Kiss Me Goodbye

 COURTROOM B- 9:00 AM MONDAY MORNING!

" DOCKET 507 - Commonwealth of Pennsylvania  vs. Scott Holmes, Charged with First Degree Murder. ALL RISE FOR THE HONORABLE JUDGE JULIE WONG-Bach." said the Bailiff.

We hadn't seen the attractive Judge Julie Wong in close to a year...

She had a wedding band on her finger..

She and Former Judge, Now Attorney in private practice, Pinkney Bach , who we had once represented had gotten married since we last saw her.

"Be seated It's been awhile....I took a short leave of absence....Some of you I know and some of you I don't..Can we start with introductions of the attorneys?" she said.

"Representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Assistant District Attorney Curtis Loder." he said.

 

 "Attorney for the Defense, Mrs. Yvette Jones-Lockwood your honor."said Ms. Yvette.

"Attorney for the Defense, Keith Jones your honor," I said.

"Attorney for the Defense, Mrs. Beatrice Evans-Jones." said Bee Bee.

"Attorney for the Defense, Mrs. Sofia Garcia-Ahmed your honor." said Sofia.

"Attorney for the defense , Kahlil Ahmed..." said Kahlil

Jade sat silently next to our client...Scott Holmes

who was in a smart new suit...and a nice fragrance...He was very contrite this morning.

"Alright, we are done with the introductions...We can begin with the jury selection..." said Judge Julie Wong.

ADA Curtis Loder was smart and seemed to be well prepared...more prepared than most...He knew a little something about Voir Dire and was not going to let Kahlil and me  run amok or so he thought. He had been around awhile.

 Kahlil and Myself had been around just as long and we also had good questions...Better questions.

We also had Sofia and Bee Bee assisting us on their laptops..

ADA Loder had someone helping him too..

ADA Curtis Loder had someone helping him too...A Smart young Para-legal named Kate Massey.

She had a laptop too and was whispering in his ear.

We had actual jurors targeted and questions for them based on education, politics, age, race et al...

We battled to a 7-5 split going our way...a Narrow victory for us...Very narrow!

"OUTSTANDING!!  "OUTSTANDING!! Alright...We have a jury....Trial will begin tomorrow at 9:00 AM Sharp...Attorneys, Jurors be on time and be ready for trial.  Court is dismissed. " said Judge Wong.

"Well, here we go!" said Scott....He had been here himself before, only on the other side, as an Attorney, not as a defendent.

''Yes, here we go...You ready?"asked Yvette.

"Yes! Game on!" said Scott.

II-

COURTROOM B- TUESDAY MORNING ,9:00 AM-

Handler, Ronald Oswald was escorted into the courtroom....A call from Brenda to Yvette ,lead to a call to her husband, D.A. Investigator, Gary Lockwood and a call to the police fugitive squad, who apprehended Mr. Oswald just before he was about to board a plane for Honolulu ..About as far as he could get from Philadelphia.  He had a connecting flight to Japan... He was stunned as he was taken into custody for attempting to dodge a subpoena. He was livid at being in court and at this trial..

He stared balefully at us-

 

 "We can thank Brenda for our boy over there being here...He has no idea how we knew about his plans to slip out of the city..."said Yvette.

Brenda had overheard his conversation in Sam Mother's Diner with a yet un named man and the man offering him money and airline tickets to leave the city. She had called Ms. Yvette, who had called Gary , who had called the fugitive squad...The rest was as they say, history.

"Ole Boy looks pretty riled over there." I said.

"He needs to be.. He's a crumb!"said Bee Bee.

"He might be our murderer.."said Sofia.

"That's a thought."said Kahlil.

"That has crossed my mind." said Jade.

Scott veered over at him...He smiled.

Ronald Oswald was furious....In all his years of being a Handler and Fixer...He had never been identified, His identity had never been revealed.He had been like a ghost in his dealings with everybody... He looked at Jade.

She was the investigator for those lawyers....She was very good...Shame she was on the wrong side of  the table. She probably was hell in the bedroom too, he thought.

ADA Curtis Loder was a very good orator, he told a very good story...He showed the lurid photos of 

Scott Holmes and Brenda Jordan, who he knew by the way...a woman he himself had asked out numerous times and had been turned down by...

He told the jurors that the then married Scott Holmes was being blackmailed  and was told that these photos would be made public if he didn't convince his wife, State Senator Candidate, Sheila Holmes to drop out of the race...

This he said was why Scott Holmes who found out the identity of his blackmailer was seen bamming on his door that night and why he killed him...

He presented 25 witnesses who said they saw Scott Holmes in the hallway and heard him bamming on the door and heard a loud argument.

Yvette countered with the fact that Scott and Sheila had been legally seperated for six months when the relationship between him and Attorney Brenda Jordan began...

She presented Attorney Zoey Easter , who handled the seperation and his subsequent divorce...

He was in no danger of losing his marriage...It was already over...Which is why he didn't pay a red cent to the blackmailer...the late John Austin, A Private Investigator from Washington D.C. , who was taking 

money from a Right Wing Think Tank.

She pointed to Ronald Oswald, who she said was the go between ,between Austin and the think tank.

Ronald Oswald was as red as a beet...He squirmed in his chair..  He could lose his license behind this...plus go to jail.. He was sweating bullets..

Bee Bee and Sofia spent the next few days totally dismantling the testimonies of the 24 witnesses..

They all told different stories from what they originally said in their affadavits.

They did see Scott in the hallway that night, they did hear and see him bamming on the door, but none of them saw him leave and the voice he was having a loud argument with Johnny Austin...

None of them could say what the argument was about.. They made these witnesses look like idle gossipers..

Loder attempted in vain to damage control.....and he snarled at Lt. Tragg. He had asked him to do a more thorough investigation.

And as usual, he didn't.

Kahlil and I showed the financial records of Johnny Austin....How he was paid lots of money from this think tank.. The money apparently came from a dummy account, An account run by Ronald Oswald..

Ronald Oswald squirmed in his seat.

Yvette admitted that after Scott discovered who Johnny Austin was , he confronted him, told him 

he knew who he was and he knew about the money trail...Again she showed the financial transcripts

tying him to Oswald.

She also showed on a 75 inch monitor...Scott Holmes leaving the apartment building from the rear and the time being close to twenty minutes before the police say Johnny Autin was murdered.

The video also showed a shadowy figure entering the building at the same time from the rear...It's grainy and the face is hid from the cameras...

Not one of the 24 witnesses heard or saw anyone else enter that room... And no one heard the gunshots that killed Austin which police say was done by a gun with a silencer.

Again.... Curtis Loder attempted damage control, but his case had fallen apart and he realized it....

Finally, Ronald Oswald was called to the stand.. He took the 5th Amendment a record 27 times....

Refusing to answer any questions despite the evidence against him and refusing to talk about the Think Tank he was involved with.

 

Judge Julie Wong found Ronald Oswald in contempt and ordered him jailed.

We rested our case....

I didn't feel as confident as I usually felt after a case.

"We did the best we could with what we had, which wasn't much."said Bee Bee.

"I think you all did well...You had intelligent jurors...You created reasonable doubt." said Scott.

"I think we created reasonable doubt....but jurors are funny...funny as hell."said Sofia.

"Man, this could go 50-50...The way it looks.. If we get a hung jury, we did well." said Kahlil.

"We did the best we could with what we had...Yall go home, get a good nights sleep..Pray the jury comes back with a decent verdict."said Yvette, who had asked the jury in her closing remarks if they honestly felt that beyond a shadow of a doubt...Scott Holmes had committed murder.

III-

After we all got home from court that night..We were all settled down with our significant others.. What better way to end a long work day like we had  than to be making love.?

Bee Bee was wearing another sheer see through Baby doll.....She had just taken a hot shower and walked into our bedroom..

My eyes popped out of my head..She had on a new bra and matching panties that I hadn't seen before and she smelled heavenly..

She giggled..

"Don't worry about tomorrow...We did the best we could..We came with receipts.... Think about me right now and how much I want to love you." she said.

I pulled her towards me...That makes me feel better" I said.

"Goood ."she giggled..

I undressed and  unhooked her bra  and slipped her panties down and off  and took her into my arms and kissed her softly....

Who could ask for anything more?

"Ohhhhh my godddd, Bee Bee..."I moaned...

"Ummmmmm, ouuuuuuuuuuuu you are so hard....Ouuuuuu, look at youuuu!" she exclaimed as she stroked me lightly...

We lie across the bed, kissing and practically slobbering over each other....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Bee Bee..." I moaned..

"OH MY GODDDDD YOU'RE SO BIGGG!. SO DAMN HARD HOT STUFF! OUUUUUUUU!" she moaned..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HOT STUFFF!" she cried out....

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM YOU FEEL SO DAMN GOOD!" I cried out...

Soon we were making love passionately on top of the bed..

The next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS, all we were thinking about was each other..

The same was next door at Kahlil and Sofia's house..

Sofia and Kahlil were lying across the bed..

Kissing ,fondling and laughing..

He unhooked her bra and  slipped her panties down and off...

"OHHHHHHHH MAMASITA!!!" he moaned...

"OUUUUUUUUUUU PAPI...AYE MIOS DIOS! You are sooo damn hard! OUUUUU! AND BIG! AYE MIOS DIOS" Sofia moaned  as she rode him on the side of the bed until neither one of them could take anymore...

"You've always gotten me hard mamasita." said Kahlil.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! I'M SO  GLAD!!!!" she cooed.

"OUUUUUUUUUUU PAPI, UMMMMMMMMMM PUT IT IN...!" she cried out..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MAMASITAAAAA!" he moaned..

Sofia wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist...Kahlil was delirious, he didn't know if he was coming or going...

Neither did Sofia.

"OUUUUUUUUUU PAPI ,I LOVE YOU SO DAMN MUCH!" she said.

"I LOVE YOU TOO SOFIA, I LOVE YOU TOO!...I HAVE SINCE HIGH SCHOOL!" he confessed.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she said..  It wasn't long...

before they too were making sweet love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

At Ms. Yvette and Gary's house

"Vettie I thought about you all day today..I'm so horny I can't see straight."sighed Gary ,staring at his sexy wife..

"Ouuuuu prove it to me !"whispered Yvette, both of her legs shaking like crazy  and sweating with desire.

"Your wish is my command." he whispered softly..Kissing her and slipping her panties down..

''Awwwwwwww Vettie girl, you're just trying to make me lose my mind." he said, eying her thong and nearly salivating...

"AWWWWWWWWW MY GOD!!!  ARE YOU TRYING TO DRIVE ME CRAZY???" asked Gary., sliding it down....

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!" she cooed as she straddled him..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GARYYYY!!! YOU ARE SO DAMN BIG!  UMMMMMMMM! AND HARD AS HELL...OUUUUUUU!!!" she moaned as she rode him softly and slowly like a surfer rides the waves and felt her whole body trembling...her head turning from side to side...and her arms flailing......

He flipped her over and slid into her warm and wet center...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU VETTIE GIRRRRRRRRL" he moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GARRRRRRY!" she cried out..

Her head turning from side to side,tears and sweat just flowing like a river down the side of her face and her entire body trembling...She was having an amazing quick orgasm....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMM HUSBAND, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?" she asked.

"TRYING TO SCREW YOUR DAMN BRAINS OUT!" he moaned.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YOU ARE DOING A DAMN GOOD JOB OF THAT!!! OHHHH MY GOD GARYYYY!!" she moaned..

She was having an insane second orgasm...

They were really enjoying  their massive  smart bed.. 

Yvette smiled..

The bed was sturdy and very very comfortable...It moved with their every move and was very comfortable and warm..It actually enhanced their lovemaking..

EIGHT TO NINE HOURS had passed by.

 Bee Bee and I were fast asleep in each others arms..

"OUUUUUUUUUUU PAPI...AYE MIOS DIOS!" she cooed in between wet ,sloppy kisses..

"AWWWWWWWWWW MAMASITA!" said Kahlil.

Sofia and Kahlil were in each others arms and still kissing, almost asleep.

And Gary and Ms. Yvette were sound asleep..With her resting soundly on top of him...

A nice stress buster for a work day.

And At Ms. Jade's House...

"I'm so glad you finally came home." said Danny...

"I'm glad to be home with you too." said Jade.

"Come here..." said Danny, pulling her towards him..

They kissed passionately..

Standing in the middle of their bedroom kissing passionately.

Danny un hooked her bra and she slipped her panties down....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH JADEEEEEEE!!!" he moaned..

She eased herself down on Danny slowly.....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU JADE!" he moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHH HUSBAND!" she cooed.

They began making love. 

Enjoying a nice warm spring night.

At Ms. Virginia's House, a few doors down...

"Jetty!! You're staring at me like you want to rip my clothes off."said Ms. Virginia.

"Oh I would never do that...You pay good money for your clothes....Hey by the way have your breasts gotten larger?" he asked..

"No Smarty, they haven't! You asked me that before!" laughed Virginia..

"Well uh let me uh see....Unzip your blouse, let me take a look." he asked slyly and opened her blouse and began kissing her..

"Ummmmmmmmmm are you sureeee?" he asked..

"I'm positive...but I think your penis got bigger...Ouuuuu lawddd!" said Ms. Virginia..

"I'm certain it has...especially in the last few seconds...Heh Heh Heh!" he laughed.

"You are so nasty....You Horny old mannnnnnnn!" she cooed..

"YES I AM!!!!." he whispered.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YEAH!" she said and they both giggled in between smouldering hot kisses.

He unhooked her bra...unzippered her short skirt

and slipped her panties down...

and humped her over the bed....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YOU NASTY DOGGGG!  OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she screamed out...

Jetty was on top of her and didn't know if he was coming or going... She always smelled so good, Her skin was so soft...and her voice was so entrancing, he couldn't control himself..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH VIRGINIA, LAWWWD!!!" He cried out..

"YOU LIKE IT DADDY?" she asked him..\

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! I LOVE IT!!!" he moaned..

"UMMMMMMMM MEOOOOOOWWWWW!!" she cooed...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH VIRGINIA, LAWWWD!!!" He cried out..

"YOU LIKE IT DADDY?" she asked him..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" he moaned..

"I TAKE IT THAT'S ANOTHER YES!" she said...

"LAWD!!" he mumbled as they made sweet love..for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS. He was deeply in love in a way he had never been before...Virginia loved that a man loved her this much....

Such a nice night! for some of us anyway!

IV-

COURTROOM B- 9:30 PM, The Next Morning.

"ALL RISE FOR THE HONORABLE JUDGE JULIE WONG-Bach." said the Bailiff.

.

"Be seated" she said.

 Assistant District Attorney Curtis Loder was present

 

"This is it."said Ms. Yvette.

It had been a few years since I or any of us had lost a case....It was bound to happen soon I wagered.

.Bee Bee held my hand...She was a bit nervous, I could tell.

Sofia held Kahlil's hand.

He had confided in me that he thought we had a hung jury...

Jade sat silently next to our client...Scott Holmes..She softly grabbed his hand and held it.

she could tell he was worried..

"Has the Jury come to a decision?" asked Judge Wong.

"Yes we have your honor." said the jury foreman...

So much for Kahlil's theory of a hung jury.

The Foreman gave the bailiff the decision....She passed it on to the Judge..

Judge Wong read the verdict.  Her face showed no emotion at all.  "Read it" she said.

"We the jury representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania  in the matter of Scott Holmes ,accused of the first degree murder of John Austin.  We find the defendent, NOT GUILTY!" she read.

"OH MY GOD!!! IT's OVER!!! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!! I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH!" said a jubilant Scott Holmes.. He hugged Yvette, Bee Bee, Sofia and Jade.. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"he said over and over.

"Oh you're welcome....This was a close one."said Ms. Yvette.

"Somehow the close ones are the ones you remember."said Bee Bee.

"I knowwww right." said Sofia.

"KEITH!!! KAHLIL!!  YOU GUYS ARE THE GREATEST, THANK YOU!" said Scott shaking our hands and hugging us...

''All in a days work my man!" I said, overjoyed that we'd won our case.

"Their case was circumstantial...No Gun, no real fingerprints, other than the photos which had been mailed to you...No Motive."said Kahlil.

ADA Curtis Loder was livid at losing this case and he took it out on Lt. Tragg...

"YOU IDIOT!  YOU LAZY IDIOT!! I ASKED YOU....I BEGGED YOU TO RECANVASS, TO FIND ME MORE....THE ONLY ONES WHO RECANVASSED WAS THE DEFENSE!...I NEVER WANT TO WORK ANY CASE YOU ARE INVOLVED IN AGAIN!" he shouted.

"BUTTON YOUR LIP BUDDY! BUTTON IT!" snarled Lt. Tragg.

"Scott there is someone to see you."said Jade.

It was Brenda...

"I just came to see how you made out....You had excellent legal defense...I knew they'd get you off."said Brenda.

"Brenda!  I'm sorry....I'm sorry for everything and I-I just want to thank you for everything you done for me...If not for you,I might be on my way to jail right now...Thank you.." said Scott.

He kissed her softly...

"You're welcome....Look, there is someone waiting for you." said Brenda, who pointed at Portia, out of breath and running into the courtroom.

Portia Wendell rushed  into the courtroom...

"I got here as fast as I could...and I'm still late,...but by the looks of things...You were acquitted." she said.

"YES I WAS!" said a jubilant Scott..

He took her in his arms and kissed her...

He kissed her passionately...

Yvette looked at Brenda..put her arm arround her....

"You alright?" she asked.

"Never better." said Brenda.

EPILOUGE-

A search of his former apartment revealed a gun with a silencer....A Ballistics test proved that it was the murder weapon used to kill John Austin...

Ronald Oswald, faced with murder charges cut a deal...He testified about 39 of his associates in the Right Wing Think Tank, leading to their convictions.

His name was changed and he was shipped to a federal prison in places unknown.

His main conspirator, A man named Jack Hagen..

was found hanging in his jail cell shortly after his arrest.

Sheila Holmes won her race for State Senator by a landslide!

A different Saturday Night... We had all done our laundry at our neighborhoods new laundromat.

and were all eating at the Food Court which was about five or six blocks from our neighborhood.

I turned the crowd on to Chicago Style Italian Hot Dogs...

The guys loved it...

We bought two big pizzas

and everybody had hot pizza as well. 

 "This is different..It's not like the old laundry day, but it's cool just the same."said Yvette.

"Yeah...We can walk home from here..."said Gary...

Even though most of us had driven here tonight...It being cold.

"It's a nice night." I said.

"It is, a romantic night."said Bee Bee.

"If we didn't have to carry these laundry bags it would be perfect for hand holding."laughed Sofia.

"These dogs are good Keith..."said Kahlil.

"Yes...Ummmmmmmm I am enjoying them."said Jade...

"So am I." said Danny...

Everyone else was enjoying the two deep dish pizza's we ordered.

It smelled sooo good!

"Ummmmmm this is delicious." said Ms. Virginia.

"Yes it is."said Jetty.

 

"I'm going to miss our old "Laundry Day", but get togethers like this is nice too."said Olivia.

 

"And we can do it more frequently now that we are so close."said Donnie Ray.

"It's been a minute since we've been down here ."said Beverly.

"I know..."said Nelson.

"I remember when it used to be just Liv and Donnie Ray, Beverly and Nelson and me and you lover."said Josie.

"Yeah those were the days...and now look at us..."said Paris.

"I love this place." said Bresha.

"Yeah , me too!"said Tony.

"We had some very nice "Dates" here back in the day before we got married didn't we ?" asked Alfreda.

Rockland held her hands and rubbed them softly... "Yes, I remember." he said.

"It's been a minute since we all were down here." said Jazzy.
 

"We took over this joint tonight."laughed Dabnis.

"They're glad fpr the business."said Kayla.

"Oh For Sure!"agreed her husband ,Ray...

"I know you guys are happy that case is over." said Jessica.

"OHHHHHH YESSS....We actually thought we might lose this one...but we pulled it out."said Bee Bee.

"It was a weak case on both sides of the dial..Prosecution had only circumstantial evidence and we had very little evidence to prove otherwise." I said.

"Luckily, we were able to provide the jury enough reasonable doubt to win an acquittal." said Sofia.

"The close ones always give you a reason to pause." said Kahlil.

"Oh for sure...I know what you mean." said Jessica's husband, Chip.

"I'm just happy for you guys."said Karen...

"Karen and I were praying for you Vettie." said Olivia.

"Thank you guys...."said Ms. Yvette.

"Maybe in a week or two...I can have you on my show Vettie." said B.L.

"Make that two weeks."laughed Yvette.

Natalie laughed... "I hear that Yvette." she said.

"They won a close one."said David.

"They had an intelligent and multi-racial jury...That made all of the difference in the world."said Brooke.

"Yes indeed." said Sean..

"I had just finished Scott's divorce."said Zoey./

"Just in the nick of time... His Divorce finalized and his acquittal of murder charges...He's ready to reset and start his life again.."said Lem.

"You think it'll be weird, him working with Brenda and them being broken up?" asked Renee.

"Nahhh they are both mature adults......Brenda is with a new man and Scott is with a new woman...I'm sure they are both happy." said Tyrell.

"Still... the first few days are going to be a little awkward."said Lee.

"Yeah." agreed her husband, Matthew.

"I know Brenda...I've known her for years...That will roll right off of her shoulders." said Nina.

"Sooooo true! Sooo True..She is not one to dwell on things." laughed Olivia.

"I know that's right." said Yvette, laughing.

"You girls are something else." laughed Carlos.

"You're just learning this? "laughed Virginia..

We all enjoyed a big laugh.

and good food and fellowship on a cold winter Saturday!

FOR DANYL-