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With all that shit going on, here Tionna was talking about a RICO case for one of the biggest rappers, and I knew that these kind of cases could go on for a long time, especially if they had a case already built up on this nigga, and he did have some kind of involvement.

No case was too big for me though. I knew that I could handle it.

“Merge me over. Let me talk to the mama,” I let her know.

“Oh my God. Thank you. I’m about to connect you with her right now,” I could hear the weight being lifted from her shoulders.

It took a few moments, but the call was finally connected, and I could hear what sounded like sniffing to me.

“Mr. Crawford, please. I’m begging you to take on my boy as a client.

I don’t care what the retainer fee is. We have it to pay you.

My son is innocent, and the shit that their trying to pin against him is crazy.

I’ll admit that Reggie does hang around a lot of street dudes, who are heavy into gang activity, but Reggie is not doing that stuff.

He’s all in with his rap career. Him, and his girlfriend have a baby on the way, and since he’s found out about that baby, he’s been moving on the straight, and narrow.

Last night just happened to be one of those situations where he was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” I let her say her piece, not going to interrupt her.

I was a straight to the point kind of lawyer. I was never going to tell a client what they wanted to hear. Instead, I would always tell them what they needed to hear, so even in her distress, I was going to be brutally honest.

“Listen, I understand all of that. Trust me, I really do, but that’s not how this works.

I’ve been in this line of business for years.

The feds have a lot on their plate already.

Trust me, they not kicking in Reggie’s front door for fun, and because they don’t have anything else to do on their spare time.

Somebody that’s in his troop; they’ve been watched.

If Reggie doesn’t have anything to do with that like you said he doesn’t, it’s just an unfortunate situation that he got caught up in” I was real with her.

“And I understand that. I really do, but this is one of those things where I know he’s innocent.

All he does these days is make music. That boy sleeps at the studio.

Now, if this was two years ago, I wouldn’t have been on this phone, begging and pleading like this, vouching for my son’s innocence because I know the mess that he was in two years ago-

“And the mess from two years ago could possibly be what had them kicking down his door, but I won’t know that until I sit down with him, start talking, and we start digging.

My retainer starts at 50. I’m not cheap because I don’t produce cheap work.

My work is top of the line. I give people another chance at freedom.

Even the ones that aren’t innocent. If Reggie is clean, and he doesn’t have any involvement with this, I’ll prove it in court, just like I always do,” I voiced.

“Okay. What about bond? Do you think he’ll post a bond?” she asked. It took everything in me not to laugh. I know this shit wasn’t funny. Trust me. I had two black boys of my own, so I would never chuckle at a young black boy having any problems with the law, but her asking me that was crazy.

“This is a RICO case. Not petty theft, or something domestic. When it comes down to these kind of cases, this is considered federal, and federal cases don’t move that fast. At the most, I can file for a detention hearing.

With that kind of hearing, me and a prosecutor will go before a judge and try to argue about a bond.

Whatever the prosecutor has on your son, they’re going to try their best to show that to a judge to prove that Reggie is probably a danger to the community, or even a flight risk.

It can go one of two ways. I’m on my way to the office.

I’ll be there in like ten minutes. I’ll call you back, and we’ll set something up, so that we can get this process started,” I replied, and I could hear her crying.

I offered her kind words, letting her know that I was going to do my best, just as I did with any of my other clients, and I could tell that that gave her some kind of peace. We hung up eventually, and I sighed, and tossed my phone in the cupholder, and ran my hand down my face.

“Please tell me you not talking about me, and Legends favorite rapper, Reggie? He’s a part of a RICO case?” Creed asked me. I already knew that shit was coming. When I was talking to Reggie’s mama, both my boys had their eyes on me, and they were all ears, listening to this shit.

“Yeah. That nigga in some deep shit. I won’t know the full details until I get to the office,” I said, and I could see it in his eyes that he was hurt.

“Dang. He just did an interview like two weeks ago. He went on The Breakfast Club. Charlamagne tha God was just telling him that he was the next one up, and that he needed to change his surroundings, and ditch them niggas that he be hanging with. He just told him that. Man, I hope he innocent. That’s gone mess me up if he gotta do time.

Pops, you going to have to show out with this case,” Legend said from the back seat, and I nodded my head, already knowing.

“Let me call Yaya. I know that’s her client,” I let out, picking up my personal phone, and I went to her contact, called her, and put the phone to my ear. It rang about five times, and then she answered.

“Sevyn,” is how she came onto the call. I’m sure she was at work and probably stressed the fuck out.

“What’s good?” I asked before I jumped into this shit with her.

“I’m at work. Where are the boys?” she wanted to know.

“Right here. You heard about what happened with Reggie? That’s your client, right?” I questioned, and that caused her to sigh.

“Yeah. I heard about it this morning when I got into the office. My team and I are preparing a statement right now. The boys told you about it? You know that’s their favorite rapper,” she went on to say.

“His mama just hit me. She wants me to represent him,” I shared, and I swear she sighed again.

“You’re going to take it? Law, I trust you.

You get on my damn nerves, but together or not, you are the best attorney that I know.

I know you’ll represent Reggie well, but are you sure that you would want to take it?

I remember your last few RICO cases, and the way it stressed you out.

You know what can possibly happen when you take on these kinds of cases.

It’s dangerous. It’s dealing with gangs.

They’re trying to say that Reggie was a part of a gang.

They already started posting the tattoos that him, and his friends each have stamped on them.

It’s federal agents, dirty secrets coming out, and all kinds of indictments.

I feel like the lawyers get pulled down into this shit too.

Before trial, during, and after leads to so many deaths.

I’m worried about the danger of you, and most importantly, my boys,” she was real with me.

I knew this would be her reaction though.

Yaya didn’t like me taking on RICO cases.

Back when we were married, she would always tell me that.

When I just called, it wasn’t to get her approval.

It was just to tell her about her client, especially if she didn’t already know.

“I respect everything that you’re saying, Soraya.

I really do. I put my kids before any decision that I make.

At the same time, I’m not running from no smoke.

That’s a young nigga that’s sitting in jail right now, and his mama just hit me, telling me that he got a baby on the way.

If he innocent, all I want to do is do my job, so that I can bring the nigga home.

That’s it. Yeah, it’s risky, but damn near every case that I take on is risky.

Catching a little heat from some soft ass gang banging ass niggas not enough to make me not accept him as a client,” I had to let her know.

There was no response on her end, which I wasn’t surprised about.

No response was good though because if we lingered on it, now the boys gotta witness me and their mama going at it, and I didn’t want that.

“So, it’s shit that I’m going to need to learn from you about that nigga before I visit him, and before I meet up with his mama.

I gotta know the kind of shit that you and your team already cleaned up with him, what kind of self- incriminating shit he might have posted online, stuff like who you normally see that nigga with, and who you think is trustworthy.

I want to jump on this fast because more than likely I’m going to have his mom come into the office tomorrow morning.

What’s your schedule looking like tonight? ” I asked, getting right to the point.

“I’m going to dinner tonight, so that won’t work for me,” she responded.

“You can’t push your dinner back until tomorrow night? You don’t think your girls will understand?” I asked, and I heard her suck her teeth.

“Why would you just assume that I’m going to dinner with my girls?” she asked.

“Because you not brave enough to tell me that you going out with a nigga,” I shot, knowing this girl like the back of my hand. I wasn’t even sitting in front of her, but I could bet my last dollar that she was rolling those big ass eyes.

“I was actually going to dinner tonight by myself. I could use a night out alone,” she hit me with.

“You already made reservations?” I asked.

“Yes, at Carbone , ” she said, calling out one of her favorite restaurants.

“Okay, well call them back, and tell them that it’ll be two. What time were the reservations for?” I wanted to know.

“At eight,” she said.

“Aight. I’ll meet you out there, then,” I replied, getting ready to hang up.

“Why can’t you just come to my job right now? We can meet in the meeting room to discuss it. If I go out to dinner with you tonight, it’s going to look like we’re on a date,” she explained.

“Fuck what it look like! We going by what it is. We going out tonight for business. Nothing else, nothing more. Don’t make this shit more complicated than what it gotta be,” I let her know. There was a long pause, followed by another sigh.

“I guess. I’ll just see you tonight,” she replied, and like that, she hung the phone up. I tossed it back in the cupholder, and continued driving.

Both my sons were chuckling, and I already knew that a joke or two was getting ready to come from either one of them. Then again, it could be both.

“Every time I think I got a little game, you prove to me that your much better than me. Ya’ll not meeting up for business tonight. Ya’ll going on a date,” Creed said from the front seat, and I started laughing.

“Son, that’s not a date. This not the first time that me, and your mama shared clients. We gotta see how we going to go about this shit with Reggie,” I let him know.

“Where ya’ll going?” Legend asked from the back seat. These lil niggas were questioning me, acting like they were my probation officer or some shit.

“Carbone,” I let him know, and they laughed again.

“Carbone? That expensive restaurant, and that’s her favorite restaurant too. Man, that is a date. So, while ya’ll out eating steak, and lobster, what we supposed to eat tonight?” Creed asked.

“Nigga, ya’ll got cards, and it’s money in them accounts. Order dinner,” I said.

Creed shook his head, like the shit he was hearing was unbelievable.

I continued to drive in silence. I don’t know how I felt about this meeting tonight with Soraya.

Shit could always go one of two ways with us.

It could go well, with both of us being mature adults, or it could end terribly, like how I felt it’s been going lately.

She was still in her feelings about that shit with Gina, so we never really recovered from that, and we were using the kids as middlemen to relay messages.

I haven’t been around her for a long period of time in a while.

I just prayed that we didn’t have to cut up in Carbone and give the people a show.

I know Yaya. She was going to want a drink. Probably a few drinks. That liquor would get in her system, and suddenly, she would get bolder than what she really is, so we’ll see what tonight has in store for us.