Some Came Desperate: A Love Saga (6 page)

“It is true and you know it.  Mama blamed you when Ralphie left her and she never let up on you.  She even tried to . . .”

Jules and Simone glanced at each other but quickly looked away.  Jules exhaled and kept going:  “And just like that day you told Ralphie that enough was enough, that he either treat mama right or stop coming around, I’m telling you the same thing.  Enough is enough, Simone.  You’ve tried to get Shay back; nobody can ever say that you didn’t try with everything you had to get our sister back.  But now you need to forget about that and start thinking about yourself for a change.  Get a make-over, girl, then maybe you’ll get a man.  Because I don’t care what you say, you need one bad.”

Jules’ desk phone began ringing just as she finished talking.  She quickly answered the call.  Simone continued stuffing her papers into her backpack, refusing to allow tears to flow. She needed a man like she needed a hole in the head, she said to herself.  She’d seen what happened to those women on her job when their great romances went south.  They could hardly function anymore!  Who needed that drama?  And as for their mother, Simone almost stopped what she was doing when she thought about their mother.  Her own mother hated her.  It was always the unspoken truth.  Just because she wouldn’t try and get her father to stay.  Simone remembered the anguish on her mother’s face as she dragged Simone out of bed and begged her, on her knees she begged her, to run and tell her daddy not to go.  “He loves you, Simmie,” her mother had pleaded with her.  “Tell him you didn’t mean what you said.” 

But Simone wouldn’t do it.  She folded her arms and wouldn’t budge.  A child shouldn’t have to beg her own father to do what he was supposed to do anyway, she knew that even then, and she wasn’t about to run him down.  Besides, she figured, he’d be back by morning.  He was always running off like that. 

But he never came back.  Not that next morning, not a thousand mornings after that.  And their mother, to her dying day, never forgave Simone.

Jules hung up the phone and looked at her sister.  She looked pitiful to her, with that wild ponytail she always wore and that backpack.  She leaned forward.  “Why don’t you hang out with me tomorrow?” she asked her.  “Just the two of us.  We’ll go to the spa, get us a massage and a manicure and pedicure.  Then we’ll go to lunch at some fancy restaurant maybe, and just relax for a change.  I may even get you to do my hair.  You’re good at that, you know, even though you never even try to do your own hair.”

“Are you gonna get Shay?” Simone asked her, not interested in the least in any day of pampering.

Jules frowned.  “No, Simone, all right?  I don’t want to hear anymore about Shay.  She’s been in Foster Care for eight years now.  That’s why they won’t even give you visitation.  It’ll be too disruptive for her.  They know what they’re talking about.  Besides,” Jules said, leaning back, “Shay’s probably better off right where she is.”

Simone stared at her sister.  “What did you say?”

“You heard me!  We don’t know what kind of person she is now.  She was just seven years old when we last saw her.  We can’t begin to know what we’d be getting ourselves into if we ran to Georgia and dragged her back here.”

Simone, stunned, stared at her sister.

“What are you looking at me like that for?”

“I feel sorry for you, Jules, I really do.”

“Sorry for
me
?”

“You are so far gone in your own blind stupidity that you don’t even realize what’s happening to you.  You’re beginning to sound just like Jeremy and don’t even know it.  But I guess in your mind that’s okay too, isn’t it?  I mean, Jeremy’s a fool, and you, me, and the whole wide world know he’s a fool, but at least he’s a medically-educated fool.  At least he’s a professional fool.  At least he’s a fool who can help you climb that ladder to success, right, sis?” 

Jules leaned forward.  “Simone, give it a rest,” she said pleadingly.

Simone stubbornly shook her head.  “Nope,” she said.  “Can’t do that.”

“But they keep turning you down!  What you gonna do?  Apply for another turn-down?”

“I’m getting a lawyer this time.”

Jules, surprised, stared at her sister.  “A lawyer?  You don’t have money for a lawyer.”

“Big firms do work for free, if the case is worthy enough.  Mr. B. told me about it.  He even recommended one.”

“Who?”

“Nicholas Perry.”

“
Nick Perry
?” Jules said, astounded.  “Come on, Simone!  Nick Perry isn’t taking on any ridiculous case like this.”  Then she hesitated.  “You don’t even know who he is, do you?”

Simone hated to admit it, but it was true.  “No, but what difference does that make?  Mr. B. says he’s good.”

“Good?  Simone, he’s only like the best lawyer in Florida, that’s how good he is!  That man’s a high roller all the way.  His fine behind, and I mean
fine
, only takes on the glam cases, girl.  Stars and athletes and any other big dog in between.  He won’t give a case like yours the time of day.”

“That may be so,” Simone said as she slung her backpack across her narrow shoulder and began heading for the door, her head throbbing with disappointment.  “He may laugh in my face and humiliate me no end, just like you figure.  But at least I’m willing to try.” 

Which, Simone wanted to add, was far more than her go-getter sister, thanks to her go-getter boyfriend, would probably ever be willing to do. 

FIVE

She left work early the next day and got off of the bus in front of the Colgate building in downtown Miami Beach.   She entered the beautiful, bustling lobby nervously, her large eyes captivated by all of the marble and glass.  The big, burly security guard, seeing her captivation and the fact that she had stopped in the middle of the lobby, causing numerous visitors to nearly bump into her or complete a hasty sidestep, walked over to her. 

“May I help you, ma’am?” the security guard asked with a big smile on her broad, pink face, and Simone looked around before realizing she was talking to her.  She had never been called “ma’am” in her life.  But the guard’s smile was so infectious that Simone smiled, too.

“Yes,” she said, “I’m sorry.  I’m looking for Nicholas Perry’s office.”

“Mr. Perry, yes ma’am.  He would be on the eleventh floor.  You can catch the B elevator, it’s right over there.”

She pointed at an elevator to their left and Simone began moving in that direction, although she was wondering why she wasn’t given an office number.  When she got on and then off of the elevator, however, she understood.  Nick Perry’s law firm wasn’t just an office, but it encompassed the whole of the eleventh floor, with so many people coming and going, all well dressed and briefcase-clad, that she felt immediately intimidated.  Jules had said he was a big deal.  She was only just realizing how big. 

She also had no appointment, which now seemed idiotic but at the time seemed like a reasonable strategy.  She wanted to force the issue by her unexpected presence so that she could be seen now, not wait to be scheduled for some later date in the distant future.  But when the middle-aged woman who sat at the large, receptionist desk informed her that, without an appointment, she was not going to be able to see Mr. Perry at all, she realized the futility of that strategy.  She tried with all she had to convince the receptionist otherwise, insisting that just a few minutes of his time was all she was after, and that she’d be more than happy to wait until he could fit her in, but the receptionist was firm: there was no way. 

Although Simone’s hope was deflated, she wasn’t about to give up that easily.  Her large eyes looked around nervously, at all of the people coming and going, and she just knew that some of them, maybe most of them, were attorneys, too.  Not the top man, perhaps, but good enough to be a part of the top man’s fancy firm.  She therefore asked the receptionist if she could see one of them.  The receptionist didn’t like it, she was one of those decently-and-in-order-type women, Simone could tell, but she did eventually make a way for her to have a quick audience with one of Mr. Perry’s associates: a jumpy, four-eyed attorney named Mark Grier.

He leaned back in the chair behind his big desk and began twirling a rubber band around his long, thin fingers.  It had already been a long day, after spending nearly all of his afternoon in court, and the last thing he needed was some unscheduled female dropping in with a case like this, a case he wouldn’t dream of taking unless she had pockets deep enough to pay dearly for his time and effort.  But from the looks of her, from her youth and anxiousness to her race, he doubted seriously if she’d ever seen any big money in her life.

“Do you know how much a law firm like this charges per hour, Miss Rivers?” he decided to ask.

Simone sat erect.  She was dressed a little less casual on purpose, in a pair of blue dress pants, heels, and a blue blazer, her long, wavy hair not in its usual ponytail but loose down her back.  She was trying her best not to display the piercing desperation that pricked her soul, a desperation that would undoubtedly turn any lawyer off.   “I’m sure you charge plenty,” she said calmly, “that’s why I’m here.  Mr. Perry is supposed to be the best.”

“Mr. Perry is the best.  That’s not the point.  The point is can you afford to pay for Mr. Perry’s services?”

She hesitated.  “No,” she said honestly, “but that’s why I wish to participate in your poor folks program.”

Mark laughed.  “Our what?”

Simone was hurt, wondering if he was laughing at her lack of knowledge, but she soldiered on:  “I can’t think of the name of it, I tried to look up the name this morning, but it’s that program where you agree to take a case even if the person can’t pay for your services.”

Mark shook his head, and removed his designer glasses as if he was about to explain something to a little kid.  His tired blue eyes looked unflinchingly at Simone.  “It’s not a program, Miss Rivers, okay?  It’s a decision that
we
make, not the client, but a decision that we make to take on a case
pro bono
.  That is, for the good and without compensation.  But our decision is never based solely on the client’s financial situation but, and most importantly, we base our decision on the merits of her case.  Unfortunately, that’s where you have a problem.”

“On the merits?”

“On the merits, that’s right.  To put it mildly, Miss Rivers, your case is unwinnable.  You’ve got a sister who’s been in foster care since she was seven years old.  Now she’s sixteen—”

“Fifteen.”

“Fifteen and undoubtedly hard-headed, as are most typical teens.  And you’re what, nineteen, twenty, trying to get custody?”

“I’m twenty-two, and I can handle my own sister.”

“I’m sure you believe you can, but the state of Georgia doesn’t believe you can.  That’s the problem. They haven’t turned you down five times—”

“Four.”

“Whatever.  They haven’t turned you down over and over without cause.  They’re convinced you can’t handle it.”

“How can they be convinced of anything about me?  They don’t even know me.”

“You’re young, Miss Rivers, that’s all they need to know.  You’re young and gun-ho and just wouldn’t be a safe placement to them.  I’m sure you’ve heard of those horror stories revolving around the child welfare system.  Children being placed back in homes and ending up dead or very nearly.  In the past they were more lenient, but not now.  Not with all of this media scrutiny they’ve been receiving.”  Mark then leaned forward, his eyes betraying his lack of interest.  “My advice is that you wait until your sister turns eighteen, which is only three years away, and try and establish a relationship with her then.”

Simone immediately grabbed her backpack and stood up.  “Is that all?” she asked him.

“I’m just trying to be honest with you–”

“Is that it?”

Mark threw up his hands.  Surrender.  “That’s it.”

“May I see Mr. Perry, please?”

“Lady, Nick Perry ain’t gonna take your case, either.  It’s a loser.  It’s a waste of our time, the courts time, and your time.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Grier, you don’t know anything about my time and whether I’m wasting it or not.  So please don’t tell me about my time.  I’m sick and tired of people telling me about me when they don’t even know me.  Now can I please see Mr. Perry?”

Mark frowned.  “No,” he said bluntly.  “You cannot see Mr. Perry, you cannot see anybody else in this law firm.  But what you
can
do is take that attitude of yours and get the hell out of this building.  That’s what you can do, Miss Rivers!”

Simone looked hard at Mark Grier, who probably thought he was the salt of the earth with his blonde hair and blue eyes, his fancy suit and big office.  And she left that office.  But she didn’t leave the building.

She went downstairs, to the lobby, and searched out that friendly security guard.  She didn’t see her, as the press of people continued to be constant and unyielding, but eventually she spotted her, over by the water cooler, laughing with a male guard.  Simone hoisted her backpack up on her shoulder and walked over there.  When the security guard saw her coming, she said goodbye to her colleague and met Simone half-way.  “Did you find Mr. Perry’s okay?” she asked Simone and Simone smiled.

“Yes, thank-you.  But they wouldn’t let me see him.”

“They wouldn’t?  Why not?”

“I didn’t have an appointment.”

“Oh, yeah, that’ll do it.  You gotta have an appointment to see a man like that.  You can’t just show up and expect service.”

“I know.  I just thought. . .”

The guard laughed.  “A lady who likes to push the envelope, I see.”

“Listen, do you think he’s in his office now?”

“Who, Mr. Perry?  I know he is.  I saw him go up less than an hour ago.”

“And you’re sure he hasn’t left?”

“Yeah.  He’s not usually in and out like that.  Why?”

“I’m gonna wait on him.”

“Wait on him?  It’s that important, hun?”  Simone nodded.  “But what if he won’t talk to you?”

“He will,” Simone said with a confidence she didn’t feel.  “He’ll have to.”

“You must be in big trouble.”

“Not me.  My sister.  I need to get custody of her.”

“Oh, I see.  Well, in that case, wait away, I won’t bug you.”

“Yeah, but, I need your help.”

The guard stood guard, as if her opinion of Simone was beginning to falter.  “My help?”

“Yes.  I was told that this Nick Perry is the best attorney around.  That’s why I came here.  Only problem is, I’ve never seen him before in my life.  Could you point him out to me when he gets off of the elevator?  If you’re still here, I mean.”

“I’m here till eleven tonight so I’m sure I’ll still be here.  And yeah, sure.  I’ll point him out.”

“Any special features about him that I should look for?”

“Other than the fact that he’s just about the best looking man you’d ever have the pleasure of seeing with your own two eyes in this lifetime?  Nall, nothing special.”  She said this and smiled as she began walking away.  “Keep your eye on elevator B,” she added as she left.  “When he comes down, he’ll come down on B.”

Simone thanked her and took a seat near the window, with a perfect view of the B elevator.  She sat for nearly two hours, occasionally holding a conversation with the security guard, who finally said her name was Anna, and prayed continually.  She knew she was overdoing it.  She knew her entire life seemed to revolve around getting her kid sister back and she knew it wasn’t healthy to live that way.  But she also knew that she didn’t know any other way to live. 

Finally, around 6pm, the doors of the B elevator opened for what had to be the thousandth time, but this time two men stepped off that peaked Simone’s curiosity.  One was Mark Grier, and the other one, the bigger one, definitely could be classified as the man she was looking for. 

She’d never seen Nick Perry before, had, in fact, never heard of him before Mr. Bellini mentioned his name.  But the man stepping off of that elevator definitely had a body that could be classified as “fine,” as Jules called him.  He didn’t look anything like Simone thought he’d look, however.  He wasn’t as ancient as she’d thought he would be, for one thing, and his face, with its strong, square-lined chin, large, searching blue eyes, small, straight nose and thin lips, gave him the look more of a stern, unapproachable businessman rather than some glamorous playboy hunk the way Jules had described him.  At least in Simone’s opinion.  But what did she know about men, she immediately decided.  Anna the security guard thought he was a hunk, too.

She searched out Anna, who was just hanging up the telephone at the guard station near the front of the lobby.  Anna looked at Simone, looked at the two men who had just emerged from the elevator, and smiled.  She looked back at Simone and gave her a thumps up.

Lord help me
, Simone said under her breath as she grabbed her backpack and hurried toward the two attorneys.  Mark was the first to see her, and when he did he shook his head. “Not you again,” he said frustratingly as she came near, causing Nick Perry to look her way, too.  Simone’s nerves became a little jittery when he looked her way, a feeling she quickly dismissed as the normal reaction of a person about to meet somebody as powerful as Nick Perry was alleged to be.