The street lawyer-A new life.-

Early Friday I was happily helping homeless people at the 14 th Street Law Center, thought not, of course, speaking as a lawyer when Arthur Jacobs suddenly appeared at my door. I said Hello nicely, thought I could not imagine what he wanted. He said no to coffee.He just wanted to talk.
 
 



Arthur said that the last few weeks had been the most difficult of his fifty-six years as a lawyer. Drake and S was Ok again now, but he still coul not sleep. He felt guilty about the deaths of Burton family and he would never forget it. And he was tired of chasing money. I was too surprised to say much, so I just listened. Arthur was suffering and I felt sorry for him.






He asked about the Law Center and the work we did. How long had the Center been There? How many people worked there?Where did the money come from? This gave me an opportunity and I took it. I told Arthur that because I could not work as a lawyer from the big Washington Law companies.These volunteer lawyers would work a few hours a week and I would tell them what to do.We could reach thousands of homeless people.







Arthur liked the idea. As we discussed it, the program grew larger. After a few minutes, he was talking about sending all 400 of his W lawyers to do pro bono work for a few hours a week.






Would 400 lawyers to be too many? Arthur asked.





-No-I said But Ill need help from inside Drake and S. I know someone. He is at the Chicago office, but I am sure you can get him back
As I had guessed, Arthur knew nothing about Héctor Palma or how he had helped me get the River Oaks file Héctor Would be back in W in a month, working with me.






Arthur stayed in my office for two hours. He was a much happier man when he left. He had a purpose in life. I walked him to his car and then ran to tell Morcadei the good news. We could help as many homeless people as we needed to.

The street Lawyer.-

-Yes, sir.

-Will you give it to me ?




-Yes, sir.




Morcadei gave Judge De Orio the file and we all sat and watched for ten minutes while the judge real . When he had finished he said...The file has been returned, Mr Jacobs. There was a criminal lawsuit about its Theft. What do you want to do now ?





-If we can agree on the Burton lawsuit, we will stop the criminal lawsuit against Mr Brock for theft of the file.




-Mr Brock ? Is that aceptable to you?



-Yes, yes, it is.





-Next we have the complaint to the Bar Association by Drake and S against Michael Brock. Mr Jacobs?





Arthur stood up again. He talked about why it was wrong for the lawyer to steal a file from his own Company. He did not seem to be enjoying it and he did not take too long about it. But I had been one of them and then I had damaged them. They would not forgive me for that. The complaint to the Bar Association would not be stopped.




I was not a criminal, Arthur said, so they would stop the theft lawsuit. But I was a lawyer and a good one. And so the complaint should go to the Bar Association.





The lawyers from RiverOaks did not speak but it was clear they agreed. It was, of course, their client is file I had taken. And Arthur spoke so well that actually I agreed with him too.



-Mr Brock? said Judge De Orio..Do you have anything to say ?





I had not prepared anything but I was not afraid to say what I felt. I looked Arthur in the eyes and said..Mr Jacobs, I have always had a very high opinión of you and I still do. I was wrong to take the file and I am sorry I did it. I was looking for information and I was going to put the file back but all that is no excuse. I apologize to you, to Drake and S and to your client, River Oaks.





Morcadei told me afterwards that he knew immediately Drake and S would agree to his next suggestion. The anger had gone out of the situation.




Morcadei suggested twenty.five thousand dollars each to all the people evicted by Drake and S when we could find them. He suggested three million dollars for the Burton Lawsuit, paid at three hundred thousand a year.




And after a lot of talk we agreed that I would lose my license for nine months only.

The street lawyer.-

He had read a lot of these lawsuits across the US.He offered fifty thousand dollars for each child. He became boring. He started to discuss the amount of money. Lontae had lost because she died and so she did not go to work. That was added to the money you usually got for dead children. In total, he offered seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars.



-Is that your final offer, Mr R? asked jugde De Orio. He looked like he hoped it was not.


-No, sir, Rafter said.

-Mr Green.


Morcadei Stood again.

.We do not accept their offer, Judge De Orio Sir, this talk of the value of each child means nothing to me. I know how much I can get if this comes to court and the people of W decide.And that is a lot more than Mr R is offering.



These children were, of course, homeless black children. Mr R you have a son at private school. Would you take fifty thousands dollars for him?




Rafter looked down and did not reply.



-I can walk into a W court and I can get a million dollars each for Lontae Burton s Little children. That is the same as any child in an expensive school in Virginia or Maryland.



Morcadei then talked about the last hours of Lontae Burton and her family, as he had a good story to tell.



His voice went up and then down in anger. At the end he pointed at the Drake and S lawyers, speaking for them.


-Those people in that warehouse, he shouted.


-They are just a bunch of squatters.Trow them out !



He asked for four million dollars. It was silent in the room when he finished .Judge De Orio made some notes. The next thing to discuss was the file.



-Do you have the file ? Judge De Orio asked me.

Burton against Drake and Sweeney.-

We were in Judge De Orios room, but this was not a court. There were two lawyers from RiverOaks, From Drake and S there was Arthur Jacobs, Rafter, Nathan Malamud and Barry Nuzzo.






Why Malamud and Nuzzo who were not going to speak for Drake and S? Then I understood Malamud and Nuzzo had gone back to work after that Tuesday with Mister. They were fine, so why was not I?







Judge De Orio said good morning and then gave Morcadei five minutes to make the complaint against Drake and S in the Burton lawsuit. Morcadei needed just two minutes. He explained clearly how Drake ad S ilegal eviction led to the deaths of Lontae Burton and her children.






Arthur Jacobs spoke for Drake and S. He did not disagree with Morcadei about what had happened to Lontae and her children. But he said it was, in part, her own fault.





-There were places for her to go, Arthur said.






-There were shelters open. Why did she leave? Her grandmother has an apartment in Northeast. Why did not this mother do more to protect her Little family'?





-Why was she in the Street at all ? De Orio asked and I almost smiled.



Arthur stayed calm...-The eviction was wrong, he said...We are not arguing with Mr Green about that. We are saying that events after the eviction were partly the mothers fault.





-How much of it was her fault? asked Judge De Orio.


-At least half.





-That is too high.



-we dont agree, Judge De Orio.



-Mr Green ?



Morcadei stood , shaking his head  in disbelief, like Arthur was a first year law student.






-These peole have nowhere to live, Mr Jacobs. That is why they are called homeless. You put this family on the Street. You have told us you did. And that where they died.






We could go to court. Would you say the same thing there?







Stand up in court. Would you say the same thing there?




Stand up in court, Mr Jacobs!Say It was the mother s fault her family died.









Arthur and the rest of The Drake and S lawyers looked scared enough at the idea of telling a court full of black people that the Burton familys death was, in part, Lontae s fault.




Drake and S are guilty of an ilegal eviction, said Judge De Orio. That is clear. I would not advise you to blame the mother in a court.



Morcadei and Arthur sat Down. We had won the Burton Lawsuit without going to court. Now we would discuss how much Drake and S should pay. Rafter stood up, He talked about how much money you usually got for dead children in lawsuit,

The Washington Post.-

The file was thick, Rafter had worked very hard. It was my copy of Drake and S complaint to the Bar Association, In one sentence I had stolen their file, so now I should lose my license.





But it was a shock. Drake and S wanted blood, my blood. It was frightening. Sincé I had started law school ten years earlier, I had never thought of any oher kind of work. What would I do without a law license?







But there was one thing Drake and S did not know yet. Tomorrow morning at nine oclock, Morcadei and I were starting a four million dollar lawsuit against them for the death of the Burton family.






I went into Morcadei s office. -what do I do ? I said.





He smiled.-Same as they did,Call the W Post. I was at college with Tim Claussen.He is one of their best journalists-





Next morning we told Tim Claussen about the lawsuit against the march and my night in prison, and this made it even bigger.





He asked us a lot of questions and I was happy to answer, Drake and S went to the newspapers first.


The story was in the newspaper the next day, For an old law Company like Drake and S it was the worst thingin the world. Arthur Jacobs photo appeared next to De Von Hardy.





There were also photographs of Lonate Burton taken from the march. You did not even have to read the story, the photographs said it all. Because of Drake and S these por people were dead.






The next day it got even worse for Drake and S. The Post Office did not like all these stories in the newspapers and they did not want River Oaks as their real estate Company. That left River Oaks with nothing, R Oaks told the W Post they did not know the evictions were ilegal. A million dollar lawsuit for the business by River Oaks against Drake and S was becoming posible.









Arthur Jacobs phoned Morcadei at the Law Center, He wanted to meet Morcadei at Drake and S offices to talk about the lawsuit, Without me. Morcadei smiled at me.- This could be the meeting, he said.






-Maybe, I replied.






My future could depend on Morcadeis talk with Arthur Jacobs. That night I coul not sleep. Morcadei was enjoying himself. He told me afterward that he could not believe Arthur Jacobs was nearly eighty,







The old man told Morcadei immediately that Braden Chance was gone. He did not choose to leave Drake and S.They told him to go. Chance had been the only one who knew those people were tenants. I believe that.







Morcadei showed Arthur Jacobs the missing note from the file and the receipt. Rafter was at the meeting too, with some other lawyers and for a long time none of them said a Word.




Then Arthur Jacobs made a suggestion ....he said he wanted to meet with us and a judge. With the judge there, we could decide lawsuit, and the Bar Association complaint. The judge would be Judge De Orio, who Morcadei Knew was a fair judge.



 

-What do you think?



-I say we do it. I will call Judge De Orio and arrange a time.

The street lawyer.-

My friend at Drake and S had told the newspapers about my stay in prison. Lawyer out on bail. Was it theft?  I read, the next day.


They took a photo of me when I first joined Drake and S and that was there too. They were trying to ruin my life. I wondered which client was paying for all the hours Rafter and Arthur Jacobs were spending on me. A client was definitely paying. A client paid for every hour of every lawyers time. River Oaks probably.



I went in to work at 14 th Street. Ruby was asleep in front of the door.





-Why are you sleeping here? I asked. She did not answer. She was hungry. I unlocked the door, made coffee and went to find the cookies.




The phone rang.It was Megan. Ruby had left Naomi.



-Are you taking drugs again? I asked Ruby.



She did not look at me. No she said.




-Yes, you are. Dont lie to me, Ruby. I am your friend and your lawyer and I ll help you see Terence. But I can not help if you lie to me. Now will you go back to Naomis?


-Yes.



-Good, I ll take you.



-Ok, She took another cookie, her fourth.




On the way back to Naomi, she said You were in prison.



-How did you know?



-You hear stuff on the Street.


When we arrived, Megan took Ruby into the women group and then asked me to stay for coffee. She Threw a W Post to me. Bad night, hug? she said with a smile.



There was my photo again. It was not too bad.



What is this? she asked, pointing at my face.




-A guy in my cell wanted my shoes. He took them.





She looked at my shoes, old Nikes. Those?




-Yes, good shoes, arent they?



-How long were you in there ?




A couple of hours. Then I got my life together. I am a new man now.



She smiled again, Her eyes held mine for a second and I thought




 No wedding ring on her finger, She was tall and a Little too thin.




Her eyes were light Brown, very big and round and nice to look at. She was very attractive and I wondered why I had not noticed it before.



I told her about me. She told me about Herself. Her father was in the church in Maryland.


He liked baseball and he loved W. As a teenager, Megan had decided to work with the poor. It was a job-but a job she liked.



I told her story of Mister and how I had started working with the homeless. She was very interested and asked lots of questions. Then she asked me to come back later for lunch. If the sun was shining we could eat outside. I liked that, I thought it was romantic. You can find love anywhere,even in a shelter for homeless women.

The street lawyer- Megan.-

It was Friday afternoon . I knew Morcadei could got out on hail, but some very bad things could happen to a good-looking White boy in prison over the weekend.




In the pólice car to Central, I tried to think about all the great people who had spent some time in prison-like Martin Luther King.




But then I thought of my parents. Their son in prison would be the end of their would. My friend already thought I had turned my life. I did not know what Claire would think. especially as she had a New man now.




At Central, Gasko led me like a lost dog. They took everything I had in my pockets and I signed for it. Then my photograph and fingerprints were taken.





There were pólice everywhere but only one other White face- a man who was very drunk.




We are walking to the cells. I was scared,




-Can I get bail? I asked.




-I think you lawyer is working on it, Gasko said.





The cell door closed behind me . There were five others prisoners in the cell with me, all black, all much younger tan me. I sat on the floor.




In the cell opposite, I could see the drunk White guy and hear him shouting.






Two large black men had him in a corner of the cell. They were hitting his head. Minutes passed. One of the Young guys in my cell walked over to me. This man was the end.







-Nice jacket, he said touching my jacket with his foot as I sat on the floor.




-Thanks, I  said trying to sound like I meant it.




He was eighteen or nineteen. Thin. Probably a gang member who had spent his life on the streets.




-I could use a jacket like that, he said giving me a kick with his foot.




-You should not be a how-life Street gang member then-I thought.-Would you like to borrow the jacket? I asked. I was not to fight back.   If I did, the other four would help the first one.




-What did you say?





-I said, would you like to borrow....




The kick caught me in the head and I shouted from the shock.




-My friend said he could me a jacket like that, said one of the other four. A gift would be nice.




A quickly took off my jacket and held it toward the Young gang member who had kicked me.




-Is this a gift? he said, taking it.





-It is whatever you want it to be.





He kicked me again, hard in the Heard, It is a gift?




-Yes-




-Thanks , man.





I sat in a ball on the floor. My face hurt. The floor was getting cold. What would happen when I needed the Toilet?




-Nice shoes said a voice above me. I gave them to him.



Morcadei got me out on bail at   7 pm..? My hail was ten thosands dollars.

The street lawyer.-

Two days later I was there again. But I had not flown first class. as in the old days. I waited outside the Drake building from seven in the morning while 106 lawyers- the third highest number after Washington and New York- arrived for work.




At 8 20 Héctor Palma arrived and I followed him into the building. He got off on floor number fifty -one. There was a phone there. I phoned Megan at Naomis Women Center. Ruby was still there, doing ok. Héctor Palma was not going anywhere for the next ten hours, so I had another long talk with Megan.




There was a list of partners names on each floor. I said loudly as I passed the desk. And then I walked past the desk, down the hall. Héctor had his own office in Chicago.





-Hello Héctor, I said as I walked in. So how s Chicago?




-What...what are you doing here?





I sat on Héctor desk. There s going to be a lawsuit, Héctor.




I said, Against Drake and D you cant hide from that.





I did not feel as confident as I tried so sound.





-And who is starting this lawsuit?






-Lontae Burtons grandmother. And later the other people who were evicted, when we find them.





-Héctor just looked at me.





-You remember Lontae, dont you, Héctor ? She was the Younger mother who fought with the policeman when you knew she was a tenant. So you wrote that in a note, dated January 27 and put that in the file. But Braden Chance took note out again.That is why I am here, Héctor.I want a copy of that note.






-Why would I have a copy?





-Because you are Smart, Héctor. You Knew that Drake evictions were ilegal. You knew how important your note was. Maybe you even guessed Braden Chance would remove it.






Héctor Thought about that. I guessed he would not be happy hiding in Chicago. The evictions were wrong and he knew it. He had tried to help me once bafore.






-Meet me at twelve in front of the building, he said.






He was there on time.





-I have four children, please protect me, he said as he gave me an envelope. I thanked him, got a taxi, and opened the envelope.






The note was dated January 27. It said that the tenants were paying one hundred dollars a month rent on the fifteenh of very month to man called Johnny. There was even a copy of every month to man called Johnny. There was even a copy of a receipt signed by Johnny saying that he had received one hundred dollars rent from Lontae Burton on January 15.






It could not be any clearer. They were tenants. The evictios was illegal.






At Chicago O hate airport I faxed copies of the note and the receipt to Morcadei.





Then I caught the next plane back to Washington.






A  taxi from the airport took me back to 14 Street where Morcadei and Sofia were not looking as happy as I had expected. L Garko was in the office, waiting for me.






As he took me out to the pólice car, Sofia was phoning fast and talking fast, first in English, then in Spanish. But she and Morcadei coul not stop L Gasko taking me to Central Pólice Station like any other criminal Drake and S said I had taken their file,  that was theft.

The street Lawyer.-

Next morning  I tried to phone Héctor Palma from the Law Center.His secretary said he had left the Washington office. I put the phone now. Now what? I stared at the ceiling.






Morcadei came into my office. I started my story...






-my wife and I are not together. I moved out of our apartment.





.I am sorry, said Morcadei. What else could he say ?





-Dont be. Early this morning the pólice tried to search the apartment where I used to live. They were looking for a file that I took when I left Drake and S


-What kind of file?





The De Von Hardy and Lontae Burton File.





-I am listening.





-I dont think that De von Hardy and Lontae Burton and the others were squatters. I think they were tenants. And if they were tenants the eviction was ilegal.







I sure was. Cant evict tenants without warning. But do you know? Or are you guessing?







I told Morcadei the story of the River O file. I told him that something, probably a note dated January 27, was missing from the file.





And what do you think is in this note ?he asked


-I can not be sure. But I think it is a note from Héctor Palma. I think he knew they were tenants it is a note from Héctor Palma. I think he knew they were tenants and he said that in the note. But River Oaks wanted them out quikly so they could start pulling the warehouse down. They wanted to start the new building for the Post Office in February. I think Héctor Palma note of January 27 was removed from the file so Drake and S could evict De Von Hardy and Lontae Burton and the others as squatters.






-Good, said Morcadei, so we start a lawsuit for the family of Lontae Burton and the other people who were evicted.





-Yes, I said, that way. Héctor Palma has to tell the judge what he knows.



Ill contact Lontae Burtons parents, Morcadei said...They would be our clients in the lawsuit.





-Her parents are dead. But she has a grandmother.





-Fine. She ll be our client. But the first we need to find Héctor Palma.






-I think Drake and S will keep him in the Company. If he leaves the Company, they lose control of him. But they want him out of W.


-I think Drake and S will keep him in the Company. If he leaves the Company, they lose control of him. But they want him out of W.I think he is working for Drake in another city. Probably a new job with more money.


-Sofia, shouted Morcadei, loud enough to be Heard on Capitol Hill.





-Sofia. we are looking for someone.





Sofia came in with paper and a pencil.








-I know, she said I Heard. she turned to me. I can help. Tell me everything you know about this person.




I told Sofia Héctor Palma, name, address and job. I described him and said he had a wife and four kids.



-age? Maybe thirty.


-How much did he get month at Drake and S?



As a legal assistant? three thousand.



-He has four kids, so one or more will be in school.



He can not send kids to a private school on thirty.five thousands. We ll start with the schools. Then the churches.






She went back to her desk and she was on the phone for an hour, Each time she said hello in English. asked for the person she wanted and then the conversation was in Spanish.





An hour later she came back into my office.


-They moved to Chicago. Do you need an address?



-But how did you...?


-Dont ask A friend in their church. They moved to Chicago last weekend. I can get you an address but it will take longer.



-I dont need an address. I have been to Drake and S Chicago office a couple of times.

The street Lawyer.-

I was sleeping on the floor at the apartment. I liked it down there and it helped me understand my new clients. In the middle of the night, the phone rang. It was Claire. The pólice were in her apartment, wanting to search it for the file. I looked at my watch. It was I1AM




-I will be right there.




The door was open and I ran in. There were three policeman in there and I shouted at the nearest one.





-I am Michael Brock Who are you ?




-Lieutenant Gasko, said the policeman, not very nicely.




-Claire, I shouted, get the video cámara. There is going to be a lawsuit.Lieutenant Gasko.




L Gasko showed me a document.




-It is signed by a judge-he said. And it says we can search for the file. But he Knew I was a lawyer and he did not look very happy.






The file is not here because I do not live here, I said-Now give me your names and then go.







Claire was fliming it all with the video camera. Their document was fine and I Knew that. But the three policeman gave me their names and then left.






-Can they Come back? asked Claire.




-No



-That is good.





-Did you tell them where I live ? I asked her.


-Michael, I do not know where tou live. You just gave me a phone number.




I said goodnight without touching or kissing her. I knew that was what she wanted.





I thought hard. Now I had to tell Morcadei everything. It was possible that the pólice would come to the Law Center, looking for the file.

The street lawyer.-

-Tell me, I said, I need to know, Do you live in a shelter?




-Not now, she said. I live in a car. I sleep in the back.





I poured two large paper cups full of coffee and we went into my office.-What can I do for you?I asked.






With both bands on the coffee cup, to keep warm, and without looking at me, she told me her story. She and her son Terence lived in a small apartment. When Terence was about ten, she went to prison for four months, but when Ruby came out of prison they had lost the apartment.




When Terence lived with her sister those four months for selling drugs. Terence lived with her sister those four months, but when Ruby came out of prison they had lost the apartment. She and Terence slept in cars, warehouses and under bridges in warm weather. When it was cold, they went to the shelters.She could not stop taking drugs.






A few years back she had worked for a couple called Rowlands. Their children were grown and away from home.





Ruby offered to pay Mr and Mrs. Rowlands were not sure at first but in the end they agreed.





Terence had a small bedroom at the Rowlands House. He started to get good grades at school. The Rowlands were good people. Ruby was allowed to visit Terence for an hour each night.






With great difficulty, she managed to pay each month as agreed. She was pleased with herself.






Until she wanted to prison again. She could not stop taking drugs. And now Terence did not want to talk to her. He wanted to join the army- Mr Rowlands was an army man. One night Ruby took some drugs and then went to the Rowlands' house, She screamed and shouted and the Rowlands and Terence threw her out.







The next day the Rowlands started a lawsuit. They wanted Terence to become their son. Ruby was not allowed to visit him until she stopped taking drugs.






-I want to see my son. she said, I miss him so bad.







-You wont see Terence until you stop the drugs. I said trying to say it nicely. I had to get her onto a drugs program.






Sofia knew where Ruby should go. Sofia knew everything and everybody. She made a phone call and then Ruby and I were on our way to Noami women Center on 10 Street.







It opened at seven, closed at four, and between those hours helped women with a drug problem.





I spoke with Megan, the Young man in charge of Naomi. We had a long talk. It was the first long talk I had had with anyone in a long time.

The Street Lawyer.-

My new apartment now had some old chairs in it and the Tv was on a box.




I smiled at my furniture. My mother had called. I listened to her voice on the phone. She and Dad wanted to visit me





That evening I watched backetball on Tv and had a few days.





Why sould not we talk? we were actually still married , I thought maybe we could have dinner soon.






The phone rang and then a voice said, Hello It was a man. I could not speak.I had been gone less tan a week and Claire had a man in the apartment at eleven thirty. I almost put the phone down, but then I said....I would like to speak to Claire , please?





-Who is calling?





-Michael, my husband.





She is in the shower. he said. He sounded pleased with himself.





-Tell her I called, I said.






I walked around the room until midnight, then I went for a walk in the cold. Why do our marriage go wrong' Who was that guy? Was did out marriage go wrong? Was he someone she had known for years and I did not about him? I told myself it did not matter. We were not divorcing because of other people. We were divorcing because of us. And If she was free to find another guy, then I was fire to find someone too, yeah, right.






At 2 am I was walking around Dupont Circle, stepping over people sleeping in the Street. It was dangerous but I did not care.After a couple of hours I went home  and got some sleep. Then I wanted to work. I got to 14th Street before that morning. ready to start.







As I walked through the snow making my way to the Law Center, I thought of my clients.By now I had a few. There was Waylene and her paychecks. There was also Marvis. Like me. Marvis wanted a divorce. His wife was on drugs. She had taken everything he had, incluiding then two children. Marvis wanted them back.






-How long will a divorce take? Marvis had asked me.





-Six months- I told him.






Marvis was clean , he did not drink and he was looking for work.I enjoyed the half hour I spent with him and I wanted to helped him.



Another client was a 58 years old man. Her husband was dead and the goverment was sending her money to the wrong place. I could get all her money back and then get it sent to the right place.





A lot of my clients had problems like that. They were just not getting money, often from the government, that should be theirs.






When I reached the Law Center a Little woman was sitting against our door. The office was still locked. It was below freezing in the streets. When she saw me, she jumped to her feet and said.






-Good morning, are you a lawyer?





-Yes, I am





-For people like me?





She looked like she was homeless. -Sure. come in.





I opened the door. It was colder inside than outside. I made some coffee and found some old cookies. I offered them to her and she quikly ate one.






-What is your name ? I asked.We were sitting in the front office next to Sofia s desk, waiting for the cooffee and for the office to get a Little warmer.




-Ruby. she said.




-I am Michael. where do you live Ruby?




-Here and there. She was between thirty and forty, dressed in a lot of old clothes. She was very thin.

The street lawyer.-

The building had been a department store, many years ago. Now the sign on it said SAMARITAN HOUSE.




-It is a private shelter, Morcadei said-Ninety beds. The foods ok. Some churches in Arlington got together and they pay for everything. We have been coming here for six years.





Inside we used a bedroom as an office. This is a good office, Morcadei said.- We can be private here.





-What out a bathroom? I asked.




-The are in the back. You dont get your own bathroom in a shelter.





I could hear radios. People were getting up. It was Monday morning and they had Jobs to go to.





-It is eas and they had Jobs to go to.





-It is easy to get a room here ?I asked Morcadei, although. I already knew the answer.





.Nearly imposible. There is a long waiting list.


-How long do they stay?




.Maybe  three months. This is one of the nicer shelters, so they are safe here. After three months the shelter tries to find them an apartment.


-And our childrens all come from shelters? I asked.


-Half come from the shelters, Morcadei said. The other half from the streets.


-We take anybody?


-Anybody whos homeless. The people here at this shelter have Jobs but they do not earn enough to pay rent for an apartment. So when they get one they lose it again. One missed paycheck and they lose their homes.


My first client was called Waylene, age twenty seven, two children, no husband. Her problema was not complicated. She had worked in a fast food restaurant. She started to tell us why she left her job, but Morcadei said that the reason did not matter.She had not had her last two paychechs. Because she had no add    ress, the restaurant has sent the checks to the wrong place. The checks has disappeared, and nobody at the restaurant cared.


-Will you be here next week? Morcadei asked.


Waylene was not sure. Maybe here, maybe there. She was looking for a job, she might move in with someone. Or get her own apartment.


We ll get your money and we ll have the checks sent to our office, said Morcadei. He gave her address of the 14 Street Law Center. She said Thanks and left.



Call the fast-food restaurant, Morcadei told me.


-Tell them you areWaylenes lawyer. By nice at first. If they don t send the checks, stop being nice. If necessesary, go there and get the checks yourself.




I wrote down everything Morcadei said, like it was complicated. Waylenes paychecks were for two hundred and ten dollars. My last client at Drake was trying to get nine hundred million dollars. But I was happy enough when I got home at the end of the day.

The street lawyer.-

I drove to the 14thStreet and copied the file. Then I went back to my old apartment, Claire was at the hospital. I took my sleeping bag, a few suits, my radio, the small tv from the kitchen, my cd player and a few cd, a coffeepot, a hair dryer and three blue towels.





I left a note telling her I was gone. I did not what I felt.





I had never moved out before, I was not sure how it was done, As I drove away, I did not fell hapy to be single again. Claire and I had both lost.





Ba     ck at the 14 Street Law Center, my first visitor was my old friend Barry Nuzzo. He sat down carefully in the chair opposite my desk-he did not want to get dirt on his expensive suit. Was he wired, like Héctor Palma? Maybe they had sent Barry because he was my friend and also one of Mister guests that Tuesday Afternoon.






-So you are here for the money? he said.




Of course..




-You are crazy, They are going to come after you, Michael. You can not take a file.


-You mean a criminal lawsuit for theft?





Probably. And they talked to the Bar Association. Rafter working on it. Michael you wont be a lawyer when they are finished.-not here, not anywhere. You are going to lose you license.





I was not ready for that


-I have the file. The file has plenty of information about Drake in it.


-You cant use the file. Michael. You can not use in  a lawsuit because you took it from our offices and that theft.



I said nothing. I did not know what I was going to do. But I knew I coul not give the file back down . I had nothing else in the fight against Drake and S. Barry stood up to leave.


-Will you phone me some time, Michael? he said at the door.



.Sure.-

The street lawyer.-

I spent my first working day at the 14 th Street Law Center getting the file back from the wreck of the Lexus. Center getting the file back from the wreck of the Lexus. Morcadei helped me. We had to go Georgia Avenue, where the pólice keep wrecked cars. I told Morcadei that the file was important but not what was in it.






Back home in my new apartment, I looked at the file Rivers Oaks was a red estate Company. They wanted to build a new mail office for the Washington Post Office and then rent the building to them. They had bought the warehouse where De Von Hardy and Lontae Burton lived and they wanted to pull it down and start rebuilding.





They were in a hurry. They wanted to start pulling the warehouse down in February. On January 27, Héctor Palma visited the warehouse. His note about that visit was on the list of documents in the file, but was not actually in the file. Somebody had taken it out, almost certainly Chance, after Mister had visited us.







On Friday January 31, Héctor Palma returned to the warehouse, with the pólice and evicted the people who were living there. The eviction had taken three hours. Héctor Palma more about it was two pages long.






Although he tried to hide what he felt, it was clear that he disliked being part of the eviction.






He described how Lontae had Fought wit the pólice.







My heart stopped when I read...





The mother had three children, one a baby. She lived in a two room apartment with no bathroom. They slept on the floor. She fought with the policeman while her children watched. In the end she was carried out of the building.

The street lawyer.-

I woke up at seven in the morning and a nurse gave me a note from Claire.It was a really sweet note.It said that she had to go to work and that she had spoken to my doctors and I probably would    not die.Claire and I must look like a happily married couple to the doctors and nurses.






Why were we getting a divorce?





My left arm was blue. My chest hurt when I Breathed. I looked at my face in the bathroom. There were some small cuts, but nothing that would not disappear over the weekend. A nurse told me the Jaguar had been driven by a gang member who sold drugs.





Welcome to the streets-I thought as I tried no do breathe too much.



The doctor came at seven thirty, No bones were broken.






They wanted me to stay in hospital for one more day, just to be safe, but I said no.





I had to find a new apartment. The first real estate office sent me to an apartment at Adams- Morgan north of Dupont Circle.It was three Little romos  at the top of a house. Everything in the bathroom worked, the floor was clean, there was a view over the streets.I took it.






That evening I went back to my old apartment to see Claire. We ate a Chinese carryout. Our first ever meal together as husband and wife. Claire had the divorce papers waiting for me on the table and I signed them. In six months I would be single.






-Do you know someone called Héctor Palma? she asked,   through the Chinese dinner.





My eyes opened wide...yes..





-He called an hour ago. Said he had to talk to you. Who is he?






.A legal assistant with Drake. He wants me to help him. He has a problem.





-Must be a big one. He wants to meet with you at nine tonight, at Nathan...






-why a bar?I said, half to myself, half to Claire.



-He did not say. He sounded strange on the ph  one.







Suddenly, I was not hungry. I finished the meal only because I did not want to look worried in front of Claire. But it was not necessary .She was not even looking at me.






I walked to Mr Street. Parking is imposible on a Saturday night. It was raining and my chest hurt. As I walked, I thought about what to say.




I thought of lies I could tell. After taking the file, it seemed easier to lie. Héctor might be there for Drake.He might be wired to record what I said. I would listen carefully and say Little.






Nathan was only half-full. I was ten minutes early but he was there, waiting for me at a table in the corner. As I came in, he jumped up from his seat and put his hand out.






-you must be Michael. I  am Héctor Palma from real estate, Nice to meet you.Huh?Did not we meet in the library?






-we sat down. He started kicking me under the table. I understood. He was wired and they were watching. A waiter came. I ordered black coffee and Héctor asked for a beer.



-I am a legal assistant in real state, Héctor explained as the drinks arrived.





-You have met Braden ,one of our partners?





.Yes, I said, I would say as Little as possible



I work  for him You and I spoke for a minute one day last week when you visited his office.



-If you say so, I dont remember seeing you.



He smiled and I kicked him back under the table. We both understood the situation now.




Listen, I asked you to meet me because a file is missing from Braden office.




-And you think I took it?




-well, no but it could be you. You asked for that file when you went into his office last week.





-So you do think I took it?I said angrily. well, go on to the pólice.



Héctor Palma drank some of his beer. Drake already gone to the pólice, he said.



The pólice found an empty file in your desk with a note about two keys. One to the door the other to a file drawer.



They also found your fingerprints on the file drawer.




I had not thought about fingerprints. Drake took everybody fingerprints when they joined the Company. But that was five years ago and I had forgotten about it.




-We might want to speak to you about all this again later, said Héctor Palma.



I picked up my coat and left.

The Street Lawyer.-

I found the River file and was Reading trough it when a voice outside shouted Hey... and I Jumped.






A conversation started outside. Two guys were talking baseball. I turned off the lights, listening to their talk. Then I sat on Chance sofá for ten minutes.






I could put the file back. If they saw me leaving Chance office, nothing would be done. It was my last day. But if they saw me taking a file, that was very different.





-Be patient, I told myself. After baseball, they started talking about girls. I think they were a couple of Young legal assistants, working late. Then finally, it was quiet.






I locked the drawer in the dark, opened the door and went out.      Hey shouted someone behind me.I ran. I ran to the back of the building, got into the Lexus and drove off.






-That was stupid, I thought





-Why did I run?



-Why did not talk to the guy? I still worked at Drake, did not I ?




That was my last thought before the Lexus was hit by a Jaguar speendig down 18 Street.




I remember  a voice saying.




-I dont see any blood.



And then remember Claire sitting by my bed at the George Washington University Medical Center.

The street lawyer.-

It was now getting late, this Friday night. I was starting work with Morcadei on Monday. It was starting work with Morcadei on Monday.It was now or never. But I had not got a key to the 14 Street Law Center. I looked at my watch. It was half past six. I drove to 14 Street.






My partners were still there, Sofia actually smiled at me, but only for a second.





-Welcome to your new job, said Morcadei seriously, like I needed all the luck in the world.





-How about this? he said, pointing at my new office.




-The best office in the área.





-Beautiful. I said, stepping inside. My new office was about half the size of the one I had just left. My Drake desk would be too big to go in there. There was no pone.





-I like it-I said. And I did.


-I will get you a phone tomorrow.said Morcadei.






It was dark and Sofia wanted to leave. Morcadei and I ate some sándwiches he had bought. He made us both coffee. I looked at the copier. It was about ten years old but I knew it worked.






-What time are you leaving tonight?I asked Morcadei and I ate some sándwiches he had bought. He made in both coffee.I looked at the copier. It was about ten years old but I knew in worked.






-what time are you leaving tonight? I asked Morcadei, with my mouth full of sándwich.



-I dont know. In an hour maybe. Why?






-I am going back to Drake for a couple of hours. I have some last minute stuff they want me to finish. Then I would like to come back here late. Would that be posible?






Morcadei was eating his sándwich. He reached into a drawer and threw me a key.





-Come and go as you please, he said.



-Will it be safe?


-No. So be careful Park as close to the door as you can, Walk fast. Then lock yourself in.




I walked fast to my car at seven Thirty. The sidewalk was empty. My lexus was fine. Maybe I would be ok on the streets.





The drive back to Drake took eleven minutes. If it took thirty minutes to copy Chance file, then it would be out of his office for about an hour.And he would never know answer. I used the key to his door and went in.





Should I turn on the light? It was dark-I would have to. I locked the door, turned on the light, went to the bottom file drawer under the window and unlocked it with the second key.

The street Lawyer.-

That night, I told Claire my news. It was almost ten and we were sitting in our favourite chairs with glasses of wine. After a few  minutes I said...





-We need to talk.





-What is it ? she asked unworried.





-I am  thinking of leaving Drake.






- Oh really, she either expected this or wanted to seen calm. I had told her about Lontae Burton and her family.





-Yes, I can not go back there.






-Why not?







- The Work is boring and unimportant. I want to do something to help people. I told you about Morcadei Green. His Law Center has offered me a job. I am starting Monday.






-How much did he offer you?






-Thirty thousand a year.





-That is ninety thousand dollars a year less tan you earn now.






-You don t do work for the homeless for the money.






A Young law and medical students we had wanted to help people. We told ourselves then that money was not important .





And now?






-I am tired, she said. She finished her wine and went to the bedroom.







We met in the library on the third floor. Héctor Palma was very nervous.








-Did you put those files on my desk?I asked him. There was no time do play games.







-What files?His eyes went around and around the room, looking at everything except me.





-The River Oks eviction. You were there?






-Yeah, he said.







-What is in the River Oaks file?







-Bad stuff.







-Tell me.






-I have a wife and four kids. I need this job.





-You will be ok.





-You are leaving. What do you care?






I was not surprised he knew. People talked I was news.






-So, before I leave, you want me to go into Chance office and take a file. And I can not be sure what is in it?







-Do what you want. And he run out of the library.







I went back to my office and made some more notes. I would lose my Jobs if I was caught taking  the file, but I was already leaving. It would be much worse if I was already leaving. It would be much worse if I was caught in Chance office with a key that was not mine. I did not like the idea at all.







Then there was the problems of copying the file. Some Drake files were very thick. I would have to stand I front of a photocopier for a long time. And also our photcopiers worked from a plastic card that had our names on it. Drake knew exactly who copied what.






I could use a photocopier somewhere else, but it was ilegal to take the file from the bilding. And I was a lawyer.But coul not I just borrow the file ? I only needed it for half an hour to photocopy it, and bring it back immediately. That made me a Little less of a thief.

The street lawyer.-

I called in sick Tuesday, At ten I left for the funeral. I twas a very nice church. Beautiful It did not open its doors to the homeless and I could understand why. I sat alone. I could see Morcadei with two people. I did not know.The tv people were in one corner.









I could also see the coffins. The babys coffin was very small. Ontarios coffin and his brother were bigger, but not much bigger. Lontae Burtons parents were dead, but her grandmother was there. She put flowers on the coffins and for a terrible second I thought she was going to open them, I had never been to a black funeral before and I did not what to expect. But I had seen old film of coffins open at funnerals.







After the funeral, there was the march To Capitol Hill. There were big potos of Lontae Burton everywhere, and under her face the words who killed Lontae?









On Capitol Hill Morcadei spoke to the people. He did not talk about the homeless. He talked about the last hours of the Burton family. He talked about the baby last meal, in the church. He talked about the cookies the boys had eaten.







He described how the Little family left the church and went back onto the streets, into the snowstorm where Lontae and her children lived only a few more hours. Morcadei described things he did not actually know had happened, but I did not care and teh crowd did not either. When he described the family trying to get warm before they died, I Heard women crying around me. If this man, Morcadei Green, coul make a crowd like this, he must be a great lawyer.





When Morcadei finished we marched to the Capitol, the government Building, carring the coffins. I had never been on a march like this before.







Rich people dont march, their world is safe and clean and there are laws to keep them happy. But now I too, carried my potograph of a 22 years old black mother who had died for nothing in a car. I was not the same person as I had been before Mister and Ontario came into my life, and I could never be that person again.









So I accepted when Morcadei Green phoned me a few days later and invited me to a restaurant near Dupont Circle.And when he invited me to join the 14 Street Law Center  I accepted his offer of a job too.







We can pay you dirthy thousand dollars a year, smiled Morcadei.



   

-You will be a partner .Lets see Drake beat that.





I smiled too.I nearly told him about the file. I needed from Drake the file that would give us the story of De Von Hardys eviction.But I did not.

A new Person.-

I was the 14 th Street Law Center.




-How much would a funeral cost? I asked Mordecai.





-I dont know.Are you interested?






-I want them to have a good funeral






-Ok , then.Let s arrange it now.






We go into Mocadeis old Ford Taurus. The Burton family bodies were in the morgue of the General Hospital. Morcadei entered like he owned the place.








-I am Morcadei Green, lawyer for the Burton family, he informed an around Young man behind the desk.






A doctor from the hospital arrived and Morcadei pushed open the big metal door. Inside the White room were lines of bodies covered in sheets. Their names were on Little pieces of paper tied to their toes.





We stopped in a corner.






-Lontae Burton. said the doctor and pulled the sheet down to her wait. It was Ontario s mother all right, in a White dress. She looked the same as when I saw her alive a few days ago. She looked like ahe was sleeping. I coul not stop staring at her.






-That is her, said Morcadei in a confident and loud voice, like he  known her for years.





Only one sheet covered the children. They were lying in a line with their hands by their soldiers. I wanted to touch Ontario. I wanted to tell him I was sorry.I wanted to wake him up, take him home, give him some food, give him everything he could ever want.



-That is them-said Morcadei.



I looked up to heaven and I Heard a voice in my head say






-Dont let it happen again.






The doctor took us to an office. We helped the assistant meke a list of everything that had been found whit the family.My old blue jacket was the best thing they owned.







-Do you want it back? Morcadei asked me.





-No





I waited outside in teh car while Morcadei arranged the funeral in another office. He told me the Price would go up if they saw my expensive clothes. In less tan a week I had seen five dead Street people. First Miser had changed my life, now Ontario had broken my heart.






There was a knock on the car window. I jumped.






- It is five thousand dollars, all for.Morcadei shouted through the closed car window.





-Yeah, yeah- I said and he disappeared back into the hospital.






Soon he was back, driving fast.






-The funeral will be Tuesday at the church here at he hospital. The newspaper will be there. And televisión. I t is a big story.






-Thanks , Morcadei, I said.






After the funeral, there is going to be a march, a march to the government buildings on Capitol Hill for the Burton family.Television is going to film it, the newsapapers will be there. And televisión. It is a big story.






-Thanks, Morcadei-I said.








After the funeral, there is going to be a march, a march to the government builddings on Capitol Hill for the Burton family.Television is going to film it, the newspapers are going to write about it...Are you Ok?





-No.-

The street lawyer.-

And how many homeless?





-good question. They are a difficult group to count. Maybe ten thousand.





I thought about that.Then I asked Morcadei about himself-You have a family.'?






-Yes, a wife. Three sons. One is in college, one is in the army and...and we lost our third boy on the streets ten years ago. He was killed. Gangs, What about you?






-Married, no kids.





Morcadei disappeared again, A helper brought cookies. I took four of them and walked to a corner where a Young mather was asleep with a baby under her arm and two small children half asleep under blankets.








The oldest boy eyes opened wide when he saw the cookies in my hand. I gave him one. His eyes shone as he took it and ate all of it. Then he wanted another one. He was small and thin, no more tan four years old. The mother woke up, saw the cookies, and smiled.







-What is your name ? I said to the boy. After two cookies he was my friend for life.






-Ontario





.How old are you?




He showed me four fingers.


-Four? I said.






He said yes and put his hand out for another cookie, wich I gadly gave him. I wanted to give him things. Anyhing he wanted.







-where do you live?I whispered.







-In a car, he whispered back. You got more Apple juice?







-Sure. I went to the kitcken and got him a cup of Apple juice and more cookies.







The mother was sleeping again. Like many homeless people, she moved a lot in her sleep. She was cold. I took my jacket off and put in over her. Then the baby cried and woke her. Without thinking. I took the baby, smiling at the mother all the time, She was happy to let me hold it so she could get some sleep. I stayed there until three in the morning.










The next day was Saturday. Since Tuesday when I met Mister, I had not worked even one hour for Drake. I lay in bed. I hated the work at Drake. I did not want to go back.Ever.








I had breakfast at a café on M and wondered what Ontario was having for breakfast. Then I went shopping, Candy and small toys for the kids, soap for them all, warm clothes in lots of childrens sizes. I had never had so much fun spending two hundred dollars. And I wanted to spend more. I wanted to start a lawsuit against the person who had made them homeless. I could not wait to have Ontario family as my clients.




I went back to the church leaving all the toys and clothes in the car, but Ontario family were not there. I asked Morcadei where they were.







-Who knows? The homeless go from kitchen to kitchen , shelter to shelter.





Next morning, Sunday, I had the small televisión in the kitchen on while I ate breakfast. But the TV news stopped me from eating. I Heard the words, but I did not want to believe them. I walked toward the televisión. My feet were heavy, my heart was cold, my mouth was open in shock and disbelief.








Sometime around 11 pm Washington pólice found a small car near Fort totten Park, in a gang área in the northeast of the city. It was parked on the Street. Inside were a Young mother and her children, all dead. The mother had started the engine of the old car and left it running to keep the family warm. The air in the car poisoned them while they slept.






They gave the mother name. I t was Lontae Burton. The baby was Temeko. The other childen were Alonzo and Ontario.







Their Candy and toys and soap and clothes were still in my car.

The street lawyer.-

It was unbelievable how many people were in that room.Volunteers were giving out blankets and apples. Morcadei was pouring fruit juice into paper cups and talking all the time. A line waited patiently for food at a table.




I went to Morcadei and he said hello like I was an old friend.


-It is crazy-he said. One big snowstorm and we work all night.


-He showed me the bread, the butter, the meat and the cheese.


.It is real complicated.You do ten with meat and then with cheese.ok'?


-Yeah


-You learn fast-then he disappeared.



I made ten sándwiches quicly, then I showed and watched all the people. Most of the homeless looked down at the floor.Most of them said thank you to the volunteers when they got the food. Then they ate slowly. Even the children were careful with their food.




Morcadei came back and started making sándwiches next to me.



-where does the food come from? I asked him.



-Food bank. People give it, Tonight we are lucky because we have chicken-usually it is just vegatables.



-How many shelters like this are there in the city?



This is not actually a shelter. The church kindly opens its doors when the weather is bad. When the doors close, they go out again.



-I tried to understand this. Then where do these people live?




-Some are squatters. They are the lucky ones. Some live on the streets,some in parks, some in bus stations, some under bridges.




Usually it ok but they can not stay out in the open tonight. It is too cold. They have to go to one of the shelters.



-How many shelters are there?



-About twenty. Two are closing son. No money.



-How many beds?


-About five thousand.

The street lawyer.-Lontae Burton-

Of course, the aparment was empty when I returned Friday night, but there was a note in the kitchen. Just like me, Claire had go now home to her parents in Providence for a couple of days. I knew Claire wanted to end the marriage too I just did not Know how badly.







I went for a long walk. I t was very cold outside, with a strong wind. I passed beautiful homes with families in them, eating and laughing and enjoing the warmth.







Then I moved onto Mr Street, Friday night on was always fun time, the bars and cofee shops were full, and people were waiting and enjoing the warmth.






Then I moved onto M Street, Friday night on M was always fun time, the bars and coffee shops were full and people were waiting in line to get into the restaurants.






I stopped at the window of a music club, listening to sad music with snow over my feet, watching the Young couples drink and dance. For the first time in my life, I did not feel Young.





I was thirty-two but in the last five years I had worked more than most people do in twenty I was tired. Those prety girls in there would never look at me now.







I went back to the apartment. At some time after mine, the phone rang, It was Morcadei Green.





-Are you busy? he asked.




-To do what?





-to work .The shelters are full. we dont have enough helpers.





-I have never done that kind of work.





-Can you put butter on bread?





- I think so.





-Then you are the man for us.We are a church on 13 th and Eclid.





-I will be there in Twenty minutes.





-I changed into the oldest chothes I had jeans and old blue jacket, and took most of my money out of my wallet. As I closed the apartment doors behind me, I was excitedand I did not exactly know why.






I parked the Lexus opposite the church. The attack I half expected did not happen. No gangs, the snow kept the streets empty and safe for now. I went into the church, down into a big room below it and entered the world of the homeless.

The Street Lawyer.-

A few hours later, Claire and I went having our coffee by the kitchen window. The snow had finally stopped. I had an idea






-Let s go to Florida.-I said.







She gave me a cold look.Florida?







-Ok the Bahamas. We can leave tomorrow.





-It is imposible.






-Not at all. I dont have to work for a few days.





-Why not?






-Because I am going crazy and Drake if you go crazy, then you get a few days.






-You are going crazy.






-I know. I t is fun, actually. People are nice to you. They smile Polly brought me cookies today. I like it.







-The cold look returndand she said-I cant.









-And that was the end of that. I knew she  coul not do it. She was a doctor, people had appoitments with her. But also she did not want to go with me.








-ok -I said. Then I am going to Memphis for a couple of days to see me parents.







-Oh really-she said. She did not even sound interested.






- I need to see my parents. It is been almost year. And this is a good time. I think I don t feel like working. Like I said, I am going crazy.







-Claire got up and went to bed.






-Well, call me, she said over her shoulder. I knew that was the end of my marriage. And I hated to have to tell my mother.








My parets were in their erly staties and trying to enjoy not working for the first time in their lives. Mom had been a bank manager. Dad had been a lawyer in Atlanta. They had worked hard saved hard, and given me the best of everything. Dad always wanted me to be a lawyer like him.








I rented a car at Memphis airport and drove east to the rich part of the city where the White people live. The blacks had the center of the city and the whites the área outside. Sometimes the blacks moved out from the center into a White área and then the whites moved further not.







My parents lived on a golf course in a new glass house. You could see the golf course from every window. I had called from the airport so Mom knew I was coming.





-What is  wrong? she asked when she saw me.






-Nothing. I am fine.






-Where is Claire? You guys never call us, you know. I have not Heard her voice in two months.






-Claire is fine, Mom. We are both alive and healthy and working very hard.








-Are you spending enough time together?




-No



- Are you spending any time together?



-Not much. I saw the tears in her eyes. I am sorry, Mom. It is lucky we dont have kids.






To talk about something else. I told her the story of Mister.




-Are you all right? she asked, a look of shock on her face.







-Of course. I am here, are not I? The Company wanted me to take a couple of days holidays To I came home.




-You poor thing. Claire and now this.






Later that afternoon, My dad and I played golf.






-Dad I am not vey happy at Drake-I said I dont like what I am doing? you are getting rich, they arent, be happy.




He was happy He was winning at the golf. Ten minutes later he said







-Are you changing Jobs?



-I am thinking about it?



-Why dont you just say what you are trying to say?





As usual I felt weak and like I was running away from something.





I am thinking about working for the homeless, I said. As a lawyer-I added quicky.





Dad did stop playing. He hit a ball into the distance.



-I will hate to see you throw it all away, son, he said




-You will be a partner in a few years.





-We walked after his ball.



-A Street guy s killed in front of you and you have to chance the world? You just need a few days away from work.






-Is that all?

Mom and Dad.-

After I left Morcadei office, I drove around and around the city while the snow fell. As a lawyer with hours thado work, wich my clients paid for, I coul not do this sort of thing-just moving with the traffic, not going anywhere. But I was doing it now.








I did not want to go back-Id probably never leave. So I drove. I went through por parts of the city.I had never seen before.







Then I went back to Drake. I went up in Mister elevator again, walked along the hall to my office, and sat down at my desk. For the first time I wondered how much everything in my office had cost- the expensive old desk, the red leather armachairs and the Persian carpets. Were not we just chasing money here in this building.








Why did we work so hard to buy a more expensive carpet or an older desk. Was that a good reason to work? Was this the life I wanted?







In my expensive room, I thought of Morcadei Green, giving his time to help people who had nothing.







I had about ten pink telephone messages from clients on my desk and none of them interested me. I did not like this work. My clients were big companies,and I worked on their lawsuits againt other big companies. The lawsuits continued for years. Maybe a hundred lawyers worked on each one, all sending paper to each other.







Polly came in and brought me cookies, She put them on the table with a big smile, before she left for home for the day. A couple of lawyers came in said...How you doing?and left again.They were probably on their way home too.







Alone in his office again, I picked up one big file and then another one. Wich lawsuit did I want to work on today? I did not make any sense to me now.






I went to my computer and began searching our client files. RiverOkkas was started in 1977 in H. It  was a private Company, so it was difficult to get information about it.









River Oaks was the client of a Drake lawyer called Braden Chance. I did not the name but I looked again in our computer files.








Braden Chance was a partner in real state, on the fourth floor. He was forty years old, married and went to law school at Duke.








There were forty-two files for River Oaks. Four were about evictions. River had bought a warehouse on Florida Avenue. On January 27, some squatters were evicted from the warehouse-one of them . as I now knes, was De Von Hardy. The file on the eviction itself had a number nex to it. The number meant that only Braden Chance could open the file.





I wrote down the file name and numbers and walked down to the fourth floor.







When I got there, I saw a legal assistant and asked him where Braden office was. He pointed to an open door across the hall.







Although it was late, Chance was at his desk. looking busy. He did not like me just walking in from the hall.







At Drake you phoned first and made an appoinment, But that I did not worry me very much.






Chance did not ask me to sit down, but I did and he did not like that either.





-You were next to the guy when he got shot. he said unpleasantly, after I said De Von Hardy name.





-Yes, I said.






-Terrible for you,huh'?







. It over, Mr Hardy, who now dead, was evidect from a warehouse. Was it one of our evictions?





-It is over, Mr Hardy, who ir now dead, was evidect from a warehouse. Was it one of our evctions?







-It was, said Chance, but he did look at me as he spoke. I guessed that Arthur Jacobs had looked at the file with him, earlier in the day.






-What about it ?added Chance.






-Was he a squatter?







-Of course he was. They are all squatters, arent they? Our client just got them out of the warehouse.






-Are you sure he was a squatter?Not a tenant?







-Chance looked angry. What do you want?







-Could I see the file?




-No




.Why not?




-I am very busy. Will you please leave?






If he was a squatter there no problema. Why can not I see the file?







-Because it is mine and I said no. How is that?





-Maybe that is not good enough.








-He stood his hands shaking as he pointed to the door. I smiled at him and left.





The legal assistant from the hall had Heard everything and we exchanged looks and smiles as I passed his desk. The man is a fool, he said, very quietly, I smiled again. Yes.






But what was Chance hiding? There was something wrong and it was in that file. I had to get it. I went back to my office to think. The pone rang. It was Claire.







Why are you at the office? She spoke very slowly and her voice was colder tan the snow outside.






I looked at my watch. I remembered we had arranged to have dinner together at the apartment.





-I, uh well, a client called from the West Coast.








-I had used this lie before.It did not matter.







-I am waiting, Michael. Should I start to eat?






- No, I will be back at the apartment as fast as I can.






I ran from the building into the snowstorm, but I did not really care that another evening together had been ruined.

The street lawyer.-

I am looking for Morcadei Green. -I said. But just then he came out of his office, Sofia went back to her work.






Green was an enormous black man, at least two meters tall and very heavy, He was in his early fifties, with a gray beard and round red glasses. He shouted something about a file to Sofia and then turned to me.







-Can I help you?






-I want to talk to you about De Von Hardy? I said and gave him my Drake card.



He looked at me for a few seconds and then looked quicky at Sofia, who was speaking in fast Spanish into the pone. Morcadei Green walked back into his office and I followed him in. The office was a small room with no Windows and the desk and floor covered in files and law books.







-Sit down-he said.But you might get dirty. What do you want?








-I sat down. I was in the room with De Von when he was hot-I said. I could not think this morning. I did not want to go to work. So I came here. Any idea why he did it?









-Because of the eviction-said Morcadei Green. A few months ago he moved into an old warehouse at the corner of Florida Avenue. It was not a bad place for a homeless person. It had a roof, some toilets, wáter?








-Who owned the warehouse?




Morcadei pulled a thin file from one of the piles on his desk. It was exactly the one he wanted. He looked at the file for a minute.







The warehouse was owned by a Company called River Oaks?








-And Rivers Oaks lawyers are Drake ?








-Probably.







-Is that all?







.No, I Heard that DeVohn Hardy  and the others got no warning of the eviction.




-But you can evict squatters with no warning.






-Oh , yes, You can not evict tenants without a warming, though.






-Was De Von a squatter or a tenant?



-I dont Know.





-I thought of another question...How did De Von Know about Drake?






-Who Knows? He was not stupid, though. Crazy, but not stupid.







I had taken enough of his time. He looked at his watch, I looked at mine. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to stay in contact.









Morcadei Green was a warm, caring man whose work was on the streets, protecting hundreds of nameless clients. He was a lawyer with a heart.









On the way out, Sofia did not look up from her conversation on the pone. The Lexus was still there, covered by an inch of snow.

Morcadei Green.-

I had told Polly I would be at work today- the day after Mister came into the office. But for the first time ever, I did not go to work when I was well enough to go.








Just as it started to snow, I got into my car, a Lexus, and drove through the Street of Washington. The snow came down harder and harder, just I drove








Poly voice came over the car phone. She sounded worried.






-Where are you ?






-Who wants to Know?







-A lot of people, Arthur Jacobs wants to see you. You have clients waiting for you.







-I am fine, Polly...Tell everybody, I am at the doctors office.






-Are you?






-No, but I could be.






I drove around Georgetown, not going anywhere, just driving. The clouds were dark. The snow would be heavy. People were hurring throuhg the snow on the sidewalks. I saw a homeless man and wondered if he knew De Von Hardy. Where do Street people go in a snowstorm.








I called the hospital. I wanted to ask Claire to meet me for lunch. But the hospital said Claire was busy and they could not contact her.  That was the end of our lunch together.







I turned and went northeast, past Logan Circle, into the gang área of the city, and drove until I found the 14 th Street Law Center. I parked at 14 th and Q, certain that I would never see the expensive Lexus again.








The 14 Street Law Center was in an old, tall, red brick house that had seen better days.








The Windows on the top floor were protected by pieces of Wood over the grass. The door was not locked. I went in slowly out of the snow, and entered another world.










It was a law office all right at Drake and S. I stepped into a large furniture here, not like at D and S.










There was a large photograh of Martin Luther King on one Wall. The office was busy and dusty and interesting.







-You looking for somebody? asked a man at a desk with the name Sofia Mendoza on it. She looked Mexican. She was not smiling but I did.








It was funny. Nobody at Drake would talk to a visitor like that. They would lose their job. But I would talk to a visitor like that. They would lose their job. But I would son learn how important Sofia was to the 14 Street Law Center.

The Street lawyer.-

Next morning we made breakfast together. We ate in the kitchen watching the small televisión. The six oclock news showed the Drake building and you could see Mister looking out of the window.








The telvision news said the dynamite was not real. The sticks were made of Wood and Mister had painted then red. The gun was real enough, thought. It was a 44 stolen.







Mister real name was De Von Hardy. He was forty-five. He had fought in Vietnam.






He had been in prison a few times for stealing, but he was not a big criminal. And he was homeless with no known family.








That morning Washingtown Post had more details.







According to someone called Morcadei, the Director of the High Street Law Center, De Von Hardy had recently lost his job. Then he became homeless.








He was living in an old warehouse. This was not unusual. A lot of homeless people move into empty buildings for evictions.







-Who did teh eviction? Mister had asked. But I guess he already knew the answer to that.




And now I knew it too. Drake had thown Mister into the streets.

The street lawyer.-Devon Hardy.-

A policeman led me to the first floor of the building where Friends and family and doctors were waiting, The doctors crowded around, but where was my wife?






Six hours in a room with a gunman and she had not come to see me. It was funny really because my wife Claire, was a doctor herself, at one of the biggest hospitals in Washington.






I lay on a table for ten minutes, while doctors examined me to make sure I was all right. Then my secretary, Polly arrived. There were tears in her eyes as she put her arms around me.






-Where is Claire? I asked her.





-I called the hospital.She is working.





-Polly knew there was not much left of the marriage.




-Are you Ok? she asked.



-I think so.






-I will take you home.






I was pleased someone was telling me what to do. My thoughts came into my head slowly. It was like I was under wáter.






We left the Drake and S building by a back door. There were pólice cars everywhere and ambulances and televisión vans even a fire truck.







-I am alive, I am alive !I realized smiling for the first time. I am alive. I looked up to heaven and said a very big tahnk you.







When I got home to our apartment on P Street in Georgetown, Claire was not there.



I sat in the empty apartment and thought about her. We had met the week after I moved to Washington. I was just out of Yale with a great job. She came from one of American oldest families.We were in love, we got married.








But Drake make you work very hard the first year. I worked fifteen hours a day, six days a week. I saw Claire on Sundays and we went out together when I was not too tired.








For the last five years I had worked about 200 hours a month.







That eight hours every day for six with two or three hours on Sundays.






But Young lawyers at Drake dont complain about long hours. Fewer tan one in ten become you earn at least a million dollars a year.






Claire was good about it for the first few months, but then she got tired of having a husband who was never there and I did not blame her.









There were a lot of divorces at Drake. Long hours  each hour paid for by a client, are more important tan a happy wife.






By the end of our first year together, Claire was unhappy and we were not talking together very much.







She decided to go to medical school and I thought that was a great idea.







Drake were telling me that I was posible future partner. I just had to work even harder. When Claire was studying, I did not feel so guilty about that.







But Claire did not just study. She worked long hours. She had decided she wanted to be a great doctor.




My boss, Arthur, was on my team. He had become  a partner in Drake at the age of thirty. The youngest ever partner. And he would son be the oldest ever working partner.








The law was his life. All three of his divorced wives could tell you that.




I woke up suddenly. I had fallen asleep in a armchair at the apartment and Claire was sitting in a chair next to me.









-Where were you today ?




.At the hospital-






-Nine of us are in a room with a crazy man and a gun for six hours. We get lucky and escape. Eight families come and see their relative because tehy are interested in whether or not he is alive. And how do I get home?



-my secretary drives me.






-I could not be there.





-oh no...Of course you coul not be there. How silly of me!





-I could not be there because the pólice asked all doctors to stay at their hospitals until the stuation at Drake ended.




They always do that when there is a posible shooting.






-Oh, Did you call?




-I tried. I guess there were a lot of people trying.