“Sleep well.”
“We’ll both sleep better tomorrow night.”
Friday
Commonwealth v. Franklin
“Your Honor, my client has no criminal record. The marijuana in this case was for personal use and represented a lapse in judgment, nothing more. We would like to work out a settlement with the District Attorney's Office in an effort to avoid prosecution.”
“Mr. Pierce?” Judge Channing asked.
“Normally that wouldn't be a problem Your Honor, but there was just so much marijuana involved in this case – nearly a pound.” Braden doubled checked his notes and glanced at my client.
“But, there were no packaging materials, no cutting materials, no large sums of money, no weapons, nothing to indicate that my client was dealing, so regardless of the amount, the evidence points to personal use.”
Judge Channing turned to my client with a withering look. “Ms. Franklin, how old are you?”
“Eighty-two in July, Judge, and still as lively as ever.” She smiled.
“Obviously,” he said scathingly. “And all of this marijuana was for you alone?”
“Well, it was my whole stash, honey,” she answered earnestly. I winced a little.
“Ms. Ginsberg has explained that you can't do this anymore?”
“Yes.” She sighed heavily. “It's not worth the trouble. I'm going back to whiskey.”
“That's good. I mean, well. That's… acceptable. Okay, I'm going to advise the District Attorney's office to work out an agreement for community service.”
“Understood, Your Honor,” Braden replied.
Ms. Franklin wobbled off as I returned to counsel table. Braden walked over to hand me the order.
“Seems like a fun gal,” he said.
“I'll trade you sexual favors for the old lady's freedom,” I joked quietly.
“You're on.”
“Mr. Pierce! Call the next case,” Judge Channing bellowed.
“Commonwealth v. Wagner!” Braden called. My client, dressed in a hat with ear-flaps and a tee-shirt with a picture of a smiling donkey and a caption that read, “I Lost my Ass in Las Vegas” walked forward. It boggled my mind that this morning when he had gone through his closet that had jumped out at him as the most appropriate thing to wear to court.
“What's this about?” Judge Channing asked, giving my client an irritated look.
“Your Honor,” Braden began, the Commonwealth will establish that on April 14th of this year Mr. Scott Wagner stopped Mr. Franklin Jordan with what turned out to be a toy gun, and demanded that he drive him around from ATM machine to ATM machine as he withdrew money from his own account. He’s charged with carjacking.”
“I’m asking for a psychiatric evaluation, Your Honor, and I request that my client remain out on bail.”
“Granted! Court adjourned. Get me out of here.” Judge Channing got up and left without saying goodbye. I was pretty sure that he was getting close to retirement.
Braden turned to me with a smile. That smile always caused my tummy to flip flop and it probably would even if we were together until I was Ms. Franklin's age.
“I’m going to drop these files off and then I’m going back to my place to finish packing, and look forward to having carnal knowledge of you tonight.”
“I like a man with goals.” We packed up our files.
“I’ll finally know what it feels like to go au natural,” he said with a wicked smile.
“Come as you are,” I joked.
“Oh, that was really bad!” We grabbed our briefcases and headed out of the courtroom and toward the elevators.
We discussed some details about the day's cases on the elevator ride down and then said goodbye at the door to the criminal courts building as we headed off to our respective offices. I could swear I heard him whistling as he walked away. Even though I was a bit less obvious about it, I too was quite happy at the thought of once again entering the world of the sexually active. The fact that I would be making my re-entry with Braden was still pretty amazing to me. This man had starred in nearly all of the recent fantasies that accompanied those very special “private” moments alone in my room at night with my battery-operated friend.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I got back to my office and filed my paperwork. Jess wasn't back yet. My phone buzzed and I saw my dad’s number. I had spoken to my mom earlier in the week, so I knew that he had been briefed.
“So, honey, how’d you meet this guy? In court?”
“Yeah. We’re always in front of the same judge. I was interested in him for a while, and Jess kept saying that she thought he liked me too, so one night when I saw him out I flirted with him.”