Sins of the Mother

by B K Johnson

  When Tommy reached Clay’s office she handed the DVDs over to his secretary, Amanda. Clay was in trial and would not return until after 5:00 p.m. that night. Tommy wrote a lengthy note to Clay advising him of the nature and explosiveness of the comments made by Daniella, and the physical lesbian love. She asked him to please be sure to make time to sit with Geoff while they reviewed the surveillance tapes. She handed the note over to Amanda and asked her to put the note with the DVDs and secure them in Clay’s safe. Tommy certainly didn’t want any unauthorized eyes seeing what a laughing stock Samantha was making of her husband, intentional or not. Her errand done, Tommy returned to her office feeling dirty and disturbed.

  The first message she retrieved from her office answering machine was from Deborah Long, her contact in the DMV. Jeremiah had remembered the first few numbers of the license plate on the older green Chevrolet. Deborah ran 4XHE against all vehicle registrations of Chevrolets in the Bay Area, and then began limiting them to older ones and finally to green ones. She had a list of 7 she wanted to give Tommy, but wanted Tommy to call her cell phone after hours. Tommy placed the call and was happy to reach Deborah, who gave her all the names and descriptions of vehicles and license plates beginning with 4XHE in the area.

  Now feeling upbeat about progress being made in Brandolyn’s death, Tommy decided to take off in her car and get a visual of all seven vehicles. Sometimes her instincts would kick in and she would get a visceral feeling for what an inanimate object might have experienced. She was hopeful such would be the case regarding one of the green Chevrolets. Within a few hours she began to be disappointed. Time after time the vehicle looked innocent, even after she got out of the car to run her hands along the front bumper and hood inspecting for damage, repaired or otherwise. Strangely enough, no one accosted her or asked her what she was doing.

  The first three vehicles were in the Richmond and Sunset District of the city. The fourth vehicle location took her to Mount Davidson. Parked in front of a large, yellow stucco home on Bella Vista was a 1999 dark green Chevrolet Malibu. Tommy looked at the front of the vehicle and was surprised to see that the hood was a slightly different shade of green than the remainder of the body. She was running her hands over the hood, feeling what she thought were a series of slight indentations when an old man in his robe came roaring out of his house yelling at her. He kept telling her to get away from his car and get off of his property. He said he was a retired Judge and would call up his friends to have her arrested. The magnitude of his displeasure at Tommy’s inspection of his vehicle shocked her. “There is something really wrong here,” she thought. “He is just way too upset.”

  Tommy tried to calm the man down, asking him for his name. He spluttered out “Judge McCaffery, and just you get away from me and my home now!”

  Tommy backed off, but not before noting his name and the full license plate of the vehicle, 4XHE133. As soon as she was back in her car, she wrote it down in her legal pad. It was already after hours and too late to get Deborah to look it up for her, but Tommy resolved it would be her first order of business tomorrow morning to confirm that Judge McCaffery owned the suspect vehicle. Then Tommy would learn all she could about the man. She took off, driving past the McCaffery home, and saw the old man shaking his fist at her, and still trembling with rage.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The phone continued to ring until Tommy swatted the receiver off the hook and struggled to drag herself from a very deep sleep. She answered it sharply with, “Who are you and what do you want?” Glancing at the clock she was shocked to discover it was already 7:30 a.m., an hour past her usual rising time.

  Rod’s bass voice rumbled on the other end of the line, “Oh, did I wake you? If I recall correctly, you are usually up before I am.”

  “I just had a rough day yesterday and slept a little longer than usual. Sorry I answered so abruptly,” Tommy apologized.

  “That’s okay, Tommy,” assured Rod. “I just wanted to invite you to go to Marin to play a little golf today, if you are up for it?”

  Tommy immediately came to. Golf was a sport she dearly loved, but one that was beyond her financial means to play more than once or twice a month. Usually, she, Trish and Nadine would play sometime during the week when the green fees were somewhat cheaper. Since Rod was going to pick up the tab on this one, she could enjoy a weekend game of golf. “What tee off time do you have?” she asked Rod.

  “9:00 a.m.,” responded Rod rather quickly. They made arrangements for him to pick her up in half an hour, and Tommy jumped out of bed and into the shower.

  Twenty minutes later Tommy was brushing her hair into ponytails. One, her hair was still damp from the shower and she didn’t want to take the time to blow dry it. Two, the ponytails would keep her hair out of her face on the golf course. She hadn’t played for over three weeks, and didn’t want to add to her handicap. Rod was a scratch golfer, and Tommy had no intention of embarrassing herself. The least she could do was give him a run for his money on a few holes.

  When Rod picked her up he thoughtfully provided her with a caramel macchiato and a donut. “I figured you wouldn’t have had any time for coffee or breakfast, and hope this helps.”

  “Mmmm,” hummed Tommy as she bit into the maple confection. “You really are the best, Rod.”

  “Hold that thought,” chuckled Rod. “I’d like you to keep thinking that for the rest of this day, and into the evening as well.”

  “Just don’t beat me too badly at golf, Rod, and I assure you that you will have every opportunity to earn that reputation.” Both of them satisfied that they would be ending their day with some leisurely and enjoyable sex, they turned their attention to the beauty of the day and the trip over the Golden Gate and into Marin County.

  Rod had his own set of clubs and rented a set for Tommy at the clubhouse. He bought a couple dozen balls and picked up some tees advertising the course, and then drove them in the golf cart to the first tee. Rod started off and hit a great drive some 320 yards down the middle of the fairway. Tommy took her turn at the men’s tee, refusing to advance to the women’s tee. Her driver betrayed her on the very first hole. At first the ball looked to be going about 175 yards straight ahead. Then it took a dangerous slice and ended up in the trees. “Just my luck,” she grumbled. Thinking to herself that she had gotten the bad shot out of the way, she then relaxed into the rhythm and joy of being outside and meeting the challenge of golf.

  By the end of the ninth hole, she was starting to get thirsty and a little hungry. Rod was, too, so they stopped at the little shack at the halfway point and ordered hot dogs and soda. It didn’t bother either of them that the groups behind them would continue to play. Neither of them was in any huge hurry to end their game. Tommy had shot a barely respectful 47 for her front nine. Rod had a one-under-par 35 round. He had a bogey on the par four 6th hole but got an eagle on the par five 8th. Happily content with their scores, they chowed down and discussed their respective weeks.

  Rod’s family was extremely wealthy. It was one of the reasons Tommy had been reluctant to move their relationship forward. She had a tendency to think negatively about the very rich, and didn’t want to invest any time in romancing a dilettante. Still, she was well aware that Rod didn’t act true to form and was quite a successful entrepreneur. He had opened up his own business, first supplying surf and boogie boards for ocean aficionados. Then he added fishing and scuba gear, and jet skis, and every smaller recreational water accessory to his inventory. His business had expanded rapidly, and over thirty franchises of Rod’s Rods sprung up in locations across the United States. His trip to Thailand had been primarily to establish a franchise there. He filled Tommy in about how well the new franchise was doing after his return.

  Tommy told Rod some of her investigation into the Gage affair. When she mentioned the hit and run of Brandolyn Brown, Rod was shocked that anyone could have left the scene after running down a little girl. But he was truly blind-sided when Tommy confided to him her tr
acking of the green Chevrolet to Judge McCaffery. Apparently the Judge was an old friend of the Jefferson family. Rod was well aware that the Judge, who had retired from the bench some 10 years earlier, had failing eyesight. He was too vain and frightened to undergo cataract surgery, so he continued to drive with limited visions. Thus far Rod had heard that the Judge had three tickets just this year– one for running a stop sign, and two others for minor vehicular accidents.

  The first accident occurred when the Judge said he just didn’t see any brake lights come on in the vehicle in front of him, and he slammed into it. The driver suffered a severe whiplash and the Judge was cited. There had been nothing wrong with the brake lights on the car in front of him, and another witness in the car behind the Judge had seen those brake lights. The second accident involved three vehicles, all of which had been struck by the Judge’s. He had not seen a vehicle pulling out of the owner’s driveway, and he clipped the back end of that car. Overcorrecting, he broadsided the car in the opposite lane. Then his vehicle continued to veer again to the opposite side of the street and slammed into a parked car before coming to rest. Judge McCaffery blamed the vehicle backing out of the driveway.

  He had since been sued by all three owners of the damaged cars. The police investigating the accident had not been able to determine whether the Judge had adequate time to see the car backing out and brake before hitting it, or the owner came out of his driveway too quickly. The rumor mill had it that the Judge had been warned. He was already 80 years old and his driver’s license was in serious jeopardy. The Department of Motor Vehicles threatened to suspend his license if he was involved in one more incident. From all accounts, the Judge’s blustery attitude offended everyone he came into contact with regarding the accidents and his ability to drive. His wife had never learned to drive, and they had no children. Thus, the Judge felt it was not only his prerogative to continue driving, he considered it his right and a necessity.

  Tommy mulled over the circumstances surrounding the Judge and his driving record, and could see that if the Judge had been involved in an accident as serious as the hit and run that took little Brandolyn’s life, there would be no question but that he would lose his license. Indeed, he could lose his liberty, as if found guilty, he would certainly spend time in jail regardless of his age. The San Francisco Police Department had instituted a no tolerance policy for drivers involved in hit and runs. This would be even more important in a vehicular manslaughter case, and where the putative defendant was a retired judge who knew the law. Tommy was becoming convinced that the Judge had been the guilty party and it would become her mission to see that he would be tried for the death of Brandolyn Brown.

  She didn’t utter a word of this resolve to Rod. They finished their lunch companionably and got back into the cart. Tommy’s drive at the 10th hole was errant and hooked severely. The left hand side of the hole had quite a long out of bounds, and her ball bounced right into it. That meant she had to be penalized a stroke and take another stroke from the same tee. “Get a grip”, she chided herself. Forcing her mind back into the game, she then hit the ball 200 yards down the fairway. Rod applauded her success, and launched his own 5 iron drive 50 yards beyond Tommy’s, taking advantage of the dog leg left. The game was on again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The first few weeks Loke spent in Dave Lee’s class were more than intriguing to her. Although she was highly intelligent, and had worked for a few attorneys in the past, Loke was unfamiliar with the dictates of the law when it came to women’s rights. The extent of her knowledge, she came to realize, was that Roe vs. Wade had to do with a woman’s right to abortion, and that there were some cases dealing with the right to sue an employer over sex discrimination. What was amazing to her was to learn that many of the actions she had voluntarily submitted to from most of her male employers were illegal. Touching of her breasts, patting her rump, calling her sexy, saying she made them hot, telling her lewd stories – all of these could be construed as actionable offenses. Loke had no trouble remaining totally enthralled with the academic nature of Mr. Lee’s class.

  Gradually, she became far more aware of what an attractive man Dave Lee was. He was really tall, for one thing, and while Loke had been involved with men who were short and yet well endowed, she wondered if height on a man really made a difference when it came to his male organ. He was also very handsome, with a high forehead, long dark hair, slanted, brown bedroom eyes, and a full mouth.

  What was most surprising to her was that he was not at all arrogant, even though he was an attorney. He encouraged his students to call him Dave, and made himself available to them for discussions outside the classroom. He really wanted to make a difference in his students’ lives, and was committed to raise the women’s expectations for themselves to pursue advanced education and law degrees. Loke personally thought this was a waste of time, as most of his female students were obviously only taking his class in order to gain access to him. At least, since that’s what she was doing, she painted the rest of them with the same brush.

  That was, after all, the primary reason Loke herself was in Dave’s class, although her reasons for getting close to him weren’t just to enjoy him carnally. The thought did cross her mind, however, and she decided it wouldn’t hurt to see if she could get him in bed first. But she had a much more important reason to gain his interest.

  Loke learned everything she could about the stunning Tommy O’Malley, thinking her competition of a sort. This included her birth in Oklahoma to a Cherokee woman and Irish father, to her rise through high school and college and, eventually, law school, where she first met Dave Lee. Loke knew all of Tommy’s four brothers’ names and ages and places of employment. She even knew that Tommy refused to have anything to do with Jerome Tincup O’Malley, the brother who was only four years older than her and the next to last child of the O’Malley tribe. Tommy was the baby of the family.

  The death of Tommy’s mother when Tommy was only 5 years old was a fact over which Loke felt some compassion for Tommy. How she could be raised by a father, who was often absent from the home, and four older brothers, shocked Loke. She herself had three sisters and a brother, all of whom had been very supportive and trained her well in the feminine traits that defined many women.

  Tommy had obviously missed out on that sisterly training, since she eschewed makeup, and embraced any and all kind of sport. My God, boxing! Now that was a sport Loke could not believe any self-respecting woman would even consider learning, much less become as adept at it as was Tommy O’Malley. Loke correctly surmised that Tommy had had to learn to defend herself from her brothers during her adolescence, but really, shouldn’t she have outgrown that self-preservation instinct?

  Indeed, it was the fact that Tommy was Loke’s physical, as well as intellectual, superior, which caused Loke to spend such a great deal of time determining how she could get what she wanted from Tommy. Tommy was hyper vigilant and always aware of what went on around her. She was more than adequately prepared to meet any onslaught by almost any perpetrator. Loke knew she would have to play dirty. During her investigation of Tommy’s background, Loke found that there was one trait that made her more vulnerable than any other. She was notoriously loyal and vociferously defended her friends without any thought for her own safety. More than once she had been the one to suffer the consequences, while her friends had been spared any physical or psychological injury. “Perfect,” intoned Loke. This can’t help but work.”

  Loke sat at her kitchen table and acknowledged that she had allowed recent events to escalate to an extent that left her slightly out of control, and most certainly, ahead of schedule. After all, she had spent years on this journey, but now that she was almost at the end of it, she literally couldn’t wait to race to the finish line. Whenever she had doubts, however fleeting, of the honorable nature of her actions, she had a motive which was pure, as far as she was concerned. She put the photo album she had been holding to her breast down on the table, and patted
it. She rose and went into the bedroom, choosing a bright red silk sheath with a mandarin neck, that would cling to her beautiful body. A lovely little slit on the left side of the dress would expose the perfect amount of leg to tantalize.

  She then spent the next hour in the bathroom, having a long soak in the tub with luxurious scented oils. She brushed her sleek black hair until it shone like onyx. Loke knew that Dave Lee dated women who were lovely, but who didn’t use too much makeup. It appeared he liked the natural look, so Loke added just mascara to her long lashes, a little rouge to her cheeks, and bright red glossy lipstick to her full lips. Then she put on a red satin thong and matching bra from Victoria Secrets. She was not intending to have any liaison with Dave Lee, not just yet. But she knew from experience that she would move and act differently feeling the sexy underwear on her body beneath the sheath. And that would communicate her sex appeal to Mr. Lee, whether or not he was interested. At last she donned her garment and turned around twice in front of the full-length mirror. She approved. Then she got the keys to her car and headed out the door to go to class.

  Dave Lee had been preparing for this fourth installment of Women and the Law all day. He had taken the day off work in order to go over his notes and the case law surrounding the need to exhaust administrative remedies first, obtaining a “right to sue” letter prior to commencing any litigation to address sexual discrimination. He wanted to be sure that if any of the women in his class ever decided to pursue any litigation, they would know the proper steps to take. Unfortunately, many litigators were totally unprepared to take appropriate steps to safeguard their clients’ rights when it came to this specialty. While he would be sure to advise the women to obtain their own counsel, he didn’t want them to just hire anybody who promised them a good result. Dave knew if he armed them adequately, they would be able to differentiate between the shysters and the knowledgeable.