- •If the nine of us had a vote, Rafter would be the first sacrificial lamb. Eight to one.
- •I doubted if the Yale money went to feed needy students. "Well, the United Way spreads the money around the city, and I'm sure some of it went to help the poor."
- •Invention failed me. "None," I said softly.
- •I flipped through the papers as Mister walked to the windows and peeked around the
- •Instead of shooting Colburn, he aimed at Nuzzo and repeated the three questions. Nnzzo
- •I could see our friends and a squadron of cops flying across the city, through rash-hour
- •I didn't know. There was blood on my face and shirt, and a sticky liquid that a doctor
- •I met Claire the week after I moved to d.C. I was just out of Yale with a great job in a
- •It's standard procedure in that situation--they notify the hospitals, and everyone is placed
- •It was busy and dusty and I was fascinated with the place.
- •It was a soft jab, and I was not in the mood to spar. "Do you know if he had aids?"
- •I saw a paralegal scanning blueprints at a desk next to a secretarial pool, and I asked him
- •I smiled again and nodded my agreement. An ass and a fool. If Chance had been pleasant
- •I was tiring of the games. I could tell she was pleased that my brush with death had
- •It was over. And I hated to tell my mother.
- •I don't know which of my parents got the worst end of my visit. My mother wanted
- •It was my life, not his.
- •I drove alone on the narrow paved trail while he stalked down the fairway chasing his
- •Vengeance. Two more volunteers manned the stove. Several hauled the food to the
- •I tried to understand this. "Then where do these people live?"
- •Volunteers stepped forward to help. One parked them in a corner near the kitchen and
- •I hadn't planned on sleeping with these people. Nor had I planned on leaving the building
- •I thought about Claire for the first time in several hours. How would she react if she knew
- •I squatted close to him, and held out a cookie. His eyes glowed and he grabbed it. I
- •I didn't smell anything foul, though I was certain I could feel lice jumping from its head
- •I hadn't dreamed of parting with my fabulous car. I was almost offended.
- •It was dim, cold, and empty. He flipped on light switches and began talking. "There are
- •In eighty-six; must've been a hundred years old. He made a ton of money, and late in life
- •In the summer, cuts down on the street traffic. You want coffee?"
- •I listened intently, and he could read my mind. Mordecai began to reel me in.
- •I raced to the sidewalk, sliding in the snow but staying on my feet, then down p Street to
- •I must have made a strange sound, because a jogger gave me an odd look, as if I might be
- •I didn't want to sit in the car by myself, but by then I trusted him with my life anyway.
- •I cursed Mister for derailing my life. I cursed Mordecai for making me feel guilty. And
- •Vintage Warner. I had a problem, he already had the solution. Nice and neat. Twelve
- •It was almost five before I found a few minutes alone. I said good-bye to Polly, and
- •In a tight booth.
- •Invitation. Mordecai had something on his mind. I could tell by the way his eyes followed
- •I called in sick tuesday. "Probably the flu," I told polly, who, as she was trained to do,
- •I was alone, with my choice of seating. I walked quietly to a spot above the rear door,
- •Its leaders who allowed such a thing to happen. She blamed Congress, especially the
- •I closed the door, sat down. "Thought you were sick," he said.
- •It was a very nice apartment; at twenty-four hundred a month it should've been even nicer.
- •I put a log on the fire, fixed another drink, and slept on the sofa.
- •I was impressed and touched by the idea, and I could not simply dismiss it. I promised
- •I cut the editorial from the paper, folded it, and placed it in my wallet.
- •Immediately known that we were up to something.
- •Very somber Rudolph that a bad precedent could be set. With a firm so large, granting a
- •It was getting dark, and Sofia seemed anxious to leave. Abraham retreated to his office.
- •I stuffed the pills in my pockets. Leon was napping in the car. As we sped away, I called
- •I explained why I was there. He found a clipboard and studied papers stuck to it. In the
- •It would be our last meal together as husband and wife, ending the same way we'd begun,
- •I walked to m Street, in a light rain that was turning to sleet, and in significant pain.
- •It was an assault, a burst of personality that put me on my heels. I shook hands, reeling,
- •I caught a very faint smile, a relaxing around the eyes, nothing a surveillance camera
- •Impression he would have rather stayed in bed.
- •Into a pile on the bed--socks, underwear, tee shirts, miletries, shoes, but only the ones I
- •I believed him. He'd been a friend for seven years, close at times. More often than not,
- •If Braden Chance had made the connection between the eviction and Lontae Burton, he
- •I go play tennis for two weeks on Maui, then when we return you go back to your plush
- •In the past fifteen years, two and a half million low-cost housing units have been
- •Violate their leases, which can lead to eviction. They move around, sometimes they leave
- •I wrote down these instructions as if they were complicated. Waylene was owed two
- •Verified it. Mordecai said, "va is a good agency. We'll get the checks sent here."
- •Vision of Claire sitting in her lawyer's fine office, at that very moment, finalizing plans to
- •I was in no hurry to leave the clinic at the end of my first day. Home was an empty attic,
- •Very thin. I ignored him. "Your names please," I said to the two uniformed cops. They
- •Indicating how much he paid for it."
- •I almost asked why the city didn't intervene and enforce its laws, but fortunately I caught
- •Intake room, and disappeared. We set up our clinic, and were ready to dispense advice.
- •I was spellbound by his story. With every client I had met so far during my brief career as
- •I walked several blocks and stopped at a busy corner. Leaning on a building, I dialed
- •I grunted and gave him my best smart-ass laugh. "The arrest warrant usually follows the
- •Into the parking lots were of the midsized commuter variety, mostly clean and with all
- •In cars, begging for coins, counting the hours until she could see him, then being ignored
- •I removed each file from my cabinets, waved them under Gasko's nose, and returned
- •I noticed something I should have seen before. There were different levels of
- •Interest in leaving me alone; the two searches were clear proof that Arthur on the top
- •Initially. In the event we recovered damages, the family would be a nightmare. It was safe
- •It was already a habit.
- •I wasn't about to scold her. I had done nothing since the day before to help her find
- •It was a small step, but not an insignificant one.
- •It was Friday afternoon. I might not survive a weekend in the city jail.
- •I closed my eyes and tried to get comfortable, which I found impossible to do while
- •If searching for a dime. Finding none, he pointed and grunted at a metal detector, which I
- •Voice was calling for a guard. The punk with my jacket did not put it on. The cell
- •I wasn't hungry, but I thought about food. I had no toothbrush. I didn't need the toilet, but
- •Incarceration was over. Sofia waited outside with her car, and they whisked me away.
- •I left my apartment just before sunrise, Saturday, in a rush to find the nearest newspaper.
- •It sounded like a silly little spat--a bunch of lawyers quibbling over nothing but
- •I was not going to be sucked into an argument I couldn't win. "Are you going to Naomi's
- •I almost ran a red light. She was sleeping on the office doorstep at sunrise; she was barely
- •I drank tea with a Catholic priest at the Redeemer Mission off Rhode Island. He studied
- •I thanked her for calling, and we promised to keep in touch. When I laid the cell phone
- •I left as soon as I could. She invited me to return for lunch. We could eat in her office,
- •I once rode.
- •I arrived at the Associated Life Building shortly after seven Monday morning. The day
- •It was so familiar!
- •Important people, Hector had been found by the only person he was running from.
- •Indexed into the file. You did this because you knew Braden Chance would remove it at
- •In d.C. And we've talked to the guard who was with you on January twenty-seventh."
- •Interest in talking. Hector asked how much rent was being charged for the apartments,
- •I watched ten minutes of the second half, then left with spasms in my back, aftereffects of
- •I thanked them and left. The motel was at least ten miles from our office. I called Megan
- •If I couldn't keep her locked away in suburban motels for three nights, then how was I
- •I stared at the phone long after our conversation was over. I did not want to see Warner,
- •Ignored.
- •I told him the story, stretching it out with every detail because I was in control of the
- •I took a deep breath and enjoyed the humor of his question. He relaxed too. We were too
- •I waved him off and walked away.
- •Vehicles behind it. A large, toothy dog with a chain around its neck guarded the front. I
- •I left Megan at Naomi's, and promised to call later in the afternoon. Ruby had become a
- •Valuable. There appeared to be no motive. He encountered a street person in some
- •It had been many years since a member of Congress had been shot in Washington.
- •I vowed to get a bed. I was losing too much sleep floundering on the floor, trying to
- •In a lengthy article, he examined each of the three defendants, beginning with RiverOaks.
- •It was twenty minutes past nine when I arrived with my lawyer at the Carl Moultrie
- •It was only a first appearance! I would stand before the Judge while he read the charges. I
- •I nodded in agreement. It certainly felt unusual to me.
- •In the midst of this sad obituary, a glimmer of hope sprang forth. After Temeko arrived,
- •In his finest moment, he dwelt on street crime, and the deterioration of our cities. (His
- •Implied that he thought so, but bring in Justice!
- •I followed her into the front room, where in the center Mr. Deese sat next to her desk. He
- •I almost hoped the police would sweep the streets again.
- •In a hallowed corner of the building I'd never been near. Mordecai was treated like a visiting dignitary by the receptionist and staff--his coat was quickly taken, his coffee
- •Interest in judicial proceedings in Omaha. He knew what he could do with a jury in the
- •Individual wrongs; they are sometimes used as pulpits.
- •I drove to the Georgetown Law School near Capitol Hill. The library was open until
- •I wanted to take my seat in the jury box, listen to it all, and not be bothered by anyone.
- •If at trial we proved the defendants liable, the jury would then consider the issue of
- •It was a spellbinding performance, given off the cuff with the skill of a gifted storyteller.
- •It was the perfect case for the levying of punitive damages, and there was little doubt in
- •I caught a few stares from Rafter, but who cared. He and the rest were anxious to get their
- •I was unlocking the car when the cell phone rattled in my pocket. It was Judge DeOrio.
- •I avoided the jury box and sat next to Mordecai. Wilma Phelan had left.
- •Involved in this mess, and we'll have us an old-fashioned spitting contest." He pointed at
- •Voices would be heard through ours.
- •I was too surprised to say much, so I just listened. I wished Mordecai could hear him.
- •I didn't dare think of the future; the past was still happening.
It was a very nice apartment; at twenty-four hundred a month it should've been even nicer.
The furnishings were adequate. We were proud of where we lived--right address,
beautiful rowhouse, swanky neighborhood--but we spent so little time there. And we
seldom entertained. Moving would be an adjustment, but we could endure it.
We had always been open about our finances; nothing was hidden. She knew we had
around fifty-one thousand dollars in mutual funds, and twelve thousand in the checking
account. I was amazed at how little we'd saved in six years of marriage. When you're on
the fast track at a big firm, the money seems endless.
"I guess we'll have to make adjustments, won't we?" she said, staring coldly at me. The
word "adjustments" was dripping with connotations. "I suppose so."
"I'm tired," she said. She drained her glass, and went to the bedroom.
How pathetic, I thought. We couldn't even muster enough rancor to have a decent fight.
Of course, I fully realized my new status in life. I was a wonderful story--ambitious
young lawyer transformed into an advocate for the poor; turns back on blue-chip firm to
work for nothing. Even though she thought I was losing my mind, Claire had found it
hard to criticize a saint.
I put a log on the fire, fixed another drink, and slept on the sofa.
________________________________________________________________
Thirteen
The partners had a private dining room on the eighth floor, and it was supposed to be an
honor for an associate to eat there. Rudolph was the sort of klutz who would think that a bowl of Irish oatmeal at 7 A.M. in their special room would help return me to my senses.
How could I turn my back on a future filled with power breakfasts?
He had exciting news. He'd spoken with Arthur late the night before and there was in the
works a proposal to grant me a twelve-month sabbatical. The firm would supplement
whatever salary the clinic paid. It was a worthy cause, they should do more to protect the
rights of the poor. I would be treated as the firm's designated pro bono boy for an entire
year, and they could all feel good about themselves. I would return with my batteries
recharged, my other interests quelled, my talents once again directed to the glory of
Drake & Sweeney.
I was impressed and touched by the idea, and I could not simply dismiss it. I promised
him I would think about it, and quickly. He cautioned that it would have to be approved
by the executive committee since I was not a partner. The firm had never considered such
a leave for an associate.
Rudolph was desperate for me to stay, and it had little to do with friendship. Our antitrust
division was logjammed with work, and we needed at least two more senior associates
with my experience. It was a terrible time for me to leave, but I didn't care. The firm had
eight hundred lawyers. They would find the bodies they needed.
The year before I had billed just under seven hundred fifty thousand dollars. That was
why I was eating breakfast in their fancy little room, and listening to their urgent plans to
keep me. It also made sense to take my annual salary, throw it at the homeless or any
charity I wished, for that matter, then entice me back after one year.
Once he finished with the idea of the sabbatical, we proceeded to review the most
pressing matters in my office. We were listing things to do when Braden Chance sat at a
table not far from ours. He didn't see me at first. There were a dozen or so partners eating,
most alone, most deep in the morning papers. I tried to ignore him, but I finally looked
over and caught him glaring at me.
"Good morning, Braden," I said loudly, startling him and causing Rudolph to jerk around
to see who it was. Chance nodded, said nothing, and suddenly became involved with
some toast. "You know him?" Rudolph asked, under his breath. "We've met," I said.
During our brief encounter in his office, Chance had demanded the name of my
supervising partner. I'd given him Rudolph's name. It was obvious he had not lodged any
complaints.
"An ass," Rudolph said, barely audible. It was unanimous. He flipped a page,
immediately forgot about Chance, and plowed ahead. There was a lot of unfinished work
in my office.
I found myself thinking of Chance and the eviction file. He had a soft look, with pale skin,
delicate features, a fragile manner. I could not imagine him in the streets, examining
abandoned warehouses filled with squatters, actually getting his hands dirty to make sure his work was thorough. Of course he never did that; he had paralegals. Chance sat at his
desk and supervised the paperwork, billing several hundred an hour while the Hector
Palmas of the firm took care of the nasty details. Chance had lunch and played golf with
the executives of RiverOaks; that was his role as a partner.
He probably didn't know the names of the people evicted from the RiverOaks/TAG
warehouse, and why should he? They were just squatters, nameless, faceless, homeless.
he wasn't there with the cops when they were dragged from their little dwellings and
thrown into the streets. But Hector Palma probably saw it happen.
And if Chance didn't know the names of Lontae Burton and family, then he couldn't
make the connection between the eviction and their deaths. Or maybe he did know now.
Maybe someone had told him.
These questions would have to be answered by Hector Palma, and soon. It was
Wednesday. I was leaving on Friday.
Rudolph wrapped up our breakfast at eight, just in time for another meeting in his office
with some very important people. I went to my desk and read the Post. There was a gut-
wrenching photo of the five unopened caskets in the sanctuary, and a thorough review of
the service and the march afterward.
There was also an editorial, a well-written challenge to all of us with food and roofs to
stop and think about the Lontae Burtons of our city. They were not going away. They
could not be swept from the streets and deposited in some hidden place so we didn't have
to see them. They were living in cars, squatting in shacks, freezing in makeshift tents,
sleeping on park benches, waiting for beds in crowded and sometimes dangerous shelters.
We shared the same city; they were a part of our society. If we didn't help them, they
would multiply in numbers. And they would continue to die in our streets.