Chapter 23

Monday morning I felt really strange for a few minutes. I wasn't at all accustomed to the bare feeling of my pubic mound. It was more than a little disconcerting. Still I managed to shower and dress for the day. Since I had court appearances, I wore tailored slacks and a very nice blouse. I was very respectable looking even if it was only the shell. It was probably a good thing that no one knew what I had been up too the last few weeks. I expect I had done something to get me investigated if not jailed.

After I was suitably and conservatively dressed, I drove to the drive through window at the Krispy Kreme donut store. I loaded up on compact, empty carbs, and sugary bombs. Sam had worked for Jeff for almost twenty years. In that time he had come out of the closet, and gotten even more gay, if that were possible. He had also gained a minimum of thirty pounds. I was one of the few people who supported him in both changes. Unlike the others I felt that if something made him happy, it was none of my fucking business what did.

I got to the office a half hour before our agreed time. I used the extra few minutes to make some coffee the way I had learned on the road. First I boiled water in the electric tea kettle, then I pured it into a second pot of coffee grounds and let them sit for fifteen minutes. At the end to that time I strained the coffee back into the tea kettle to reheat it which took only an additional few seconds.

The resulting coffee was full flavored and just a little strong. It was also bitter which made it ideal to serve with the heavily sugared pastries. It was a lot of trouble, but it was, after all, day one of our new endeavor.

Sam wasn't as old as me,. but he wasn't far behind either. He was living alone at that time, same as me. It seemed we had more in common at that moment, than we had previously and we got along fine even then.

"I come bearing gifts," Sam said smiling.

"Damn Sam, so did I. I have Krispy Kreme donuts," I said.

"Oh God my favorites, I have bacon egg and cheese biscuits from Hardee's restaurant," he said. "Those are your favorites."

"Damn let's try to avoid doing this again," I said laughing.

"You mean stepping on our dicks?" he asked.

"Or whatever the equivalent is in our case," I said in agreement and while laughing.

"Fair enough, and this is the best coffee I have ever had," he said sipping my special brew. After a moment to contemplate the coffee he added. "How do we start stealing clients from Avery and Avery?"

"Just let people know the Avery with tits has opened an office and see what happens, I think," was my reply.

"Well you do that, and I will call the people I know in the system, and try to drum up business that way. If I understand you, we want people who need us more than they need the public defender," he suggested.

"Yes a guy with six felony convictions is just as well off with the public defender. We can help the guy with no pull but a decent shot at justice with fair representation," I replied.

"God I love idealism. I am also jaded enough to make damn sure we get paid by someone," he said.

"That's why I wanted you. If anyone can keep my nose to the grindstone, it is you," I said it and I meant it.

"Tell me, who is paying us for this chick we are working on now?" he asked.

"It's a state assigned case, of course I lobbied for it. We once represented her boyfriend. His version is, 'Yes she stole the dope, but she did not shoot the dope dealer, '" I said.

"She knows who did I think," Sam said.

"She does whether she know that she does or not. Once they spring her, we need to keep her alive and willing to testify just to get her clear of the murder charge at all. I have no idea what her involvement was, but we want to do the best we can by her.

"Fair enough, so you are going to run her around on the back of your tricycle?" Sam asked with a huge laugh.

"God I hope not. For the first week we are going to use her boyfriend's taxi and your car, if I can rent it and you agree to help. After that we will have an Investigator and errand boy, name Royce Marshall. I am going to buy a car for the company and assign it to Royce," I said.

"You are doing this because Royce is an ex con and has nothing right?" he asked.

"I'm doing it because he is an ex-con and I think he has nothing. We haven't really had that conversation yet." I explained.

"Well let's see how all this works out for us as we go along," Sam suggested.

"Exactly, we are going to have to think on our feet," I agreed.

Sam and I stumbled around putting the office together while waiting for Marco of the DA's office to call. It was after lunch before he finally called. Worst of all he gave us instructions to be at the county Jail at 4PM to pick up Jane. Sam shook his head when I looked to see if he would be available. He was my second choice but it was still good to know.

My first choice, Michael the taxi driver, was available. I learned that shortly after the call. I didn't really want to put Sam at risk so soon, and he really wouldn't inspire much confidence on first meeting. Sam was a pure flamer.

"So you ready?" Michael asked me as he stood just inside our reception area.

"As ready as I will ever be. Sam it is so late that if you will lock up, I will take Jane on home with me," I said.