- •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.
In cars, begging for coins, counting the hours until she could see him, then being ignored
for an hour while she sat in a corner of his room watching him do his homework.
Ruby began crying at that point in her story. I made t some notes, and listened as
Mordecai stomped around the front room, trying to pick a fight with Sofia.
Her third delivery, only a year before, produced another crack baby, one immediately
taken by the city. i She didn't see Terrence for four days while she was in the hospital
recovering from the birth. When she was released, she returned to the only life she knew.
Terrence was an A student, excellent in math and Spanish, a trombone player and an
actor in school dramas. He was dreaming of the Naval Academy. Mr. Rowland had
served in the military.
Ruby arrived one night for a visit in bad shape. A fight started in the kitchen when Mrs.
Rowland con fronted her. Harsh words were exchanged; ultimatums thrown down.
Terrence was in the middle of it; three against one. Either she got help, or she would be
banned from the house. Ruby declared that she would simply take her boy and leave.
Terrence said he wasn't going anywhere.
The next night, a social worker from the city was waiting for her with paperwork.
Someone had already been to court. Terrence was being taken into foster care. The
Rowlands would be his new parents. He had already lived with them for three years.
Visitation would be terminated until she underwent rehab and was clean for a period of
sixty days. Three weeks had passed.
"I want to see my son," she said. "I miss him so bad."
"Are you in rehab?" I asked.
She shook her head quickly and closed her eyes.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Can't get in."
I had no idea how a crack addict off the street got admitted to a recovery unit, but it was
time to find out. I pictured Terrence in his warm room, well fed, well dressed, safe, clean,
sober, doing his homework under the strict supervision of Mr. and Mrs. Rowland, who
had grown to love him almost as much as Ruby did. I could see him eating breakfast at
the family table, reciting vocabulary lists over hot cereal as Mr. Rowland ignored the
morning paper and grilled him on his Spanish. Terrence was stable and normal, unlike
my poor little client, who lived in hell.
And she wanted me to handle their reunion.
"This will take some time, okay," I said, thoroughly clueless about how long anything
would take. In a city where five hundred families waited for a small space in an
emergency shelter, there couldn't be many beds available for drug addicts.
"You won't see Terrence until you're drug-free," I said, trying not to sound pious.
Her eyes watered and she said nothing.
I realized just how little I knew about addiction. Where did she get her drugs? How much
did they cost? How many hits and highs each day? How long would it take to dry her out?
Then to cure her? What were her chances of kicking a habit she'd had for over a decade?
And what did the city do with all those crack babies? She had no paperwork, no address,
no identification, nothing but a heartbreaking story. She seemed perfectly content sitting
in my chair, and I began to wonder how I might ask her to leave. The coffee was gone.
Sofia's shrill voice brought back reality. There were sharp voices around her. As I raced
for the door, my first thought was that another nut like Mister had walked in with a gun.
But there were other guns. Lieutenant Gasko was back, again with plenty of help. Three
uniformed cops were approaching Sofia, who was bitching unmercifully but to no avail.
Two in jeans and sweatshirts were waiting for action. As I walked out of my office,
Mordecai walked out of his.
"Hello, Mikey," Gasko said to me.
"What the hell is this!" Mordecai growled and the walls shook. One of the uniformed
cops actually reached for his service revolver.
Gasko went straight for Mordecai. "It's a search," he said, pulling out the required papers
and flinging them at Mordecai. "Are you Mr. Green?"
"I am," he answered, snatching the papers.
"What are you looking for?" I yelled at Gasko.
"Same thing," he yelled back. "Give it to us, and we'll be happy to stop."
"It's not here."
"What file?" Mordecai asked, looking at the search warrant.
"The eviction file," I replied.
"Haven't seen your lawsuit," Gasko said to me. I recognized two of the uniformed cops as
Lilly and Blower. "A Iotta big talk," Gasko said.
"Get the hell outta here!" Sofia barked at Blower as he inched toward her desk.
Gasko was very much in charge. "Listen, lady," he said, with his usual sneer. "We can do
this two ways. First, you put your ass in that chair and shut up. Second, we put the cuffs
on you and you sit in the back of a car for the next two hours."
One cop was poking his head into each of the side offices. I felt Ruby ease behind me.
"Relax," Mordecai said to Sofia. "Just relax."
"What's upstairs?" Gasko asked me.
"Storage," Mordecai replied.
"Your storage?"
"Yes."
"It's not there," I said. "You're wasting your time."
"Then we'll have to waste it, won't we?"
A prospective client opened the front door, startling those of us inside. His eyes darted
quickly around the room, then settled on the three men in uniform. He made a hasty
retreat into the safety of the streets.
I asked Ruby to leave too. Then I stepped into Mordecai's office and closed the door.
"Where's the file?" he asked in a low voice. "It's not here, I swear. This is just
harassment."
"The warrant looks valid. There's been a theft; it's reasonable to assume the file would be
with the attorney who stole it."
I tried to say something lawyerly and bright, some piercing legal nugget that would stop
the search cold and send the cops running. But words failed me. hstead, I was
embarrassed at having brought the police to nose through the clinic.
"Do you have a copy of the file?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Have you thought about giving them their original?"
"I can't. That would be an admission of guilt. They don't know for a fact that I have the
file. And even if I gave it back, they would know that I had copied it."
He rubbed his beard and agreed with me. We stepped out of his office just as Lilly missed
a step near the unused desk next to Sofia's. An avalanche of files slid onto the floor. Sofia
yelled at him; Gasko yelled at her. The tension was quickly moving away from words and
in the direction of physical conflict.
I locked the front door so our clients wouldn't see the search. "Here's the way we'll do it,"
Mordecai announced. The cops glared, but they were anxious for some direction.
Searching a law office was quite unlike raiding a bar filled with millors.
"The file isn't here, okay. We'll start with that promise. You can look at all the files you
want, but you can't open them. That would violate client confidentiality. Agreed?"
The other cops looked at Gasko, who shrugged as if that was acceptable.
We started in my office; all six cops, me, and Mordecai crammed into the tiny room,
working hard at avoiding contact. I opened each drawer of my desk, none of which would
open unless yanked viciously. At one point I heard Gasko whisper to himself, "Nice
office."