Olivia sat by herself in Sam Mother's Dine today...
"Hey Livy...This is not like you, eating alone....Where is your crew?" asked Sam Mother..
''They'll be here.. My Niece and my husband
are out doing some investigating for me...He likes an attorney with him when he questions people." said Olivia.
''Smart Guy....Bev will keep him honest!" laughed Sam..
" My niece's husband, Nelson is with Josie
at the courthouse holding facility visiting our client..."continued Olivia...
"And that leaves little ole me alone....Here with you.." said Olivia with a smile..
''Spoke too soon Liv, Here comes your crew now.." he said.
I walked in with Beverly....It just so happened, Nelson and Josie were arriving at the same time.
"Hey Babes." I said..
and planted a fresh kiss on Olivia's lips..
"Heyyyyyyy lover.." said Olivia...
''Well we recanvassed the crime scene...and we did a full work up on Officer Broward...It does not look good, for him...But we can discuss that at the office." said Beverly..who kissed her husband, Nelson..
"Ummmmm hi husband..." she said.
''Hellllllllllooo! " he said...."We saw Tammie Ellis...She's doing better, but still can't remember anything about that night."said Nelson..
"Maybe we could get her a doctor.. A Hypnotist... Maybe he could help her with her memories." said Josie...
"That's not a bad idea...I've seen it done before when I was a Homicide Detective." I said.
"Well that's a thought...Let me look up some doctors." said Olivia..
We all ordered Ham Salad sandwiches
and Iced Tea...
as we sat and ate our lunch, New Assistant District Attorney, Geraldine "Gerri" Williams walked in..
"Well I'll be....This place hasn't changed since I ate all three of my meals here as a young law student..." she said...
She walked over to our table..
"Olivia Bennett.....My My My.....You look incredible....How long has it been?" she said..
"Your last year at Penn Law..."said Olivia..
"I remember that little clique you ran with...What has happened to all of them?" asked Geraldine..
''Well, Vettie...
Yvette Jones works as a Senior Associate Attorney at
McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt and she supervises
four very astute young attorneys and an investigator...I've had the pleasure of working with her and her guys..." said Olivia.
"You two still tight?" asked Geraldine..
"She lives a block from me....Yes, we are still tight...That's my sister from another mister.."laughed Olivia..
"I saw Sharon Ferrell when I was in Atlanta...She passed the bar and joined the FBI..."said Gerri.
''She's here in Philadelphia now...
She's the Deputy FBI/ATF Special Agent in charge of this region and she's married to
Tony Hopkins...He is also an Attorney and a Detective in the Criminal Investigation Divison, an elite unit.."said Olivia..
"Wowwwwww! They're married huh? He was always sniffing behind her like a little puppy...I guess she really liked the sniffin huh? laughed Gerri. "What about that White Girl you guys used to hang out with.?" asked Gerri.
"Karen Page??
She's an ADA like you...She heads the WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT...
Her office is near Penns Landing... Yvette and I have worked with her..."said Olivia.
"Wowww You guys all landed well...But you...You Olivia, you're living the dream...You have your own practice...We all talked about doing that...but you did it...I understand you were a Public Defender for many years..."said Geraldine..
"I was......
This is my brother's daughter, Beverly..my niece...She is a Penn Law Graduate too...She worked at the Public Defenders Office with me for a few years and then left and helped me start my practice..
And this is her husband, Attorney Nelson East....He worked with us at the Public Defenders Office too, then left, worked for Robert Foxworth and Associates and finally came in with me and Bev...
and this is our newest Associate Attorney, Ms. Josie Boyd...although she's been with us since we opened the doors in one capacity or another...She was our Office Manager, then a Para-legal for us and now ,she's recently graduated from law school and passed the bar...She's our newest Associate Attorney." gushed Olivia..
"And this is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander ,formerly of the New Orleans Police Department, Homicide...He's our Investigator..." said Olivia..
"Pleased to make your acquaintance.." I said..
"Ouuuuuuu he has such charming southern manners... So look at you, Married, got your own practice, Three Attorneys and an Investigator....I uh drove by your office the other day...
I understand that it's a duplex and you and your husband live there and your niece and her husband live there also...That is perfect...No One is ever late to work.." she laughed..
"This told me that just as Olivia had done her research on her...She had also done her research on Olivia and us and everything Olivia told her...She already knew..
"I saw you guys in court the other day at the arraignment and I wanted to come over and talk to you...but that Homicide Lieutenant, Arthur Tragg
just talked my ears off...but I'm so glad to see you Liv and catch up on everybody... I was uh married too for a minute." she said.
"REALLY?" said Olivia , who knew already...
Beverly looked at me and smiled...
I smiled too..
It was a rare moment when Geraldine Williams was off guard...
"He uh is a U.S. Attorney of the Southern District Now, Anthony Richardson...but when I knew him he was just plain Tony Richardson, Associate Attorney, U.S. District Court...Which is what I was..He interviewed me in Atlanta for the position and I left my law firm and moved to D.C. I was in love, Head over heels in Love with him...and we got married....
He never met a woman he didn't feel he should liberate from her panties and bra... I endured his serial cheating for a year...and then I walked in and caught him in our bed...Our Marital Bed....
with the woman he is married to now...Another U.S. Attorney. That was the last straw....I understand he has two offices..One here in Philly and one in D.C.
He and that woman have three children together.. Good for them...but I know Tony, he has probably had every gullible woman he could smile at in the bed...
She knew him well!
"Once a cheater, Always a cheater.." she said bitterly...
Olivia, Beverly and Josie smiled...They knew all too well...
''Sounds like my first marriage...My first husband was the exact same way...I never caught him in the act...His little girlfriends always left something behind.." said Olivia..
"Panties, Bras?? Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl you aint never lied...Tony did the same thing...I know..Found em everywhere..In My car, In his car...." she said and they all laughed..
Somehow I couldn't imagine Tony Richardson ever being that sloppy...he was too smooth, too slick for that...I didn't believe that....As a former Homicide detective, I was a good judge of people...I saw all types..This woman was slick... I know that she knew all of this...She knew I was Olivia's second husband...She knew about her first marriage to Elwood ..She knew all of this and this little friendly girl talk was to lull us into complacency and then hit us with hammers in court...by going the shared trauma route!
II-
Back at home after lunch..
''The ADA seems nice... a big improvement over Chris Garcetti." said Beverly...
"I'd prefer Chris Garcetti...at least you know what you're getting...she seems very friendly and congenial...but I know her...She is as cut-throat as they come....She smiles, bats her eyes and gets friendly with you...Seductive if you're a man...and then when your back is turned, she digs the knife in..."said Olivia..
"I hate women like that.."said Alfreda, who was putting files away....
''I got the feeling that everything you told her, she knew already...."said Nelson..
"Oh she did,,,,Just like I thoroughly researched her...Only thing I didn't know was the details of her marriage to Tony Richardson.."said Olivia..
"Well let's get down to the details of this case...Officer Broward was no walk in the park...Anthony John Broward Jr. was the product of an abusive home... I have 25 complaints from his mother ,filed against his father, Anthony Broward Sr. His mother committed suicide when he was 15...His father and an aunt finished raising him...He graduated from high school, got an associates degree from Community College and did a stint in the Marine corps...He had one write up... He sexually assaulted a female trainee...Charges were dismissed...He finished his tour with the Marines and enrolled in the Police Academy where he was an honor graduate...
As a patrolman, he had several comondations and exemplary write ups...He was advised by several to take the Detectives test, which he had signed up for at the time of his death....
But there is a dark side to him too..." I said..
Beverly continued...
''He broke an earlier girlfriend's jaw...He paid all of her hospital bills and settled out of court with the young lady and her lawyer and the matter was dropped.."said Beverly...
''Oh My God."said Josie.
"My Lord.."said Olivia..
Alfreda's hands began trembling...
"I've got 25...25 Domestic Dispute complaints from Tammie Ellis filed against Officer Broward, who she was living with at the time..I interviewed the officers who took the calls.....They filed the cases, but didn't do much else...as a result...no action was taken against him...
''She did go to a woman's shelter once...but they wouldn't talk to us..we may need a court summons."said Beverly.
Alfreda walked out of the room...
Tears were streaming down her face.....
III-
YEARS BEFORE!!
His name was Basil, Basil Riley...She had met him in a club...He dressed nice and he drove a flashy car.. Everything about him said Gangster...Playa, but she found him sexy...She should have known better,but she was taken in by him and moved in with him...
Beverly, her daughter, now living with her was a teenager..The two did not get along at all. Beverly complained that she'd caught him staring at her when she was getting dressed...The animosity between the two had risen to such heights that she called her aunt Olivia to come and get her.. Olivia told Beverly that she wasn't going to go against her mother..
Finally Alfreda gave in and said Beverly could move in with Olivia and her parents again..but she asked Olivia not to tell her brother, Jimmy, about Basil....Jimmy's temper when it came to Beverly,her and Olivia was legendary..He'd of killed Basil or gotten himself killed..
Basil was a drug dealer...He had a package and a few corners...They lived good..Alfreda had whatever she asked for...
She had to be available for sex whenever he wanted it...Which was okay for awhile..
He was a good lover...
as lovers go...
But eventually, he had problems....He snorted so much Cocaine that sometimes, he couldn't finish what he started...Sometimes he couldn't start...
And that's when the hitting started, The slaps, the cursing...and then the punches...he knocked her down a flight of stairs once..He broke her collarbone another time..
He apologized profusely and showered her with flowers and for months..Things went back to normal..
He asked her to quit her job...Said he'd supply her needs..Like a fool, she did..She sat around in Lingerie all day...
Prepared to give him sex on demand...
Then the phone calls came...Other women....and the slaps...if she dared question him...
One afternoon, he slapped her one time too many..
She sunk a meat cleaver in his chest.....!!! He was shocked...He fell over backwards and died shortly afterword.
She called Olivia, who had just become an Attorney by then, crying and wailing.. Olivia came over...
Only to see a bloody bed...and a bloody floor..
Some of the blood was arterial splatter...
Olivia was talking about calling the police and fashioning some kind of defense...but she had someone with her..
A Black guy....He was older...He was her boyfriend at the time...His name was Reggie Hamilton..He was connected...
He said-
"Clean her up and get her out of here...We'll take care of the rest."
Olivia was like...
''What are you talking about???...I have to call the police...Then I have to pay her bail and think of what kind of defense and..."
There was a white guy with him...Younger, muscular with a pony tail..
The white man finally spoke-
"I see why Reggie fell in love with you...You've got spirit and you're beautiful...but what you don't have is the experience to get her out of this mess...You don't have the kind of bail money a murder charge would call for...You just got out of law school...You're a first year Public defender...Think about what I'm saying...This would bankrupt you and you already have student loans to pay...Take her, get her cleaned up...Leave her clothes and under wear here...Get her out of here and never come back and don't call the police or say anything. This is the only choice you have...Do it...Don't be a fool Olivia." he said.
Olivia got her cleaned up, gave these two guys her clothes and undergarments..
More guys came in and mopped ,cleaned and bleached the place down...They burned the clothes she had been wearing ,burned the bedsheets, pillow cases and got rid of the entire mattress. packed every last bit of her stuff and put it in Olivia's car....They removed Basil's body and more than likely cremated him...They drove his car to an empty parking lot and left it there.
No one ever saw or heard anymore from Basil Riley....He wasn't a major playa, wasn't under indictment and there for was never missed...
Olivia had kept her terrible secret for years, Paid for her therapy and had given her this job as her office manager in her firm...Olivia had taken care of her daughter, Beverly all these years and helped her get through school and now she proudly looked on at her daughter as an Attorney...Olivia's partner in his law firm.
''Ma? Ma? You alright?" came Beverly's voice..
"You alright?" asked Olivia..
Alfreda hugged both of them....
"YESSSSS...YESSSSSS....I just got a little upset hearing about that guy beating that girl....If she did kill him...It was the trauma...That's why she can't remember..I wish I couldn't remember..She and I both suffer from shared trauma!"said Alfreda, who stopped crying and got herself together..
"It's okay...."said Beverly, who wiped her mother's tears with a napkin...
"It's over....It's over and you're good.."said Olivia, who rubbed her back....
Her boyfriend, Rockland Cambridge walked in..
'' Everything alright?" he asked..
"Hi Rockland, Everything is just fine.."said Olivia..
"Hi Rockland." said Beverly as she and Olivia both left..
''Heyyyyy I'm just really glad to see you."said Alfreda. She hugged Rockland, holding him like she never wanted to let him go...He was surprised...He usually initiated physical contact...
Alfreda kissed him long and slow, getting him so aroused ,he felt like he was about to explode....
His eyes got as large as saucers..
"I'm glad to see you too!" he said..
"You always are!!! Wanna grab some take out from Mabels and just go back to my place? she asked..
''Sure" said Rockland..
She kissed him softly and slowly again....
"I'm yours for the night..ALLLLLLL NIGHT!" said Alfreda seductively... Rockland never had any problems starting...He may have taken a little long to stop, but he always left her satisfied...
"Ohhhhhh myyy godddddd" said Rockland..
"Stay here...I'm going to ask Olivia if I can leave early...We are going back to your place...I hope you've taken your vitamins...because I plan to rock your world.."said Alfreda, smiling..
Rockland's trousers stood out like a circus tent...He was sweating...He was so aroused and excited.. This was a welcome surprise..
IV-
We all decided to call it a day and eat dinner at Mabel Jenkins Soul Food Joint..
Olivia and I..
Beverly and Nelson
and Josie and Paris..
All chowed down on Fried Chicken, Greens and Potato salad...and Ice teas
"I'm starting to get an idea of how I'm going to structure our defense...We can argue diminished capacity, bring up his history of abuse...I know Gerri ,she's going to try to get all of that suppressed, but I can argue why all of that is relevant based on the great predicates you and Beverly and Josie found for me." said Olivia ,looking at her partner and her two associate attorneys like a proud mother..
"She's the poster girl for abused woman!" said Beverly...
''But her Amnesia...The fact that she doesn't know what happened...That's going to bother some people." said Nelson..
"I mean ,do we think she possibly killed Officer Broward? And if so, shooting him in the back of the head shows pre-meditation.."said Josie..
"The Trauma of being beaten and abused may have caused her to go into a murderous trance just like it did..."Olivia trailed off..
"My Mom? It's okay Auntay! I understand... But that would be a hard sell, that's all I'm saying..We are behind the eight ball on this one.."said Beverly...
"You guys go on...but something bothers me...Something that has bothered me from the beginning of this case.. That Gun was wiped clean, with bleach....No Prints, No DNA and left on the table....The call to the police that there was a shooting CAME FROM THAT HOUSE!!!! I was checking the police report and the report from the M.E.'s office...They both got calls from that house....Almost minutes after the shooting...
Now Tammie walked close to 10 blocks , shell shocked , half dressed, no shoes on and we know she had a concussion...She was clearly in no state to wipe that gun clean or call both the M.E.'s office and Homicide...Most people simply dial 911.." I said.
"What Are you saying Donnie Ray?" asked Beverly...
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