Keyshia and Clyde (23 page)

Chapter 37
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The hearing was scheduled for ten o'clock that morning with Judge R. L. Fenton, and Keyshia was more nervous than she had ever been in her entire life. What she was doing was unprecedented, and she was gambling not only with her career, but with Clyde's freedom, so she knew she had no room for error. Ceasar came with her to the hearing for moral support and posed as one of her assistants. Keyshia wore a nice conservative two-piece combination, the kind that Ms. Hemmingway wore every day at the office and whenever she had to appear in court, and she even had her hair rolled up in a bun like her. Keyshia also wore an atrocious pair of bifocals that made her appear older than her twenty-four years.

As they approached the federal court building, Keyshia wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew. She and Ceasar took a deep breath and plunged forth. Keyshia took the employees' entrance and flashed her identification to the officers and held her breath.

“Thank you, Ms. Hemmingway,” said the officer. He let her pass, and she put her bag and files on the conveyor belt leading through the X-ray machine. She waited by the elevator for Ceasar, who was being scanned thoroughly with metal detector wands, and watched the officer wave him through.

They stepped inside the elevator with a herd of lawyers who all looked stone-faced and seemed pressed for time as they checked their watches. Keyshia followed suit and checked hers. Ceasar tossed her a sly smile when she did. They rode up to the sixth floor in complete silence. When they got off the elevator, they went directly into the counsel's office to sign off on their docket for the day's proceedings. Keyshia had done a test run earlier and gone to the federal building and the counsel's office and explained to them that she was a prelaw student doing research on a day in the life of an attorney. She'd learned everything from A to Z about procedures, and it was paying off today.

While Keyshia sat and waited for the judgment after the oral argument for the pretrial motions, she struck up a conversation with an Asian girl who also happened to be a law student and was working as an intern for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

“So,” Keyshia asked, “how do you like interning at the attorney's office?”

“Oh, I love it. It has a lot of perks. Whenever I tell anyone I work for the U.S. Attorney's Office”—the girl's eyes lit up—“they roll out the red carpet for me. I get access to every file, document, cases, everything. I might as well be the lawyer prosecuting the case because I know everything they do, because I'm the one who helps put it together!”

Keyshia's head suddenly began to spin as the girl continued to talk. One thing and one thing only was on her mind at that point: She was going to see Professor Akills as soon as she left the building.

Keyshia sat nervously as she watched the circuit judge shuffle through the paperwork and briefs he had before him. Her stomach churned as he looked at Keyshia with his cold, grim eyes. She was unsure if she'd pulled off the oral argument properly and began questioning if he knew that she was merely an amateur who was bamboozling the court.

After the hearing, Keyshia ran out of the federal building in a hurry, causing Ceasar to grow alarmed.

“Keyshia, what happened in there?” Ceasar asked as he followed her. Keyshia continued her long strides without saying a word. A hundred things were running through her mind at once, and she was trying to think.

“What happened? Did you get caught?”

“Ceasar, I won the appeal.” He jumped up in the air with excitement and then noticed that she wasn't as joyous. Keyshia continued walking in silence until she stopped suddenly and said with exhilaration, “Ceasar . . . I got it!”

Ceasar grimaced and said, “You got him out?”

Keyshia moved down to Ceasar's face, and her smile widened. “Better!”

Ceasar was confused. “What could be better than getting Clyde out of jail, Keyshia? Stop playing!”

Keyshia looked at him and said, “Revenge!”

Ceasar looked into Keyshia's eyes and knew that she was dead serious.

“Now, Ceasar, I might have to quit my job in order to do it. Do you think you could swing the bills by yourself for a couple of months?”

Ceasar looked apprehensive, but he trusted Keyshia and said, “Yeah, I guess I can, but why do you have to do that?”

Keyshia smiled and said, “Because I'm going to be an intern, which means I'll be working for free.”

Keyshia knew that she had won only a battle and that the real war had just begun. Her first stop would be to Professor Akills to see if the government intern position was still available. When she arrived at his office and told him she was interested in the position, he immediately got on the phone and spoke with the director.

“What day would you like to start, Ms. Simmons?” Professor Akills asked as he placed his hand over the phone.

The next day, Keyshia waited impatiently for her boss to arrive. She had brought her boss's favorite morning treat: Dunkin' Donuts coffee and crullers. When Ms. Hemmingway finally arrived, she was in a solemn, dark mood, but when she saw the crullers, her demeanor changed. Keyshia began pouring her a cup of hot coffee and said, “Two Equals, no milk, right?”

Ms. Hemmingway eyed her closely as she munched on a cruller. “What's on your mind, Keyshia?”

Keyshia feigned innocence. “Nothing, I'm just helping my boss out. Can I help you carry this to your office?”

Ms. Hemmingway picked up another cruller and turned without a word toward her office. Inside she placed her crullers and coffee on her huge oak desk and took off her coat. Keyshia assisted her and hung up her coat for her. Ms. Hemmingway took her seat and again eyed Keyshia suspiciously as she looked around the office without saying a word.

“Two dollars,” Ms. Hemmingway said flatly.

Keyshia looked at her with confusion. “Pardon me?”

“I said, two dollars is the amount I'll give you as a raise.” Ms. Hemmingway gave her a rare smile. “I know how much you have contributed to this office, and it's about time you got a raise.”

Keyshia shook her head. “Ms. Hemmingway, I'm not here for a raise, I'm here to resign.”

Ms. Hemmingway's smile disappeared. “You're joking!”

Keyshia shook her head. “No, Ms. Hemmingway, I'm not.”

“Why would you want to leave, Keyshia?”

Keyshia hesitated but told her the truth. “I did something ethically wrong.” She put her head down. “I used the firm's name to file an appeal for my son's father, who is incarcerated for federal crimes.” Ms. Hemmingway said nothing.

“I even went to court yesterday and argued the hearing . . .” Keyshia paused and came out with the worst part. “And I won.” There was a long period of silence, and Keyshia was unable to meet Ms. Hemmingway's eyes.

“Continue,” Ms. Hemmingway managed to say.

“My son's father, Clyde Barker, was arrested six and a half years ago, for bank robbery.” Keyshia's eyes pleaded, “Ms. Hemmingway, it was impossible for him to rob the bank because we had just arrived back in town from visiting my family. I just drove around the block, and he was handcuffed with two other men, one of whom was his brother and—”

Ms. Hemmingway challenged, “I don't listen to hearsay, Keyshia, only fact. What motivated you to pursue this matter in the first place?”

Keyshia knew she had no excuse for what she did, so she simply stated what came to mind. “The law clearly states, in Section 373
¹
of the U.S. Code, in a criminal case an appeal by the United States shall lie to a court of appeals from a decision, judgment, or order of a district court dismissing an indictment or information or granting a new trial after verdict or judgment, as to any one or more counts, or any part thereof, except that no appeal shall lie where the double jeopardy clause of the United States Constitution prohibits further prosecution.”

Ms. Hemmingway was surprised and proud of her, but she didn't let it show.

“He's innocent, Ms. Hemmingway. I was with him.”

“I want to hear what you argued, nothing more, Keyshia,” said Ms. Hemmingway.

“I argued for the appellate court on the grounds of abuse of discretion. According to the trial de novo or the appeal on the record, Ms. Yolanda F. Hemmingway of Hemmingway, Adorno, and Shaw won the argument of proceedings with a body of evidence that his lawyer in fact committed reversible error, that is, an impermissible action by the court that he did not act properly. The evidence I also presented proved that the attorney acted erroneously by instructing the jury on the law applicable to the case, permitted serious improper argument by attorney, excluding evidence improperly.”

Ms. Hemmingway rocked back and forth in her huge leather chair and finally said, “So that means I have two options.” She looked up at the ceiling, then continued, “I could report this matter to the bar and authorities, and your boyfriend—who could in fact be innocent, but his appeal decision was just won because his girlfriend decided to play lawyer—would get his appeal null and void because of fraudulent and, how did you say? erroneous representation . . . or I can risk my practice and go ahead and represent Mr. Barker and break every ethical oath in the book to save face and you going to jail?”

Keyshia put her head down in shame. She knew that she risked putting Ms. Hemmingway in a compromising position, but love will make a human being do some stupid things.

Ms. Hemmingway swiveled around in her chair as she pondered and searched for an answer, then suddenly said, “Keyshia, I will accept your resignation, at which time you will not be able to work for Hemmingway, Adorno, and Shaw until after a decision has been rendered in this case, which we will represent pro bono.” Keyshia's frown turned into a smile. She wanted to scream for joy, but Ms. Hemmingway stopped her.

“I ask that you leave all pertinent documents that you may have and . . .” They stared into each other's eyes, and Ms. Hemmingway smiled. “Congratulations on your first legal victory. You're going to make a fine lawyer one day.” Keyshia smiled and thanked her.

Keyshia went to work as an intern the following week in the U.S. Attorney's Office, which tried federal cases. Her job consisted of assisting investigators with gathering evidence, obtaining records, researching decisions, and processing and organizing pretrial motions and appeals.

Keyshia could not believe how much access she had to every file, record, and case. Her first course of action was to pull Clyde's appellate case and ensure that it made its way to the top of the list. Clyde's case would now be approved by a judge for trial, and notice of preparation would be given to both parties for a pretrial hearing to schedule a trial date. Once the date was established, the case would be treated like a fresh case in the appellate court and would be heard by a new judge and jury.

Within two weeks after Keyshia arrived, the pretrial dates were scheduled. The prosecuting attorney was T. Bernard Williams, a tenacious lawyer who was building a reputation for a future in politics by hanging criminals. Though he was a married man, T. Bernard flirted with Keyshia on more than one occasion. She didn't let it bother her, and she had actually flirted with all the attorneys; one of them would be prosecuting her man's case, she knew, and she had wanted to stay in good standing with everyone in case she needed a favor.

T. Bernard personally requested Keyshia to be part of his investigating team. He knew that the case before him didn't have any teeth because the evidence was in the defendant's favor despite the earlier conviction. T. Bernard hated losing and told his investigators and interns to find anything they could to ensure that he got a conviction. He had them go to Martha, talk to Clyde's neighbors, and they even found out about Pops and interviewed him.

Keyshia learned a thing or two about gathering information and decided to take a chance on a theory that she'd always suspected but now had the power and resources to investigate. She wanted to see the bank videotapes for the week before the robbery. Keyshia learned that it was very rare to rob a bank without first casing it. In the original investigation, neither Sonny, Clyde, nor Wolf was shown in the tapes prior to the morning of the robbery, so Keyshia assumed that Sonny and Wolf must have had a spotter, because they knew exactly which manager had keys and specific locations that only a person with prior knowledge of the banking operations would have. Since Keyshia had never met Martha before, she asked Ceasar to get a picture of her so she could check for her on the videotape.

There were five bank tapes in total, and each tape had sixteen hours of footage. Keyshia sat through hours upon hours of footage and was nearly ready to give up all hope when she came to the last tape and a middle-aged woman who fit Martha's general description walked in. She zoomed in until she got a good view of the person's face and held the picture up to the monitor and realized that it was a perfect match. She released the pause button and continued. Keyshia's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when she saw Martha and Ceasar in the bank together.

Keyshia stormed up the stairs to her apartment, and when she opened the door she was livid. She slammed the front door shut, causing Ceasar and little Clyde—who were in the living room playing a game on the Xbox—to jump. As she stared maliciously at Ceasar, she said to her son, “Clyde, go into your room, now!” He quickly got up and scurried to his room without hesitating. Keyshia waited until she heard his door shut and then held up several photos and asked, “Ceasar, what the fuck is this?” He was speechless and stared at the photo with his mouth agape. Keyshia waited for an answer, but she got none.

Keyshia's eyes turned into a river of tears as she shook her head, not wanting to believe it. “Ceasar, tell me you didn't have anything to do with this robbery. Tell me you didn't.”

As she watched Ceasar hang his head in shame, she knew once and for all that he had in fact been part of the crime that put his two younger brothers—including her man—away for years. Keyshia didn't want to believe that it was true, but his actions at that moment spoke volumes—he was guilty!