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Righting A Wrong

By: JimBob44



*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

This is not a 'Stroke' story.



SPRING TRAINING

"What? You've never seen Christmas Vacation? Dude, that is just Un-American!" Troy Duvalier yelled at Russell Jones.

"Shut up," Russell laughed. "Flipping hate Christmas; why would I want to watch a stupid movie about it?"

"Man, how can you hate Christmas?" one of the boys milling about asked, eight year old face twisted in shock.

"Nothing but a bunch of getting your hopes all up then big disappointment," Russell admitted, smiling tightly.

The other coaches gathered around and they each dug out the scraps of paper Troy had prepared to see who would pick first, second, third, until all six teams were completed.

"Okay, Bears!" Russell yelled. "Let's give a big bear roar! We're going to kick some serious butt, right?"

The sixteen boys gave a half-hearted 'roar' and then trotted out to Practice Field One.

"Dude, I'm the pitcher; I was the pitcher for the Lions last year," Manny Gomez smugly told Russell.

"Dude, I'M the coach, not you. And my name is 'Coach Jones' not 'Dude,'" Russell told the boy. "Right now, you're just another booger eater until I put everyone where they need to go."

Manny glared raw hatred at the twenty six year old, then glared at all the boys that laughed when Russell called him a booger eater.

He made the boys get in a large circle and just practice tossing the ball back and forth, then added a second ball, going in the opposite direction. The addition of the second ball did trip a few of the boys up, including the still scowling Manny.

"No, no, white ball going this way, yellow ball going that way," Russell laughed.

"This is stupid!" Manny declared.

"There is a big difference between opinion and fact," Russell told the sullen boy. "Your opinion is that this is stupid. The fact is that this is good practice for building up teamwork."

An hour into the practice, an attractive woman, dressed in a skirt and matching jacket, bright red hair in a large bun, strode purposefully toward Russell.

"You," she demanded. "I want my son on your team."

"Teams have already been picked, ma'am; Russell said, not turning to look at the woman.

"He is just sitting there on a bench," the woman snapped. "At least all of your boys are doing something."

"Teams have already been picked, ma'am," Russell again stated. "You don't like the way his coach is coaching, take it up with that coach."

"No," the woman said firmly. "I want him on your team. Now."

"Hit the bricks, lady. Now," Russell said .

The woman gasped at the brusque way Russell dismissed her and strode off, sensible pumps slapping firmly against the dusty ground.

"Oo-wee, you pissed her off," one of the boys giggled, watching the woman's progress.

"Not my problem Russell said, face tight.

He hoped that was the end of his involvement with Penny Richards, but it was not. An hour into the next practice, she stormed onto his practice field, again dressed in business attire, red hair in large bun.

"I want..." she started.

"Beat it, lady," Russell said. "No one here cares what you want."

"Now you listen here," she shrilled.

"No! You listen here!" he yelled back. "This is not court! This is my practice field! Here? Here, I'm in charge, not you. So, beat it! Get off my field before I have you thrown off!"

"This is not over," she hissed before turning and storming off.

"Man, you don't like her, huh?" Scottie asked, smiling up at Russell.

"Nope, sure don't," he admitted.

Manny rebelled at being put on second base and purposefully dropped the three balls that were thrown to him, allowing the runner to get to base.

"Hey, Manny, you're not the pitcher," Russell told the now smirking boy. "So, unless you want to ride the bench while everyone else gets practice time, I suggest you get with it, got it?"

"Hey Coach Jones, here she comes again," Scottie told Russell before they could even begin their third practice.

"No, no, no, not just no, but hell no," Russell said before Penny even had a chance to start talking.

"But why?" she asked, almost crying. "He's just sitting there! That Troy guy won't even let him practice!"

"Not my problem lady," Russell said.

"Why?" Penny repeated. "Is it something...?"

"You damn right it's something you did," Russell yelled. "You damn right! Eleven months! For the last eleven months, I haven't got to see my kid but for maybe five minutes! My ex-wife's living in a house I'm paying for, with her home-boy lover, with my daughter sitting there, but I don't even get to have her overnight! Why? Because my bitch of an ex-wife got the biggest man-hating bitch in the world for a lawyer! Want to know who that was? It was you! So, ask me again if I care if your son just sits there or not!"

Penny stood , mouth open in shock.

"Come on, guys!" Russell yelled, clapping his hands to get their attention (he had their undivided attention thanks to the screaming outburst). "Scottie! You're on third! Michael, yes you, going to have to start calling y'all Michael One and Two? You're at shortstop!"

He hoped that it was over, that Penny Richards would leave him alone. It was not; she was waiting for him as he got out of his battered pick up truck.

"God, lady, you don't have anything better to do?" Russell snarled at her.

"My son wants to play baseball; his father's been telling him he was a big time baseball player back in the day and Lucas is dying to be a big time baseball player like his dad and all he's doing is just sitting on the bench," Penny said, tears freely pouring from her eyes. "I've seen the way you train; you don't just sit on the bench like all the other coaches. You're right in the middle, showing them what to do. Please, please, hate me if you have to, but please don't take it out on my son."

"Hate you? HATE YOU?" Russell laughed bitterly. "Oh no, Lady, I'd have to cut my thinking in half to just hate you. I fucking want you dead. I want you to die a thousand times."

Penny stared at him in shock.

"I had a happy family!" Russell screamed at her. "Yeah, maybe we were a little fucked up, but I was happy! I had a sweet little wife and a baby girl I just loved to death. Then she meets up with some Homey and all of a sudden, I'm being dragged into court and some fucking cunt's telling the judge I've got Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I'm a danger to my wife and kid. Next thing I know, I have to be supervised just to see my own daughter!"

Russell took a deep breath, then abruptly turned and walked away.

"Thank God!" he said, turning back around. "Thank God Troy knows me! He knows I wouldn't hurt a fly! That's the only way I got this gig; Troy knows I could use the extra money. Your kid's unhappy? Well boo fucking hoo, bitch! 'Because I'm fucking miserable!"



ARMY TRAINING

Robert Jones managed Delphi's Diner; he had worked there from age sixteen, as a bus boy and dishwasher. Martha Jones was a legal secretary for attorney Kenneth Prejean. Together, they were happy; together they managed to have a beautiful bouncing boy, and a daughter.

Russell was the light of their life, but Melissa had special needs. She was afflicted with Down's syndrome and would most likely never be able to care for herself.

Every penny the Jones parents made went to Melissa's care. Russell did not begrudge his parents or his sister this; he had welcomed the role of 'big brother' from the moment Martha and Robert shared the news of her pregnancy. Just because Melissa would forever be a child was no reason not to be a big brother.

Graduation from Northside High School gave Russell few options. There was no money for college. But Martha and Robert made too much money for Russell to qualify for assistance. Martha's breast cancer had resulted in a double mastectomy; she survived but their credit was ruined.

So Russell joined the Army. Other than being a handsome young man with deep brown eyes and thick brown hair, standing at six foot two and packing one hundred and eighty nine pounds, Russell had no real talents or skills. So he was a grunt.

He was given a rifle and some ammunition and put on a plane and flown to a sandy pit of Hell.

In Iraq there was no way to identify who was a friend and who was a foe, until the bullets started flying.  His platoon seemed to be an unlucky one; a lot of bullets seemed to fly their way.

But somehow Russell survived. Somehow he did not get shot on his first tour. So the Army decided to put him back in Iraq for a second tour.

He survived his second tour and rotated back to base. Since he was from Louisiana, the Army decided to base him in Oregon. He declined to re-enlist when his four years were up and flew back to Bender, Louisiana.

He may not have had any bullet or shrapnel wounds but he fought hard against the impulse to drive his truck down the middle of the road. 

He could not leave his parents' house on trash day; the insurgents would often hide explosive devices in garbage piles. 

Once, in Early's Grocery Store, a woman dropped a large jar of mayonnaise and it shattered with a loud 'pop.' Russell threw himself on the floor and screamed at everyone to 'Get down, get down, and get the fuck down now!'

The VA Hospital in Baton Rouge prescribed him some medication but Russell hated taking it. The pills made him feel like a zombie. True he didn't think about Iraq, or the dangers; Russell couldn't think of anything at all.

"Hey!" Lisa Brown yelled at him as he walked out of Truman Building, the Liberal Arts building on University of Louisiana at DeGarde campus.

"What?" he yelled back at the short girl.

Her dirty blonde hair was whacked severely short, as were her denim shorts. Her tee shirt didn't reach all the way down and her belly button kept peeking out under the hem.

"You know Carrie? Carrie Brown? She's my cousin and she's supposed to be here," Lisa demanded.

"Nope," Russell answered and continued walking.

"Hey!" Lisa yelled after him.

"What?" he yelled back.

"I didn't say you could go," Lisa said, smiling.

Her cousin never did show up, so Russell took Lisa to Clark's Drive-In for the lunch that Carrie was supposed to buy her.

"So, where to now?" Lisa asked, resting her head on Russell's upper arm. "You're too tall; you need to e at least a foot shorter."

"Foot shorter for what?" Russell asked her.

"So I can put my head on your shoulder," Lisa said.

"Well why don't you put your head on my lap?" Russell teased.

"Okay," Lisa said and did.

She then began playing with his balls, then running her small hand along his cock.

"Damn, that's a nice one," Lisa said and twisted around until her face was tightly pressed against Russell's crotch.

She sucked his cock right there, at Clark's Drive-In, until he spurted into her mouth.

"My momma's out right now; want to go back to my house?" Lisa asked.

"Sure," Russell weakly agreed.

Four more times, on Wednesdays, Lisa met him outside of Truman Building. Twice, Carrie Brown failed to show up, so Russell would take Lisa to Clark's Drive-In, then back to her mother's house for very energetic sex.

On the fifth Wednesday, Lisa wasn't smiling when Russell stepped out of the Truman Building.

"Guess fucking what," she said unhappily.

The twenty two year old did the right thing and married the eighteen year old girl.

Martha and Robert tried very hard to warm up to the shrill, vulgar Lisa. Lisa's mother did more than warm up to Russell; she flirted horrendously with her son.

"Fucking gives me the creeps; how you stand being around her?" Lisa complained about Melissa.

"She's my sister; I love her and she loves me," Russell explained.

"Fucking sick," Lisa declared. "You seen the way she was eating? Food all over her face? She's not getting anywhere near my baby, that's for sure."

ON THE JOB TRAINING

Russell was able to get financing and he and Lisa bought a cute little two bedroom, one bathroom house in between Kimble and Bender. The financing was done through his job with King Sanitation and Disposal.

During the day, he went to class, in the afternoon, he either napped, or made love with his wife, and then from eleven until seven, he patrolled the office and storage facility of King's. The waste disposal site itself was ten miles further north and paid three dollars more an hour, but Russell did not want to be too far away from Lisa in case of any complications and Lisa forbade him from working at the actual toxic waste site.

"My kids ain't glowing in the dark," she joked.

Her pregnancy was normal and her delivery was swift and Lisa gave birth to Katherine Lisa Jones.

"I wan' hold the baby," Melissa demanded.

Melissa's feeling were deeply hurt when Lisa refused to let Melissa hold the baby.

"Maybe when the baby's a little bigger," Russell tried to calm his sister.

When Katy was three months old, Lisa did relent and even she had to agree, Melissa took the responsibility of holding the baby very seriously. Melissa sat ramrod straight and clutched Katy to her chest and sang a nursery rhyme to her niece.

"How about that, huh? Aunt Melly? How about that?" Russell praised his sister.

"I love her so much," Melissa said to her sister.

"I can see that," Lisa grudgingly agreed.

Russell found that, not only did he have the responsibility of going to school, and of going to work, he also had the responsibility of caring for Katy and cleaning their house and doing yard work. During her pregnancy, Lisa had contributed little to housework or cooking but used her pregnancy as an excuse. Now, her excuse was 'exhaustion from caring for Katy all the time.'

"Damn it, Lisa; how long she's had a full diaper?" Russell complained.

"Must have just done it," Lisa claimed, not looking up from the talk show she was watching.

"Bull shit, Lisa; this is the same diaper I put on her this morning," Russell declared. "See? Right here; I wrote the time and date, right here. Same flipping diaper."

"Shit, just how fucking fucked up are you? Write the fucking time and date on a diaper?" Lisa shrilled.

Weekends, which should have been a time for Russell to relax and recharge were spent caring for Katy. Lisa would take off with her cousin Carrie the minute Russell's feet hit the doorstep of their home on Saturday morning, and sometimes wouldn't be seen until Sunday night. If Monday rolled around and Lisa was still with her cousin Carrie, Russell would bring Katy to his mother's house.

"Son, time for you to kick that girl's ass," his mother would say. "She ain't never going to wise up until you do."

This was said while she rubbed herself against him.

"Need to find you a real woman; one that'll treat you right."

The times he would bring Katy to his parents house, the few times he and Lisa would go out together, Melissa was told that she was the baby sitter, that caring for Katy was her job. Russell would promise Melissa two dollars for every hour she had to baby sit.

Upon their return, Russell would ask Melissa how long she watched the baby.

"Two hours," she would say.

"Okay, two dollars for each hour and you say it's been two hours, so how much is that?" Russell would ask.

"Two dollars," Melissa would demand.

Then he would give her four dollars, four dollars that would quickly be stuffed into her Snoopy bank.

After three years, ten months and seventeen days of marriage, Russell clocked in at his job and found a man waiting for him.

"You Russell Jones?" the man asked.

"Yes sir," Russell agreed.

"Russell Michael Jones?" the man pressed.

"Um, no, no, I'm Russell Robert Jones," Russell answered, puzzled.

"Thank you. You've been served. There's also a restraining order; please respect that, sir," the man said, almost sadly as he handed Russell a large envelope.

"Served? Served what?" Russell asked as he opened the envelope to find that Lisa had filed for divorce.

"Mental cruelty?" Russell sputtered.

He raced home after his shift. Lisa must have been expecting this; two Bender police officers were there within five minutes to enforce the restraining order.

"But I never..." Russell yelled.

"Sir, best thing you can do is get yourself a good lawyer," Deputy Orville Jackson suggested.

"But this is total bullshit!" Russell protested.

"I'm sure it is," Officer Steven Hebert agreed. "But it's not up to us, dude. Just do yourself a favor and get yourself a good lawyer, all right?"

If Russell was shocked by Lisa's abrupt decision to get a divorce, he was completely unprepared for the court proceedings.

Penny Richards batted her brown eyes at Sonny Lambert, flirted with him, making sure to thrust her ample backside in Sonny's direction. Then she ripped both lawyer and client to shreds in front of Judge Lori Duplantis.

Judge Lori Duplantis had a deep seated bitterness toward men and tended to lean more than heavily in favor of women plaintiffs. Even though he did know this, Sonny Lambert was ill-prepared to deal with a judge and a lawyer that were both predisposed to disembowel the male of the species.

"What?" Russell asked, flabbergasted. "I have to pay..."

He was ordered to pay the three hundred and eighty three dollars a month mortgage, plus eight hundred a month in child support, as well as six hundred a month in alimony.

The only highlight of the divorce was that Lisa would be responsible for her own lawyer's fees, even though Penny Richards had petitioned the court to have Russell pay that as well.

"Objection, your Honor!" Sonny Lambert had protested. "It is Lisa Jones that filed; she should bear that responsibility."

Judge Duplantis did grudgingly relent.

Custody of Katherine Lisa Jones was another farce; Russell's medical records from the VA Hospital were admitted and reviewed.* Judge Duplantis deemed that Russell may become a threat to the child and therefore his visitations would need to be supervised.

"What? But I'm the one that..." Russell sputtered, outraged.

Throughout it all, Lisa, Carrie, and an unnamed African-American male smirked and even laughed occasionally at Russell's consternation.

Russell had no choice but to drop out of college, twenty eight hours short of getting a Bachelor's degree in Special Education. He had hoped to help the Mellisas in the greater DeGarde area. He transferred to guarding the toxic waste disposal site; it paid three dollars more an hour.

"Ain't nothing like that office job," Garland Hebert assured him as Russell strapped on his nine millimeter hand gun. "Over there? Go months and months nothing happens. Over here? At least once a week, some dumb ass college punk wants to see what we got buried. Or some stupid ass bitch wants to handcuff themselves to the fence in protest of pollution and climate change."

"Oh boy," Russell said glumly.



MORE SPRING TRAINING

"Hey, Coach, your girlfriend's back," Michael One giggled as Penny strode toward Russell.

"Wow, I got me the way with the ladies, huh?" Russell said and stepped to intercept Penny.

"Look, I'm sorry if..." Penny started, trying to keep her voice level.

"One condition, lady, okay? One condition?" Russell said, holding up a finger.

"What?" Penny asked brown eyes wide with hope.

"I take your kid, this is the last time, and the very last time I ever have to see your face again, all right?" Russell yelled.

"Fine, fine," Penny agreed quickly.

"Manny!" Russell yelled. Come see."

"I mean, I'm going to be picking him up and of course I'll be going to the games and..." Penny continued.

"Yeah, Coach?" Manny asked, scuffling over from second base in a leisurely pace.

"I mean, this is the last time I'll ever have to hear your whining and pissing and moaning," Russell snapped at Penny.


Righting A Wrong



"I do not..." Penny snapped back.

"Josh! Quit digging in your nose and get on second base!" Russell yelled.

A few of the boys, including Josh laughed and Josh trotted out to second base, slapping his hand into his glove.

"Come on; trading you to Coach Duvalier," Russell said to Manny.

"Good!" Manny sneered at Russell.

Penny fell into step as Russell and Manny trotted out to where Coach Troy lounged.

"Hey, Coach!" Russell yelled, startling the man.

"What, dude?" Troy said, and then frowned at the sight of Penny Richards. "Aw, geez, not her again."

"Got a trade, if you're interested," Russell said. "Manny here; he pitched for the Lions last year, and your kid, Lucas Richards over three."

"Him?" Troy asked, pointing to a scrawny boy that sat dejectedly on a bench, kicking at the ground.

"Yeah, him," Russell agreed.

"You got it!" Troy agreed. "Take the mom too, huh?" 

"Nope, leaving the mom with you, dude," Russell smirked as Penny scowled at Troy.

"Come on Honey," Penny said, embarrassing the boy by fussing over him. "You're on Coach Jones' team now, okay?"

"Mom, please!" Lucas whined, trying to push her away.

"Good luck, dude; that bitch has been up my ass since we started," Troy hissed to Russell. "And kid can't play for shit; ought to see him try to throw the ball."

"So Lucas, you're a Lefty?" Russell asked as Lucas trotted to keep up with him.

"No," both Penny and Lucas said, both obviously confused.

"Then why..." Russell asked. "Your glove's on the wrong hand, then."

"He's right handed," Penny said. "So I got him a right handed glove."

"Hey, Scottie; going to the movies?" Russell yelled at his third baseman.

"No," Scottie answered, ceasing his scratching of his rear end.

"Then why you picking your seat?" Russell asked.

"Shut up!" Scottie demanded as the other boys laughed at him.

"Okay, Lucas, here, put this glove on," Russell said, handing the boy a left handed glove.

"Okay," Lucas said.

"But how's he supposed to catch?" Penny questioned.

"Look lady, I thought we had a deal," Russell sighed.

"But how's he..." Penny demanded.

"Okay, lady, you left or right handed?" Russell asked.

"Right handed," Penny said.

"Okay, here," Russell said, handing her a baseball. "Throw it to me when I say, okay?"

He backed up about twenty feet, and then said "Okay."

She managed to throw the ball; he still had to step over a few feet to catch it.

"Now," he said, walking up and handing the ball to her. "With your left hand, throw it to me when I say."

She managed a very weak, very wobbly throw that Russell had to step up quickly in order to catch it.

"Now you see?" Russell asked. "Go get your kid a left handed glove, all right? Use some of the money I'm paying my ex-wife."

She colored slightly and pursed her lips tightly but nodded and walked away.

"Okay um, Michael Two get over here," Russell called out.

"Yeah, Coach?" Michael Two said, trotting to where Russell and Lucas stood.

"Michael, this is Lucas. Need you to practice with him, just throwing the ball back and forth, all right?"

"Sure, Coach," Michael agreed.

"Why's he call you..." Lucas asked.

"'Cause we got two Michaels; he's one and I'm two," Michael smiled.

"Why they don't just call you Mike and him Michael?" Lucas asked and dropped the ball.

"'Cause my name's not Mike," Michael said, not smiling.

They tossed the ball back and forth, Lucas dropping more than he managed to catch.

"How's he doing?" Russell asked as he came over.

"Doing all right," Michael magnanimously said. "Could use a little more practice though."

"All right, and everybody, give me two around the bases and that's it!" Russell yelled and the sixteen boys all ran around the bases twice then ran to the parking lot, or to the concession stand.

"Thank you," Penny said as Russell wearily walked to his truck.

"Uh huh; you going to stay off my ass now?" Russell asked.



EMERGENCY TRAINING

Melissa did not understand that Russell wouldn't be bringing the baby around, at least for a little while, until the divorce and custody battle were decided. For the first three weeks that Russell lived at home, she was mad at him and sullenly refused to talk to him. After three weeks she couldn't remember why she was mad at him and reverted to loving and adoring him with all the ease of a child.

Kenneth Prejean's nose was out of joint that Russell decided to retain Sonny Lambert to handle his divorce. Martha lied and told her boss that she had tried to persuade Russell differently.

"Kids, huh? Tell them one thing, even if it's good for them, they do the exact opposite," Martha harrumphed.

(It had been Martha that told Russell that Kenneth's track record was less than impressive.)

Sonny's track record wasn't much to brag about; at least when it came to Russell's case.

Even his mother was very little help.

"Ain't shit can be done," she shrugged. "Stupid bitch's gone cuckoo for cocoa puffs, know what I mean?"

Robert and Martha dipped into their very meager nest egg and loaned Russell the money for the legal fees. For his part, Russell paid them one hundred a week for room and board. This went up another twenty five dollars when he switched over to the landfill.

"Aw, fucking great, Garland Hebert sighed. "The Green Queen's back."

"Who?" Russell asked, watching the monitor as a middle aged woman with long gray blond hair that hadn't seen a brush in a while walked with great purpose toward the fence.

"And wait until you smell her," Garland threw in, nudging Russell toward the door.

"You're not coming Russell asked.

"Someone's got to be here to let the cop's in.," Garland snickered.

Garland's warning was merited; the woman stunk horribly. Her clothing was a simple knee length shift that had been hand-woven. Her filthy feet were bare, even though it was twenty degrees outside.

She screamed obscenities at Russell, screamed about how King was poisoning the Earth, how big government and giant corporations were robbing the souls of the people.

"We got it from here," a smiling police officer said, brandishing a key for the handcuffs. "Hi Darlene; how's it going? Where's Eddie tonight?"

"Stay away from me!" Darlene screamed, trying to pull away, but her handcuffed wrist prevented her from moving. "Where's the television cameras?" 

"They're not coming," the police officer said, unlocking the handcuffs from the chain link fence.

"They're not coming? Don't they care?" Darlene protested. "Don't they care that this place is destroying the planet? Don't they care that..."

"Going to need your name for the report," the other police officer said as Darlene was led toward the police car.

"Darlene Delacroix," Garland Hebert said when Russell came back to the warm building. "Her and her boyfriend, some jerk-off ecologist, used to be some big-wig professor at U.L.D. like to come protest every now and them. First few times they done that, Performance Twelve news came out, made a big deal out of it, and even got some ass holes from the E.P.A. out here."

"Damn it's cold out there!" Russell complained.

"E.P.A. don't find nothing, Performance Twelve figures out that the two of them are just nut-bags, don't even bother sending no one out now," Garland went on.

"She didn't even have shoes on her feet," Russell said.

"Worse in the summer," Garland said, blowing on his cup of coffee. "Summer? They don't wear nothing. Nothing like trying to keep them from chaining themselves to the fence with saggy old boos and a hairy sack hanging in front of you."

"Good God," Russell shuddered at the thought.

"Now you see why we get paid the big bucks?" Garland laughed.

On a night off, Russell agreed to watch Melissa so that his parents could get out and enjoy a night in Lafayette.

"Hey, y'all want, stay over, huh?" Russell teased them. "Y'all can get all loud and stuff; I hear Ramada Inn's got some nice rooms."

"Shut up boy," his father growled at him.

"Hush you," his mother chided him.

"We'll call if anything comes up," Robert promised.

At two o'clock in the morning, a ringing telephone let Russell know that he needed to come to University Medical Center in Lafayette. 

In an effort to escape the Lafayette Police, a car-jacker had run a red light. Unfortunately, he slammed into Robert and Martha. The car-jacker was dead before the Jones' car stopped rolling. Robert and Martha passed away before Russell and a very fussy Melissa could arrive at the hospital.

Gordon King gave Russell two weeks off to handle the funeral and sent a very elaborate floral arrangement.

Kenneth Prejean informed Russell that Martha and Robert had made a will; the will stated that the proceeds of their estate was to go to the long term care of Melissa.

"What's that mean?" Russell numbly asked.

"Well, um, it means," Kenneth said, "Martha and Robert set it up with Pine Grove; Melissa will be cared for by..."

"But I'm her brother; I can take care of her," Russell protested.

"Son, I'm sure you can," Kenneth intoned, taking perverse gratification from Russell's consternation.

He had not forgiven Russell for not hiring him to handle the divorce and custody.

"But the will is pretty straightforward; the house is to be sold and all..." Kenneth droned on.

A screaming, crying Melissa was forced into Pine Grove Assisted Living Center and Russell was forced to find an apartment. The apartment complex had definitely seen better days, but it was affordable and, according to Garland's friend at the Kimble Police Department, was a relatively low-crime zone.

The only apartment available was a two bedroom apartment but the landlord shrugged and said, "Tell you what; these normally go for five fifty; how about four fifty?"

Russell put his bed in one bedroom and Melissa's bed in the other. Pine Grove, while ecstatic that Russell was willing to have his sister come see him for overnight stays, did ask him to wait at least one month before signing her out for a visit.

"Please, let her get accustomed to us, get used to our schedule, then come get her for a visit, okay?" Amanda Marcoloni, the Head Administrator of Pine Grove begged.

Russell agreed, especially after Amanda showed him the facilities, outlined the program Melissa would be following.

"We're well aware she will never be able to fully care for herself," Amanda said gently. "But there are certain things she can learn to do for herself."

Lisa's attorney also demanded that the proceeds from the sale of his parents home be included in the judgment. Kenneth dragged his feet in sending over the copy of the will so Russell had several weeks of Lisa barraging him with phone calls, demanding her share of the money.

It never occurred to Russell to have Sonny file a restraining order.

"Hey boy, you like dogs?" Garland asked Russell when he returned to work.

"Yeah, love them," Russell admitted.

"Sister bought one; guard dog actually, then come to find out youngest one's allergic to dogs," Garland said, blowing on his ever-present cup of coffee.

"How much she want for it?" Russell asked.

"Thing cost her eight hundred, like I said, thing's a trained guard dog," Garland shrugged.

"Don't have that kind of money; fucking divorce's bleeding me dry," Russell said.

"But she's desperate to get rid of it, get it in a good home," Garland went on. "So, pick it up tomorrow morning, huh?"

Sandra Hebert showed Russell the commands that the dog had been taught and demonstrated them for him, then gave him a hug, a thirty pound bag of dry dog food, and sent Russell on his way with a one hundred and one pound Labrador retriever named Cookie.

Cookie had three passions; sleeping, eating, and running. Russell was grateful to have the big lumbering beast next to him as he ran alongside Highway 52 but was less than thrilled that Cookie seemed to enjoy slobbering all over Russell's bed.

"Damned animal," Russell yelled, discovering that his pillow was damp with spittle.

"Woof!" was Cookie's response.

"Mangy beast," Russell muttered, then tried to shove the dog off of the bed.

Cookie thought Russell was playing and thus began a bit of a wrestling match. Russell was impressed with both Cookie's skills, and with Cookie's control. The dog had Russell's forearm in its jaws, snarling ferociously, but there was only the slightest of pressure from the dog's teeth. But, when Russell tried to pull his arm free, the pressure increased slightly, holding Russell in place.

"Drop it," he laughed and Cookie immediately let go of Russell's arm and gave him a huge, sloppy kiss, directly on the mouth.

So, Russell bought a new pillow.

Sonny had managed to have a supervised visitation scheduled; Mrs. Anderson of St. Elizabeth Parish Children Protective Services first came and inspected and approved of Russell's apartment.

"I do not like dogs," she firmly said to Russell.

"It's a guard dog; I got it specifically to protect Katy when she's here," Russell lied.

"As I said, I do not like dogs, but that doesn't mean I don't think the child will be fine here," she continued. "Looks like you've got everything in order."

Katy loved Cookie; seemed to be happier to see the lumbering beast than to see her father.

Mrs. Anderson sat in the living room while Russell and Katy sat at the kitchen table and scribbled in coloring books, then ate bowls of Spaghettios.

Mrs. Anderson followed behind as Russell and Katy took Cookie on a walk around the block. She nodded agreement as Russell showed her that Cookie was so well trained that even Katy could hold onto her leash by herself.

Mrs. Anderson recommended that the 'With Supervision' clause be lifted from Russell Jones' visitation.

Lisa Jones did not approve of this, lied to her attorney that Katy was terrified of Cookie (the dog outweigh Katy by fifty pounds) and managed to keep Russell from seeing his daughter for another five months.

FIRST GAME

Sergeant Elise Richards, no relation to Penny Richards, donned the heavy chest protector, slipped the mask on, then trotted out to home plate.

"Fifty bucks for a couple hours work," Darren, her husband had smiled.

Moments later, Elise was grateful to Darren; he had advised her to bring plenty of water. The dark cap absorbed heat, the chest protector was heavy and hot, and the foam rubber of the mask was sticking to her face.

The two coaches met, shook hands, then flipped the coin to see who would be 'Visitors' and who would be 'Home' for the game.

"All right Bears!" Russell yelled as he sent out the defense. "Let's hear a big Bear roar!"

"Play ball!" Elise yelled over the half-hearted 'Roar' of the Bears.

Penny sat in the stands and yelled encouragements to her son, playing left outfield; embarrassing the boy to no end. She glared over her shoulder at her ex-husband, Darryl Richards and the very young looking girl that Darryl fawned over.

Darryl seemed much more interested to the young girl than to his own son. Penny noticed that the girl had an incredibly large chest, magnified by the simple white tank top she wore. She looked down at her own chest, also sheathed in white tank top which did not magnify her own thirty four B chest.

The girl had blonde hair, cut short, wore too much make-up, like a child that had stumbled upon her mother's make-up tray, and even chewed gum.

"Good God, Darryl, really?" Penny scoffed under her breath. "Where'd you find this one? Kindergarten?"

The Bears did manage to beat the Cougars, 2 to 1 And Lucas was highly embarrassed when his mother bounded down the bleacher's steps and hugged him, praising him effusively in front of his smirking teammates.

Darryl did not introduce his companion, just grunted that Lucas needed to work on that batting of his.

If his mother's attention embarrassed him, Lucas's father's off-handed comment devastated him.

Troy and Russell watched as Penny led the boy away. Russell did admire Penny's slightly large ass, displayed in denim shorts, and then noticed how Lucas's head hung low.

"Man, would just love to spank that ass; would have to shove my dick in her mouth shut her up, though," Troy hissed to Russell.

"That is a nice one; too bad she's a total bitch," Russell agreed.

His dad had spent quite a few Saturdays in their backyard, showing Russell how to throw a football, how to catch a baseball, how to dribble a basketball. Robert Jones had shown Russell how to hold the bat, how to shoot the hoop. And when Melissa would come outside, demanding to be a part of whatever they were doing, Robert and Russell would try to teach her too. Any success she had was highly praised and any failure was encouraged.

"God, I miss my dad," Russell admitted to his childhood pal.

"Bet you do," Troy agreed, putting a manly arm over Russell's shoulders.

"Who was that girl with your dad?" Penny asked when a dejected Lucas buckled up in the car seat.

"Ethel; she and her mom live by Dad," Lucas mumbled.

"Are they...?" Penny started, and then clammed up.

She often chided her own clients about using their children as double-agents, making the children spy on the other parent.

"They're getting married in a couple of months," Lucas volunteered.

"The mom? Or Ethel?" Penny asked.

"Ethel; her mom's like old; she's at least forty," Lucas scoffed.

Penny wanted to laugh; Darryl was forty three.

"Please spit out that gum," Darryl said to Ethel as he drove his BMW Z4.

"Oh, okay," Ethel said, cowering slightly.

"Lucas did pretty good today," she offered.

"Struck out both times he got up there," Darryl reminded her.

She did not remind him that almost all of the boys had struck out.

Penny watched as Lucas took his bat and glove into the backyard. After she went to the bathroom (she would have to be in extremely dire need to ever use a public facility) she looked out the window and watched as Lucas 'practiced' hitting imaginary balls.

"God damn you, Darryl Richards," she cursed under her breath. "God damn you to Hell."

She then pulled out her cell phone, scrolled through to Coach Jones' phone number and pushed 'Send.'

Russell could have just explained to her why a right handed person wore a glove on their left hand, but instead, he showed her. He made her throw the ball; made sure she learned the lesson.

Penny watched Russell worked with each boy, treating them all as if they were important. Yes, he teased them, he called them booger eaters and other names, but he was never malicious.

Instead of lounging on a bench like that Coach Troy, Russell was on his feet, next to them, showing them what he wanted, how to do something.

"Yes?" a male voice asked.

"Mr. Jones? This is Penny Richards," Penny snapped as she watched Lucas take another mighty swing.

"Aw fuck me! Russell snapped. "Look, lady! They all had equal playing time, all right?"

"That's not why I'm..." Penny said quickly.

She should have been prepared for his angry retort; his dislike of her had not diminished just because her son was on his team. But, she had to admit, it still stung a little.

"And he went up to bat twice, lady; everyone else got two, some got three times; it's just the way it goes, all right?" Russell snapped.

"Mr. Jones, I understand that," she hastened to assure him. "It's just that..."

She felt a tear trickle down her cheek as Lucas gave another mighty swing.

"Lucas?" she sniffed. "He's in the backyard right now, practicing. His dad, instead of saying 'good game' or 'we'll get them next time,' all he says is 'need to work on that batting' and I'm..."

The tears started in earnest now.

"Jesus Christ!" Russell yelled. "Damn it, Lady! Don't start with the crying!"

"I can't help it!" Penny yelled back. "I'm watching him just fall apart!"




Righting A Wrong



"Damn; and they ALL need to work on their batting," Russell said, exasperated. "First game; they were all just nervous. He'll do better, all right?"

"I'll pay you," Penny offered. "Come work with him, one on one, teach him how to hit the ball."

"And how'd you get this phone number anyway?" Russell yelled, angry again.

"You gave it to us," Penny yelled back. "Remember? You gave it to everybody on your team!"

"Oh yeah," Russell admitted.

"A hundred," Penny offered. "I'll give you a hundred dollars for every lesson."

"A hundred? Lady, you are out of your flipping mind; know that?" Russell stammered.

"Please?" Penny wheedled.

ONE ON ONE TRAINING

Russell earned two hundred dollars before the next game. Lucas was a mediocre student; wanting to take one lesson and be able to hit home runs immediately.

For Russell, it was grueling. Penny and Lucas lived six blocks away from Russell's boyhood home.

It was also grueling; each time he tossed the ball to Lucas, Russell remembered doing the same with his dad and with his dad and his sister.

On the field, Penny had worn her business suits. At home, she wore denim shorts and snug tee shirts or tank tops. The denim shorts displayed Penny's chunky ass to perfection; Russell admired her thick pale legs, slightly soft belly, and pert breasts and yes, even her face. But when she'd turn her back to him, he would look at that pudgy ass.

"Holy Moley; got to get cracking," Russell said, glancing at his watch. "One more time then I got to go; no, no, get the bat off your shoulder, come on Lucas, pay attention."

"Where do you have to go?" Penny asked, swinging one leg, dangling her flip-flop from her foot."

"Eat dinner, iron my uniform, then get my hiney down to the job site," Russell explained and frowned when Lucas let a perfect pitch sail past him.

"Oh," Penny said and sat up a little straighter. "You want to eat with us?"

"No," Russell said and threw another pitch.

"Come on, Lucas; what was wrong with that one?" Russell asked, frustrated.

Penny's feelings were hurt; Russell had not even hesitated in turning down her hospitality.

"You don't even know what we're having," she said.

"Don't matter," Russell shrugged.

"Fine," Penny said and held out the hundred dollar bill. "Thank you for your time."

"All right Lucas; see you at the field tomorrow, right?" Russell said, accepting a 'high five' from the boy.

"Wash your hands; tacos okay for supper?" Penny asked the boy.

"Yeah, I guess," Lucas shrugged.

At practice, Penny wore her business attire; Russell smirked remembering her somewhat large ass which seemed to be somehow slimmer in her skirt.

"Think she likes you?" Michael Two asked Russell , nodding toward Penny.

"No, not really; Russell smiled. "Think she likes making me miserable."

Penny screamed happily as Lucas actually managed to connect with the ball. It only went a few feet and Michael One tossed it to first base before Lucas could get to base. But it was a hit. He had actually hit the ball.

The second time Russell came to the house, Lucas seemed to be buoyed by his successful hit at practice. He paid attention, he followed through and smiled.

Russell felt like he had earned the second hundred dollar bill.

Penny did not offer dinner, just held out the hundred dollar bill when Russell declared that practice time was over.

Russell smirked; her khaki shorts gaped open, letting him know that red was indeed Penny's natural hair color and that she wore no panties.

"All right, Lucas; we play the Hawks Saturday and what are we going to do?" Russell yelled.

"Eat them alive!" Lucas yelled back.

"It's his dad's weekend," Penny said needlessly; Russell didn't care where Lucas would be. "But I'll be at the game."

"Uh huh," Russell said darkly. "At least his dad gets to see him; I don't get to see my kid."

Friday, when Darryl picked up his son, he just nodded when Penny reminded him about the game on Saturday, promised to have Lucas there in time, and left.

Penny shut the door and sighed; the house was always so empty when her son, her little man wasn't there.

She puttered about the house, then fixed herself a drink. Twenty minutes later, most of the drink was watered down by the melted ice and she poured it out.

"I hate his weekends," she said aloud, then readied for bed, even though it was still daylight outside.

At three o'clock in the morning, Penny sat bolt upright in her bed.

Russell had not seen his daughter in over eleven months, had been denied his Wednesday evening visits and his weekends, if what he had told her was true.

Tears actually came to her eyes as she thought about how devastated she would be if she didn't get to spend time with her Lucas.

She had trouble falling back asleep but finally did doze lightly.

At seven o'clock, she fired up her office laptop computer and read through the Jones V. Jones file she had.

Judge Lori Duplantis had, as was to be expected, been very harsh in her decision; the money alone was unreasonable. But she had also granted Russell supervised visitation. Mrs. Anderson, the lead counselor with St. Elizabeth's Children's Services had even recommended that the supervised provision be lifted.

"So why isn't Russell Jones getting any time with his daughter?" Penny asked herself as she sipped her coffee.

At nine thirty, after her breakfast, hour long workout and twenty minute bath, Penny dressed and drove to Russell's apartment complex.

A dog's loud bark came booming out when she knocked. Two minutes later, she knocked again and again was greeted by the booming bark.

What?" Russell sleepily demanded, yanking the door open. "Oh, fuck me! What? Huh? What? What in the Hell do you want? God damn, woman! I'll be at the field at four; you couldn't wait until then to ride my ass?"

"I uh, I was looking at your file and..." Penny stammered, upset at Russell's hateful response.

"Great, Lady, just fucking great," Russell spat. "Just got to sleep but no! Now I got to take this bitch for another walk."

Thus saying, he grabbed Cookie's leash.

Penny watched as the man sleepily led the happy dog down the flight of stairs, then began a slow, steady lope down Highway 52.

She stood, unsure of what to do, then heard a door open and looked down the corridor.

"Ola," a shirtless man smiled, displaying tobacco stained teeth.

"Um, Ola," Penny agreed then stepped into Russell's apartment.

She sat on the well worn couch, idly looking around at the nearly empty apartment.

Twenty minutes later, a panting Dog and owner stumbled in.

"Now, what in the fuck is so God damned important that you had to wake me up first thing in the fucking morning?" Russell spat at Penny.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jones; I don't know your schedule," Penny apologized. "But really, there is no need for all the vulgarities."

"Fuck you. Okay? Fuck you, you miserable, hateful cunt; fuck you," Russell snarled at her. "Suck my dick, kiss my ass, eat shit and die, and fuck off, all right?"

Cookie sat and bared her teeth at Penny, a low grumble coming from the beast.

"Mr. Jones," Penny whispered, the tears catching in her throat at Russell's hateful words. "I want to help you."

"Help me?" Russell asked bitterly. "Help me? Bitch! The fucking time to help me would have been when that dried up, miserable fucking hag bitch judge was gutting me! That would have been the time to help me!"

"You're right," Penny admitted. "You're right and I'm sorry."

Cookie's grumbling became a snarl.

"No, Cookie, no; down girl," Russell quickly said, realizing that the beast was picking up on his anger.

"Now, please tell me why you haven't seen Katy," Penny said, watching as Cookie lay down on the floor.

"I go to the house; they're not there, bitch doesn't pick up when I call her cell, mom says she doesn't know where they are. Supposed to drop her off over here on Wednesdays, says 'Oh, I forgot; oh well, we're already eating' when I call her," Russell said bitterly.

"Did you call..." Penny asked.

"Call Sonny Lambert, my dumb ass lawyer?" Russell said. "He says he'll look into it but he probably ain't since I still owe him like two thousand from the divorce."

"Fine," Penny said, getting to her feet.

Cookie immediately got to her feet.

"She will let me out, right?" Penny quietly asked Russell.

"She won't do anything unless I tell her to," Russell assured her. "Cookie's a very good girl, aren't you? Yes you are!"

Cookie gave him a reassuring bark, tail wagging happily.

"I'll look into it, Mr. Jones," Penny said, sidling toward the door of the apartment, one eye on the dog.

"Uh huh," Russell said, not believing her.

"Go Bears," Penny said, smiling softly.

"Go Bears," Russell smiled tightly.

"Now, come on, you mangy mutt," Russell said, locking the door behind Penny. "There's a bed in there with our name on it."



SECOND GAME

Penny held her breath as Lucas walked up to the plate, bat already at the ready.

"Ball one," Darren Richards (no relation to Darryl Richards) called out.

Penny sat up straighter as the ball streaked toward her baby.

"Aieegh!" she screamed out as Lucas managed to connect solidly with the ball.

"Run!" she screamed out as Lucas raced to first, then second base.

He did not get off of second base; the pitcher managed to strike Michael Two out, Scottie's pop-up was caught and then Jacob struck out.

"But you got on base," Russell encouraged Lucas as the boy trotted in.

"Yeah, man, next time you'll knock it out of the park," Michael One declared.

Penny looked over at where Darryl and Ethel sat. Just like last game, Darryl was paying more attention to the girl than to his son.

Again, Ethel was wearing far too much make-up, her large breasts barely contained within a halter top and her denim shorts displayed a good portion of her buttocks.

"Stop it," Penny scolded herself for thinking so poorly of the girl. "You don't even know her; she could be a very sweet girl."

Penny had been a very sweet girl when she fell for Darryl Richards. The famous athlete had given the commencement speech at her high school graduation, signed a few baseballs afterward and asked her out when she asked for a baseball.

He took Penny to Ruth's Chris Steak House in Lafayette, drove her to his condominium on West Bayou Parkway, poured them each a glass of wine, and played a pornographic movie on his plasma television.

Penny balked at going all the way; she was still a virgin. In all actuality, Darryl Richards was only the third person she'd ever had a date with.

Darryl agreed that a blow job was almost as good as actual sex and even suggested that she might enjoy anal sex as well.

"Got the ass for it," he leered, pinching her ample backside.

Three dates later, Darryl insisted; pussy or ass, no more blow jobs. Just like blow jobs, though, vaginal sex with Darryl Richards was very one-sided. He jammed his cock into her dry pussy, battered through her hymen, pumped three times and flooded her pussy with his semen.

"Ever think about shaving it?' he asked, getting to of the bed.

He agreed to marriage when Penny popped up pregnant. He did not agree, however, to her continuing with her pans to go to college.

"What you need that for?" he asked. "I make enough money; you don't need that."

"I'm going to be a lawyer," Penny insisted. "Remember? Our first date? You asked me what I wanted to do and I told you, I've wanted to be a lawyer all my life."

Darryl Richards was of no help whatsoever while Penny pored over her textbooks, blaring the television as loud as he could stand it, loudly demanding dinner, demanding sex. He was even less help when Lucas was born (and pouted tremendously that she did not name his son after him). Studying had to be done in between feedings and diaper changes and baths and sleep.

She managed to graduate in three years and was accepted by the University of Louisiana at DeGarde's Legal Studies and continued to excel, despite Darryl's attempts.

Penny suspected Darryl was having affairs; had suspected his playing around for nearly their entire marriage. But the closer she got to achieving her goal, the more flagrant Darryl became until she could no longer ignore is philandering.

Donald Pellichet, one of her instructors and a very successful attorney joked with her, "I'll handle your divorce, if that's what you want, and I'll do it for free. The only requirement is that you have to come work for Richards, Pellichet, and Associates when you pass the Bar."

"Deal," Penny smiled tightly. "Wow, a divorce AND a job offer? Must be my lucky day."

Then she broke down and sobbed, right in the classroom, in front of her peers.

Darryl looked up from his date, a bubble headed and bubble breasted blonde and smiled as the man approached the table.

"Hey, you, you're Darryl," the man said. "Darryl Richards, right? The baseball player?"

"Yes sir," Darryl smiled, reaching for the envelope the man held in his hand. "Who should I make it out for?"

"Make it out for yourself," the man shrugged. "You've been served."

Darryl was outraged as he read through the petition for divorce.

"Shut up, Terry," he growled when his dinner date commented that he'd told her he was already divorced.

"It's Tammy," the blonde snapped. "And if I'd known you was married..."

"You'd still suck my cock anyway; you're a whore," Darryl snapped. "All you women are fucking whores."

Penny looked back down at the field; Lucas was sitting on the bench with his teammates, looking over his shoulder. She smiled warmly at him, then felt heartsick. He wasn't looking at her; Lucas was looking for his dad, looking for his dad's approval.

But Darryl was still focusing his attention on that painted tart.

The Hawks managed to score one run, thus beating the scoreless Bears. Darryl, instead of congratulating his son, instead of encouraging his boy, made it a point to tell Russell Jones what he should have done instead.

"You done great," Penny heard the girl tell Lucas.

Again, she felt heartsick as Lucas beamed up at the girl. He didn't want any approval from her, his mom, but did want approval from that kid.

Again, Penny scolded herself; the girl seemed genuine in her praise of her son. And praising her Lucas was more than his own father was doing.

She looked over at Russell and smirked. Russell was being polite, diplomatic while Darryl was just being a loud, pompous ass.

"Yeah, I seen you hit that ball; I was sure it was going over the fence," Ethel praised Lucas.

"He's been practicing a lot," Penny told the girl.

"I see that!" Ethel agreed, smiling at her.

"Come on; God damned ass hole coach of yours doesn't know what the hell he's talking about," Darryl muttered, yanking Ethel with his left hand and his son with his right hand, pulling them toward the parking lot.

"Good game, Coach Jones," Penny said, smiling tightly. "We'll get them next time."

"Uh huh," Russell said and turned to give his attention to another boy's mother.

"All right Bears!" Russell yelled for the few remaining kids. "We'll get them next time, right?"

"Right!" the few kids yelled.

"See y'all at practice," Russell yelled, then trotted to his battered old truck.



RECONAISANCE TRAINING

Richard Boudreaux pulled up across the street from the address that Penny Richards had given him.

Every other house on the block was neat, clean in appearance, yards mowed, flowers cared for.

The Jones' home, however, seemed to be badly in need of some maintenance. The grass was high, where there was any grass. There were several dead spots dotted about the front yard. There was a flower box along the front of the house to the left of the front door, but there were no flowers in it. The front door had a large crack which was plainly visible through the torn screen door.

Loud music could be heard thumping even before Richard opened the door of his car.

Three men lazily played basketball, shooting at a basketball goal that seemed to be in danger of falling off of the long pole it was mounted to. Several empty cans of beer were scattered along the edge of the driveway and into the grass.

Richard pulled out a video camera, set it on a tripod and placed it on the passenger seat. He pointed it toward the house, then lowered the window an inch so that the microphone could pick up the loud music blaring from the house.

Richard got out of the car and pointed a second camera and began taking digital stills of the three men playing basketball. He leaned against the car's fender to steady himself. One of theme nudged another and pointed at Richard.

"Hey, hey, what the fuck's that about, huh?" Latavius Jefferson angrily demanded, marching across the street.

"What's what about?" Richard asked, smiling easily.

"The camera, huh? What the fuck you pointing that at me for? Huh?" Latavius demanded, trying to grab at the camera in Richard's hand.

Richard easily blocked Latavius' grab.

"Sir, I am not on your property; I am on a public street and have every right to take pictures if I so choose," Richard said, easy smile never leaving his face.

Latavius was sure that Richard was a private investigator from his former employer, Pilot Petroleum, disputing his worker's compensation claim. He grabbed for Richard's camera again.

"Give me that, mother fucker," Latavius demanded.

"Grab for it again and I'll have to put a real hurt on you," Richard smiled and snapped another picture of Latavius' enraged face.

"Yo, home boy; want to put that thing away; feel me?" one of Latavius' friends came up, making sure that Richard could see the butt of his nine millimeter gun in the waistband of his boxers.

"Oh?" Richard asked, snapping a picture of the man, making sure that the gun was visible in the frame.

"I say you could take my picture?" the other man snapped.

"Don't need your permission," Richard smiled and took a second picture.

Latavius grabbed for the camera a third time, and found himself flat on his back on the pavement. His friend reached for his handgun and came to several minutes later, looking into the face of Deputy Orville Jackson.

Lisa Jones was already in the rear of Orville's cruiser; she'd come out screaming obscenities when Orville pulled up and had taken a swing at him when he ordered her to go back into her house.

Officer Elise Richards pulled up behind Orville's cruiser.

"Good; you take little Miss Potty Mouth; I'll get Wild Bill and Jesse James with me," Orville smiled.

Read her her rights?" Elise asked before opening the rear door of Orville's cruiser.

"Of course," Orville smirked at her.

"My back hurts," Latavius lied. "Mother Fucker hit me; I got a bad back, hurt it on this rig? Man, I'm hurting bad; y'all need take me down to T.C. hear?"

"Let me guess," Orville said. "Soft muscle damage, right?"

"Man I don't know what it is; I look like a doctor?" Latavius yelled.

"Nope; don't even look like you can spell doctor," Richard said and laughed as Latavius lunged at him.

"Sir, please," Orville snapped at Richard. "Bad enough without your help."

"Looks like his back's hurting him real bad there, huh?" Richard laughed as he stepped to the side, avoiding Latavius easily.

Penny looked up when a smiling Richard Boudreaux entered her office. She smiled back; the man always had a smile on his face.

She had commented on that once and he proudly dug out his wallet and showed her a photograph of an ugly little woman with a hideous mop of tightly coiled orange curls holding a cute red headed baby.

"And we're expecting another; hope it's another beauty like her momma," Richard had bragged. "You got that waiting at home, you'd smile too."

"So, how'd you do?" Penny asked as he placed two discs on her desk.




Righting A Wrong



"Target's not having themselves a very good Monday," Richard smiled. "Mrs. Jones, her boyfriend Latavius Jefferson, and a friend, Prentiss Shaw are all in Bender Lock Up," Richard said. "I'll e-mail you the report soon as I write it up."

"You said they're in lock-up?" Penny asked.

"Yes ma'am; Target's boyfriend attacked me, his buddy pulled a gun on me then the target herself came out and took a swing at the arresting officer," Richard shrugged. "It's all on the second disc; boyfriend was so busy grabbing for my digital, he didn't even notice the video camera I had going."

"Where's the daughter?" Penny asked, reaching for the telephone.

"Don't know; didn't see her," Richard admitted.

"Yes, this is Penny Richards," Penny said into the telephone. "You have a client of mine; Lisa Jones? Would you happen to know where her daughter is?"

She listened for a moment then dug her cell phone out, scrolled through her list of phone numbers and hit 'Send' when she reached Russell's phone number.

"Thank you," she said into the telephone and put her cell phone to the other ear while hanging up her office telephone.

"Mr. Jones?" Penny said when a very sleepy Russell answered the telephone. "This is...Mr. Jones I don't need that kind of language. I'm calling you to tell you that your daughter is at Lisa's home with no adults there. Please go get your daughter."

She held the cell phone away from her ear for a moment, then put it back to her ear.

"I am well aware of the order of protection banning you from entering the house," Mr. Jones, remember? I'm the one who filed it? There is an exemption in case of emergency; I assure you, as Mrs. Lisa Jones' attorney, this qualifies as an emergency," Penny said, smiling slightly.

She nodded her head, as if Russell could see through the phone.

""Very good, Mr. Jones," she said. "Go Bears."

"Go Bears?" Richard asked.

"My son's on his baseball team; they're the Bears," Penny smiled.

"Oh," Richard said. "Go Bears. Need me to meet him down there?"

"Oh, yeah, please. Video everything so no one can come back and say he did anything wrong," Penny said.

Richard arrived a few minutes before Russell; the loud music was still blaring from the house.

Russell pulled up and got out of his battered pick up truck.

"Hi, Mr. Jones?" Richard asked, hoisting his video camera. "I'm Richard Boudreaux; Mrs. Richards asked me to video everything, make sure nothing happens."

"Oh, okay; good," Russell said. "She um, she give you a key? See, Lisa changed the locks on me and..."

"Why don't you knock on the door?" Richard suggested.

"Jesus fucking Christ; what the fuck happened here?" Russell spat, looking at the splintered door and ruined screen door.

He knocked on the door.

"Katy?" he yelled through the door. "Katy, Honey? It's Daddy. I'm here to get you, okay, Sweetheart?"

A stocky black youth opened the door glaring sullenly at the two men.

"Who are you?" Russell asked.

"Who you?" the boy snapped.

"I'm Russell; Katy's dad," Russell snapped back. "Going to ask you one more time, who are you?"

"I'm L.J." the boy responded and moved to shut the door.

"No sir," Russell said forcefully, shoving the door backward, moving the boy out of the way.

"Russell looked at the door; from the inside it was apparent that someone or something had struck the door quite hard from the interior.

"Turn that shit off," Russell said; the music was deafening.

"Fuck you; ain't got to do shit you say, Cracker," L.J. sneered. "This is my house; you don't come on up in my house and tell me..."

Russell walked over and yanked the cord out of the socket, then yanked the cord out of the stereo itself.

"Thank you; shit was giving me a head ache," Richard said, still videoing the dark living room.

Katy ran out of her bedroom to see why it was suddenly quiet.

Daddy!" she screeched happily.

"Hi Sweetheart; what you been doing?" Russell asked.

"Playing in my room," Katy said. "You need to come see my room, it's got.."

Richard moved the camera around to capture the filthy condition of the living room. The hallway's threadbare carpet was filthy as well.

In the kitchen, the counters were covered by dirty plates, fast food restaurant bags and containers, and more than a few cockroaches.

Richard tried the light switch in the bathroom, only one bulb flickered on.

Richard recorded the unsanitary conditions in the bathroom, then continued his travel down the hall.

"So you and L.J. share this room?" Russell asked, trying to keep his voice light, pleasant.

He could see masculine toys scattered around and could also see boys clothing wadded up in the corner.

Uh huh and this is my favorite doll," Katy said.

"Okay, you um, you need to get some clothes together, all right? You're going to spend the night at Daddy's, okay?" Russell said.

He was outraged; there was only one bed in the room. His four year old daughter did not need to be sharing a room, much less a bed with a boy that appeared to be on the precipice of puberty.

"You; you got a mom?" Russell demanded when L.J. appeared in the bedroom.

"Yeah; you?" the boy flippantly said.

"Nope she's dead, smart ass," Russell said. "Need to call your mom, tell her to come get you; you're not staying here by yourself.

"What? Why not? Me and Katy stay here by ourselves all the time," L.J. defended.

"Not no more," Russell said. "Call her, call her now, or I will get someone else like the police to call her."

"This is Penny," Penny intoned when her telephone rang.

"Thank you," Russell said. "I um, you um, you need to do something about how my little girl's been living though; it's horrible."

"Working on it," Penny said.

She placed calls to the Children's protective Services and to the Clerk of Court. Mrs. Anderson of CPS promised to investigate both Lisa and Russell's residences again. Ethel promised to get a temporary custodial provision signed by Judge Johnson before the end of the day.

Richard arrived, put the disc on her desk and shook his head. Penny was shocked; Richard's face was hard, unsmiling.

"That bad?" she asked, hanging up her telephone.

"Don't watch it on a full stomach," Richard cautioned. "Animals live better than that."

"Okay; thanks," Penny said, picking up the disc.

"And, there's some pretty inappropriate shit," Richard continued. "Of course, none of it's admissible; there were no adults present, so what that punk ass kid said can't be used against them."

"We'll get it in," Penny promised and slipped the disc into her laptop computer's disc drive.

Penny still felt nauseous as she drove to Darryl's house to pick up Lucas.

"Hey," Ethel smiled widely when she answered the door.

Penny did a double-take; the girl wore no make-up. Without make-up on, she was incredibly plain looking. If she'd had any other color hair than her straw colored blonde, Ethel would have been termed 'ugly.'

"Hey; here to get Lucas," Penny smiled.

"They're in the game room; think they're playing that Halo game," Ethel said, letting her dislike of the game show on her face.

"I've told Darryl about that game; it's way too violent," Penny complained.

"Yeah, I know!" Ethel agreed.

She called for Lucas and Lucas came running out.

"Hi Sweetie; here to get my little man," Penny smiled.

"Okay," Lucas said, walking toward her.

"Um, books?" Penny asked.

"Oh yeah!" Lucas said and ran to the stairs.

"So, Ethel um, where you work?" Penny asked as they waited for Lucas.

"Don't; been looking like crazy!" Ethel admitted.

She lowered her voice.

"Of course, Darryl's all like 'why you need to work, huh?' and I'm.." Ethel continued.

"Same thing he told me," Penny agreed.

She thought about it for a moment.

"Got your resume?" she asked the girl.

"Yeah; you want it?" Ethel asked.

The girl ran to another room. Penny could hear Darryl's voice, could hear it rise up as if he was arguing.

Ethel ran back and thrust a single sheet at Penny.

"Okay," Penny said after glancing and seeing that it showed Ethel's high school and place of previous employment; McDonald's Restaurant on Highway 54.

She dug out her business card.

"Be here at ten thirty tomorrow," Penny said. "Just wear, you know, a nice blouse, nice slacks; oh, and bring along your make-up, okay?"

"Okay!" Ethel said, then read the card.

"Um, ma'am? I don't know nothing about law," Ethel admitted.

"Know how to answer a telephone?" Penny smiled as Lucas finally came trotting up.

"Well, yeah," Ethel said, still unsure.

"See you tomorrow, okay?" Penny smiled and herded Lucas out the door.

Twenty minutes later, her cell phone rang.

"What are you doing?" Darryl hissed bitterly into the pone.

"Fixing to eat dinner; you?" Penny answered, immune by now to Darryl's anger.

"What is Ethel going to your office for tomorrow?" Darryl hissed.

"Interviewing for Gail's old job," Penny said and slid a grilled cheese sandwich onto a plate for Lucas.

"Uh huh, wouldn't that just be perfect," Darryl spat. "Two of you can get together and talk all about me behind my back, huh?"

"And the best thing is, I'll be paying her for it," Penny said brightly. "Need to get over yourself, ass hole; you're not that important."

"Just can't forgive me for getting me some better pussy, huh?" Darryl sneered.

"You had a better dick, you'd had better pussy right here," Penny said. "If there's nothing else, I'll be hanging up now."

"She's not going to be there, you hear?" Darryl yelled into the phone.

THIRD GAME

Ethel waved, smiling widely at Penny as she and Darryl showed up for the game.

Penny returned both smile and wave, noticing with approval that Ethel's make-up was much more reserved, even if she did have on extremely short shorts and snug tee shirt.

Darryl, as Penny would expect, just glared at Penny.

Ethel, despite's Darryl's claim, had shown up for the interview at precisely ten thirty. Penny hustled her into her office, then bent to the task of removing the caked on make-up.

"But I'm going to look..." Ethel had whined.

"A whole lot better when I'm done, all right?" Penny had whispered as she applied a few strokes with Ethel's cover stick, minimizing the slight bags under Ethel's eyes.

Penny eschewed the heavy liquid foundation and just applied a light powder to Ethel's face.

As she applied eye shadow and light blush, Penny counseled Ethel on what to say during the interview process.

"There!" she said and sat back. "Now, that looks a whole lot more professional; what you think?"

Ethel looked at herself in her small compact mirror and looked again.

"Wow, you show me how to do that again?" she asked.

By Friday, Ethel had the application of make-up down and had bought a few more outfits suitable for working in a professional office.

Penny had not worried about how Ethel would do in her interview with Donald Pellichet; Donald was one of the most gentle and genteel men she'd ever met. She also wasn't all that concerned with Ethel's interview with Jay Richards; she was sure Ethel could have been speaking Klingon, Jay's eyes would be riveted to Ethel's breasts and Jay would not hear a word Ethel said.

"Uh huh," Jay agreed, then thought of another question to ask Ethel's breasts.

And Gail approved of her replacement and began to train the girl with real enthusiasm.

At the game, Penny heard a boisterous bark coming from behind the bleachers and turned to look. She smiled as she watched Katy playing fetch with Cookie, completely unconcerned with the game that her daddy was coaching.

"Go get it, Cookie!" Katy would shrill, hurling the stick a few yards away.

Russell had obviously heard the bark too and turned to look. His eyes briefly met Penny's and she smiled at him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement, checked that Katy and Cookie were all right and turned his attention back to his team.

The Bears managed to win; and it was Lucas that enabled that victory. He hit a bounding grounder that enabled Michael Two to race for home while Lucas only managed to get to first base.

But Darryl only criticized; Lucas had dropped a pop-up and the runner had managed to get to second base before Lucas hurled the ball to Scottie.

"You did great; everybody drops one every now and then," Russell assured Lucas.

Michael Two's father agreed with Russell, telling Lucas that his 'knocking that ball out there' had gotten them their one run.

"See you Monday," Ethel called out to Penny and almost fell over as Darryl jerked her by her arm.

"Can't believe I dropped that ball," Lucas grumbled as Penny drove them home.

"God damn you, Darryl Richards," Penny thought.

Monday morning, Ethel stuck her head into Penny's office to get her approval on the skirt , blouse, and simple jacket she was wearing.

"Looks great," Penny agreed, smiling.

"And, look, it's reversible," Ethel enthused. "It's also khaki, see?"

"Well isn't that smart?" Penny said pleasantly.

At ten o'clock, Ethel showed Lisa Jones and Latavius Jefferson into Penny's office.

Both were highly agitated about their time in jail, the 'bull shit' charges against them, and the fact that Russell, at least for the time being, had Katy in his custody.

"And that just ain't right; he's got that vicious dog," Latavius snarled. "That girl? She scared to death of them dogs, feel me?"

Penny frowned; Katy had not appeared to be frightened in the least of the large dog, even though Cookie probably weighed double Katy's weight.

During the third inning, Katy had run to her father, pleading a need to go to the bathroom. Penny offered to take the girl and Russell agreed. Cookie had firmly entrenched herself between Penny and Katy all the way to the dank public facilities and all the way back to the field. Katy had not been frightened then, had chattered happily about the swimming pool at her daddy's apartment and what they were having for dinner as soon as the 'stupid ' game was over.

"And where the fuck he got that mother fucking private eye, huh?" Lisa shrilled. "Huh? HE got that kind of fucking money; those private eyes ain't free, he needs be paying me a hell of a lot more, knows what I'm saying?"

"A friend of his loaned him the money, from what his lawyer told me," Penny lied.

She looked at the surly face of Latavius Jefferson.

""If you don't mind; I'd like to meet with my client alone, sir," she said.

"Nuh uh, this my woman," Latavius angrily declared. "That makes anything go on my business, feel me?"

"That's right," Lisa nodded her head.

"Fine," Penny snapped. "Then, Ms. Jones, you need to get Latavius Jefferson and his son, Latavius Jefferson Junior out of your house. You two are not married; that looks very bad in front of a judge."

"What? What you mean?" Latavius sputtered.

"I mean, it sets an extremely poor example for the minor child, Katherine Jones," Penny said.

"My house? You going to come on up in my house and tell me..." Latavius got to his feet, jabbing the edge of Penny's desk with a thick finger.

""It is not your house; it is Lisa Jones' house," Penny said, putting her hand on the thirty eight snub nose pistol she had in her desk.

"I can't have me no friends?" Lisa yelled.

"Friends yes, but not overnight guests," Penny said. "And both of you need to lower your voices; this is a place of business."

Penny then pulled out some eight by ten photographs she'd culled from Richard Boudreaux's video.

"When's the last time that grass was cut?" she asked, placing the photograph on the lip of the desk so that Lisa could see it.

"No, nuh uh, no ma'am, you ain't changing the subject," Latavius yelled, sweeping the photograph to the floor. "We going to talk about this me and my boy moving out shit; get that shit straightened out right here, hear?"

"It is straightened out; you're moving out," Penny said, again putting her hand on the pistol. "You have until the end of this week; Friday the eighteenth."

"Oh, just like that; you say it and we do it; you think it's like that?" Latavius yelled.

"It is not open for debate, Mr. Jefferson; you do not have any legal right to be there overnight. Your son certainly does not have any right, or any reason to be sharing a room with the minor child," Penny said, flipping ahead to the photographs of Katy's room and placing those on the desk in front of Lisa.

"So just like that..." Latavius yelled, again knocking the photographs to the floor.

"Mr. Jefferson, leave. Leave my office right now," Penny snapped. "Ms. Jones, I am your attorney. As your attorney, I would advise against you having any further contact with Mr. Jefferson, at least until this case is resolved.

"Come on, believe this shit, tell me leave," Latavius muttered angrily.

"I be right there," Lisa mumbled.

"Uh, aw no, nuh uh, this shit ain't happening; get your ass on up out of that chair," Latavius ordered.

"I be right there," Lisa yelled at him.

Latavius attempted to slam Penny's door, but the hydraulic spring prevented it from doing anything but shutting gently.

"So, again, when's the last time this grass has been cut?" Penny asked, picking up the three photographs.

"Two, maybe three weeks," Lisa lied.

"Ms. Jones," Penny said, pursing her lips. "I have a yard. My yard man cuts it every two weeks and it doesn't look like this."

She then pulled out the photograph of the front door's exterior, and the photograph of the door's interior.

"And what happened here?" Penny asked.

"L.J. was showing us some wrestling shit he seen on TV," Lisa mumbled. "Ran into the door."

"And you've just left it like that?" Penny asked.

Lisa didn't answer.

"When's the last time that kitchen's been cleaned?" Penny went on, showing Lisa a photograph of the kitchen counter. "Broad daylight and there's roaches everywhere!"

"I clean that every day," Lisa lied. "Y'all must have just took that picture. Remember? I been in jail!"

"Ma'am, look at the time/date stamp," Penny snapped. "Taken the same day you were arrested."

"Y'all ain't had no right go on up in my house," Lisa suddenly snapped.

"There was a child being endangered,," Penny said. "Her father had every right..."

Penny then played the part of Richard's video where L.J. admitted that he and Katy were often left alone.

"How old is L.J.?" Penny asked.

"Think he's nine," Lisa admitted.

"He's nine? And big enough to knock holes in doors?" Penny asked.

Penny opened the door of her office and ushered Lisa out. Latavius was leaning over Ethel, holding a discussion with her breasts. He smiled sheepishly as Lisa glared hotly at him.

"Okay, be here next Thursday with L.J.," Penny said, smirking at Ethel's relieved expression.

"Wait, why you need L.J.?" Latavius asked.

"Now, when I can go pick up Katy?" Lisa demanded.

"I told you; we need to have the psychologist talk with her and with L.J. then we'll take that to the judge," Penny explained. "Ethel, please get Dr. Leblanc on the phone for me."

"Why you need some Psy.... Psy...  What you need him doing?" Latavius demanded.

"Don't worry about it," Lisa said. "Come on."

"Tell me don't worry about it; see I need to teach you something," Latavius snarled at Lisa.

"I be seeing you, hear?" he turned and leered at Ethel.

"Miss Penny, I need me a shower," Ethel shuddered after the door closed. "With one of them S.O.S. pads."

A moment later, Dr. Leblanc was on the telephone, agreeing to interview both children.

Penny scrolled down the list of phone numbers on her cell phone, even though she now knew Russell's phone number by heart. She then decided she'd wait until she saw him at practice that afternoon.

Donald Pellichet stuck his head in Penny's office.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

She nodded her head and he took a seat.




Righting A Wrong



He questioned her about the case, cautioned her about the dangerous game she was playing.

"It's not a game," he said, getting to his feet. "Lisa Jones finds out you're helping Russell Jones she could have you disbarred.

"Need to see them pictures again?" Penny asked.

"No; just got back from Hop Kim's," Donald smiled tightly.

"What'd you have?" Penny smiled.

"What they said was Sweet and sour chicken," Donald admitted.

"No, no, no," Penny admonished. "Their Kung Pow chicken is the only thing worth eating there."

"Stuff gives me the squirts," Donald admitted.

"Enough," Penny held up a hand.

At four o'clock, she bade Ethel and Gail a good night and drove to the playground.

"Hi Katy," Penny smiled as she walked past the girl.

"Hi," Katy said not looking up from the game of jacks that she was playing.

Cookie lay, panting in the heat, only a foot away from the girl. Her tail wagged slightly as she recognized Penny and recognized that Penny had not been a threat in the past.

"Hi Cookie; you're a good girl, huh?" Penny crooned to the beast.

"Hey Coach," Joshua sang out. "Your girlfriend's here!"

"Really?" Russell said. "Hmm, could have sworn she was your girlfriend."

"No she's not!" Joshua cried out.

"Oh yeah," Russell teased. "Said she really likes the way you kiss and smooch and all that stuff."

"Shut up!" Joshua cried out, blushing hotly.

Russell trotted over to check on Katy, nodding in acknowledgement to Penny.

"Need you to bring Katy to my office next Thursday," Penny said as he trotted back to the field after checking on Katy.

"Okay; why?" Russell asked, skidding to a stop.

INFORMATION GATHERING

Ethel smiled as she greeted Dr. Leblanc, a pleasantly plump woman in her late forties.

"Hi; where's Gail?" Dr. Leblanc asked.

"Her husband got a job in San Antonio," Ethel smiled. "Said it was a little too far to commute so..."

"Some people, huh?" Dr. Leblanc laughed.

"Melanie; how are you?" Penny asked, entering from the small coffee room.

"I'm good, I'm good; now, tell me about this case," Dr. Leblanc said, following Penny into her office.

Dr. Leblanc lost her easy smile as Penny outlined what had transpired from the moment she took the case one and a half years ago until now.

"You ask me, Judge Duplantis could use a little psychotherapy," Dr. Leblanc muttered.

"So, you'll be in the conference room," Penny said.

"Oh, come on, Penny! That room's so stuffy! You really expect those children to feel comfortable in there?" Dr. Leblanc protested.

"Then where?" Penny asked.

"Ethel, any calls for me, please transfer them to the conference room," Penny snapped, coming out of her office.

Ethel fought down her smile as she could see Dr. Leblanc's amused grin behind Penny's back.

Twenty minutes later, Ethel switched on the recorder as Latavius, Lisa and L.J. sat in the waiting room. Latavius was telling his son what to say and what not to say when 'you talking to that bitch doctor.'

Ethel didn't know if anything she recorded could be of use, but the loud, arrogant man was telling his kid to flat out lie to the doctor.

"Hi! I'm Dr. Leblanc!" Melanie smiled sweetly at L.J. and warmly greeted Lisa and Latavius.

"So, what's 'L.J.' stand for?" she asked as she ushered the boy into the office.

At the time that Melanie was finishing her interview with Latavius Junior, Russell and Katy were visiting Aunt Melissa at Pine Grove Assisted Living Center.

Russell hated to admit it, but his sister looked happy, healthy. She showed him her collection of water color painting and some of them were quite good.

"Miss Connie says I'm real good; I even know my colors," Melissa bragged.

"I know my colors too!" Katy told her aunt. "I know blue, and green and red and..."

"Hello, Mr. Jones," Amanda smiled warmly. "Melissa, it's time for our walk. Your brother and niece can go with you if they want."

The walk consisted of a twenty minute trek around the periphery of Pine Grove's property. There were twelve clients and four orderlies and one nurse, as well as Amanda Marcoloni. Russell and Katy walked alongside Melissa. The clients and the staff chattered happily to one another as they walked a haphazard trail.

"I can run real fast," Andre, an African-American client bragged to Russell.

"You can?" Russell asked.

"Yeah, want to see?" Andre asked.

"Why don't we race?" Russell asked. "Here, Katy, you hold onto Aunt Melly's hand."

"Okay, to that tree, okay?" Russell said.

"Go!" Katy cried out.

Russell let Andre win and congratulated the thirty four year old man.

"You seen that, Miss Amanda?" Andre repeated for the rest of their walk. "Huh? You seen that? I beat him. I ran real fast. You seen that?"

After their visit was over, Russell drove over to the law office. His eyes narrowed as he watched Lisa, Latavius, and L.J. get into Lisa's old compact and drive away.

He waited until the car was out of sight before getting Katy out of her car seat; he did not relish a confrontation with Lisa and Latavius, not with his daughter right there.

Ethel smiled widely, recognizing Lucas' baseball coach.

"Hi," she said brightly. "You must be Katy!"

"Yeah," Katy agreed.

"Yes ma'am," Russell corrected.

"Yes ma'am," Katy said.

"They're not finished just yet," Ethel informed Russell.

To Katy she smiled.

"Do you know how to play Jacks?" she asked.

"Uh huh," Katy said.

"Yes ma'am," Russell corrected.

Ten minutes later, Penny smiled as she saw Ethel sitting on the floor, playing Jacks with Katy. Her smile widened as she saw that Russell's attention was on his daughter, not on the good amount of Ethel's cleavage that was visible as Ethel bent forward, or on the expanse of Ethel's thighs visible as the hem of her skirt was up to nearly her crotch.

"Hi, Miss Richards; that's Miss Richards," Ethel said, directing Katy's attention to the lawyer.

"Hi, Katy," Penny smiled. "I see you're playing Jacks; do you like Jacks?"

"Uh huh," Katy agreed as Ethel got up off the floor and sat back down at her desk.

"Yes ma'am," Russell corrected.

"I don't know how to play Jacks; will you show me?" Melanie Leblanc asked as she greeted Katy.

"So, um, what's going to happen now?" Russell asked Penny as Katy and Melanie went into Penny's office.

"As Ms. Jones' lawyer, I cannot discuss any of that with you," she said loudly.

"Oh, okay, sorry," Russell said.

"But I think it's going to be all right," Penny whispered to him, stepping close to him.

He could smell her scent; a mixture of her perfume, deodorant and sweat. Her breath was heavily tinged with coffee; but it was not an unpleasant smell.

"Would you like a coffee? Water? We have some diet..." Penny offered.

"Coffee would be great," Russell agreed.

:What you take in it?" Ethel asked, getting to her feet.

"We'll get it," Penny smiled and Ethel sat back down at her desk.

"Aw neat!" Russell said as Penny got out a selection of coffees for his pleasure.

"I love this; the 'Big and Bold' one," Penny said.

"Sounds great," Russell agreed. "How much is a coffee maker like this?"

"This particular one? Four hundred; see, it's vacuum brewed, one cup at a time," Penny said and prepared the coffee.

It was nearly an hour later when Melanie and Katy left Penny's office. Russell smiled; Melanie had braided Katy's honey blonde hair into one long thick braid.

"What you think, Daddy?" Melanie asked. "See, we tried two pigtails, you know, one on each side, but we didn't like that."

"Well, that's how I usually do my hair," Russell agreed and Katy laughed at how silly Daddy was being.

"Thank you, Mr. Jones; we'll be sending your lawyer, you're still using Mr. Lambert? We'll be sending him a copy of our report," Penny said, the voice of professionalism.

"Thank you," Russell said sincerely as he shook hands with both the doctor and Penny, and waved good bye to Ethel.

"Go Bears," both Ethel and Penny said.

"Go Bears!" Katy shrilled.

"Go Bears," Russell smiled.

"Ooh, he is so.... Ooh!" Ethel exclaimed as soon as the heavy glass door shut behind the man and his daughter.

Melanie giggled as Penny's face flashed raw animosity at her young receptionist.

"Hmm?" Melanie asked Penny as the lawyer again too her seat behind her desk. "And does Mr. Jones know you're attracted to him?"

"I am..." Penny began to deny, then shook her head no. "Wouldn't matter; he hates me anyway because of me being his ex-wife's lawyer."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Melanie chuckled. "Now, about Katy..."

As promised, Penny did fax all the information over to Sonny Lamberts office once Melanie was finished documenting her diagnosis.

She also forwarded all information to Cris Dumas, the General Manager of DeGarde's branch of Pilot Petroleum.

"Miss Penny?" Ethel's voice crackled over the intercom.

"Yes?" Penny asked.

"A Mr. Dumas on the phone; says it's about a fax you sent?" Ethel said.

"Yes, please send him through," Penny agreed.

A moment later, the phone buzzed.

"Um, Ms. Richards? This is Cris Dumas? With Pilot Petroleum?" Cris' confused voice came through.

"And you're wondering why in the world I'm sending you information on a child custody case, right?" Penny asked.

"Uh yeah, that's right," Cris agreed.

"The name Latavius Jefferson mean anything to you?" Penny asked.

"Afraid so," Cris said, no longer confused.

"Give me your e-mail; I can send you a video of the 'nearly crippled' Latavius Jefferson playing basketball and then physically confronting my investigator," Penny said.

"Okay, ready?" Cris asked.

Penny sent the e-mail on its way, "As an officer of the court, I cannot sit by while someone perpetuates a fraud. My receptionist also has a voice recording of Mr. Jefferson instructing his son on what to say about his back injury."

"You are beautiful, Ms. Richards," Cris laughed as he watched the video Penny had sent.

"The audio? It was recorded in our waiting room; our receptionist sitting less then ten feet away; there is no reasonable expectation of privacy," Penny said as she sent a second e-mail with the voice recording attached.

"Again, you are beautiful," Cris laughed as Latavius' voice could be heard.

"Have a great day, Mr. Dumas," Penny said and hung up.

FORTH GAME

Lisa Jones decided, after smoking two joints and drinking a full pint of vodka, that she didn't need to wait the forty days until her court case. She was Katherine's mother and therefore had every right to get her kid.

Latavius was also drunk and stoned enough to agree.

They drove to Russell's apartment and banged on the door.

"Ola," the next door neighbor said, scratching his belly. "Meester Jones? He not there; he playing the baseball."

"Figures, stupid mother fucker; he was always about all that stupid macho shit," Lisa sneered.

They drove to the nearby playground and saw that there were two games in progress.

"Russell where the fuck are you?" Lisa screamed out, walking around the bleachers at the first game, a match between the Cougars and the Falcons.

"Ma'am! Watch your language!" an older woman hissed. "There are children here!"

"Aw, fuck you, Grandma!" Lisa sneered.

"Russell Jones, you stupid piece of shit; where the fuck are you?" Lisa screamed, looking around.

"Fucking reduce you, feel me? Fucking dumb ass cracker," Latavius threatened, looking around for Russell.

Carmen Davis, the older woman pursed her lips and dug out her cell phone.

"Don't see that useless ass mother fucker; you?" Lisa asked, stomping over to where Latavius stood.

"No; come on; he's probably at that other game," Latavius pointed.

"Russell!" Lisa screamed.

Penny could hear Lisa's shrill screams as Lisa and Latavius approached. She looked over and grimaced. Both Latavius and Lisa were staggering, obviously drunk. She then looked over to see where Katy and Cookie were playing. Katy had found a tennis ball and was throwing it for the happy Cookie to fetch.

"Limp dick mother... Oh! We don't need find him; there she is right there!" Lisa said, pointing behind the bleachers.

"Well all right then," Latavius said, slightly disappointed.

He'd hoped for a physical confrontation; that dumb ass cracker mother fucker, Cris Dumas and his ass kissing Uncle Tom, William Kennedy, had told him that he wouldn't be getting any more workman's comp. In fact, according to Dumas, Pilot would be suing him for reparations.

"What that mean?" Latavius had asked Cris.

"Reparations? It means you going to pay us back for the money we've paid you, all them doctor visits, all them 'sick days' and all our legal fees," Cris had laughed.

Now, hot, drunk, stoned and sweaty, Latavius was an angry man as they strode up to the small girl.

"Hi sweetheart!" Lisa drunkenly said, running up to Katy.

"Mommy!" Katy cheerfully called out.

"Come on, bitch, let's go on and get the fuck on out of here," Latavius demanded and grabbed Katy's arm.

Cookie was chasing the bouncing tennis ball. As soon as he heard her master call out 'Mommy!' the ball was forgotten.

Latavius smiled maliciously; Russell had also heard his daughter cry out 'Mommy!' and was heading right for them.

"Woof!" Cookie barked and launched herself at Latavius.

"Mother fucker!" Latavius screamed as the animal's jaws closed around his throat.

Katy screamed in terror as her beloved pent displayed a savage side she'd never seen before.

"Cookie! Drop it!" Russell cried out.

Cookie released Latavius' throat, but lay down on top of the terrified man, snarling ferociously.

"Lisa!" Penny called out. "What in God's name are you doing here?"

"This is my daughter; y'all ain't got no fucking right keep me away from my little girl!" Lisa shrilled.

"Sir, is that your dog?" Sheriff Dick Davis asked, approaching warily.

"Yes sir," Russell agreed.

"Please call it off," Dick asked.

"Cookie; here," Russell said and Cookie came to him and sat down.

"Good girl; that's a good girl, yes you are," Russell praised the beast.

"Woof!" Cookie said.

"This is my little girl, not yours!" Lisa was screaming at Russell.

"Lisa, we have a court date in..." Penny said.

"I don't need no fucking court date, bitch! I already won! And we been doing just fine, keeping that numb nuts dumb ass mother fucker the fuck away from his 'precious little Katy,' fucking get real! God, fucking bitch ain't even yours! I was fucking everybody right in front of you, stupid sack of shit!" Lisa screamed at Russell.

It took nearly fifteen minutes, but Dick finally had Latavius, who was complaining of a hurt back and Lisa in the rear of his cruiser. His daughter, Sergeant Elise Richards would be meeting them at the station to do the booking of Lisa Jones.

"Lisa, I will meet you down there after the game," Penny said through the open driver's window of the cruiser.

"Oh, and by the way, I do charge double time for Saturdays," she said as she walked away.

"We can play now?" Judge Marie Robichaux asked, preparing to don her umpire's mask.

"Yes ma'am," a shaken Russell agreed.

"Resume play!" she called out and smiled self-consciously at Russell.

"I assume that's what you say when play's been interrupted," she admitted.

"Works for me," Russell laughed.

"Me too," Anthony Carrecci, the coach of the Lions smiled.

The Lions put up a valiant effort; Anthony was an involved coach, but they fell to the Bears, four to nothing. Lucas managed to bat in one run and caught both of the balls that came his way.

But Darryl decided to 'educate' Russell on what he did wrong, rather than congratulate his son.

"Sir, we sent a flyer to each child's home," Russell finally said. "Along with that flyer was a notice that we were also looking for coaches. Might I suggest that next year, instead of lounging around, you get out here and do a little coaching yourself?"

"Yeah," Ethel said, earning herself a murderous scowl from Darryl.

"Oh no, no, the great Darryl would never get off his fat ass and do something," Penny said to Russell after making sure that Lucas was out of earshot. "He's much better at telling everyone else what they need to do."

"Kiss my ass; you got a hell of a lot of room talking about fat asses; look in a mirror lately?" Darryl snarled at Penny.

"Aw, Honey Bunches!" Penny laughed. "You used to love my big old ass!"

"You did good," Darryl mumbled when Lucas trotted over.

"Good?" Ethel praised. "You did great!"

"Proud of you, Honey," Penny said, hugged her son, and walked away.

Russell watched her ass; her tight Capri pants molded themselves wonderfully to the full buttocks.

"Hey, Coach, way to go, Scottie's mother smiled.

"Thank you; your boy is doing great out there," Russell praised, tearing his eyes away from Penny's departure.

He smirked; Scottie's mother's partner, a mannish looking blonde was also watching Penny's departure.

"Ah ha!" Josh cried out. "I knew you liked her!"

"Uh huh, but she says you're a lot cuter," Russell said.

Russell looked around, made sure that all of his boys were with their parents, that they would have a way home, and then collected his own child and dog.

"Is Cookie going to bite me?" Katy asked, her voice shaking with fear.

"No Sweetheart," Russell hastened to assure her. "No, Cookie's number one job is to take care of you; she will never ever bite you."

"Are you sure?" Katy asked.

"Have I ever lied to you?" Russell asked.

"No," Katy had to concede.

"Cookie; in," Russell ordered and Cookie leapt into the back of the truck.

"Baby, I know what happened scared you, but Cookie thought that Mr. Latavius was hurting you; that's why she knocked him down," Russell explained as he buckled her into her car seat.

He smiled.

"But the minute I said 'Cookie, drop it,' she stopped, right? Cookie is a very good girl," Russell finished, kissed his daughter's forehead and closed the truck door.

TRIAL DATE

Because of Lisa's little stunt, the trial that had been scheduled for July 1st, was moved up several weeks. Sonny Lambert tried to get a continuance; he'd not bothered to look at any of the documentation. Russell still owed him seventeen hundred dollars on the first divorce.

Judge Marie Robichaux presided over the trial; Judge Lori Duplantis had retired the previous year.

This time, instead of a smirking Latavius Jefferson and her cousin Carrie sitting with her and laughing while Russell cried, Lisa only ad her mother sitting with her. After a short while, though, her mother refused to sit with her; sitting several rows away.

Richard Boudreaux was sworn in and explained the video that he had shot that day, and also explained the digital photographs he had taken.

"And as you can tell, both the first video I took the one of the exterior of the home and my confrontation with Mrs. Jones' boyfriend, Latavius Jefferson and the second one, the one of the interior of the home, the one where Mr. Jones comes to pick up his daughter are continuous," Richard concluded his testimony. "The date and time are stamped on the lower right hand corner; there are no edit points."

"And why is this important, Mr. Boudreaux?" Sonny asked.

"It's important to show that nothing was staged; nothing was edited in or cropped out," Mr. Boudreaux said.

"Thank you, Mr. Boudreaux," Sonny said and sat down. "Your witness."

Penny was professional, competent, but could not shake Richard's testimony.

Dr.Melanie Leblanc was unavailable; she was actually two courtrooms down, testifying in another child custody case. So, Sonny went to the next witness on his list and asked the court that Ms. Carrie Brown, Lisa's cousin, be regarded as a 'Hostile' witness. Judge Robichaux agreed.

Carrie Brown was called to the stand. She glared hatred at her cousin as Sonny tore apart her previous testimony at the first divorce action.




Righting A Wrong



"I mean, yeah, we was both like, 'shit girl, you pregnant? What you going to do?'" Carrie admitted. "And she's all like 'aw don't worry about it, dog; got this dumb ass mother fucker, just tell him it's his.'"

Lisa did give a little satisfied smirk at Russell.

"At this time, we'd like to submit the two DNA tests that Mr. Jones obtained," Sonny said, showing two envelopes to Judge Marie Robichaux.

"Objection; we weren't given any copies of this evidence," Penny said, getting to her feet.

"We offer this to substantiate Ms. Brown's testimony," Sonny said, smirking at Penny.

"I'll allow it; the witness did offer the statement," Marie said.

"The first one was obtained the day of Katherine Lisa Jones' birth," Sonny said.

"When you did that?" Lisa asked.

"Just told you, at Katherine's birth," Russell smirked.

And it does show that Russell Jones is the father," Sonny went on.

"This second test was obtained on the second of this month," Sonny went on. "It proves that Russell Jones, again, is the father of Katherine Lisa Jones."

Carrie gritted her teeth when Sonny questioned her about her cousin's behavior after the birth of her daughter and Carrie admitted that she and Lisa were usually doing drugs and having sex with several men.

"But it ain't like they was just going to give us the shit for nothing!" she defended.

"So, in other words, you and Lisa are prostitutes?" Sonny asked.

"What? No!" Carrie shrilled.

"But you just said that you were having sex for drugs," Sonny countered.

A loud slap rang out and Lisa's mother stood up and walked out of the courtroom. Lisa clutched her face where her mother had slapped her.

When Lisa's mother did return, she sat several benches away from her daughter.

"And who usually took care of Katherine while you and your cousin prostituted yourselves?" Sonny pressed on.

"Russell," Carrie admitted.

"And was Mr. Jones aware of what you and his wife were doing?" Sonny asked.

"What you think?" Carrie angrily asked.

"What I think is not important, Ms. Brown," Sonny smirked.

"Answer the question," Judge Robichaux ordered.

"No," was Carrie's sullen response.

A few questions later, Sonny came to the original petition for divorce.

"Then we hook up with Latavius and he's all like 'aw you my girl; I cop a squat at your crib, know what I'm saying' and Lisa's all like 'aw yeah, just tell Russell he's got to go' and..." Carrie testified.

"Was Mr. Jefferson one of the men supplying you with drugs?" Sonny asked.

"Please tell me Mr. Jefferson is no longer living at your house," Penny hissed to her client.

"He ain't had time find no place else," Lisa hissed back.

Judge Robichaux motioned the bailiff over and instructed him to call the Bender Police.

Lisa reached into her purse; she had seen the interchange between the judge and the bailiff.

"Fuck!" she cursed under her breath.

Her cell phone was in the front seat of her car; the courthouse would not allow cell phones to be brought in."

"Um, listen I got to go, know what I'm saying?" Lisa whispered to Penny.

"You move out of that chair and I'll have you arrested before you leave this room," Penny hissed back.

"But I got to take me a shit; you going keep me from taking a shit?" Lisa asked, a little loudly.

"Right now? Hell yes," Penny snapped. "Hold it."

Outside of Lisa Brown's house, the Kimble and Bender Police Departments consolidated their forces and even brought along Duke, the drug sniffing dog of the Kimble Police Department.

"Down! Down! Everybody down!" Officer Darren Richards screamed as his wife, Sergeant Elise Richards screamed the same commands from the back door.

Latavius, L.J., and five other men and the two prostitutes were still dazed, reeling from the two flash bang grenades that had been lobbed into the house.

Duke located three stockpiles; the oven held a few bags of cocaine while the washing machine held a large cache of cocaine and heroin. Most damning for everyone concerned, though were the several weapons Duke ferreted out in the master bedroom.

"AK-47," Elise whistled as she catalogued the weapon. "Bet this is the one used on them two girls reported that meth lab?"

"You're a good boy; yes you are, yes you are!" Mike Stevens, one of the Bender police praised the dog.

"Yes, Duke!" Trey Gremillion, Duke's handler, praised, handing the happy German shepherd a treat. "That's my good boy! Duke's a good boy!"

"Would y'all like to be alone with the dog?" Officer Becky Yuma asked as she photographed the oven and its contents.

Mike smirked; it was a well known fact that he preferred the company of animals more than the company of most people. Being a cop for twenty years, and often the only black cop in the department made him wary of most people.

"Would you?" he Mike back, then rubbed the dog's head.

"Three twelve gauge shotguns, modified," Elise continued her narrative. "All loaded with buckshot."

"Would have cut us in half if they'd had time to get to them," Darren said quietly.

Duke found more drugs in the tool shed in the back yard of the property. Several bags of meth were photographed and catalogued.

Inside of one of the cells, Mustapha Ahknahari stared coldly at Latavius Jefferson.

"As Allah is my witness, if I spend even one night in jail, I will make sure you die like the diseased dog that you are," he hissed.

"What the fuck you want me to do about it?" Latavius yelled. "Huh? Take a look around; I'm right here too! What you want me to do, huh?"

At the courtroom, Judge Robichaux adjourned for the lunch break.

Lisa raced to her car, frantically fished around for her cell phone, then typed out a text message to Latavius' cell phone, telling him to get out of the house.

Then she looked around and saw her cousin stomping toward her own car.

"Carrie, hey!" she called out.

"Fuck you; you don't talk to me, fucking bitch!" Carrie screamed at her cousin.

On the other side of the parking lot, Russell and Sonny were walking toward their cars.

"Dead End's right there, oh, hey, you like wings you have to go to Best Wings in Bender," Sonny was naming the places to get a quick lunch.

"Got a PB and J in the truck," Russell said.

"Man, really?" Sonny asked.

"Damn, man, I'm still making payments to you, paying child support, alimony, rent, lucky I can afford the bread, much less the peanut butter and jelly," Russell said.

"Wow, um, well, okay then; see you in an hour," Sonny said and mentally flipped a coin. The Dead End Bar won; he could get a plate lunch and watch some young women dance.

"What kind of jelly?" Penny asked."

Apple; it's the only one worth eating," Russell smiled.

"And please tell me it's whole wheat; not that God-awful white bread," Penny smiled.

"Okay, I'll tell you that," Russell said, pulling the plastic bag out and showing her it was white bread. "I'm not under oath, am I?"

"Oh, Coach; that's so bad for you," Penny whined.

"Hey, Lady, it's a dollar sixty nine a loaf," Russell said. 

"A dollar... My God where are you buying your bread?" Penny asked.

"Early's; if there's any left after three days, they put it on the discount rack," Russell explained.

"Would you rather go get some wings?" Penny softly asked.

"This is fine," Russell lied.

"Oh, okay," Penny said and turned to leave.

"But thanks anyway," Russell mumbled.

"Welcome," Penny mumbled back.

"Why you was talking to him, huh?" Lisa yelled, getting in Penny's face.

Penny thought quickly.

"I was talking with his lawyer; trying to keep you out of jail," Penny yelled back.

"They find anything, and I do mean ANYTHING at your house, we won't be worrying about custody," Penny hissed. "We'll be trying to keep your ass out of jail."

At the Jones' house, the team was moving the last of the weapons from the house to the rear of the police van.

Darren felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he looked at the black SUV that pulled up to the curb.

He checked to make sure that his weapon's safety was in the 'off' position then approached the vehicle.

Before he reached it, though, the vehicle drove away.

At the station, Sheriff Dick Davis stared in disbelief as an order to release Mustapha Ahknahari came from the State Attorney's office.

"Allah is good," Mustapha smiled as he slipped on his shoes, then placed his turban back on his head.

The black SUV's rear passenger door opened and Mustapha got in.

At the courthouse, Judge Robichaux called the courtroom to order and the trial reconvened.

Dr. Leblanc, now available to testify, was sworn in and gave her assessment of both Katherine and Latavius Junior.

"Wait, wait, why are we hearing about Latavius? The child's name is Latavius? Why is he relevant to this hearing?" Judge Robichaux asked.

"The minor child, Latavius Jefferson Junior is residing in the same home," Sonny informed her. "In fact, it would appear that the two minor children are occupying the same bedroom."

"Please proceed," the judge snapped, glaring at Lisa Jones.

The doctor finished her report and answered all of Sonny's questions.

"No questions, your honor," Penny said.

"Why not? Huh?" Lisa demanded.

"Because, Ms. Jones, if you remember, we were the ones that hired Dr. Leblanc," Penny snapped back.

"Oh yeah," Lisa conceded.

Sheriff Robert Chastaine entered the courtroom and caught the bailiff's eye. The bailiff alerted Judge Robichaux.

Judge Robichaux looked up and motioned the DeGarde police officer to approach the bench.

""Have a warrant for the arrest of Lisa Jones," the Sheriff whispered and showed the judge the paperwork that Sheriff Dick Davis had faxed over.

"Very well then," the woman smiled tightly.

She sat back and hammered on the bench with her gavel. "Mrs. Lisa Jones, please rise," she ordered.

Lisa and Penny stood.

"Mrs. Jones, this is Sheriff Robert Chastaine; he has a warrant for your arrest," Judge Robichaux intoned.

Fifth game

The coach for the Eagles yelled at his players, yelled at the umpire, yelled at the players for the opposing Bears and yelled at the parents.

Time!" Russell yelled, signaling to Officer Mike Stevens, who was performing as the game's umpire.

Russell waved Mike over, then ran to the dugout of the Eagles team.

"Listen, I don't care if you yell at your kids; you yell at mine one more time, I'm beat your ass," Russell snarled at Graham Johnson.

"We win this game; we're in first place," Graham yelled at Russell. "So fuck you, you don't like me..."

"Sir, there are children here," Mike said, getting right in Graham's face. "Use language like that one more time, I'll pull your sorry carcass in; hear?"

"Uh huh," Graham glared at Mike.

"Thanks," Russell said to the umpire then ran back to his dugout.

"Fucking faggot," Graham hissed under his breath.

In the bleachers, Penny Sat next to Ethel. On the other side of Ethel, a surly Darryl sat sulking. Instead of focusing her attention on him, Ethel was busily chatting with Penny.

He had been right; the only reason Penny had given Ethel a job was to spite him. And now, Penny seemed to think that being his fiancé's boss meant that she was back in his good graces too.

By the fifth inning the score was still zero to zero. Both teams were playing their best.

"Oh God, please, please, please," Penny prayed as her baby strolled up to the plate, swinging his bat.

"Come on Lucas; you can do it!" she screamed out.

"Come on, Lucas!" Ethel yelled too.

"Stee rike one!" Mike boomed out.

"Come on boy!" Darryl demanded.

Stee rike two!" Mike called out.

"He's going to fuck this up like he always does," Darryl spat.

"Hey Darryl, why don't you try being a Dad for once, huh? Instead of being such a critical ass hole, why don't you try being a Dad?" Penny snapped.

"See, this is exactly what happens when you let a useless cunt have custody of a boy; turns them into stupid little pussies," Darryl snarled at her.

"Amen to that, brother," a man that was seated behind them said.

Lucas hunkered down and waited.

The boy whipped his arm out and Lucas smiled. The ball looked like it was coming in slow motion. Lucas knew he had this one.

"Aieeee!" Penny screamed as the ball flew off of Luca' bat; it was still rising into the air as it sailed over the fence.

"He hit it! Did you see that!? He hit it!" Penny screamed to everyone in the bleachers.

"Yes sir, that's my boy," Darryl told the few men that weren't watching Ethel's breasts bobble up and down as the girl jumped up and down, screaming Lucas' name.

Lucas smiled widely as he trotted around the bases then did a little dance as he stood on home plate.

"Way to go, Lucas!" his teammates cheered as he trotted back to his dugout.

"All right, Lucas," Russell smiled and sent Michael One out.

The Eagles' pitcher was rattled enough to throw two balls before managing to strike Michael One out.

The game progressed with a score of zero to one until the last inning. The Eagles had one runner on first and two outs. Josh was getting tired but he didn't want Coach Jones to pull him off of the mound so he didn't say anything.

"Crack!" the batter managed to catch the ball, sending it out to left field.

"Oh, God!" Penny screamed as the ball sailed right over Lucas' head.

Lucas ran after the ball. He dove for it, glove outstretched.

Penny held her breath. Ethel held her breath.

Lucas stood up and showed that he had the ball in his glove.

"He caught it! He caught it! Did you see that?" Penny screamed, running down the rickety bleachers.

"He caught it!" she screamed, running at full speed.

She slammed into Russell Jones, knocking him to the dirt.

"He caught it!" she sobbed, hugging and kissing him feverishly.

"Oh God; I think you broke my ribs!" Russell groaned.

"Way to go," the man seated behind Darryl said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Uh huh," Darryl muttered, watching as Ethel and Penny jumped up and down, hugging each other.

"Son of a bitch!" Russell groaned, trying to get up.

He managed to get onto his hands and knees and crawled over to the bench.

"I'm not kidding; I think my ribs are broke," he groaned.

"You all right, Coach?" Michael Two asked.

"Oh God," Russell groaned.

At the same time that Lucas was being hailed as a hero, Latavius, Lisa, and Prentiss Shaw were frantically searching the house, looking for any drugs that may have been missed when the police raided the place. All three were coming down and coming down hard.

In his room, L.J. was playing soldiers, lining up the plastic pieces.

Mustapha Ahknahari nodded solemnly and one of his men very easily kicked in the front door of the house.

Two minutes later, the four bodies were pulled into the living room. There, the bodies were doused with gasoline, then Mustapha lighted a book of matches and tossed the matches onto the bodies.



CLOSING CEREMONIES

"Sorry about your ribs," Penny mumbled as Russell gingerly walked to the table.

The large pavilion echoed with the screams, laughter, and chatter of the ninety six boys and their families.

"Think they're only bruised," Russell tried to smile.

"Still, I'm sorry; I was just so excited," Penny said, bottom lip quivering.

"Well, we'll be doing playground football in about three months; want to teach tackling?" he smiled.

"Coach; we're over here," Josh excitedly told Russell, pointing to the Bears' table.

"Thanks," Russell smiled down at the boy.

"I knew she liked you," Josh said.

"Nuh uh; she was asking me for your phone number," Russell teased back.

Five of the six coaches were present; Graham Johnson said second place wasn't worth showing up for. Russell took his place in the food preparation line, putting a handful of chips onto the paper plates. Several of the Moms did duties of bringing the plates to the rambunctious kids.

"How're your ribs?" Troy asked.

"Hurt like a mother fucker," Russell admitted.

Finally, it was time to present the trophies. Each child did receive a trophy, even Troy's team, the last place Cougars.

"And in first place, the Bears," Troy called out.

"All right Bears!" Russell yelled and gasped as his bruised ribs protested.

Each boy proudly came up and got his trophy as Russell called them by name.

"And this last one, this big old monster, we got this for our M.V.P.," Russell said when all sixteen boys were back at their table, cradling their trophies. "We all voted; a lot of you voted for yourselves."

There was some laughter.

"But quite a few of you voted for one boy. He couldn't play worth a hoot when we started. In fact, he didn't even have the right kind of glove," Russell went on.

Penny put her hand up to her mouth.

"Bet you're sorry you traded with me, huh, Troy?" Russell smiled.

"The Bears selected Lucas Richard, our MVP," Russell yelled, straining against the pain in his ribs.

The Bears cheered as a stunned Lucas walked up to receive his MVP trophy.

"I won this?" he asked Russell. "Really? 

"Well, it's got your name on it," Russell smiled and shook the boy's hand, then handed him the large trophy.

"Thanks y'all," Lucas said, then sat back down.

"And thank you to all you parents that took time out to drive your sons back and forth, thank you for coming to the games and cheering for your boys, and thank you for allowing us to coach them. Hope we'll see y'all for football!" Troy said, ending the ceremony.

"You coaching football?" Scottie's mother asked.

Russell smirked; her partner, again, was staring hard at Penny's ass as Penny, Ethel, and even Darryl were praising Lucas and examining his trophies.

"Yes ma'am; I was planning on it," Russell agreed.

"Well, whatever team you're coaching, I want Scottie on your team," the woman said and gave him a hug.

Russell felt like he was going to pass out from the pain as she squeezed him too tightly.

A few of the boys' parents insisted on photographs of their sons with Coach Jones. He obliged them all, smiling widely.

"Did fine," Darryl said, pumping Russell's hand too vigorously.

"Go Bears!" Ethel said and gave Russell a tight embrace.

"Thank you," Penny said quietly. "Thank you so much; you really really made a difference."

She stepped up and Russell stepped back. His ribs couldn't take one more hug.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tackle you again," she tried to smile.

"Oh, good," Russell tried to smile as well.

"Thank you; this means the world to me," she said and kissed him softly.

"Maybe just a little hug," Russell suggested.

She smiled and gently put her arms around him.

"Really, I can't thank you enough," she said and kissed him again.

"Hey, listen; we're having a barbeque at the house tomorrow; why don't you come on over?" Darryl jovially asked. "Bring your girlfriend, huh?"

(It was meant to be a dig; Darryl was convinced that Russell Jones was gay.)

"Bring my daughter?" Russell asked.

"Sure; come on over about eleven, eleven thirty," Darryl said.

At his apartment, Mrs. Santiago, who was supposed to be watching Katy, decided that the large dog had everything under control and lay down on the couch to take a nap.

Cookie found a bag of flour and ripped it open. Then she joyously shook it vigorously, then ran around the apartment with it in her mouth.

When the bag was empty, she shredded the bag.

"Oh my God!" Russell cried out when he entered the apartment and saw what a five pound bag of flour could do to an apartment.

Cookie, realizing that she had done something wrong, whimpered and tried to hide underneath the small kitchen table.

"Mrs. Santiago," Russell called out pleasantly.

"Oh, you back? I just lay down," she lied, sitting up.

"You just laid down?" Russell asked.

"Yes; Cookie and Katy, they in Katy's room," the woman said.




Righting A Wrong



"Oh, so y'all did all this before you laid down?" Russell asked, pointing to the blizzard of flour around the living room.

"Oh, I uh, I..." she stammered.

"Thank you, Mrs. Santiago; I don't think we'll be needing you again," Russell said, ushering the woman to the door.

Poor Cookie, covered from large head to almost to her tail, had to endure a bath. Katy enjoyed giving the dog a bath; Cookie did not.

Russell did not yell at the beast; having a bath was punishment enough. And it was not the animal's fault; Mrs. Santiago should have been doing her job instead of sleeping on the couch.

"Love you, you useless mutt," Russell said as he toweled the unhappy dog.

"Daddy! She not useless!" Katy giggled.

Russell then cleaned his apartment, grateful for the skills the United States Armed Services had taught him. Within an hour, all signs of Cookie's fun were eliminated.

SWIMMING LESSONS

The next morning, Russell looked through his daughter's clothes and decided that he'd have to go down to the Bargain Bin and get her some more clothes. He'd only grabbed a few outfits when he'd taken her out of the house and the fire had burned the rest of her clothing.

He dressed her in some shorts, a Mickey Mouse tee shirt, and her plastic sandals.

Then he drove to Penny Richards' house. Darryl had said they were doing a barbeque; Russell just assumed that it would be at Penny's house.

"Oh, uh, hi!" Penny greeted them.

She gave them directions to Darryl's house.

"You, um, you're not going?" Russell asked, lugging Katy back to his truck.

"Not invited," Penny said.

"He um, he did say I could bring a date," Russell said, blushing hotly as he buckled Katy back in her car seat.

"No; he said bring your girlfriend," Penny corrected, amused at his blush.

"Oh, um," Russell said.

"Give me ten minutes; I'll be ready," Penny decided. "You bring a bathing suit?"

"Be right back; didn't know to bring one," Russell admitted.

"Daddy! You should always bring one," Katy chimed in.

"Yeah Daddy," Penny teased. "You should always bring one!"

"Shut up," Russell smirked at her. "We'll be back in a minute."

Penny was waiting at the curb when they pulled back up.

"I um, I know it's not as nice as your um, your car, but..." Russell apologized as Penny made herself comfortable in the truck's rear jump seat.

"It's fine," Penny assured him.

"Hi!" Ethel squealed as she opened the door. "Hi Katy; remember me?"

"Yeah, we played jacks," Katy agreed.

"That's right! Did you bring them?" Ethel asked.

"Hey, all right, you made...aw, what's SHE doing here," Darryl said, then scowled when he saw Penny.

"Um, you um you said bring my girlfriend," Russell said, blushing hotly again.

Penny smirked at Darryl; she could tell, even though it wasn't even eleven thirty yet, he was already hitting the beer.

Ethel gasped, then squealed.

"Y'all are dating now? Oh that's so cool! I knew she liked you but I didn't know y'all was already..." Ethel bubbled.

Now it was Penny's turn to blush.

"Hey Mom," Lucas said, pulling up his bathing suit as he walked into the living room.

Hi' what you doing?" Penny asked.

"Hey Coach!" Lucas said, ignoring his mother's question.

"Hey, boy; you found a special place put that awesome trophy?" Russell asked.

"Yeah; they're right there, on the bookcase," Darryl said, popping the top on a can of beer. "Get you a brew?"

"No thanks; I'm driving," Russell said, then hoisted Katy up.

"And I got some very special packages to deliver safe and sound," Russell concluded.

Penny smirked at Darryl's discomfort. Darryl did not like to drink alone and he also did not like anyone making him look like a lush.

Katy was learning how to swim; Russell's complex did have a swimming pool. But she was still insecure enough to need her Daddy to be close by.

Russell sighed; the cool water felt good on his bruised ribs.

Then he let out a monstrous belch. 

Darryl could not barbeque or grill worth a damn but he resented anyone trying to help him. So, their chicken was dry as the Sahara. Darryl tried to cover up that mistake by slopping on too much barbeque sauce, but it did not help.

Ethel, thankfully, did know how to make barbeque beans and potato salad.

The problem, for Russell, was both the beans and the salad had onions in them. And onions made him belch.

He let out another burp and Lucas giggled.

"Sorry," Russell smiled sheepishly.

He helped Katy as she did a clumsy crawl.

Then Penny stepped outside.

Both she and Ethel were wearing one piece bathing suits, both suits very modest in design.

Ethel, however, could not hide her large breasts. And Penny could not hide her chunky ass.

Nor, in Russell's opinion, should she have to try to hide it. It was a work of art.

His erection was immediate and tented out the front of his trunks. He had to turn around and tried valiantly to will his erection down.

"Okay, you hang on right here. I'm going to be on that side over there; you come swim to me," Russell encouraged Katy.

"Yay!" Penny cheered when Katy did make it to her dad.

Lucas had to show Coach Jones that he could swim the whole length of the pool underwater. Penny smiled gratefully when Russell gave her son the praise and encouragement he craved.

Darryl came out in a too small bathing suit, and made Katy cry when his cannonball dive splashed water into her eyes.

Ethel and Penny both agreed that Darryl had already had too much to drink and both agreed that his bathing suit was better suited for someone twenty years younger and thirty pounds lighter.

"Mom, you swim the whole pool like that?" Lucas Challenged.

"Bet I can," Ethel said and did manage to, although she was gasping heavily when she completed one lap.

"Of course you did it," Darryl smirked. "I mean, look at them lungs you got, huh?"

Russell had finally calmed Katy down and she wanted to know how to swim underwater as well. Russell convinced her to try swimming above water while holding her breath first.

"God, you really are a great teacher," Penny said.

"Of course he is," Ethel said. "I mean, look at what he done with Lucas, huh?" 

"Hey, hey, um, some natural talent helped, huh?" Darryl defended.

Ten minutes later, Katy tired of swimming so Russell got out with her.

"Ooh!" Penny gasped, horrified as she saw the remnants of the huge, ugly bruise on Russell's side.

"Oh my God!" she said, getting out of the pool and approaching Russell. "Please tell me I didn't.. Russell! Did I do that?"

"'Fraid so," Russell agreed as he dried a now shivering Katy.

"Oh my God, oh Russell, I am so sorry," Penny said, tears beginning to spill.

"You should kiss it and make it better," Katy declared.

"Honey that only works with boo-boos" Russell laughed. "This isn't a boo-boo; it's a bruise."

"Let's see," Penny said and gave Russell's side a quick little peck. "There! How's that?"

"Um," Russell said, trying with all of his might to not get another erection.

"Or, how about now?" Penny asked, giving him another kiss.

"Better, much much better," Russell said, quickly wrapping the towel around his waist.

"We really do not to get that looked at," Penny said quietly.

"Lady, when have I..." Russell.

"Still?" Penny asked him. "Still? My name is still 'Lady?' After all we been through?"

"Penny, when have I had time?" Russell asked. "Not to mention the money?"

"You don't have insurance?" Ethel asked. "Bad as my job is, I still got insurance."

"Bad as your job is, huh?" Penny smirked at the grinning Ethel.

"Yeah, I got insurance; King's real good about that," Russell agreed. "Flipping deductible's fifty bucks, though."

"If that's not better by Wednesday, we're going to the Trauma Center, you hear?" Penny demanded.

"Oh come on Lady," Russell protested.

A raised eyebrow from Penny made him pause.

"Penny," he corrected. "I'm not going; all they're going to do is say 'well, can't do anything about it;' they don't even tape them up any more."

"Played five games my side all taped up," Darryl said. "Got hit with a bounder; mother fucker that hurt!"

"Hey, hey, watch the mouth, huh? Little ears!" Russell protested.

"Still, Russell; that was two weeks ago," Penny protested, lightly fingering the bruise.

"Time takes time," Russell said pragmatically.

Katy fell asleep the moment Russell put her into her car seat so Russell and Penny talked as he drove her home.

"So you're still on the late night shift?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, Mrs. Santi... Aw, damn it!" Russell said.

"What?" Penny asked.

"Mrs. Santiago was watching Penny when I went to work, but I fired her yesterday," Russell said.

He then told her the story of Cookie's adventure with the flour.

"Come on, Lady, it's not funny!" Russell protested as Penny laughed at the mental image he was painting for her.

"Okay," Penny giggled. "It's not funny."

"It's not!" Russell said, also laughing. "She had it everywhere! I even had to get behind the couch."

"I dropped a bag of flour once," Penny laughed. "It does go everywhere, huh?"

"Yeah, it does," Russell agreed. "And Cookie had to have a bath; boy, she was not a happy puppy."

"So, what are you going to do about Katy? You go in tonight, don't you?" Penny asked as he helped her out of the cramped jump seat.

"Damn it, I guess I'll have to hire Mrs. Santiago back," Russell grimaced.

"Drop her off here; I'll watch her," Penny quickly offered.

"Aw come on Lady, get real, huh?" Russell said, slamming the truck door shut.

"Lady, huh? Well, I guess it's better than what you used to call me," Penny considered.

"Penny, all right? Penny," Russell said. "And I'm sorry about..."

Penny looked at the sleeping girl.

"Drop her off here and I'll have her dressed and ready; we'll even have breakfast by the time you pick her up," Penny begged.

"And what about tomorrow? Or the next night?" Russell asked. "And what about Cookie, huh? I really don't want..."

"Let's just try it for a week," Penny begged. "And Bring Cookie too; she knows me and she knows I'm safe around Katy."

"Lady, Penny I..." Russell said, wavering.

"And Lucas will be here tomorrow night so there will be two of us keeping an eye on Katy," Penny continued.

A week, Lady, Penny," Russell conceded. "We'll try it for one week and see."

"Good; see y'all tonight," Penny said, happy.

"Uh huh, let's see if you're still talking to me at the end of this week," Russell smiled wryly at Penny's enthusiasm.



MOBILITY TRAINING

Both Russell and Penny agreed that Russell would drop Katy and Cookie off after Katy had her dinner. That way, she would be in known surroundings when she went to bed and would be less likely to be frightened if she woke up in the middle of the night.

"And that way, you can get ready for work without having to run around," Penny pointed out.

Katy was excited; she liked Miss Penny. She was a little disappointed that Miss Ethel would not be there.

"She plays jacks," Katy explained to her father.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Miss Penny would too, if you showed her how," Russell said.

Cookie saw Russell pack her large rawhide chew and pillow so she was excited as well.

Russell popped a few more antacid tablets; Darryl's barbeque was killing him, then let out yet another monstrous belch.

"And what do you say, Daddy?" Katy admonished her father.

"Ah!" Russell exclaimed.

"No, Daddy!" Katy giggled. "You say 'excuse me!'"

"Well, eex-cuuuuuse me!" Russell called out.

"You're excused," Katy giggled.

Russell again reminded himself he needed to go to the Bargain Bin and get Katy some more clothes; she had only two pair of panties that were clean and one more outfit. Her Barbie pajamas, thankfully, were clean.

"First thing tomorrow morning," he told himself as he gathered up child, dog, and their possessions.

Penny seemed as excited as Katy to be having Katy at her house. Cookie knew Penny so she gave her attention to the house itself, checking from room to room.

"And the back yard's fenced in," Penny reminded Russell.

"I'm not worried about her running off; she's a good girl, yes you are, yes you are," Russell said, getting a bark from Cookie.

"Now, she is potty trained, but sometimes she needs a little reminder, especially before bed," Russell continued to give Penny instructions.

"Um,, hey, Coach? I have a kid of my own?" Penny reminded him.

"Uh huh, a little BOY," Russell said. "This is a little GIRL; they're different."

"I know; remember? I'm a girl too," Penny laughed.

"Yeah, Daddy; she's a girl too," Katy said.

"You've got my cell," Russell said, edging to the door.

"You know I do," Penny smiled.

The following morning, Russell was still in his uniform when he picked up child and dog.

"Oh, I do love a man in uniform," Penny sighed, smiling.

Russell smirked at her as he gathered all of Katy and Cookie's toys.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Penny asked as she slipped into her pumps.

"Clothes shopping; she needs all kind of clothes," Russell said.

"You? Oh let me!" Penny begged.

"But you got to go to work," Russell protested.

"Hey, Ethel, I'm going to be about an hour late, let Mr. Pellichet know, okay?" Penny said into her cell phone as she grabbed her keys.

"And what about Cookie, huh?" Russell argued.

"She's fine; we just went outside and went potty," Penny said, waiting.

"Oh, okay," Russell said.

"Should we leave a bag of flour out for her?" Russell asked as Penny urged him out the door.

"Maybe next time," Penny smiled as Katy laughed.

Russell had to admit; Penny was much better than he was at picking out clothes and much better at dealing with Katy when she got bored and fussy.

Their only disagreement was when Russell pulled in front of Bargain Bin.

"Here?" Penny curled her lip in disgust.

"Yes. Here. Problem?" Russell asked.

"Yes, problem," Penny snapped. "I wouldn't dress my dog in anything comes from here."

"Good thing you don't have a dog," Russell said, opening the door for her.

"Yes we do, Daddy; we got Cookie," Katy reminded her father.

"WE have Cookie; she's got a pet rock," Russell reminded her.

Russell's wallet was considerably lighter, but now Katy had several outfits.

"And let's leave these," Penny prattled, sorting through the bags. "These can go to my house for when she's staying with me and..."

"You um, you're sure you want..." Russell asked.

"Absolutely," Penny smiled.

Russell was grateful that shopping had worn Katy out; she was ready for a morning nap when the three of them got back to their apartment.

It seemed to Russell that no sooner had he closed his eyes than Cookie was barking to let him know that Katy was up.

"You look tired," Penny commented when Russell dropped Katy and Cookie off that evening.

"Yeah, little bit," Russell agreed.

"Tomorrow, you just go on home; me and Katy will be fine, hear?" Penny ordered.

"Lady, come on," Russell weakly argued.

Lucas had a computer camp that the Kimble Public Library was sponsoring; he would be three from nine until three, then he would be at his cousin Arnie's house until Penny came to get him.

The next morning, Russell fought his natural instinct to go to his daughter and his dog and went home instead. He was sound asleep within minutes.

Ethel looked up and smiled widely as Katy preceded Penny into the waiting room. Both had their long hair done into a single braid. Katy was dressed up in a nice dress and new shoes, both from Babbage's department store.

"We're here to work," Penny announced to Ethel.

""Yeah," Katy concurred.

"Oh, okay; would you both like coffee?" Ethel asked.

Um, coffee for me, Juice for Miss Katy, please," Penny said and unlocked her office door.

Ethel entered Penny's office and smiled again. Katy was sitting at Penny's desk, Penny's chair raised as high as it would go, while Penny sat at the front of the desk, in one of the client's chairs. Katy was scribbling on a sheet of paper while Penny used her laptop.

Um, Mr. Neville is here," she said, putting Katy's mug of apple juice and Penny's cup of coffee on the desk.

"He's twenty minutes early; he can wait," Penny said, glancing at her watch.

By Friday morning Penny was dreading the weekend. She would have Lucas, but he already had plans to be with his cousin Arnie and Jackie, Darryl's sister and Arnie's mom, said Lucas could spend Friday night and Saturday with them. Saturday night, Arnie and Lucas would be going to Skate Town in Bender for a neighboring child's eleventh birthday party and if past history was any indication, he'd want to spend Saturday night with Aunt Jackie and his cousin Arnie as well.

Katy was her 'little buddy' and seemed to enjoy doing girl things with Miss Penny and Miss Ethel. Penny would miss her, and miss the loving and loveable Cookie.

But she put on a brave face when Russell showed up to pick up Katy and Cookie.

"So, um, what's your plans for the weekend?" Penny asked as they gathered up toys and dog toys.

"Nothing really; probably go swimming and hang out; that's about it," Russell shrugged.

"Well I um, you um, you want to..." Penny babbled.

"Got paid today and since they quit garnishing child support and alimony I got a little extra," Russell suddenly said. "So um, we're going to Chucky Cheese tonight; want to go?"

"We're going to Chucky Cheese?" Katy gasped.

"Yeah, why not?" Russell smiled at his daughter, afraid to look at Penny's face.

"I'd love to," Penny said, thrilled.

"Great; we'll pick you up at..." Russell said.

"No sir; I'll pick you up at five thirty; I'm not riding in that itty bitty jump seat," Penny smiled.

"Um, okay; I'll have Katy's car seat out of the truck," Russell smiled.

"What? Why? There's already a car seat in my car," Penny said.

"There is?" Russell asked.

"Well, yeah; how you think we've been getting around?" Penny asked.

Penny happily accepted a goodbye kiss from Katy, but stepped back away from Cookie's goodbye kiss.

At work, Penny kept one eye on the clock and raced out as soon as the clock said it was five o'clock.

Russell noticed that the car seat was a brand new car seat, not the second hand one he'd bought for his truck. He also noticed that Penny was dressed in jeans and a short sleeve shirt. Expensive jeans and short sleeve shirt.

Chucky Cheese was packed with running, laughing, screaming kids. Their pizza came, but Katy took two bites then ran back to play some more.

"I um, I know you know, um, this isn't exactly your cup of tea, but um," Russell stammered as he and Penny sat, watching Katy jump into the pit of balls.

"Shut up; this is precisely my cup of tea," Penny laughed and kissed him squarely on the mouth.

"I um, wow!" Russell said.

"Russell, this is exactly what I want to do," Penny said and kissed him again.

She laced her fingers with his.

"I want to be here, I want to be with Katy; I love her. I want to be here with you," she said.

She leaned against him, not noticing his wince as she pressed against his bruised ribs.

"I'm really not looking forward to going home to an empty house; Lucas isn't there and Katy and Cookie won't be there and it'll just be me all by myself," she admitted.

"So what are you going to do?" Russell asked.

Eat a big old bowl of chocolate ice cream and potato chips," Penny admitted.

"At the same time?" Russell teased.

"Of course," Penny said. "You fix the ice cream, then you sprinkle the potato chips on top. Ever had it?"

"No; I don't have any estrogen," Russell smirked and smiled as Katy ran up, took another bite of her slice of pizza, then ran away again.

"Of course, then it'll all go straight to my big old butt," Penny complained.

"It's a beautiful butt," Russell concurred.