Things were Going Bad

 

Nelson walked up stairs...He had heard us talking...

''Hey guys, what's up?" he said.

Beverly kissed her husband passionately...

"I'm glad to see you baby.." she said..tears running down her cheeks.

"He's dead?" Olivia asked.

"Bev and I got there...We were parked right in front of the place...We saw Khadijah walking in..

She didn't see us. I remembered that all of these big time hotels have a service elevator that the staff use...Waiters, Bell Hops, etc.  Shortcake and I went back there, we looked around and we got on the service elevator.  Nobody saw us.. " I said.

"Just as we got off the service elevator, we heard two loud gunshots.....and heard a thump!  We saw Khadijah by the door of his room, but I don't think it was her who fired.. I think she had just missed whoever shot hm, like the killer ran down the back steps....She screamed in horror and then she ran down the back steps.." said Beverly..

''We looked into his room and there he was ,lying on the floor with a huge hole in his head and one in his chest...staring up at the ceiling in shock and very, very dead... We got the hell out of there with a quickness...I made an anonymous call to the police, while enroute back here.." I said.

"Never a dull moment with you husband."laughed Olivia.

"Didn't I tell you Auntay...Our life was kinda dull until he came along.." said Beverly with a smile.

Nelson smiled.

"Well let's get a good night's sleep...Tomorrow Bev, you and I and Donnie Ray are going to Zoey's house...We are going to have an intervention with Khadijah."said Olivia.

At this moment at the Doubletree Hotel...

Crime Scene Investigators and police were snapping photos of the corpse in the room...

"Witnesses say a young woman came to the door and screamed after the shots were heard and exited down the back stairs..." said one policeman...

"We have one witness who says they saw a man, A Black man, nice suit and a Black woman, young, pretty, dressed nice, who walked up right after the girl left, who turned and ran down the service elevator.." said another Crime Scene Investigator.

"These people probably witnessed the murder, might have seen the killer." said another cop.

"We are getting a lot of work lately."said Dr. Hazel Baylor, examining the body...

"People in Philadelphia just keep killing each other.."said Dr. Marcy Martin..

"He had a .40 caliber pistol on him." said one CSI man...

"I guess whoever shot him got to him before he could pull it out.." said another.

"Hmm who is he?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"His prints say his name is Gentry...Elon Gentry, out of Atlantic City, Gambler, Confidence Man, Loan Shark, all around bad guy...Got a sheet too...Was a guest of the State of New Jersey for five years, Bunco and was a guest of the government for three years, Wire and Insurance Fraud..."said another policeman..

'So what's he doin in Philly?  That's the question... I see he's got a gun on him."said Lt. Tragg,.

"Run it through ballistics...see if it matches with any other crimes... I got an open case from a night before.. Guy was shot with a .40 cal." said Lt. Tragg... 'And these witnesses...I wanna talk to em personally.

"I do declare...He actually sounds like a detective." said Hazel.

"Yes he does."laughed Marcy..

"Hmmm tall, well dressed Black man, Short pretty Black woman....Hmmmm another girl at the door at the time of the shootings...Hmmmm get me the Autopsy reports as soon as possible..and I want a Ballistics check done on this guy's gun..." said Lt. Tragg.

The body was moved out of the hotel room 

and out of the building... One thing was for sure.. Elon Gentry would never blackmail anyone else..and whatever he had would die with him...

II-

Another morning at our office/duplex..

"Come and get it guys!" said our Office Manager/Hyphenate Alfreda Cambridge....She did so many duties for us..including help with the cooking.. She was invaluable.

Hot Grits with Butter

Eggs to Order...

Breakfast sausage

and Hot Coffee was served..

''Where is Liv, Donnie Ray and your wife for that matter?" asked Josie.

"They had some business to take care of this morning.. They'll be here shortly."said Nelson.

''I hope everything is alright."said Bresha.

''Everything is just fine..Ms. Olivia told me to make sure all of you all got fed....She said Well fed lawyers and well rested lawyers are the best lawyers."said Alfreda, smiling..  They all laughed.

She poured Orange Juice.

Olivia, Beverly and I were six blocks away at Lem and Zoey's house.

Lem was coming out the door as we got out of the SUV..

"Heyyyyyyyy Donnie Ray, Liv, Beverly...As you see, I'm on my way to work.... Zoey and Khadijah are there, they're off today...I guess you guys are gonna hang out huh?" he said.

"Well something like that...We needed to see Khadijah." I said.

'She's in there...I think she's asleep...She came back here last night as white as a ghost, but she wouldn't say what was wrong with her."said Lem.

"We think we know and we are here to help."said Olivia.

"Good..Good..If anyone can help, you can..She idolizes you guys."said Lem.

Beverly smiled... "We're no one to idolize...We are just hard working officers of the court." she said.

Lem laughed.. "You got a way with words baby girl...I'll see you all." he said.

We went inside..

"Zo your place is beautiful...It's been awhile since we've been up here."said Olivia..

"I knowwwww and I'm glad you said that...Lem and I are thinking of having a Seafood Buffett here this week end and inviting the whole gang from down your way... Bring some cards and some beer.. It would be grest fun." said Zoey..

"Ouuuu yes.. it would..If you're serious.. I'll tell Kayla and Jazzy and Ms. Yvette."said Beverly..

"Is Khadijah here?" I asked.

Khadijah was walking down the steps just then...

"Heyyyy Mr. Donnie Ray...Hey Liv, Hey Bev...Where are the rest of the guys?" she asked.

"They're home, working.. We came to see you." said Beverly..

"I'll put some coffee on...Let's all sit down." said Zoey.

''So what's up guys? What brings you down here?" asked Khadijah

Five hot steaming cups of coffee were poured.

"Last Night Beverly and I paid your gentleman friend, Mr. Elon Gentry a visit...Only someone paid him a visit first...He's dead!  We saw you there by the way.." I said.

"We don't think you did it..We heard the shots a little before you arrived at the door..We saw you run and we saw the body on his hotel room floor...We ran too!" said Beverly...

Khadijah had a look of pure dread and pure shame on her face...

''I didn't kill him...I-I don't even own a gun." she said.

''We don't think you did.. But we know why you were there...He was Blackmailing you and has been blackmailing you for awhile now. We know why...We checked you out..We know about your two arrests for soliticitation, One when you were a juvenile and one as an adult.. We didn't come here to judge you....We just came to offer you any help you think you may need." said  Olivia..

"Listen to them Khadijah...I knew about your past too...I didn't hold it against you.. I have a past too...I was once addicted to Heroin...and that was after I became an attorney..It cost me one good job in New York...Olivia took care of me...She didn't Judge, Helped me get back on my feet again...She'll help you too!" said Zoey.

"Wow, I would have never of imagined... You all don't know everything... Let me explain..Things were going bad!  I was an only child...My Father, he had another child, a boy, lived on the same block as me and my mom...He waded in between both ladies... Me and my step-brother, who was a year and a half older, were pretty close, pretty tight.. My Step-brother used to sell drugs for the local dealer....He had me helping him out..

He quit school in the 10th grade... My mother didn't want me to follow in his footsteps, so we moved...Moved all the way on the other side of Atlantic City... I got in with a wild bunch of girls and pretty soon I was making extra money as an Exotic Dancer in the clubs...I went from that to going on "Dates" having sex with the customers... I was nice looking and could pass for older than I was.. I made good money...$1000.00- $2000.00 , even $3000.00 a night.. That paid our rent and utility and groceries for awhile until I got busted...I had a good Public Defender...She took pity on me, got the charges dismissed because she found all kinds of mistakes in the way I was handled and arrested...She put the idea in my head that if I got grades..I could one day be a lawyer..be better than what I was..

But we needed money, especially when my mother got sick and had to go to the hospital...So there I was, back with the riff raff again...My mother died...shortly after I graduated from High School and my step brother was shot to death not long afterwords...My daddy, he got sick too and was dead in a year or so...

I went to Atlantic City Community College and continued trickin....I graduated with honors and I used the money I made to go to Montclair State College. where I again graduated with honors.. By then, I had squirrled away enough money to go to Rutgers Law School. I was in a bar with two of the girls I used to know and I gave some legal advice to a man..Elon Gentry..

He had gotten out of New Jersey State Prison and was on his way to Federal Prison...He remembered me from when I was "In the life"..He found it humorous that I was about to enter Law School and off the streets...

I graduated from Rutgers Law School and passed the Bar.. I returned to Atlantic City briefly...and there he was, out of jail, dressed to the nines..He was a big time Gambler, Loan Shark, just plain all around ne'er do well...He dressed in expensive suits, drove nice cars, et al...He asked me to be his personal attorney...I told him I had just passed the bar and he'd be better off with a more experienced attorney.

I left.. I realized...There was nothing for me in Atlantic City any more..so I moved to Camden...he showed up there...But now he was blackmailing me..  He wanted me to be his personal attorney, his sexual plaything or else he wanted money, $1100.00 a month...

I fled again ,this time to Philadelphia...I met and got involved with a nice man, a well heeled man named 

Christopher Jenkins... He was a prince of a man and he treated me like a queen...For a year we lived together...and I did my internship....and then I found out that Chris was a degenerate gambler...That he had gone down to Atlantic City and owed Elon Gentry about 10 large...This man was back in my life again...My fiance owed him money....

Chris was shot to death two nights ago....I believe in my heart that Elon Gentry killed him..." said Khadijah.

"Who do you think killed Gentry/" I asked.

"I don't have a clue...but he wasn't a very nice man...He was very abrasive." said Khadijah.

"A Man like that makes many enemies." said Olivia.

"For sure." said Beverly..

III-

At Their Building downtown... Our friends were having lunch in their modern cafeteria..

and entertaining Attorney , Lemuel Anderson, Zoey's husband.. He was here today for a litigation held in the massive conference room a few floors down.

"This cafe is brilliant and the food is great..No wonder we don't see you guys at Sam Mother's anymore."said Lem.

"Yeah it has it's charm...We plan to get down to Sam Mother's eventually." said Yvette.

"Yeah next time we have a court date." said Keith Jones.

"Hopefully Lt. Tragg won't be involved and won't be around."said Bee Bee , laughing.

"Yeah don't count on that." said Sofia.

"Doesn't he ever go on vacation?" asked Kahlil.

"Pain never goes on vacation." said Jade.

"Aint that the truth."laughed Virginia as the two slapped each other five,.

''While I got you guys here..listen.. Zoey and I went to Pinks and bought a lot of Seafood.. We are going to have a Fish fry this Saturday and if you're not doing anything we'd like you all to come...I already ran it by Olivia and Beverly..I saw them this morning..They're down....Just bring some cards and some beer...We'll supply the food.. Just come through." said Lem..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuu , I was just thinking, we didn't have anything special to do this weekend."said Jazzy.

"Yeah...You guys always come down our way...We can go up your way for a change,."said Dabnis.

"Great....I'm loving the idea."said Kayla.

"I can bring cards and Beer." said Ray.

"I can bring a deck of cards too!" said Yvette.

"Pinocle anyone?" asked Keith Jones..

"Ouuu sounds like fun.." said Bee Bee.

"Big Fun." said Sofia.

"I can bring Beer too!" said Kahlil.

"We'll be there."said Jade.

''We will too! By the way , where is my hubby?"asked Virginia.

''Sounds like a plan. Oh Judge dukes is at Olivia and Beverly's...He had a meeting with them"said Jessica.

"Thanks for the invite Lem."said Chip.

"We'll be there with Bells on." said Tony...

Meanwhile back at our Office /Duplex

We all sat in the conference room with Judge Jetty Dukes.

"I talked to a colleague of mine in the Public Defender's Office, who has a friend in the police department.  The man who was shot to death last night, Elon Gentry had a gun on him, a .40 caliber pistol that's a ballistics match for the gun used in the murder of your fiance. Chris Jenkins.. They like him for that murder....but from what I've heard they have no clue who may have killed Gentry.,

Lt. Tragg is on it, so you can take that with a grain of salt."said Judge Jetty Dukes, our newest neighbor.

"He'll probably nab the wrong suspect, if I know right." I said.

''Well right now...That's of no concern of ours." said Olivia.

"I hope it doesn't become our concern." said Beverly.

Her husband, Nelson laughed.

"Thank You...Thank you all for being so understanding, non judgemental of me." said Khadijah.

"No one is perfect Khadijah..."said Josie, hugging her.

"The thing is, you lifted yourself out of all of that and made something out of yourself..."said Bresha.

"That's right you did...You have a lot to be proud of." said Alfreda.

who poured everybody a cup of coffee.

"The important thing is you no longer have to knuckle under to his demands.. he can't blackmail you or anybody else."said Zoey.

"As for your two arrests...The charges were both dismissed...They won't affect your legal or public career...Chalk it up to youthful misbehavior. The police found no photos or any other evidence in his room or safe deposit box.. You're free and clear.

At least she was for now.....

 

 IV-

It had been an eye opening day...

"This was a nice day wasn't it Donnie Ray?" asked Olivia...

"Not as nice as it's about to be." said Donnie Ray.

"Ouuuuuu you are so horny....Do you mean to tell me that going to bed with me is the best part of your day?" she asked.

"Yes it is...I didn't want to say it..but since you asked." I said, laughing.

"Myyyyyyy goodness..I must admit I am flattered, but I don't think I'm all that good." said Olivia.

"You'd have to be a man to understand it.. Ask that horny judge always after you, hell ask Elwood even,." I said.

"If I was soo good, Elwood would still have me, he would have never of cheated on me.."said Olivia.

''Well Guess what? I'll never cheat on you and I intend to keep you as long as you'll have me." I said in between kisses.

 

"Awwwwwww Donnie Ray, you're making me cry...." she said..

We continued to kiss, she helped me undress.....

"Oh My godddd look at youuuuuu...OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she exclaimed...and stroked me gently..

I slowly slipped her panties down...

"Myyyyyyyy wordd...young lady, what you wear under your clothes is simply scandalous.." I said in a fake English accent..

"You are so crazy Donny Ray."laughed Olivia.

I lifted her up and entered her slowly...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" I moaned..

"I love to hear you moan.." she whispered in my ear.. "I love that I make you moan." she added..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" was all I could get out..

She moved up and down on me....driving me to near delirium...

And rode me cowgirl girl style on top of the bed..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM....UMMMMMMMMMMM...UMMMMMMMMMMM!" I moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU LAWWWWWWWWWD!

OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed..

"ENJOY YOUR DAY DONNIE RAY...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she yelled out...

"UMMMMM I'm enjoying this moment!" I moaned...

For the next NINE TO TEN HOURS....Olivia and I were in total bliss.

We rested peacefully under a nice harvest moon...It was the calm before the storm... If Things were going bad as Khadijah just said...They were about to get worse.

(TO BE CONTINUED)