Hearsay (3 page)

"Is it fun gossip or serious gossip?"

"Huh?" Tashana looked at him as if he'd grown another head. "What kind of a question is that?"

The kind people ask when they are suddenly leery of false, damaging accusations.

He didn't elaborate.

"Gossip is gossip, boo. All of it as false as dicers' oaths."

"Please, spare me the Shakespearian crap," Derrick begged.

"Are you ready or not?" Tashana asked with a laugh.
 

"Sure am," he said, choosing to go with his usual response for the time being. No need to freak her out just yet. "Lord knows that gossip is the
only
reason I put up with you."
 

He hadn't taken two steps outside the office before she swatted him again, this time on his head. Because he knew she had scolding and swatting down to an art form, he slowed down and let her walk ahead of him, just in case.

"Stop smart-mouthing and respect your elders."

Derrick chuckled at that. He was thirty-two and Tashana only a few years older than him, but she was convinced motherhood gave her a huge head start over almost everyone.
 

"I'm going out to lunch, Casey," he told his assistant on his way out. "I'll be back in time for my conference call with Judge Vaughn."

"Yes, sir."

"Call my cell phone if you hear from the Pro Bono department while I'm out, okay?"

Because the phone was ringing, she only waved at Derrick in acknowledgment and rushed to answer it.

"Acosta, Bradford, and Chadwick…"

One of the most prestigious law firms in the country.

With over five hundred lawyers in its New York City headquarters alone, the mega firm referred to as "ABC" by its employees had offices on three other continents and practiced in every area of the law. No case was ever too big or too small.

Derrick couldn't help but smile every time he heard the firm's name.
 

Landing a job with ABC was a dream come true and something he was grateful for. Six years in the Family Law department and countless billable hours of hard work later, he was a senior associate and, according to the grapevine, on the fast track to partnership. But the best part of it all? He still felt the same way. He loved the place. There was no other firm he would even consider working for.

"Are you still waiting to hear if Pro Bono is going to take Tyler's case?" Tashana asked while they waited for the elevator.

"Yeah…" He bit the inside of his cheek and transferred his weight from one foot to the other. "I only submitted it a few days ago, but the wait is killing me."

"It'll be fine."

"This is a felony case," he explained in a hushed tone as they got in the elevator. "I have no doubt I can take the time to work on it if I absolutely have to, but I don't do criminal defense. I'm only vaguely familiar with it. And time is of the essence here. I can bail Tyler out and hear the preliminary charges if he gets arrested, but I would prefer not to represent him. I'm afraid I'd be doing Tyler a disservice. He needs the best we can provide."

Plus, there was a chance he could be a defendant as well, something Derrick didn't want to even think about.

"Who would you like on the case?" she asked when the elevator started its descent to the first floor. "What about Noah?"

"He'd be ideal, but he's in court today selecting the jury for that high profile homicide case. We probably won't see him much for the rest of the month. Besides,
I
might need him to represent me." Noah Goldstein was another attorney with ABC and Derrick's best guy friend. "I haven't been approached by the police or ACS, but you never know."

"Shut your mouth," Tashana ordered. "I've been praying for you and Tyler since you told me about this mess, and the Lord has never let me down. I have faith. Nothing's going to happen to either of you."

"Your prayers are greatly appreciated."

"Who's your second choice?"

 
"One of the Criminal Defense senior partners or one of the big bosses, but I know that's wishful thinking, all things considered."

"What do you mean, all things considered?"

"For starters, none of them seem to spend a lot of time in the New York office these days."

"That's true. Big boss Bradford spends more time jet-setting than he does on any cases, and last I heard, Alan Chadwick is working out of the Atlanta office while he fights his ex-wife for custody of their four children," Tashana rushed to inform. "That was such a callous thing she did, right? Moving the kids all the way to England just to get back at Mr. Chadwick for cheating on her?"

"Why would she be in England? Why would he fight her from Atlanta, for that matter?" Derrick rolled his eyes. "That makes no sense. Plus, I don't think Alan handles cases in Atlanta."

"I'm just telling you what I heard." Tashana shrugged. "He's been talking about Georgia quite a lot."
 

"
If
that is true, and we
know
it most likely is nothing but another instance of the gossip running rampant all over the firm, then yes. It is a callous action. Irresponsible. I'd lynch her." Tashana pinched his arm when his voice got a little too loud. It happened whenever they discussed the welfare of kids. As a family law attorney, Derrick dealt with broken families on a daily basis. His opinions on the subject were strong, to say the least. "Kids should never be used as pawns in divorce procedures," he added in a lower voice.
 

"You're totally right. And it is even worse in this case because, see…" They rested their backs against the far wall and lowered their voices even more when somebody else got in the elevator. "I heard she was cheating on him first," she whispered. "That she married him for his money, spent lots of it on plastic surgery, and never really cared about the kids until the divorce. She supposedly had a different lover every week."

"What is she, nuts?" Derrick whispered back. "Alan Chadwick is rich and attractive, not to mention a very nice guy. Why the hell would anyone cheat on him?"

Plus, according to Roman, Alan Chadwick and his wife Dani were "crazy in love with each other." Derrick doubted they were even fighting in the first place. Then again, a lot could change in a year… or even a day.
 

"She probably got tired of that blood fetish of his," Tashana said.

"Blo—"

"Shhhhh!"

"
Blood fetish
?" he said sotto voce.
 

"I hear he likes to watch people bleed."

Derrick rolled his eyes. "He's a lawyer. We all get off on watching the opposition bleed."
 

"Figuratively speaking, you mean?"

He didn't bother to answer that. "Has anyone ever seen the wife?"

"Mary from the mail room told me that she overheard Laura from Filing telling Jose from Litigation that one of the cleaning ladies told Bea from Asset Management that she saw Mrs. Chadwick once back in 2005."

Derrick's jaw almost hit the floor. "You're kidding me, right?"

"You know I take my gossip seriously," she said. The uncontrollable fit of giggles that overtook her did nothing to support her words, though. "So Chadwick is out, but what about Sergio Acosta? Didn't he win big time on that natural habitat case?"

"He's a corporate and environmental law attorney for the most part. Besides, isn't he still recovering from the stabbing he suffered at the hands of that mafia boss?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. Of all the stupid things Derrick had heard since he started working for ABC, the news of one of the owners getting stabbed definitely took the cake.

"Then go to Bradford." Tashana's big brown eyes shone with mirth. "He's one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the city, and you'll never get a better opportunity than this to approach him."
 

Derrick gave Tashana the evil eye. "Drop it."

"Isn't he the one you've had in mind all along?" She blew him a kiss. "Just saying, boo."

"All gossip aside, I know the bosses are so busy that their presence in the building started feeling like apparitions a long time ago, but Lord, I hope someone takes Tyler's case soon."
 

"Someone will," Tashana assured him.
 

"It'll all depend on everybody's caseload right now and how many pro bono cases they already have."

"You're a hell of a lawyer and a valued employee," Tashana said in that tone of hers that meant things were going to be fine. "I'm sure neither your colleagues nor ABC will let you down."

Derrick was banking on that.
 

He'd targeted ABC as his future employer around the same time he decided he wanted to be a lawyer. They offered excellent benefits and the firm's starting salary was almost surreal for a guy like him. He'd been smart with the money, made some investments, and still had enough left to pay off his student loans before turning thirty.
 

But one of the biggest draws was ABC's pro bono program. The partners not only encouraged their attorneys to provide essential legal services to the disadvantaged but made the firm's full resources available to them as well.
 

Growing up he'd benefited from similar generosity. After being disowned by her parents, Mama had never made an attempt to introduce her children to them. But once they heard about her passing, the grandparents they'd never known decided their grandchildren's rightful place was with them. Had it not been for a pro bono family attorney taking interest in their situation and fighting the Morgan's pricey attorney every step of the way, Derrick and his siblings would've been taken away from their dad. Thankfully that hadn't happened, but that battle was an eye-opener that left Derrick with firsthand knowledge of the big difference good legal representation could make. As a result, he had always wanted to work at a place that would allow him to help others the way he and his family had been helped.
 

And this week Derrick was particularly thankful for his job, because hopefully ABC's pro bono program would save Tyler from having his entire life ruined.

"So when do you think we should plan Noah's winning party for? Two weeks sound okay?" Tashana asked as they walked out of the Trenton Building and onto Broadway. "And what's the deal with Jonathan? Are he and Noah together this week?" She let out a long sigh. "One week they're lovers, and the next week they're rivals. How am I supposed to know if I should invite him?"

"I think they're lovers this week, but Noah only started selecting the jury today, girl." Derrick buttoned up his suit jacket and adjusted the scarf around his neck. "It's a bit soon to be thinking about that."

"Well, we need time to choose the venue and send out the e-vites."

"At the very least we have to wait until he's won the case."

"Way to show faith in your friend's lawyerly capabilities," she scolded, swatting him on the arm. She was oh-so-lucky Derrick worshiped the ground she walked on. Anybody else he would've swatted back a long time ago. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
 

"I know few trial attorneys are better than Noah, and there's a ninety percent probability that he'll win," he conceded while rubbing his arm. "But we don't want to jinx him by claiming victory prematurely."

"Jinx him?" she repeated when they stopped at the traffic light. "You're scaring me, boo. Aren't lawyers supposed to be all cynical and not give a damn about shit like that? What is it that big boss Acosta says… dang it…" She rubbed her temple with her chubby fingers, making a huge production out of pretending not to remember. "What is it that he says again?"

"That we all make our own luck," Derrick provided, knowing she wouldn't stop until he'd said the words.

"Good boy."

"For real?" Derrick rolled his eyes and pulled away with a laugh when Tashana patted him on the head. "What am I? Ten?"

"You're my little cracker, that's what you are," she said, leading the way to Broadway and Fifty-Sixth, and to what Derrick knew to be the place with the greasiest food in town.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, following slowly.
 

"I thought you're ready for some yummy gossip and lunch," she replied over her shoulder.

"I am, but we're supposed to have salads today."
 

Tashana lifted a shoulder. "I feel like having soul food instead."

"It's
my
turn to choose the place." He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her in the opposite direction, but she wouldn't budge. "Tashana!" He pulled her arm again. "I can't deal with more greasy food this week." He loved soul food, but he needed to watch his waist.

"The gossip I got today is juiceee! You really don't want to miss it." She stopped and turned to look at him. Derrick didn't miss the excitement in her eyes. Whatever it was, she was dying to say it. "Besides, you could use some meat on those bones."

"Is it really that juicy?"
 

Derrick knew he should resist. As a consequence of what was happening to Tyler, he wasn't so keen on listening to gossip anymore. It made him feel guilty. Plus he knew that he'd probably find out whatever it was Tashana had heard without having to give up his healthy lunch and a couple of arteries. He knew he had only to stop by the Family Law department's pantry and he'd come out with his daily yogurt and a side of the latest news.
 

But he couldn't wait. It was his weakness. He'd grown up in Harlem surrounded by gossip. His neighbors excelled at it, and at some point it'd been the only entertainment in Derrick's life. Great substitute for the television they didn't have at one time. Once the word gossip came up, he had no control of himself. It sucked, but what the heck. It wasn't as if he ever believed or repeated anything, anyway.
 

"As juicy as the liver and onions I'm about to eat," Tashana said.

Derrick squinched up his nose. "Gross." He had southern roots and a fairly large collection of family recipes, but there were certain dishes he would never try, no matter what.

"You and your delicate stomach can have the fried chicken, white boy."