The Love Man Strikes Out

 In his hotel room, feeling lonely and horny, awaiting his preliminary hearing...

Barney Drescher got on his phone and called some of his old flames for company..

Former Assistant District Attorney, Billie Lawrence's number was disconnected.. She had gotten a new phone and a new number...She moved to Bayside and was in Private Practice at a small law firm now.

Dr. Bourdain was also living in Bayside, She was teaching law at Middleton Law School.

She answered...

"Well Hello Mr. Drescher, I would ask how are you...but I read the newspapers still and I see you're in a bit of trouble. Accused of Murdering your girlfriend, your married girlfriend..." she said.,

"I'm innocent...I didn't do it...." he said.

"You're capable of a lot of things...but I don't believe you're capable of that... You've got some good lawyers...

YVETTE JONES LOCKWOOD

KEITH JONES

SOFIA GARCIA AHMED

KAHLIL AHMED

and BEATRICE EVANS-JONES

I'm sure you'll be alright." she said.

"Yes, they're very good...They've got me stashed in a hotel in Cherry Hill with a Portal and a burner phone for communication with them... I'd feel a lot better if you drove out here and uh spent some time with me.." he said with a seductive whisper.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen...I'm grading papers and I have a class to teach today.." said Dr. Bourdain , who had no intention of hooking up with Barney Drescher again..He was a player and she only wanted serious applications to share her bed.

"What color panties are you wearing today?" he asked in last minute desperation.

(CLICK!)

She Hung up.

He next called Assistant District Attorney, Diane Baranski....She was a little more accomodating..

They had had a couple of good nights together when Diane first came to town a few years ago...but that was a long time ago and many men ago for her....She was now settled in a happy monogamous relationship

 with Assistant District Attorney Jake "Lawyer Bae" Patais.

" I'd feel a lot better if you drove out here and uh spent some time with me.." he said with a seductive whisper. I'm at the Holiday Inn in Cherry Hill." he whispered...

"Awww, you're still hot for me? I'm flattered , but I'm in a relationship....We've been together now for almost a year...I can't do that....Sorry." she said.

"Yeah, I am too....Well it was nice talking to you again Diane." he said..

He called Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Thomas ...

''Don't call here anymore..I'm a Married woman!!..." she said quickly and hung up..

He called U.S. Attorney Aida Jackson, his only Black experience....She said something simular..

"I'm Married and I'm pregnant...Don't call here anymore." she said.. It had been quite a while since she'd seen or heard from him...An early morning booty call was not on her wish list.

It was just that kind of night and early morning.

MORNING- Our new building..

Creamed Chip Beef, Shrimp and Cheese Grits, Omelettes to order, Hot Coffee.. The four of us were really chowing down and enjoying the good food in this cafeteria.... If only our old building had had a cafeteria... We rarely had time to stop at Sam Mothers and eat and make it to work on time..Now we'd make it on time everyday..

"This food is sooo good.." I said in between bites..

"Yes it is..." said Bee Bee..

"Such a variety... I love this building.." said Kahlil.

"Oh I do too..A Cafeteria and a gym ." laughed Sofia..

"Yesssssssss with showers, so you can work out and change clothes afterwords.."said Jade.

"Next week, I'm going to bring a bonnet and work out clothes.." said Bee Bee.

"Oh Me too!"laughed Sofia..

We looked up and Ms. Yvette was smiling at us...

"You guys really like this building huh?" she said.  "I like it too!" she said as she sat down and joined us..

Across from us...Jazzy, Dabnis, Kayla, Ray, Jessica and Chip all sat at a huge round table like ours and ate their breakfast....They waved at us...

ADA Karen Page walked in just then and waved at everybody...

It had been a long time since we all used to eat at Sam Mother's Diner...Lt. Tragg had practically made it impossible to eat in peace there..Now we were all safe in this building. away from his whining and rambling..

As we were walking out, we ran into Attorney Tony Billips, Bresha's husband...

"Heyyyyyyyy, I heard all you guys worked in this building..This is maddd cool." he said.

" Tonnnnyyyyyy! Heyyy dude!!!What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Job Interview with my man Ray's law firm...and let's just say...It looks very promising..."said a jubilant Tony...

"Hey Man, that's great.." said Kahlil.

"Gettin up at the crack of Dawn and taking two trains wears one down a bit."said Tony.

"I know that's right." laughed Bee Bee.

"Wow..you get the job, you can have your girl, Bree down here for lunch..." said Sofia.

"Yeah How about that?" laughed Tony... We hoped he got the job.

II-

Upstairs in our new conference room...We got back to the business of our latest case..

"Sooo, where are we?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"Here is the Arrest Report  and Crime Scene Photos you asked for. I made copies for everyone." I said.  I spread them out on the table for everyone to see.

"Here is the Partial  Autopsy and Tox reports...both Barney and our murder victim had well over the legal limit of alcohol in their systems... plus they had a huge amout of Marijuana and get this.. She had a large amount of Morphine in her system.. He did too, but nowhere near as much as she did !People who knew her said she didn't do H or any opiates and the coroner's office is still trying to discover how the morphine got in her system and when it was ingested."said Kahlil.

"The Apartment that Barney said they had the card game in was as empty as could be..It was like nobody ever was there and of course , nobody would talk to me..They smelled cop on me, even though I'm not a cop anymore."said Jade.. The Baillif friend of his , Christopher Dougherty  hasn't been seen and hasn't been to work since the murder.  And nobody knows the girlfriend."said Jade.

"Let us go up there with you Jade... Sofia and I might get more co-operation. You never lived around there, people don't know you...They are reluctant to talk to strangers." said Bee Bee.

"That's our hood, People know us...We grew up near there.. We jumped rope as little girls, we smoked joints with the locals, we hung out as much as our families would let us." said Sofia.

"You two came from a neighborhood like that and yet today, you both are attorneys...Amazing!" said Yvette, looking at Bee and Sofia and smiling proudly..

''You didn't exactly grow up in Mayfair Ms. Yvette... You grew up just a few blocks away.." I said.."And look at you, Not Just an Attorney, but Managing Partner.."I said.

"But I was a nerd, a poor lonely Bookworm ...I didn't know I had a body until 11th grade, when boys started checking me out..and then I didn't know what to do with it." Ms. Yvette sighed.

She certainly made up for lost time , as I well knew, having seen more of that body than I had a right too once...

"Oh and that cop, Frank Hatfield, her estranged husband...Was nowhere near there and he has a very good alibi.. MY HUSBAND!  The Robbery-Homicide Unit took a door that night, arrested a murder  suspect..He was one of the uniformed patrolmen on the scene.. Danny verified it..

"Looks like our client's alibi is being shredded as we speak." said Bee Bee.

"I'll say." said Sofia.

"There's still the matter of his gun...No prints on it or DNA, but that's because it was in the water.."said Kahlil.

''And that was his car." I said.

"Do a property search...Find out who owns that property and who was in that room..Somebody had to be there...Bee, Mamasita, be careful...but go back to your old hood and find out if somebody knows something." said Ms. Yvette.

"Oh somebody knows something and somebody will talk. I have one person in mind already." said Bee Bee

''Judy...If Judy doesn't know about it, it's not worth knowing." said Sofia, laughing.

"I've heard that said about somebody else.. Always good to know somebody like that. I've got a meeting to go to back at our old building...Keith, Kahlil...go back to the M.E.'s office, see if they've found anything new.. Bee Bee, Mamasita, be careful.. Jade , come with me." said Ms. Yvette.

It seemed weird Ms. Yvette being back in our old building, where she had spent a great deal of her legal career..

And sitting in our old conference room with the partners..

Mr. McCluskey

Mr. Pratt

Mr. Connor

and Mr. Cozen

And our Ms. Yvette, managing partner.

She was there to have her picture taken with the partners..She was the first Black Managing Partner and they wanted her included in the photos for their new advertisements.. Ms. Yvette was also the first female and the youngest Managing Partner, all who were in New York, Chicago, Houston, San Diego and San Francisco our other offices.

There was a deep feeling of pride among the other Black attorneys and para-legals working there.. Yvette had made it to the top without sleeping her way to the top..She had made it through loyalty and hard work....This gave them all hope.

Jade still had the keys to our old suite... 

It hadn't been filled yet... She smiled.. A part of her kind of missed the closeness of her ,Bee Bee, Keith, Kahlil and Sofia sitting out here eating and talking..

She missed the closeness..

In the new building they all had their own offices.

And in my office right now, Bee Bee and I were up against the wall kissing passionately..

"You're always ambushing me and kissing me when I least expect it...I think that turns you on." said Bee Bee ,momentarily easing out of my embrace.

"You turn me on." I said in a whisper..

"Oh I know that...but kissing me when I;m unaware it's coming...turns you on more." she said and giggled.

as we kissed some more.

And in Sofia's office.

"OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.. She and Kahlil had just finished a 40 minute quickie..

She slid her panties up..

"I've got to go to the ladies room, to clean up..Wouuuuuuuuuuu, I didn't mean to do all of this." she said, trying to catch her breath.

"Be careful today...If you have any problems..Call me." said Kahlil.

"Awwww my papi is woried about me." said Sofia.

"Me and Bee will be just fine."she assured him and gave him one last kiss.

III-

The neighborhood had changed a lot since a little Black girl and a Little Puerto Rican girl met in

kintergarden and became best friends and ran these streets..

They didn't come around much now of days...They lived halfway across town in a new neighborhood..

but their hearts still belonged to their hood.

They passed a famous restaurant and eatery they knew.

"Bee, remember this place?" said Sofia.

"I sure do...

Todd proposed to me in here..He broke up with me in here too!" remembered Bee Bee.

They walked in, sat down and ordered lunch..

"It smells the same." said Sofia.

"For Sure..." said Bee Bee.

''Well I'll be damned... Beatrice Evans and Sofia Garcia...You two are still hangin together.. Wowwwww!" said a girl they knew, Judy Romero.

"Hi Judy" said Bee Bee..  "Judy had been Sofia's friend, but not really her friend.. She was still butt hurt about Bee Bee taking Todd Dellums from her, Years ago.. It hadn't been her fault.. He had seen her with Sofia and had forgot all about Judy, who he had been going out with and like a heat seeking missile had turned all of his attention to Bee Bee.

"Hola Judy." said Sofia.

''So uh you two went to Girls High and then Temple and then uh law school at University of Penn... You're lawyers now huh?" asked Judy.

''Yup...We work at McCluskey /Cozen/Connor and Pratt... We are located down on Penns Landing in that new building." said Bee Bee.

"You both are married I see....Welllllllllllllll ... I heard you married an Arab guy from North Philly

 Sofia and Bee Bee I heard  you married a brother

 from West Philly who is loaded ." said Judy. 

Some of her information was a little off, grounded in rumor.

Bee Bee laughed.."My husband is not loaded.. He's an Attorney like me..In fact, his office is right next door to mine." said Bee Bee.

''You do keep up Judy..."laughed Sofia.

"Lawyers huh? Married?  Hey do you guys work with an Asian chick....

She said she was a Private Investigator for some lawyers , was here a few days ago, askin a lot of questions..." said Judy.

"Yes, she is our associate...Jade Lee.."said Sofia.

''She's our investigator...We need to know about that house on B. Street." said Bee Bee.

"You need to know about that house on B. Street!!. I need to know about Todd...What happened to you two?  He's a lawyer too you know....He went to Harvard...You ever see him?" asked Judy. It was clear , she still carried a torch for him.

''We see him..He's an Assistant U.S. Attorney now..He lives in Queen Village." said Sofia.

"He got a girlfriend? " asked Judy..

"He does.. He lives with her." said Bee Bee.

"She Black or white?" asked Judy, Whose Father was African -American and mother was Puerto Rican.

"She's Black." said Bee Bee, who didn't see what difference it made to Judy..Since she didn't have him.

"You broke his heart Bee Bee, when you broke off the engagement.. I thought you was crazy myself, a catch like him...One of the few guys from here that didn't become a cop or a drug boy or stick up kid. He made something out of himself, but I guess you did too huh?  I was engaged to your cousin Ernesto, Sofia..We was livin together for a minute...but it uh didn't work out." said Judy.

"I know, he told me." sighed Sofia.

Their Burgers and Cokes arrived... As the three girls ate...

Jodi began to spill the information she knew.

"That house on B street is owned by a guy named "White Boy" Rick.. It's one of several residences he owned.. That was his kool out spot.. He spends most of his days in here on his cell phone taking "orders" (Drug orders) and directing his customers as to where they can pick up the drugs he sells..It used to be just Marijuana...Then he upgraded to Coke and H.(Heroin)...He's got the hot package on the street.. He and his guys moved the Roc Boyz completely out.  Remember when we were girls, them Roc Boyz had this neighborhood on lock...Mickey Lolo's crew..." said Judy.

"Oh yeahhhh they all wore matching jackets that said "ROC BOYZ" on the back." said Sofia.

"And Custom made NIKE sneakers." said Bee Bee remembering..

"Yeah well as you know, the Big Bosses, Minolo Senterro and Mickey Lolo are both dead now and the Roc Boyz are long gone.. White Boy Rick came down here with his package and took over all of these corners without a shot being fired.. They say he's connected.. I don't know...but he had the best product and he sold to all of the guys on all the corners and kinda cornered the market.   The Cops have been on him for a longgg time, but they were never able to get him, no matter who they took down.. He always came back with a good product. Word was. He had a cop either in his pocket or he was in the cop's pocket.  This cop, and before you ask, I don't know him..He don't work this beat.. Let him know when a bust was coming down and protected him.." said Judy.

"The House on B. street was his cool out spot?" asked Bee Bee.

"Yeah, no business of any kind went on there.. He'd take his girls there or he and his friends would play poker there...Only something went down a week ago... A shot was fired there and after that, the place was emptied and abandoned.. Nobody has seen White Boy Rick since then.That's all I know."said Judy.

"That's more than we did know..Thanks Judy." said Sofia, who still had her number and had called her after all these years.

"Nice to see and hear about people who made it out of this neighborhood and made something of themselves.." said Judy... "You may find it hard to believe...but I'm proud of you two..I am...Even you Beatrice." she said and laughed..

Bee Bee and Sofia allowed themselves to laugh.

At the Medical Examiner's Office

Kahlil and I were talking to Dr. Hazel Baylor and Dr. Marcy Martin.

"So we realized that we didn't get a complete Tox report with the Autopsy, So we came back to find out if it was completed." said Kahlil.

"You said they both had a huge amount of Marijuana and Alcohol in their systems as well as Morphine, right?" I asked.

"Right, the Morphine was a lethal dosage that would have killed Brenda Hatfield , even if she hadn't of been shot...Her being shot was just overkill.. The morphine got in her system through one of the beers she drank. We found a glass with her fingerprints, lipstick and DNA on it that had traces of the morphine in the glass. we also found a glass that Barney Drescher had drank from...Same thing..Prints and DNA, traces of Morphine. Both of them were assumed dead and put in that car and pushed into the River. Only, he was still alive and he escaped and swam to the surface..." said Hazel.

"Does Lt. Tragg know this?" I asked.

"It's in our report...A copy is on his desk...It is part of discovery...but you know him..

"We tried to tell him that he may have arrested Drescher in haste and that all the facts weren't in yet...

When the police went back to the house in Kensington where the Poker game and the drugging went down..

"Everything was gone..The place was completely empty and had been bleached down..."

said Dr. Marcy Martin.

"We did a luminol test.. We know she or somebody was shot there in that room. He was told that, but it did not change his mind one bit..

"He's got his suspect and that's who he's sticking with. He's an asshole, worst detective I have ever seen in my life." said Dr. Hazel Baylor.

"You'll get no argument from us on that." said Kahlil.

The four of us laughed loudly for a long time!

IV-

The six of us sat in the Cafeteria.. We were having a late dinner.

"I did a property search... That building is owned by Richard Rubino Sr. , a guy with ties to the Mob." said Jade.

"Oh My... the plot thickens.." said Ms. Yvette.

"Richard Rubino Sr. has been dead since 2008. yet he purchased that building and three others like it in Kensington  in 2012, 2016 and 2018.Years after his death.  The word I got is that his son, Richard Rubino Jr. actually is the owner of that property and he's alleged to be a drug dealer." said Jade.

"That's "White Boy Rick" Word on the street is that he has the hot package.. He sells all of the Dope, Coke and weed you need in the hood.  He works out of a diner  called "Easy's"" said Bee Bee.

"The House on B, Street where everything went down was his cool out spot.. He took girls there and he hosted Poker and card games there. No drugs , no guns, nothing like that." said Sofia.

"Two baillifs from the courthouse are there and the very married girlfriend of one of them are there with a known criminal.. They had to have known him through his court appearences.." said Yvette.

''We hear he has a cop in his pocket or he's in the cop's pocket. This cop tells him when a major bust is coming and he somehow has eluded the police. What if this cop needed a favor.. Someone knocked off?" said Bee Bee.

"I like how you're thinking." I said.

"Ohhh you like everything about me." joked Bee Bee.

Sofia laughed..."What if our number one suspect needed a favor done..He wouldn't have to be there when it was done would he?" asked Sofia.

"No he wouldn't... We have to find that other Bailiff.. He hasn't been seen since the night of the murder. I checked while I was at the courthouse.  He hasn't called or been to work since then." said Yvette.

''We absolutely have to talk to him." said Kahlil.

"He is absolutely number one on my find list." said Jade.

Tony Billips walked up.

"Howdy Neighbors." he said.

"You got the job!" I said.

"Sure did. I start in three weeks..I'm going pack to put in my two weeks notice and I have a whole week off before I start here.. I begin the week before Christmas." said Tony.

"Hey Man, that's great!" said Kahlil.

"Ohh I know Bresha will be thrilled." said Bee Bee.

"We are going to bring her down here." said Sofia.

"I'm so Happy for you." said Ms. Yvette.

"Let's go home.. If we hurry, we can catch the next train." said Jade.

Kayla, Ray, Jazzy, Dabnis, Jessica and Chip had left an hour ago.. It was going to be like that some days...Still it was nice, being in this building with them and now Tony too!

And at his hotel in Cherry Hill,

Barney Drescher

Had been on the portal with us throughout the afternoon.. He was glad to know we were working so diligently on his case.. but now , he wanted some company of the female type.

There was a knock on his door...

He was shocked..

"YOU?? What are you doing here?" he asked.

It was Dr. Bourdain.

"I was bored, lonely, horny....Maybe all three " said Dr. Bourdain  who slowly reached up under her short skirt..

and slipped her panties off and tossed them at him... She unbuttoned her blouse and tossed her bra at him.

"You said you wanted to know what color my panties were today...Now you know.." she said..

She closed the door..

"AWWWWWWW SWEEET BABY!" he moaned as he took her into his arms and helped her out of the rest of her clothes.

and took her into his arms..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" she cooed.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LAWWWWWd!" he moaned..

He lifted her up and entered her softly and slowly...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....BABYYYYYYYYYYYYY" she moaned.

"OOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GIRRRRRRRRRLL...UMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned/

"MEOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" she cooed.

"WOOF! WOOF!" he barked..

He remembered the first time they made love how lucky he considered himself.. Attorney James "Jumpshot Jim" Taylor and Lt. Tragg 

had both made unsuccessful attempts for her and yet he, a nobody bailiff had succeeded where both of them had failed.

He had her on his dresser, thrusting away ,like he never wanted to stop...

Then finally on and in the bed.. Where she rode him hard.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BABYYYYY!" he cried out..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! MEOWWWWWWW!" she cooed.

THE NEXT NINE TO TEN HOURS WERE MAGIC!

The Love man was back! At least for tonight.

(TO BE CONTINUED)