Chapter 1

It’d been a long day for me. Law school was a bitch. The good news was I only had a bit less than three more years of it to go before I could take the bar. The bad news was that I still had a bit less than three more years to go before I took the bar.

I looked around the B&G that I stopped in for dinner three times a week. A couple of coeds I knew were chowing down same as me. I finished eating and was about to make way home to my fancy condo; the one my brother had seen to the purchase of: my share of mom and dad’s bequest; they’d died in an accident a few years gone. My brother’d used his share of the estate to set himself up in business, and, he’d seen to it that my undergrad and law school expenses were covered; those along with my condo. Oh, and I had me a car, a ‘62 Buick Wildcat that I absolutely loved: brother mine had seen to furnishing me with that too.

I paid at the register and headed out. I saw her across the way kinda waiting for whatever dude might be looking for company. She’d been holding down the fort at the same corner for the past week; she intrigued me. I decided to kinda watch and see what I could see—again. I posted myself against the side of the B&G; there, I’d at least be proof against the wind if not the cold. As far as the girl was concerned, I’d been deciding whether or not to make my pitch or not for the last few nights.

It was the 3rd of March 1965, but Riley Jessup was feeling okay, the meth was her guarantor of that; first time she’d popped one in months; she’d cut back on its use, she had, but tonight...

She’d been pacing back and forth near the entrance to the park on 24th street for some time. She needed a john, a paying john, not like the last asshole that had used her and cut country because he decided he didn’t want to pay; the world was full of assholes, but assholes that used women were the worst kind of assholes. She should have gotten the money up front like Joaquin always told her to do. But she hadn’t. The guy’d looked like he was straight arrow; but looks were clearly often deceiving.

Hell, prostitution was an honorable profession, a lot higher on the scale of honorability than politics for sure. People, men, should be at least as honorable as the prostitutes they hired for an hour. Damn!

She noticed some guy, that had come out of Abby’s B&G, across the street just a bit before. He’d just been standing there, to the right of the entrance to the place, just kinda leaning against the wall. He’d been staring at her. She figured he was either waiting to be picked up by someone or deciding whether or not to avail himself of her services.

It was late, after 9:00 p.m. The man was crossing the street. He was coming right up to her.

“It’s cold, wanna get a drink and maybe some food?” said Adam Barnes.

“A drink? Food? You wanna feed me?” she said.

“That’s about the size of it,” I said.

“And why would that be,” she said; then, wanting to kick herself for being sarcastic. She was hungry, and if the guy was paying, well ... She shrugged. “Never mind, sure.”

They walked across the street toward the place the man had come out of. They entered.

“Let’s get a booth back there.”

“Don’t we have to wait to be seated?” she said.

“No, Leah knows me and she’s on duty.”

“Okay, I guess if you know what you’re doing.” They slid into the booth.

“Name’s Adam,” I said, as Leah came up to take the orders.

“Lily,” she said, announcing her name. I figured it was likely an alias.

“Know what you want Adam?” said Leah. I nodded toward my impromptu date and waited.

“A cheeseburger and a coffee,” said Lily.

“Coffee and another piece of that cheesecake, Leah,” I said. Leah nodded and went to fill the orders.

“So, you have to be cold, standing out there on the corner like you were.”

“Look, Adam, you know what I am, right?” I shrugged.

“A lady of the evening?” I was chancing that she wouldn’t take offense at my putting it out there.

“Yes, it’s my job to stand out there. Weather isn’t the determining factor.”

“The determining factor? Heavy weight vocabulary, I see.”

“Well, I was an A-student in high school,” she said. “Harmon T. Solis School in Chandler.”

“Okay,” I said.

“So, you’re wondering why an A-student is in the pay to play business, right?” I shrugged.

“Yeah, that does seem a bit odd.”

“My fiancée was a soldier, stationed in Germany. He was killed in a car accident. Left me with nothing but Briana, that was two years ago. He never saw his baby girl.”

“And the baby girl?”

“She’s with a sitter tonight. We ladies of the evening need help along those lines. And yes, it’s kinda expensive, and that’s why I’m still out there tonight, this late, in the cold.”

“At the risk of seeming to be a not good guy, but I am, I have to admit to seeing you out here for the last several nights. And, I’ve been trying to decide how to handle our introduction to each other.”

“What the...” she started. I raised my hand in a hold on a minute gesture.

“No, no, it’s nothing bad or illegal or anything like that. I’m a law student at ASU. Started late but will be graduating in June ‘68; well, if everything goes according to plan. Oh, and the name is Barnes, Adam Barnes, age 24, good looking, and honorable.”

She gave me a look that was utterly indecipherable. But it, the look, was a question, maybe several questions.

“If you’ve been watching me these past several nights, does that mean you hang out here a lot, maybe drink a lot?” I smiled.

“No, but I do often stop here to eat dinner on my way home from the college. I live not too far from here.”

“House? Apartment? Kind of a rough area around here,” she said. Just as she said what she said the food came. We chowed down. I’d already eaten but the cheesecake was for me.