The Client (Page 46)
Momma Love moved closer, too close to suit Mark. She patted his knee and this irritated the hell out of him, but she was a sweet old woman and meant nothing by it. She’d buried a son and lost her only grandson, so he gave her a break. There was no moon. A soft wind gently rustled the leaves of the huge black oaks between the porch and the street. He was not eager to return to the hospital, and so he decided this was pleasant after all. He smiled at Momma Love, but she was staring blankly into the darkness, lost in some deep thought. A heavy, folded quilt padded the swing.
He assumed she would work her way back to the shooting of Jerome Clifford, and this he wanted to avoid. "Why does Reggie have so many kids for clients?" She kept patting his knee. "Because some kids need lawyers, though most of them don’t know it. And most lawyers are too busy making money to worry about kids. She wants to help. She’ll always blame herself for losing her kids, and she just wants to help others. She’s very protective of her little clients." "I didn’t pay her very much money." "Don’t worry, Mark. Every month, Reggie takes at least two cases for free. They’re called pro bono, which means the lawyer does the work without a fee. If she didn’t want your case, she wouldn’t have taken it." He knew about pro bono. Half the lawyers on television were laboring away on cases they wouldn’t get paid for. The other half were sleeping with beautiful women and eating in fancy restaurants.
"Reggie has a soul, Mark, a conscience," she continued, still patting gently. The wineglass was empty, but the words were clear and the mind was sharp. "She’ll work for no fee if she believes in the client. And some of her poor clients will break your heart, Mark. I cry all the time over some of these little fellas." "You’re very proud of her, aren’t you?" "I am. Reggie almost died, Mark, a few years ago when the divorce was going on. I almost lost her. Then I almost went broke trying to get her back on her feet. But look at her now." "Will she ever get married again?" "Maybe. She’s dated a couple of men, but nothing serious. Romance is not at the top of her list. Her work comes first. Like tonight. It’s almost eight o’clock, and she’s at the city jail talking to a little troublemaker they picked up for shoplifting. Wonder what’ll be in the newspaper in the morning." Sports, obituaries, the usual. Mark shifted uncomfortably and waited. It was obvious he was supposed to speak. "Who knows." "What was it like having your picture on the front page of the paper?" "I didn’t like it." "Where’d they get those pictures?" "They’re school pictures." There was a long pause. The chains above them, squeaked as the swing moved slowly back and forth. "What was it like walking up on that dead man who’d just shot himself?" "Pretty scary, but to be honest, my doctor told me not to discuss it because it stresses me out. Look at my little brother, you know. So, I’d better not say anything." She patted harder. "Of course. Of course." Mark pressed with his toes, and the swing moved a bit faster. His stomach was still packed and he was suddenly sleepy. Momma Love was humming now. The breeze picked up, and he shivered.
REGGIE FOUND THEM ON THE DARK PORCH, IN THE SWING, ro’cking quietly back and forth. Momma Love sipped black coffee and patted him on the shoulder. Mark was curled in a knot beside her, his head resting in her lap, a quilt over his legs.
"How long has he been asleep?" she whispered.
"An hour or so. He got cold, then he got sleepy. He’s a sweet child." "He sure is. I’ll call his mother at the hospital, and see if he can stay here tonight." "He ate until he was stuffed. I’ll fix him a good breakfast in the morning."
Chapter 19
L HE IDEA WAS TRUMANN’S, AND IT WAS A WONDERFUL idea, one that would work and thus would be snared immediately by Foltrigg and claimed as his own. Life with Reverend Roy was a series of stolen ideas and credits when things worked. And when things went to hell, Trumann and his office took the blame, along with Foltrigg’s underlings, and the press, and the jurors, and the corrupt defense bar, everybody but the great man himself.
But Trumann had quietly massaged and manipulated the egos of prima donnas before, and he could certainly handle this idiot.
It was late, and as he picked at the lettuce in his shrimp remoulade in the dark corner of a crowded oyster bar, the idea hit him. He called Foltrigg’s private office number, no answer. He dialed the number in the library, and Wally Boxx answered. It was nine-thirty, and Wally explained he and his boss were still buried deep in the law books, just a couple of workaholics slaving over the details and enjoying it. All in a day’s work. Trumann said he’d be there in ten minutes.
He left the noisy cafe and walked hurriedly through the crowds on Canal Street. September was just another hot, sticky summer month in "New Orleans. After two blocks he removed his jacket and walked faster. Two more blocks, and his shirt was wet and clinging to his back and chest.
He darted through the crowds of tourists lumbering along Canal with their cameras and gaudy tee shirts, and wondered for the thousandth time why these people came to this city to spend hard-earned money on cheap entertainment and overpriced food. The average tourist on Canal Street wore black socks and white sneakers, was forty pounds overweight, and Trumann figured these people would return home and brag to their less fortunate friends about the delightful cuisine they had uniquely discovered and gorged themselves on in New Orleans. He bumped into a hefty woman with a small black box stuck in her face. She was actually standing near the curb and filming the front of a cheap souvenir store with suggestive street signs displayed for sale in the window. What sort of person would watch a video of a tacky souvenir shop in the French Quarter? Americans no longer experience vacations. They simply Sony them so they can ignore them for the rest of the year.
Trumann was in for a transfer. He was sick of tourists, traffic, humidity, crime, and he was sick of Roy Foltrigg. He turned by Rubinstein Brothers and headed for Poydras.
FOLTRIGG WAS NOT AFRAID OF HARD WORK. IT CAME NATural to him. He’d realized in law school that he was not a genius, and that to succeed he’d need to put in more hours. He studied his ass off, and finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. But he’d been elected president of the student body, and there was a certificate declaring this achievement framed in oak somewhere on one of his walls. His career as a political animal started at the moment when his law school classmates chose him as their president, a position most did not know existed and couldn’t have cared less about. Job offers had been scarce for young Roy, and at the last minute he jumped at the chance to be an assistant city prosecutor in New Orleans. Fifteen thousand bucks a year in 1975. In two years he handled more cases than all the other city prosecutors combined. He worked. He put in long hours in a dead end job because he was going places. He was a star but no one noticed.
He began dabbling in local Republican politics, a lonely hobby, and learned to play the game. He met people with money and clout, and landed a job with a law firm. He put in incredible hours and became a partner. He married a woman he didn’t love because she had the right credentials and a wife brought respectability. Roy was on the move. There was a game plan.
He was still married to her but they slept in different rooms. The kids were now twelve and ten. A pretty family portrait.
He preferred the office to his home, which suited his wife just fine because she didn’t like him but did enjoy, his salary.
Roy’s conference table was once again covered with law books and legal pads. Wally had shed his tie and jacket. Empty coffee cups littered the room. They were both tired.