sitting at with friends and walked over to the counter.
“Are you kidding me?” Bob asked as he made his way over. Capturing the attention of all restaurant guests, he yelled, “Dale’s a friend of mine!”
The restaurant suddenly grew quiet as Bob, an overweight and irritable staple of Freeden, towered over a seated Ben at the lunch counter.
“Dale’s a good guy, and I know this is a terrible situation,” Ben said.
“Terrible situation?” he yelled. “His boy is dead!”
“I am aware of that, and–”
“If you’re defending that fag, you’re not welcomed here.”
“Bob, please… with all due respect I’m a regular and I live here and–”
“I don’t care who you are and where you live,” he said. “You’re not welcomed at my restaurant.”
Ben sighed, staring into Bob’s eyes. “What happened to Dale’s boy is awful, I understand and sympathize with that–”
“I don’t think you understand a damn thing!” Bob yelled. “Get out of my restaurant!”
Ben recognized that the situation was not going to improve and wanted to be sensitive to emotions, but still felt incredibly wronged by this. He looked around the restaurant, and everyone was looking at him. Some of them may not have even known what was going on, but it was obvious he was being kicked out of the place. He looked over at Aaron, who had retreated to a corner booth and was shamelessly grinning. As Ben saw it, Aaron stirred the pot, and knew how to do it well. No wonder that wife fucker fits in so well here.
Ben nodded to affirm that he was leaving. The place was silent. He walked over to the cashier at the far end of the counter.
“I need to pay,” he said to the cashier.
“We don’t need that blood money,” Bob yelled. “I’m not taking money from someone who profits from defending murderers and rapists!”
Ben turned his head in astonishment. This kept getting worse. People were starting to chatter.
“What’s going on?” one woman asked her husband.
“Is that Ben Bailey? The man who is defending Dwight?” another woman asked.
“You should have heard what he did to Dr. Henson’s daughter,” another woman said to her husband. “He’s a bastard of a man.”
“I heard Dwight killed a kid,” another man said at a table of men.
The place was full of chatter and gossip, even before Ben had the chance to get out the door. Ben knew gossip was embedded in the heart of this town, and the majority of those sitting in 3rd Street Café relished in the opportunity to indulge themselves.
Ben walked away from the counter, and as he walked toward the door, the place grew silent once more.
Ben was nearly at the door when Bob said, “And don’t come back ever again.”
Ben kept walking.
“Keep eating folks, all is good here,” Bob shouted as the door closed behind Ben.
Ben left the building and started walking to his office. His heart was racing at what had just happened, only two miles from his old home-place. This was his hometown, and he had just been kicked out of the most famous place to eat in the tri-county area.
Word had gotten out that he was defending Dwight, and his suspicions about how the town would react were already coming true. The most worrisome thing was that, as a whole, the majority of the town likely still didn’t know he was going to defend Dwight. And the response so far was already ugly.
He reminded himself as he walked away from the restaurant that he committed the previous night to doing the right thing for Dwight no matter what, and while there was still much to be done to determine Dwight’s innocence, it was not the time to sentence him just yet. Although, the court of public opinion seemed to already be voting in favor of a conviction. And from the sound of the 3rd Street Café patron’s rhetoric, an execution.
As he walked along the sidewalk back toward his office, a truck pulled up next to him, driving in parking area that ran parallel between the street and the sidewalk. It was Aaron. He rolled his window down.
“You know you’re done here, right?” he asked as he continued to drive slowly forward to keep up with Ben.
“Please,” Ben replied, “I have no reason to talk to you.”
“And Rachel wanted to leave anyway you know?”
Ben kept walking. “Well, that makes two of us that are happier then, doesn’t it?”
“There is no way you’ll be able to stay here after all this.”
“Wouldn’t you be pleased?”
“Oh I would. I want you gone.”
“Yeah, dick measuring with me never really worked well for you, did it?”
“Got jokes, huh?”
“Aaron, I do not have time for this.”
“I just want you to remember that your wife sucked my big fat cock more in the last week alone than she ever did yours.”
Ben sped up the walking. “Aaron, I don’t have time for this. Go to hell.”
“Oh buddy, that’s where you’re going when they get done with you here.”
He drove off. Ben stopped once he sped off in his big Chevrolet Silverado 2500. When they get done with me here? What does that mean? Were Aaron and the good ole boys he hung with going to try to hurt him? He did not know what to expect after this chaotic morning.
He kept walking and finally got back to the office, went inside, and locked the door. He picked up his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts.
BRENDA HALEY.
He clicked her name and it began to ring.
She picked up. “Is it true?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Jesus, Ben, you know this ain’t good?”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you call us? Like usual?”
“There’s nothing usual about this. It was late. I knew it could wait until morning.”
“It’s all over the front page of the Freeden Tribune. Have you seen it?”
“Not yet, but I’ve heard about it in a, let’s say, contentious environment at 3rd Street this morning.”
“You gotta see it. It isn’t good for us.”
“I need you and the team down here as soon as possible. Bring it with you please.”
“I’ll call around.”
“Be safe.”
“Yes sir.”
Brenda knew when not to be funny and keep it together. And she was the best employee Ben had ever hired. She would always do what he asked, so long as it was right and ethical. And Ben could always count on her to do what was best for the firm.
An hour later, most of the team had arrived.
Brenda walked into Ben’s office. “We’re ready.”
“Yeah? Everybody here?”
She shook her head. “Negative.”
“Who isn’t?”
“Kelly and Dana.”
“Hmm,” he replied, “what was their reason?”
She