Man Who Drinks Orange Juice

 FRIDAY MORNING!  9:00 AM

OUR BUILDING'S CAFETERIA-

"I love this building, This cafeteria, away from the hustle and bustle of  Center City, You got a nice view of the River and Penns Landing. Wowwwww!" said Emma Stephens.

"This is nice...Mom you ought to see if this building has any empty office space."said her daughter, newly minted attorney, Samantha Stephens.

"Glad you were able to get arraigned on the spot and avoid a night in the "Cooler" said Virginia.

"I never knew about the existence of "Night Court" until last night ,when Olivia told me about it after you got arrested Emma...Still, we were taking a big chance... we didn't really prepare like we usually do and if things hadn't of broke our way...You might have wound up in Women's Correctional or with a bail we couldn't pay... No Bail Bondsman was open that time of night...We had very little cash of our own on hand.. You got very lucky we got a cool judge who released you with no bail..Very lucky." said Ms. Yvette.

Bee Bee and I looked at each other and smiled. She squeezed my hand up under the table.

That Judge just happened to be my dad and her father in law.

"He won't be the Judge and that ADA won't be prosecuting your case once it goes to trial...We won't be able to rely on luck then..." said Sofia.

"It'll take skill...Skill we are prepared to offer you..." said Kahlil.

"Well ,we can discuss all of that upstairs...Let's get some food for now."said Jade.

Our breakfasts arrived... as well as our friends , who share this building with us...

''Hey Guys...You got her out huh? I worked Night Court when I was a young ADA ,just starting out..Two nights a week , every week for a month.... I arraigned a client there once as a Public Defender too." said Jazzy, who was very familliar with Night Court.

"I've never uh tried an arraignment in Night Court... Never enough time to prepare....but if anybody could pull it off, you guys could."said a smiling Dabnis.

"I just found out about it last night when cousin Olivia mentioned it."said Kayla.

"I knew about it....but like Dabnis said..Never enough time to prepare and it only meets two nights a week."said Ray.

"Wow,last night was my first time hearing about it."said Tony.

"I got three of my clients arraigned and released in Night Court when I was a Public Defender."said Jessica ,who knew about it.

"I got one client arraigned and released in Night Court myself when I was a Public Defender." said Chip.

''When I was a young ADA just starting out...I worked in Night Court...It was just two nights a week every week for a month...I loved it.. I had the rest of the week off and I got paid for a weeks worth of work. It was murder on my social life sometimes...but I loved it."said ADA Karen Page as they all sat down with us and ate breakfast with us.

Lt. Tragg wasn't having a good morning... He had spent half the night driving all around town...thinking he was following us and finding out he was following three different cars....He got home around 3:30 in the morning...

This morning, he was in our old building early and to his surprise....

We once again were not in our "office"....It was dark and locked as if no one had been there for months, not days or weeks. The thought that we had relocated and no longer worked there did not occur to him.

He stopped by Emma's apartment complex and there was no sign of her or her daughter.  He was incensed.

He finally wound up in Sam Mother's Diner..

"Artie you look like Hell." said Sam Mother.

"Good Morning to you too Sam." he said. "My regular, two fried hard, some spuds and some sausages and hot coffee.." he said.

His two fried eggs, his hash browns and breakfast sausage were served to him along with coffee...He had no one to bully this Friday Morning.. He was certainly angry enough...he had made a major arrest and she had been released within hours of the arrest in night court of all places with no bail...He was livid...but tired.. He called out and went home after breakfast...He needed to sleep.

He wasn't the only person who had been on the prowl this morning.

Tate Stephens, a retired corporate Attorney and the ex-husband of Emma Stephens stood outside her apartment... He rang the doorbell and knocked unceasingly...she apparently was not home.. He swigged the last remnants of Orange Juice from the carton he had just bought and tossed the carton into the trash can

He had been controlling and needy the entire time they were married..He had been jealous of Emma's rise in stature at the company...So much so that he and two others hatched a plan that ultimately got Emma terminated from the firm...She went into private practice after that and surprisingly divorced him...He couldn't believe it. Samantha was NOT his daughter.. That was Emma's daughter from a previous relationship.  Her father was deceased. He had adopted her and given her his last name, but the two were never close.

He stood outside the apartment complex and watched as Lt. Tragg left..

He was and had been obsessed with Emma ever since she left him, Unknown to her , he stalked her, watched everything she did...Every man who dated her.. Now he was ballistic...She had slept with Blake Davis, an attorney he hated for years...he had a private investigator following her and photographing her. She was accused of murdering his twin brother...He loved it.. he didn't love the fact that she had hired some pretty savy lawyers who had gotten her released without bail the same night she was arrested...This made him livid.

II-

After breakfast we all went upstairs to our office....

"Like you were told by my stalwart associates... We caught a break last night...We got a Judge who we know and who has been friendly towards us...but from here on out....It won't be smooth...I don't know who the new trial judge of Assistant District Attorney will be.." said Ms. Yvette.

"We are going to need you to tell us everything and I mean everything.. Don't leave anything out." I said.

"We've seen what Lt. Tragg calls evidence and it isn't really much...but it is the stuff that can sway juries."said Bee Bee.

"I suppose it's out now that you and your daughter were sleeping with the same man... Blake Davis." said Sofia.

"You two seem to have your peace with that, so we move on." said Kahlil.

"The murder weapon is legally registered to him and it was found in the dumpster behind your apartment complex.  The good thing is that there is no fingerprints or DNA on the gun."said Jade.

"This is all a frame.. Do you know how many people live in my complex???I never saw that gun before in my life and Blake and I did not have a relationship....That was a one night stand....He took me out to dinner the night after we all finished the Matthews Litigation.. We went to Bottom Of the C. had a great meal, some wine and we went back to my place because he told me his twin brother was staying with him.  I had no idea somebody was watching us, taking pictures of us...  I've never been to his Condo and I didn't even know he owned a gun....That's the truth....Somebody sent me those photos of him and Samantha... I was in my apartment that night...Alone.. I heard him when he says he knocked on my door, but I didn't want to be bothered with him...and that's the truth..." said Emma Stephens.

"I've been to his Condo a dozen times...I didn't know he had a gun... I hadn't seen him in three days...I was staying with Olivia and Beverly, studying over there, taking my meals there and with my phone on charger.." said Samantha..

"Blake was in The Mermaid Crab Tavern.....Several Attorneys he was with testified to that and he was on their Restaurant Camera footage... After that, he was in Josie's until closing...Same thing..He's on camera footage and several folks will testify to seeing him... He gassed up around 2:45 and he claims he knocked on your door and you didn't answer.. He went home and found his brother dead..The coroner puts the time of death as around midnight...So we know for a fact that Blake didn't do it, and Samantha here didn't do it and if you were in your apartment...you didn't do it..but somebody did do it.." said Jade.

"My husband, a former homicide investigator said that wax shavings near the door suggests that somebody made duplicate keys with a three dimensional copier and may have let themselves in...and judging from the angle the body was hit and fell.. They walked in and shot Blanton quickly and left..They didn't hang around  and root around the way Lt. Tragg suggests..."said Yvette.

"You know, the last time I was with Blake, he felt as though somebody had been in his place.. He had a brand new carton of orange juice...It was half drank and he said he hadn't opened it..He felt as if someone had been in his place." said Samantha.

''All good stuff."said Jade.

"I suggest you get a hotel room Emma...Sign in under your own name.. Get one that has an indoor parking lot for your car.. Here is a list of possible suggestions." said Yvette.

"This is a Portal, you can communicate with us through this..." said Bee Bee..

"We'll give you daily trial updates...That way you won't have to come down here."I said.

"Oh Myyyyyy!" said Emma.

"Write this number down, memorize it.. This is a burner phone...You contact us through this..Don't call our personal phones or our business phones.."said Kahlil.

"Don't tell us what hotel  you're in , until you are situated..Then call us on that phone."said Sofia.

Yvette looked at Samantha..

"And you young lady....You're an attorney now...You are going to work with us on your mother's case...I can think of no better on the job training than this." she said and smiled.

"Ouuuuuuuuuu yessss...I can't wait to begin.." said Samantha. she reminded me of Myself, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil when we were just starting out with Ms. Yvette.

Emma Stephens looked at her daughter with so much pride.

FRIDAY NIGHT- 8:30 PM

My Father's brownstone in Olde City... The doorbell rang..

My father came to the door.

"Emma!!  I'm surprised seeing you here." he said.

"I know....it's been what seven years, almost eight....."said Emma Stephens. She looked around...he had a nice house...He always did have great tastes...

"Come in, sit down...Let me fix you a drink....I wasn't going out tonight....Just hanging out, listening to some cool jazz." he said as Alexa played Sonny Rollins.

She looked around...A Man's pictures tell a lot..  She saw a huge Photo of me..

She saw another photo of me , taken on the day I graduated from Law School at Penn..

I had my arms around both Bee Bee and Sofia and Kahlil was standing on the end...We were all so happy and so relieved we had graduated on time.

Then there was a wedding photo..

Me and Beatrice's Wedding photo....

"He's your son isn't he? Keith Jones is your son...I thought I caught a resemblance.. He;'s your son and that makes Beatrice your daughter in law.... Oh My God!!! almost half of my defense team is related to you...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! No wonder I got out with no bail. " she said laughing... "We broke so many laws of ethics yesterday.." she laughed.

"Not to mention what you and I did in that hotel room, Christmas eve and Christmas Day, 2015....LAWWWD!" said Keith Morrison..

"You were the father and father in law of two of my defense attorneys and you slept with me seven years ago...You should have recused yourself..." she laughed.

"Well..I could have...I should have as soon as I saw it was you....buttttttt on the other hand, If I had of...Right now you'd be sitting in that smelly interrogation room, still answering dumb questions by that keystone copper ,Lt. Tragg."said My dad...

"Yessssssss. thank god for you and thank god for my resourceful attorneys...I am in your debt." she said.

She was sooo glad to be free, at least for the time being.

"Try these...My daughter in law and her best friend and her boss seem to love these...Watermellon Martinis..

''Oh I love them too!" said Emma as she took her glass and she and my father drank them down...

''So what are you doing around here.?" asked Judge Morrison.

"Ms. Yvette 

told me to book myself into a hotel under my name and one with an indoor parking lot.. I'm booking myself into the Penns Landing Sheraton... It's a stone's throw distance from where my attorneys  work  at that Bridge Building." she said.

"Yes, Yvette is a smart woman, a fine Attorney....My boy is being schooled by the best...He's in good hands, he and his three friends."said Judge Morrison..

"I was in good hands too! In that courtroom..." said Emma Stephens seductively...

As they both downed two drinks...

"I can't check in until morning...So I came by here to thank you...." she said softly....

"Ohhhhh...welll....you are so welcome." he said.

They kissed passionately...the taste of watermellon on both of their lips...

He unzippered her dress 

and slipped her panties down...

"You were always sooooo smooth." she said,laughing.. "I never knew a man who could get my panties down and off so fast and so smoothly...You're an artist." she whispered..

"Oh Ho Ho Ho....Yes I ammmmmmmmmmmmmm baby." he said.

He lifted her up... She wrapped her legs around his waste...And he entered her warm and wet center slowly...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!! WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YOU FEEL SO DAMN GOOD, ALL BIG AND HARD!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.

Minutes later ,He had placed her on the bathroom sink...They were rocking so hard she thought it might come off of the wall...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEEEEE!! YESSSSSSSSs!" she screamed..

"THIS IS ALL FOR YOU DARLIN...UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned..

It wasn't long before they were going at it, doggie style..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! YOU NASTY DOG!!! OUUUUUUUUU!" she cried out...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWD!" he moaned..

"OUUUUU MEOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" she cooed.

"OHHHH EMMA YOU ARE DRIVING ME INSANE!" he yelled out!

They made sweet sweet love in his big brass bed for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS....

DAYBREAK  found her riding him cowgirl style furiously....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWD! "OHHHH EMMA YOU ARE DRIVING ME INSANE!" he cried out...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEEEEE!! YESSSSSSSSs!" she screamed..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GIRRRRRRRRRL" he yelled out..

FIVE TO SIX HOURS WENT BY!!!

He came like a gusher!! His body was trembling as was hers....

She took a nice long hot shower...

She got dressed...He was still nude ,lying in bed when she walked out..

"Byyyyyyyyyyyye...." she said and smiled as she let her self out and got in her car.  My father was drained.

III-

MONDAY MORNING!

Jade poured a bag full of micro listening devices and micro video cameras on our conference room table.

''Wow! Where did you get these?" I asked.

''Saturday I visited Blake Davis's Condo with two of Kevin Morris's operatives.. They swept the place..We found 14 listening devices and micro video cameras... Blake had no idea they were in his condo...but he told me he felt someone had been in his place since he had gone to London... Then we went to Emma Stephens's apartment... Same thing there , the place was littered with Listening devices and Micro video cameras.. We disabled all of them....I'm going to lock them in the safe for now.. They no longer work and will no longer pick up a signal.  I talked to her yesterday...she had no idea. There was even one in the bathroom." said Jade.

"That's how they got all of those photos of her and Blake in the bed and Samantha and Blake in the bed."said Sofia.

"I found the same wax shavings near her door that was found at the crime scene.... Someone duplicated the keys and let themselves in... She has already called a locksmith and had the locks changed... I have the new keys and I'm going to take them to her.  Blake called a locksmith and had his locks changed too." said Jade.

''I imagine whoever did this..doesn't need to watch anymore....He or she has already mailed copies to both you Samantha and your Mom and they made sure that Lt. Tragg had both sets..." said Bee Bee.

"They made sure that he had Blake's gun too...deposited in the dumpster in your mom's complex and a nice convenient anonymous phone call to our good Lieutenant...How nice... It's a neat frame." said Kahlil.

Samantha looked at The Autopsy Report and read the Crime Scene Report....There were no witness statements.

"Not really a neat frame, but an obvious frame.. a frame a first year detective could see but not our favorite detective, Lt. Arthur Tragg..."said Yvette..

Lt. Tragg was in hot water with the department about his requisitioning of five gps tracking units...Two used to track Olivia and Beverly and their crew and three used to track us.. He had returned three , but two remained missing.. He was ordered not to take out any more. As usual, he was livid.. His suspect, Emma Stephens had dropped completely out of sight and he hadn't been able to get a bead on Ms. Yvette or any of us all day. we weren't in our office...and he knew we weren't at home or with Olivia and Beverly. He was in a frosty mood all day.

And across town at Bert Vandenberg's office.

"Apparently both Blake Davis and Emma Stephens have located the Cameras and Listening devices in the perspective apartments.. I can no longer observe them... Emma Stephens was arraigned in Night Court and released on her  own recognizance. She has since dropped out of sight..her and her car...Both she and Blake Davis have hired a locksmith to change the locks on their apartment and condos...We no longer have access, or rather YOU no longer have access...So that brings our business to a close."said Former FBI Agent, turned Private Investigator, Bert Vandenberg...

"My wife is a whore...She always has been..and I'm afraid she's turning my step-daughter into a whore also" said Tate Stephens, the ex-husband of Emma Stephens,

"This obsession,, this crazy obsession with your ex wife...You've been divorced for seven years now..shouldn't you have moved on? You may have manipulated her into murdering a man by having those photos sent to her. Don't you feel the least bit of guilt?" asked Bert.

He polished off a carton of Orange Juice.

"Heyyyyy I should include all of my orange juice you've drank on my bill...That's three cartons you've polished off... I didn't get any of it." said Bert, laughing..

''I just love Orange Juice.Heh heh heh."laughed Tate., A Retired Attorney.....

A Monday Afternoon... We All wanted a good Burger and a good cold drink...We had been emailing each other all day. we definitely didn't want to go to Curleys , not with Lt. Tragg on a rampage..

Olivia sent the buses down to our jobs to pick us all up...

We went to a rooftop Martini bar we hadn't been to in over a year...We all loved this place.

''So in addition to her own Law Firm, Olivia owns a bus service too?" asked Samantha.

"Yes she does..Those Buses given to them by a grateful client transports us to clubs where we can drink all night to our hearts content, and we don't have to worry about driving home under the influence. We get a safe ride home."said Bee Bee.

''As you can see their Office /Duplex is the social center of our neighborhood..We all work remotely from her office from time to time....We study there as you did and we have dinner with them." I said.

"Breakfast too!" added Sofia.

"It's just a plus, living across the street from them and being close friends with them.. We've been friends with them and worked with them since we passed the bar actually."explained  Kahlil..

"WOW!" said Samantha, smiling...

''This was nice, coming out on a Monday Night,. Nice weather...Nice view."said Jade to her husband, 

Danny Ho.

''No Lt. Tragg...Just peace....He must be going crazy right now.. He can't find any of us.. No one to bully." laughed Lt. Danny Ho.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuu I'm Hungry for a juicy burger right now."said Ms. Virginia.

"I'm not going to tell you what I'm Hungry for." whispered Jetty in her ear...She smiled.

Gary put his arms around Yvette's waist and gently squeezed her lovingly...she smiled and rubbed his hands gently.

"Olivia thank you so much for telling us about Night Court...I can't believe I've been a lawyer as long as I have in this city and never heard of it."said Yvette, kissing her close friend on the cheek..

"You weren't a Public Defender... me ,Beverly, Nelson, Jazzy, Jessica and Chip have all arraigned clients in Night Court... It's only open two nights a week and you don't get time to really prepare an argument, but sometimes it comes in handy...You guys did well...Got your client off with no Bail."laughed Olivia.

"The stars lined up in their favor that night...They got Judge Morrison and an inexperienced ADA."laughed Donnie Ray.

''All of the ADA's work Night Court when they're first starting out."laughed Beverly...

"Yeah, you won't see Cal McCafferty or Rockland or Keith Wallace working Night Court...Just the neophytes." said Nelson.

"Wow..Night Court.."said Josie.

"Yeah that is something."said her husband, Paris.

"You may be surprised hearing this from me..but I'd like to work a case in Night Court just once.." said Bresha.

"Nah, I want you home with me all night bae." laughed Tony...

"I haven't worked Night Court in Years." said Jazzy.

"I've never worked it..but I knew about it."said her husband, Dabnis..

"Here comes the waitress, let's put our food and Beverage Orders in." said  Kayla.

"I'm here for it." said Ray.

"So Am I" said Jessica.

"Me too!" said Chip.

"You Hungry?" asked Alfreda to her new husband, Rockland...

"Yes I am.." he remarked..

Our Burgers and Fries Arrived as well as our Onion Rings and Cole slaw and our Martinis....

We had a nice respite , a nice afternoon, uninterrupted this time.

IV-

TUESDAY-

We filed some briefs in court pretaining to another case..

Then we walked over to Sam Mother's Diner for coffees..

Our coffees arrived and we all sat at a round table.

"It's not Mocha Joe's, My place, but it'll do..." laughed Yvette.

"We've got a lot of work to do."said Sofia.

"I know.." said Bee Bee.

"You think we can win this one in the preliminaries Ms. Yvette or should we start looking at potential juries?" asked Kahlil.

"I was wondering that too!" I said.

''Yes, start looking at possible jurors...Assume that this is not going to be a cake walk.. Sam, you and Bee Bee and Sofia are going to do the most important part of this trial, research....You're going to look up like cases, laws pertaining to this trial and all kinds of predicates.. A winning strategy is to always prepare and always try to anticipate what your opponent might  do next. "said Ms. Yvette.

Samantha was absorbing everything Ms. Yvette said. She was getting a crash course in being a defense attorney...She was going to help us defend her mother.

Ms. Jade was silent.. She was thinking about the case..How this whole thing was manipulated by someone else.. The break in, the theft of the pistol..The actual murder and then the frame, Sending all the parties involved photos of each other having sex...and to Lt. Tragg and of course the old anonymous call and the murder weapon in the dumpster....A diabolocal mind put this together, she thought.

Samantha's eyes got as large as saucers...

"It's my step-father..He's over there and he sees us..He's getting up...He's coming this way...Oh he's a pain in the ass." she said.

Tate Stephens sat by himself.. He was drinking three glasses of orange juice.

after he downed the third glass, he got up and walked toward our table.

''He sure drinks a lot of orange juice." said Kahlil..

"Yeah, what's up with that?"I asked.

"That's his thing. he loves juices, Orange, Grapefruit, Apple ...He's always drinking something..He always said it kept him healthy." said Samantha.

''He may be on to something...He looks fit." laughed Bee Bee.

"Hmmmmmmmmm!" said Sofia.

"Soooo you're the fancy Dan Lawyers who got  Emma out of jail....I gotta hand it to you..That was amazing, using Night Court to arraign her.. but that won't help you...It's all down hill from here..I don't mean to discourage you, but yall look too young to handle this case.heh heh heh!" laughed Tate Stephens.

"They'll do just fine...and I'm not too young." said Ms. Yvette.

"Ohhh you must be the lead attorney huh?  " he said.

''What's it to you? You and Emma have been divorced for seven years, going on eight...Why do you care?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"I don't care.... I see Samantha is with you...Finally passed the bar eh? Congratulations...You'd of passed it the first time if you'd of kept your legs closed and your panties on...Heh Heh heh.." he laughed.

This guy was really an asshole.

Jade was eyeing him suspiciously...Something about him bothered her..I could tell.

And if the morning couldn't get any worse, Lt. Tragg walked in.

"Yvette, I need to talk to you about this case and the whereabouts of your client." said Lt. Tragg.

We had paid for our coffees and had finished them.

''I'm not talking to you about either one..Come on people let's go." said Ms. Yvette.

We all got up and on cue, left Sam Mother's diner, we walked over to the courthouse and slipped out of the side entrance and caught the train a block away..

heading back to our place of business.

He followed us over to the courthouse, but after a few minutes, he realized we had given him the slip and had vanished into think air.

He angrilly kicked the trash can until it dented.

Tate Stephens was still in Sam Mothers diner.

Tate Stephens ordered another orange juice...

(TO BE CONTINUED)