Curly Q

by Jamallah Bergman

  Babcock, Stewart, and Wilson had been together as a law firm for almost twenty years. She’d met Bob and Tim by way of another lawyer friend of hers at a dinner party. Tim and Bob had been trying to find a new partner in their venture while Madison had left the law firm she had been with while working as a file clerk. She’d gotten tired of not being able to become what she had always wanted to be, a lawyer. But where she was, they wouldn’t give her the chance because they’d been in the game for over thirty years. Also, the majority of the lawyers were white and men.

  So when she met Tim and Bob, they offered her the chance to become the lawyer she’d always dreamed of being. Throughout their time together, she’d grown accustomed to their ways and vice versa but more or less, they were her family.

  “Alright everyone, I am back in the saddle and better than ever!” she shouted while walking into the office that morning.

  People in the office stopped, looked, and clapped as she walked in.

  “Welcome back Mrs. Wilson!” someone said to her.

  She went to her office and was met by Mildred who gave her a hug. “Welcome back, you’re looking good,” she told her handing her a cup of coffee.

  “Oh now that’s good and thank you. So where are Tim and Bob?”

  “We are right here and welcome back Madison,” Bob said as Tim came in to give her a hug along with Bob.

  “Thanks you two, so I heard that you guys probably needed my help with this case.”

  They all went over to her lounge area where they would sometimes talk over their cases.

  “Do you know a movie star name Stacey Robertson?” Bob asked.

  “Of course, who hasn’t heard of her?”

  “Well, Mrs. Robertson passes away a while ago and her children, all four of them are going nuts about her will. Two are saying that some of the things that are on her present will weren’t there before. Mostly, it has to deal with property and money, mainly the money.”

  “Well shoot, if that is all it is, it should be easy to figure stuff out.”

  Tim chuckled and Bob sighed. “Well, easier said than done Mad. We’ve been dealing with this ever since after your divorce and you decided to take a break. Every time we decided on one thing and we would bring it to them, they ended up getting into the biggest argument there was. So we have basically been pulling out hairs over here.”

  “Well, let me see the will and let’s see what we can do. I want you to call them to come in around noon. That should give me some time to decide what is what in this will.”

  Madison found the will in question was a lengthy one when she looked over it. She could understand why her children were so mad at each other as far as trying to get what they wanted. Mrs. Robertson was a very well-known actress of the stage and screen. She had numerous lovers and many husbands. But if she would’ve of listened to what her children had to say then maybe she could have had an idea of what could be compromised.

  Noon was already here and from her office, she could see the children of the late Stacey Robertson walking into the meeting room. Gathering her papers, Madison said a silent prayer as she made her way to the room.

  “Ladies and Gentleman I would like to introduce myself, I am Madison Wilson, and I am one of the partner’s here at the firm. I was called in because of the problems that seem to have transpired over your mother’s will. First and foremost, I want to say that I am truly sorry about your mother’s passing.”

  One of the women started to cry and Madison saw one of the men rolling his eyes at her display as if he was used to seeing her act this way. “I went over this will with a fine tooth comb and I also looked at the proposals that my partner Tim and Bob gave you all. I wanted to talk with you all, so I could an idea as to what is the actual problem.”

  “Well, I am Solomon. This is my sister Diane, my brother Abraham and my other sister Rachel. When our mother made the will, she was in her sixties at the time. She was getting there in age and we thought that it would be best that she did it. But it seemed that our brother Abraham had been borrowing money from our mother.”

  “Now, wait just a minute here Solomon, you weren’t an angel either!” Abraham shouted then turned to Madison and spoke softly, “Ma’am, the only reason why we can’t make an agreement is because of the simple fact that Mother left most of her things to Solomon and Diane. She only gave me and Rachel a little bit of what she had left and it wasn’t much.”

  Diane started back to crying again.

  All Madison could do was sit back and watch as the two brothers continued to bicker back and forth as Diane cried and Rachel, well Rachel hadn’t said a word throughout the entire meeting as she sat there in a daze. Looking through her papers, Madison was trying not to get too mad but she was slowly thinking that this whole thing was stupid as hell. “Excuse me gentlemen while you both are getting your blood pressure up over some land and money, I just have one thing to say to you all. I have read a lot of wills in my time to where everything was settled with those who’d gotten what they wanted, without any arguments or name calling. But I’m finding this entire moment to be nothing more than ridiculous as hell. A bunch of grown men acting like children would do if the other had too much ice cream and was going off on the other brother about the fact that they got more.”

  They all looked stunned to say the least and thankfully, Diane had stopped crying which had completely annoyed the hell out of Madison. “I’m going to tell you all a story about when my father passed away. I have a brother and a sister and when he passed and the will was read, he gave us things that reminded us of him. It was the memories that we had of him that made the things he gave us more valuable than money and land. I can’t understand how selfish you all are acting right now. I just came off a hiatus from when I got divorced recently to hear this mess and believe me this is something you all will have solved within a week. We are not going to dwell on this anymore because now is the time to mourn and remember…not to fight.” Madison then took a sip of water.

  Pressing the intercom button on the phone, they all heard Mildred’s voice came on, “Yes, Mrs. Wilson?”

  “Mildred, I want you to bring those papers that I made up for the Robertson children. Thank you.” Madison turned to the shocked looking group. “Since you want to act like small children with not even a bit of sense between the four of you, then you guys will each get homework.” She smiled even though this idea didn’t seem to go well with the rest of the group.

  Mildred came in with a folder and handed it to Madison.

  “Today, you will go over the list Mildred has also given you of every single thing your mother left each and every one of her beloved children. You will pick out four things off the list that you want and I want an explanation as to why you want the things you have picked. Since you don’t want what your mother gave her children in good faith mind you, then we will deal with it this way. I will expect your answers back to me by eight o’ clock tomorrow morning. If I am not here, you can leave your list with Mildred.”

  “This is outrageous. You can’t treat us like this—like children!” Diane shouted in disgust.

  A sinister smile crept over Madison’s lips. “Well, you all have behaved as such and this is the very first time I’ve met you all in person. Now, I will let you all know this…if I do not get all of your responses by the time I stated, I will be talking with your lawyer, Mr. Stevens. I will inform him that since you all were unable to make a decision, I think the best thing to do would be to put everything as far as the house, cars, jewelry, up for auction. Then the money along with any other money willed to you should be donated to some charities that need the money more than you seem to. Also, any memorabilia she might have had would be sent off to any museum that would have use for it.”

  This wasn’t what they wanted to hear, as the two men along with Diane were redder than a garden of beets.

  Poor Rachel seemed to finally come out of whatever funk she’d been in and said in a voice so small that even Madison
had to strain to hear it, “I only wanted the broach and the pearls.”

  “What did you say Mrs. Howard?” she asked going over to sit next to her.

  The more she fluttered her eyes the more coherent she seemed to become of the outside world. “All I wanted was my mother’s cameo broach and her three string pearls. I didn’t want anything else. Mrs. Wilson is right you know. You all have been behaving so badly since mother died, quarreling over money and other things. I was there for mother when she needed someone to take care of her along with the nurses. She never trusted them because off and on, they would end up stealing from her as well. Do you think she didn’t know about how you would go into her accounts and take thousands from it Abraham and Solomon? She knew from the beginning what you were doing and the stealing of her checks, from her office desk. Seriously, you didn’t think she wouldn’t know of what you were doing? You all barely came around to see her, and when you did, it was always for money, or to argue with her. The press would have a field day knowing all that went on in our family and everything that was done by the three of you.”

  Her siblings sat stone still in their seats.

  Rachel looked over at Madison as the tears welled up in her eyes then grabbed a handkerchief from her purse to dab them away. “I was there for our mother more than my brothers and sister ever was, Mrs. Wilson. The only reason why she let them take money from her was because of the fact that she wanted to see more of her grandchildren. She loved them so much even though they never wanted them to come around. I would bring mine over as much as I could but she missed all of the others. They weren’t even there when she died.” She ended up being a complete blubbering mess of tears.

  Mildred then came over to console her as well.

  “Please take Mrs. Howard out for some air. I think she needs it right now,” she told Mildred as she helped the poor woman from her chair. All she could hear was her sobs which infuriated Madison to no end. Looking back at the motley crew, she give them were five important words, “Tomorrow, eight o’clock or else.” Grabbing her things, she left the group and went after Mildred to help console poor Rachel.

  “Now tilt your head about an inch to the right my dear, that’s right perfect,” Austin prompted while taking picture after picture of the beautiful blonde who was wearing a gorgeous red bikini along the beach in Ibiza. The weather had been perfect during the two weeks of the shoot and he was enjoying how the pictures were coming out. “Now toss your hair a bit, there we go, beautiful Alicia, beautiful, great…Ok, that will do with this outfit. You can go and change into the next one.” Gazing down at the camera, he looked over each of the photos he’d taken of Alicia. He liked what he saw and then he came across the one of Madison. He grinned and felt the warmth from just seeing her face.

  “Hey there, my Amigo!” someone shouted.

  He looked over to see Arturo Fermin.

  The smiling Spaniard was one of his good friends here in Ibiza. Arturo also owned a summer clothing line for women and men. He’d been the one who asked Austin to take photos of a new line of beach wear here in Spain.

  “Hello Amigo, come here and see some of what I’ve taken so far.” Meeting his friend halfway, he showed him the pictures.

  Arturo patted his shoulder, happy with what he saw while he looked on with a smile. “Everything looks beautiful as always my friend. I swear you have an eye for beauty.” But when Austin had clicked on Madison’s picture once more, Arturo exclaimed, “Dios mío, ¿quién es esta diosa?”

  Austin chuckled as he continued to click one picture after another of the shoot he’d done with Madison.

  “Who is this woman my friend? She is gorgeous.”

  “This, my friend is my brother’s sister in law. I got to meet her for the very first time when I came back home from a shoot in France. My sister in law had invited me over for a party so I went because I wanted to see my niece and nephew. I wasn’t expecting to meet her there but I’m glad I did. I can tell you these pictures don’t do her justice. I hate we ended up leaving before we got the chance to get to know each other better.”

  Arturo nodded as he patted his shoulder. “When you are done, Miriam will have lunch prepared for us alright?”

  “Sounds good,” Austin smiled as he changed the lens on his camera.

  Sitting out on the patio later on, Austin feasted on a spiced tortilla, prosciutto and melon salad with balsamic syrup, which she knew was his favorite. He also tried some of the sangria. Everything was delicious and the company was just as good.

  “So, tell me more about your beautiful lily lady. You never even told me her name.”

  “Who are you talking about?” Miriam asked.

  “Show her the picture Austin.”

  Grabbing his camera, he turned it on, pressing the button a few times until he came to her picture and handed it to his friend.

  When Miriam looked for herself, she smiled. “Yes, she’s beautiful Austin, who is she?”

  “Her name is Madison. Madison Wilson, my brother’s sister in law. I got the chance to meet her for the first time when I went back home. I wasn’t expecting anything really, just popping in, saying hello to Candace and the twins then give them their presents and mingle a bit. But there she was, standing by herself wearing this amazing dress and this abundance of curls on her head. When I got close to her to talk, she had the most striking eyes I’d ever seen.”

  “She must be an amazing woman if you can remember her from head to toe like that.” Miriam smiled before drinking her Sangria. “Well, did you get the chance to talk with her some more or even take her out?”

  “Yes and yes. We talked for the longest time during the party, she just recently got divorced. So, we had something in common. I asked if she would pose for me and she was fine with it and that’s how I got those pictures. I went straight home because I couldn’t wait to develop them and once I did, I knew I had to ask her out for a date, plus get some more pictures done of her.”

  “So did you invite her for dinner?” Arturo asked.

  “Yup,”

  “Did you take anymore pictures of her?” Miriam asked.

  “Yup,”

  The couple looked at one another, wondering what happened next.

  “Well, what happened man?” Arturo looked impatient.

  Austin chuckled as he could see the anticipation in their eyes. “I ended up making a move on her when I wasn’t supposed to. I wanted to do that one photo I told you about years ago but I just didn’t have the right model. When I saw those photos I developed, I knew she was the one I wanted but the thing was I had to convince her to do the shot. She was very apprehensive because she would only be wearing a sheet and nothing underneath. But after a while of taking pictures and talking some more, she told me she was ready to take the picture. We began taking pictures and everything was going just fine but then I ended up kissing her. The moment was just right and I honestly couldn’t help myself.”

  “Bueno, eso fue estúpido,” Miriam told him shaking her head.

  “I know I was stupid and then that was the last time I saw her. She’d called me when I was packing to come here, saying something to the fact that her job needed her for a case since she is a lawyer. She gave me her address and I’ve been writing whenever I get the chance. I said I was going to send her something special but I just don’t know yet.”

  “I got a perfect idea,” Arturo stated. “I have some places I need to go to around town as well as to Valencia. Why don’t you come with me, bring your camera to take some pictures and then we can go and visit my friend Estevan, he owns a shop where he does a lot of woodcarving and leatherworking, especially with books.”

  “Great, let me get another lens and we can go.”

  Chapter Seven

  Madison had a chance to get some alone time, just enough to where she could read the latest from Austin. She was starting to love reading about all he had been doing in Ibiza. For him to be able to travel around the world like he was doing, seeing different
lands, meeting new people whose cultures were probably new to him. Madison could only dream of being able to travel like that. For now, his letters made her feel like she was already there by his side. The phone beeped as she pushed the button. “Yes, Mildred.”

  “Candace is on line one.”

  Grabbing the phone, she clicked the button. “Hey sis, I haven’t heard a word from you since I left.”

  “Well, ever since I had that party, people have been calling for me to do parties so that has been keeping me real busy. How was your first day back and all?”

  “It felt like I never left the place. The case that the guys had to deal with was crazy. I was able to get through to the family of the late Stacey Robertson.”

  “No way, was it about money? It is always about money when a family member dies.”

  “You know it but I was able to get through to them and they were able to figure out what they wanted which was good.”

  “So did you call him when you got home?” Candace asked her.

  “Yes, I did and he had to leave for Spain and won’t be back for a month.”

  “Just like him to leave out and all. Is he going to keep in touch?”

  “Oh yes, I gave him my digits and my address since he said he was going to write me. I have been reading some of it when I get the time here.” She sighed as Mildred brought in another cup of coffee for her and set it down on her desk.

  “If he laid that kiss on you like you said he did, he’ll call you too. I’ve got to go. I only had a little bit of time before I have to finish off some other stuff. I’ll call you later sis, love you.”

  “Bye, Candy girl.” Hanging up the phone, she took her cup and began to drink while re-reading the letter. All she could do was smile and sigh. The phone buzzed again “Yes, Mildred.”

  “You have another call on line one.”

  Clicking the button again, she picked up the receiver. “Madison Wilson, how may I help you?”

  “Why hello there, it’s good hearing your voice again.”