Acts of Congress

by Red Snapper

  After a few more minutes, he was now standing near the corpse of Caramel Love when he began asking the County Coroner his questions.

  “So Aretha whatcha got?”

  “This one appears to look like your average sex crime…you know the usual beating of the victim, bonding of the hands and ankles, etc. But, these perpetrators were not professionals because I found traces of semen on the carpet and in the victim’s rectal area, which indicated some type of sodomy encounter. But what’s really odd about this whole case so far is when I was first called to examine the corpse…I was told that the victim was a young African-American female, around her thirties, extremely attractive, but after I came to examined the body, I quickly discovered that the victim wasn’t a female at all.”

  Flabbergasted over her response, Detective Sergeant Briscoe responded, “What do you mean…the victim’s a male?”

  “Well she was in the process of making the change to become a female…this victim was a she-male.”

  Briscoe scratched his head when he replied, “So our dear Congressman must have been playing games with a she-male and it got out of hand huh?”

  “It appears that way Detective…I’ll know more after I’ve had a chance to fully examine the remains.”

  “Once you get a hit on the semen samples, let me know…this should be an easy case to solve.”

  While Detective Briscoe was turning away from the Coroner, he stepped into two tall man dressed in in dark suits and dark shades. He smiled as he spoke, “Excuse me but this is a Metropolitan Police matter…I’m in the middle of a major investigation and you two have to leave the vicinity.”

  The two gentlemen glanced at one another chuckled and then took out their credentials indicating that they were FBI Special Agents and then one of them instantly responded, “Excuse me officer, but this is a federal matter now…you need to step aside and let us handle this matter.”

  Detective Briscoe laughed while he replied, “Hold up…wait a minute…this happened within the confines of Metropolitan Police limits…you can’t just come in here and take this case over.”

  “Yes we can Detective especially when the case involves protecting the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage…”

  Briscoe looked aggravated when he responded, “What do you mean…that this murder case is somehow part of some kind of homeland security breach?”

  “We can’t convey to you any more then we’ve already done Detective…I suggest you give us any information that you have thus far and we will assess it to determine if it is useful to our investigation.”

  Briscoe angrily replied, “That’s bullshit and you know it…if this case didn’t happen in the home of a Congressional member you wouldn’t even be here…”

  As soon as Briscoe finished his statement, a group of FBI agents and Forensic personnel came rushing in. One of the FBI Special Agents that was conversing with Briscoe immediately began giving instructions, “Listen up…halt in your tracks…everyone stop what you are doing. This case has just become a felony one…I need all of the local officers to release any and everything that you have found to the FBI Special Agent that has been assigned to you. Please do not withhold anything information or evidence…if you do you will be charged with tampering with a federal investigation and will be punished under the full extent of Federal Law…is that understood…let’s take care of this now!”

  Detective Sergeant Briscoe was furious as he stepped directly in front of Special Agent, “You know that this is completely wrong…I will have my superior contact yours and we will get this cleared up…”

  Before the Special Agent could respond, Captain Langston Parker from the Metropolitan Police Department came onto the scene with his administrative assistant Officer Ashley Arceneaux and interrupted him, “Agent Jack Decker…right…I’m Captain Parker and I was briefed by the Chief of Police and the Mayor on this tragic situation. I gave them my word that if your department needed anything that should come directly to me…”

  Special Agent Decker gazed deep in Detective Briscoe’s angry and disappointed eyes while he responded, “Why that is very noble of you, Captain. I’ll keep that thought in mind. I’d like to make sure that everything that’s in this apartment to be turned over to my people as soon as possible. I’ll need the County Coroner’s Office to release the body to my Forensic Team with all evidence as well.”

  The Captain sneered as he retorted, “Of course ahhh…whatever you need. If you need some additional manpower doing some errands or…”

  He immediately interrupted, “Does this Detective work in your precinct Captain?”

  Captain Parker smiled while he responded, “Why yes…Detective Sergeant Briscoe is one of my best homicide detectives in the entire precinct. He has a great…”

  Decker interrupted Captain Parker again, “Look Captain I need him to work with us on this case…you don’t have a problem with that do you?”

  “Ahhh...no…no I don’t have a problem with that…ahhh Detective you’ll report to Special Agent Decker until the case is solved...but keep me informed on the progress...I’ll need to brief the Chief and the Mayor on this case.”

  Detective Briscoe sighed while he responded, “Sure Captain…whatever you say.”

  While the Captain and his assistant stepped away, Special Agent Decker leaned over toward Detective Summer and whispered in his right ear, “I make it a policy to always keep my enemies around so I can keep my eye on them…”

  Briscoe smiled while he responded, “Look Decker…I’m only interested in one thing and one thing only…solving this case and putting the TRUE killer behind bars…nothing more…nothing less.”

  Decker sneered while he responded, “Just remember that I’m watching you.”

  While they continued to walk toward the exit, Captain Parker smiled at his assistant as he said, “Ashley…how well do you know Briscoe?”

  She grinned slightly while she tried to assume why he was asking her such a private question, “I’ve seen him around the precinct and spoke to him before on several occasions…why do you ask Sir?”

  He stopped just short of the exit, looked her straight in her pretty hazel eyes while he responded, “I need you to get close to Briscoe…make sure that he doesn’t get too close on this one…we need this case closed as quickly as possible. Let the FBI do whatever they need to do to get this off our fuckin’ back…can you handle that Detective Arceneaux?”

  She beamed at the thought of what he had just said to her, especially the part about promoting her to Detective. She sighed slightly, trying not to make it seem obvious while she responded, “Sir…I don’t know if I can do thisow if I c/5or if this is right for me to do…”

  Captain Parker quickly interrupted her, “I need you to do this…don’t let Briscoe get us caught up in this damn political escapade…find out what he knows and report back to me…is that clear?”

  She swiftly responded to his question, “Crystal Sir…I’m on it.”

  While Captain Parker continued to stroll out the door, she stood there for a second while she thought, “Now…I just need to find out what Briscoe’s weakness are and then I got him. This is the break that I was looking for and I’m gonna make this happen.”

  17

  Samerra was genuinely distraught while she tried so desperately to come to grips with the recent news concerning the unnecessary and brutal death of her dear baby brother. Although, she had been saddened and blamed him for the recent loss of her job with Congresswoman Lucas but she still loved him and didn’t wish for this to be his end. While she sat there in her den drinking a glass of tea, she couldn’t help playing that scene over and over again in her mind about their conversation concerning him going against God’s will by going through sexual reconstructive surgery.

  Although she did not see herself as an extremely religious individual but, she still believed that his death was somehow a type of punishment from God for planning to go against his divine will.

>   When she stood up to make her way toward the kitchen the doorbell suddenly rang. She frowned while she thought, “I know I didn’t tell Dex to come over until later so who is this coming over here now?”

  She slowly ambled over toward the foyer to the door, looked out through the peephole, and immediately noticed that it was Dorena. She sighed heavily when she thought, “Damn it…its Dorena…I really don’t want to see her right now…”

  The doorbell rang again, which just did nothing but make her more nervous while she thought, “What am I gonna do…Dex will be here the hour and I don’ t want him to see her…”

  The doorbell rang several more times, but this time Dorena shouted out toward the door, “Samerra…I know you’re in there so don’t play games with me…open the door...open it now girl!”

  Samerra sighed while she opened the door, “Why are you here Dorena…what the hell do you want Dorena?”

  She left the door wide open while she just strolled away from the entrance allowing Dorena to enter into the apartment. Dorena slowly sauntered in and then closed the door behind her while she spoke, “I heard what happened…I just wanted to come by and say that I am so sorry about what happened to Caramel…I mean your brother. If there is anything I can do or say…”

  Samerra quickly interrupted her, “Why did you hire him to do your dirty ass bullshit? I know you knew he was my brother…now he’s dead…HE’S DEAD!”

  She broke down crying a river of tears while Dorena swiftly tried to console her. At first, she tried to brawl with Dorena, trying to prevent her from touching her, swinging profusely and wildly pushing her away from her, but after several minutes of this she found herself wrapped in Dorena’s arms while she allowed the pain of Caramel’s death to burn through her aching heart. Dorena held her as tight as possible while she cried for what seemed like several hours. Soon they were just sitting there on the love seat while Dorena commenced to asking her questions, “So Samerra…what do you think happened?”

  “Honestly…I really think that Congressman Whetstone was afraid that he was gonna lose his re-election bid if anyone found out about his relationship with Sam…I don’t know…I know one thing I’m gonna go and talk with him if it’s the last thing I do!”

  Dorena sighed while she responded, “It happened in his villa so he’s got to be the leading suspect right?”

  Samerra turned to face her while she replied, “This is the “Capital of the World…you know…‘Chocolate City’…the home of politics…I’m sure he has some type of alibi or even someone to take the fall for this rather than him going down…he’s a past master in this political game…I’m sure he has enough clout and resorts to waddle his way out of this one…you think?”

  Suddenly the doorbell rang again and Samerra sighed while she thought, “Damn its Dex…I guess I’ve got to tell her…”

  Dorena looked stupefied when she asks, “Were you expecting company…maybe family…I should be leaving anyway…”

  Samerra sneered slightly when she replied, “Ahhh…wait let me get that…”

  She strolled over toward the door and then quickly opened it allowing Dex to stroll in. He came in and immediately hugged and kissed Samerra in front of Dorena. Dorena was totally traumatized while she now watched the love of her life standing in front of her kissing a man… a damn MAN. After a few seconds of this Samerra turned to introduce Dex to Dorena but before she could get her sentence out Dorena grabbed her bag and immediately went straight for the door.

  “Dorena wait…I want you meet my man…wait where are you going?”

  Dorena just ran a fast as she could out of Samerra’s apartment. Making her way toward the elevators, but when she saw that it was a wait, she just quickly made her way toward the exit door, taking the stairs down to the main foyer. When she finally reached the bottom, she stopped and ran into one of the bathrooms. When she got in the bathroom she couldn’t hold it any longer when she busted out in an frenzy, crying her eyes out while she thought, “No she didn’t drop me for some no good fuckin’ piece of shit man…why did she do this to me…I came over her to console her and she does this to me? You know…I’m fuckin’ done with her and her problems. I’m gonna show her. I’m tired of her hurting me!”

  ♣♣♣

  Meanwhile in her exquisite downtown apartment Congresswoman Tamako Watanabe was on the phone trying to reach Caramel Love. She called her several times but of course, there was no answer. She began to get extremely frustrated when she thought, “Why isn’t she answering my calls? She knows I don’t like when she ignores my calls.”

  She sat down on the bed while turning on the television while she tried to call Caramel’s cell number once again. Suddenly the evening news broadcast began to do a recap of the earlier chain of events happening in the city with this update:

  “Congressman Thomas Whetstone has always been a major figure in politics since the mid 1970’s, but recent controversies are beginning to overshadow that legacy as we have learned earlier today that the body of a young African-American woman had been found dead in his Washington D.C. villa early this morning. Although the Congressman was now present when the body was discovered, we have not been able to get a statement from him or his camp as of this time…but we do have a photo of the victim that was found in his apartment early this morning…”

  Suddenly a photograph of Caramel was now on display on the television screen, which instantly made Tamako stood and dropped the phone on the floor while the broadcast continued, “The woman identified in this photo is of 29 year old Caramel Love of DuPont Circle. Although it is still not clear why Miss Love was in Congressman Whetstone’s villa, since he was not present for questioning at this time…it is my understanding that the Congressman will be making a statement sometime tonight…”

  She couldn’t believe what she just perceived as the photograph of her secret she-male lover flashed all over the television screen. She was totally devastated while she immediately sat back down on the bed. The newscaster continued with the breaking news while she thought, “Oh my God…my baby…my baby…this can’t be true…this just can’t be true!”

  She quickly picked up the phone, dialing Dorena’s private number and waited for her to respond. The phone rang and rang with no answer in sight. When all she got was Dorena’s personal answering message, this just upset her greatly. After several minutes, she sighed heavily while she tried to call Dorena again only to receive the same result. This time Tamako just threw the cell phone at the wall breaking it into pieces while she commenced to break down into a devastating whimper, dropping to her knees on the floor while she shouted, “Why is this happening to me…why…why…WHY?”

  This was another traumatizing setback for Tamako Watanabe because she was frantically in unfathomable love with everything about Caramel Love and now she was gone forever. She immediately went into a depressive outrage while this episode rapidly triggered hurtful thoughts about her late husband’s passing some years prior, now she had to deal with this devastating loss. She instantly went into a manic depressive state of mind while she continued to lay on her back on the floor, tears now mixed with heavy black mascara which was running down the sides of her creamy cheeks when she thought, “What were you doing over that fuckin’ Whetstone’s apartment anyway…why were you their Caramel…why? I know that bastard Whetstone had something to do with my baby’s death…I swear if he did…I’ll kill him…I’ll kill him…I’ll KILL HIM!”

  Immediately she stood up and quickly ran over toward the bar, took out a gallon bottle of Patron and set it on the bar…then she strolled over toward the end of the bar, unlocked a cabinet on the end and took out a bag that contained a copious amount of cocaine. She wiped her tears while she strolled back toward the bottle, grabbing a glass and then she trolled down the long hall toward the bathroom. She sat down her items on the counter, turned on the water allowing the tub to fill and then she opened the bottle, pour herself a shot and drunk it down. She sighed for a second and then she ope
ned the bag of cocaine, placing three lines in a perfect roll on a mirror that was on the counter. After she did this she looked up in the mirror before her, watching herself while she thought, “You’ll not worth shit…that’s why people keep leaving you…”

  She frowned and then she took out a small straw that was also in the bag and commenced to inhale all three lines of the substance. She stood back up straight again, looking at her reflection once again and thought, “Now this…this is what people want…this is what you should give them.”

  She took the bag of coke and the bottle and glass, sat it down next to the tub and then turned off the water. She smiled while she quickly removed her gown and stepped into the tub of sweltering water. She sat back in the tub as she thought, “I’m gonna get fucked up…that’s what my Caramel would of wanted me to do. Just get wasted to hell.”

  ♣♣♣

  Meanwhile across the metropolis, Lauren Lucas was extremely anxious, now pacing the floor while she waited for Jake Towson to call her. She knew that the death of Caramel Love would make things extremely hectic…maybe even draw-out things and that wasn’t what she sought after to happen right now. She knew she had to get Whetstone to come to her side of the bargaining table. But, she could not help to think about Samerra and how she is holding up through all of this.

  Finally, the phone rang, while she instantly glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Jake, she immediately answered it, “So what’s going on?”

  “I can’t talk on this phone right now…I need to see you. I don’t know who their watching and I know…it’s not safe but I need to see you.”

  “I need to see you too…there’s a strange dilemma brewing with this entire predicament…”