahey...Suspect in a Murder..

"You're my Attorney?   I remember you, Yvette....You were uh Miles Ellis's protoge'..." said Jack...

"You really haven't been in the States in awhile Mr. Fahey....Miles is an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia D.A.'s office now... and I am a Senior Associate Attorney... These are my protoge's,

 Attorney Keith Jones

 Attorney Beatrice Evans

 Attorney Sofia Garcia

and Attorney Kahlil Ahmed...

They're along for an educational benefit, but they're brighter and more capable than you can imagine... They'll be helping with the case.." said Yvette..

Jack smiled...He eyed Olivia..

"I know who you are....You're Olivia Bennett-Alexander and You must be her niece Beverly....I've heard of you two.." he said ..

 "Guilty as charged...We are here on a consultant basis....

"This is the rest of our team...my husband,

Attorney Nelson East..."said Beverly...

"And my husband,

Donnie Ray Alexander, our Investigator..."said Olivia..

"This is our para-legal, Josie Boyd...She's in law school." said Olivia..

'Well,Well ,Well..I'm on trial for my life and career and Mikey sends a classroom over..."joked Jack Fahey...

"Each one of these attorneys and the para-legal have courtroom experience that rivals yours Jack..They're not Neophytes...They'll be assisting me...Google us...You'll find you owe us an apology." said Yvette...

Now may I introduce the rest of our team..

 Jade Lee, former Homicide Detective, Tokyo Police Department,...Now Our Investigator..

and Gary Lockwood, An Investigator from the Philadelphia D.A.'s office on loan to us..He's a Former Homicide Detective with the Philadelphia Police department." said Yvette...

"Well...I'm at least impressed with the investigators.....Not that I'm not impressed or appreciative of all of these GREAT legal minds you've brought with you Yvette..." he said laughing...

"You know...You're getting more help than the average person in your predicament Jack." said Yvette.

"No Offense...I just thought Mikey was coming himself or Mr. Connor...Really No Offense.."said Jack..

I scanned the faces of the young people..

Beverly, Nelson, Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil and Josie and I could tell they didn't like him and was put off by his snooty attitude.. He had no idea how astute and how good these young Attorneys truly were...

 ''Dude has major attitude...I'd just assuredly let him rot over here."whispered Gary to me..

 I smiled ruefully...I felt the exact same way...

"I've seen his type before..during my travels.."said Jade..

 "You know, everybody here is here to help you....Everybody here graduated from law school and passed the bar just like you did and every last one of these attorneys here have won numerous criminal and civil casers in court ,argued before State Appellate courts, got verdicts over turned and even argued death penalty cases...no one here is green...Don't let their youth fool you."said Olivia.

"Now are we going to talk about your case or are you going to play games?  As much as I enjoy coming over here..We can pack and go back to Philly tomorrow and maybe Mr. Connor or Mr. Pratt will come over here and represent you EVENTUALLY!!!  But if either had a mind to do that...They'd be here...They aren't the type to waste money....They sent me...and my guys and they contracted Olivia and her practice to assist....."said Yvette..

"Okay, Okay, Okay....I'm sorry if anybody was offended..I'm charged with killing Rafer Williamson...one of our wealthy clients....I was his attorney.."said Jack.

"He was going to fire you..."I said.

"He sent an email to the main office ,asking for a replacement attorney."said  Jade.

"Wowwww they're good.." said Jack..

 "That's why we pay them the big bucks."laughed Yvette.

"We did our homework."said Olivia..

"He was difficult...Extremely difficult to work with...He was a high paying client...Losing his account would embarrass and hurt the company...I was working hard to get him to reconsider...In fact..He had reconsidered.." said Jack.

"Do you have that in writing?" asked Beverly..

"Well No...but he had agreed to continue using my services as of Thursday, the night before he died.."said Jack.

"Your gun was found on the front seat of his car and forensics says it's a ballistics match." said Keith Jones..

''Think about that...I'm going to kill a man and leave MY gun in his car?? My gun was stolen a few days before."said Jack..

"You did of course report this?" asked Kahlil..

"I did."said Jack..

 ''We'll need a copy of that police report."said Bee Bee.

 ''And photos of the death scene.."said Sofia.

"Donnie Ray, Jade and Gary will be on that." said Josie.

"There's a lot more to this story isn't it?" said Nelson...

"There is ...but not enough time today to talk about it.."said Jack..

The guard was coming to take him back to his room...He was under strict house arrest.

"That's okay...We'll talk some more ."said Yvette...

Once they were gone...Jack pulled out his laptop..

 He googled all of the attorneys..He didn't care about the investigators..

Olivia, Beverly and Nelson he knew about...They had won numerous cases...Especially criminal cases....

Keith Jones, Beatrice Evans, Sofia Garcia, Kahlil Ahmed... Recent Penn Law School grads, Surprisingly they had tried a number of successful criminal, immigration and other cases..Had even tried a case before the State Supreme court ...Yvette was teaching them well..

They had teamed with Olivia and Beverly and company and tried some landmark cases in Houston/San Diego/Honolulu and some cases for the Innocence Project and ACLU right there in Philadelphia...Even a big Federal case.

All had won the SUPER LAWYERS AWARD....

And Yvette, he found out was on a fast track to being a partner....

He was at once very humble....

"I acted like a damn fool...These guys are the best....I've got the damn dream team...and I aileanated them with my attitude..Tomorrow I'm going to apologize to every last one of them." he told Mike Pratt on the phone..

"For the type of trouble you're in do you think I'd send any less than the best?" asked Mike Pratt..

"I'm sorry Mike."said Jack.

"You know Jack, I get it...Being an Arrogant Asshole is probably what makes you a great attorney...but sometimes you gotta drop that act and be humble Jack...I sent you the best attorneys money can buy to help you with the trouble you're in... And let me tell you...beating this murder rap is the least of your problems.....The firm is pissed at you for the way you goofed up with this client.. They want you back here in Philly after you are acquitted." said Mike Pratt..

''Wow they have that much faith in these guys huh?" laughed Jack..

"Let's put it this way...More faith in them than they have in you right now!"said Mike Pratt.

IV-

Paris drove us back to our houseboat...

Where we sat outside and talked, just as we had in the morning..

 "He's not the easiest guy to digest I know, but thanks guys for hanging in there...Look, we are practically getting another vacation... A Paid vacation. So who cares if he respects us or not?" said Yvette.

 "Guys like him remind me of why I left the corporate world and started my own firm...Always looking down on us...Never giving us our due."said Olivia.

 "He'll respect us once we pull his feet from the fire." said Beverly...

 Nelson hugged his wife and kissed her on the cheek.

 "Such an entitled asshole."said Josie.

 "I feel you girl...I could let him rot here in a British jail for all I care.."said Bee Bee.

 "Yeah, why do we have to prove ourselves to him?  He's the one in trouble not us."said Sofia.

 "Yeah!" said Kahlil..

"If he took Ms. Yvette's advice and googled us...He'll soon know just how good we are."said Keith..

"Thing is...If we were white and male....We wouldn't have had that discussion at all about our credentials....I hate that kind of snide racist-sexist attitude..but we were paid to defend him and that's what we gotta do." said Yvette..

 "We gotta get those police reports and those crime scene photos to begin with.."I said..

 "Not an easy feat...We aren't in Philly, we don't know anyone here.."said Gary..

"That's where I come in...I may have a few contacts that can get me the story.." said Jade..

''Definitely more here than what meets the eye.."I said.

"Come on inside...I fixed dinner...I figured you guys might be hungry..." said Paris..


"This is a Bolar Roast....Their version of uh Pot Roast

and this is Bread and Butter Pudding.....

Try it guys, you'll like it." said Paris..who was a pretty good cook himself.

We were ready to chow down...We didn't really care at this point.

 ''It looks delish..What do you think honey bunny?" asked Olivia.

"I'm Hungry...It both looks and smells good." I said.

 "Thank You Paris."said Beverly, smiling..

"Yeah man...Looks good.."said Nelson.

Josie smiled..

 Gary put Yvette in his lap and hugged her as she began to eat..

"Paris ,this is good!" she said..

 "Ummmmmm this is delish."said Bee Bee..

 "It issss...Thank you Paris."said Sofia.

 "Yeah man, good lookin out."said Kahlil..

"Ummmm Good grub, All we need now is wine.." said Keith Jones..

"I didn't forget...I bought a nice port...."said Paris

as he poured the wine for us..

Jade smiled and said to Josie..

"Josie...You got a keeper in him." she said.

Josie smiled..

"I know!" she said.

(TO BE CONTINUED)