Jack's Rebirth Pt. 02

"I got fired this morning. Someone told my boss I was arrested in HEB for stealing. He said I was a bad influence and he could not have me disgracing his place of business."

"Where did you work?", I asked.

She lowered her head. "Dollar General.

"It was the only place that would hire me, with no experience and my criminal record. And then he refused to give me my last paycheck. Almost two weeks pay. I have no money, my rent is due next week, and now the car is destroyed and I have no way to get my kids from school. CPS will take them away from me, and I have a parole meeting on Wednesday. Then there is Social Services about no home and I have no where to go". If she was pitiful before, she was destitute now. Where did the formidable fighter go to??

Donna was rubbing her shoulder and hugging her. She looked at me like 'What are we going to do?'

Like I knew. I wracked my brain.

"Can we get her into the women's shelter in Magnolia?"

"They may have a space, but they won't take two small children without getting CPS involved," said Donna. Gloria broke down wailing again. She was sniveling and her nose was running. She started to hyperventilate and hiccup. Look up 'basket case' in the dictionary. It says 'See Gloria Ortiz'.

I thought and thought. Then a light bulb went on in my head, just like in the cartoons.

"Let me make a phone call", I said.

I stepped out into the hallway and hit #2 on my speed dial. Two rings and my current favorite female answered.

"Hello, baby, how are you?".

"I'm fine, mom. How are you and dad?".

"We're good. What's going on?".

I took a deep breath.

"Mom, I need a favor. I have someone who is in a bad way and needs some place to regroup. Can you put her up for a few days?".

Uh, oh. Silence. Then- "What did she do, Jack?".

"She lost her job and she has no money, and she and her kids will lose their apartment next week."

She was waffling; I could hear it in her voice. Until I mentioned her job, her home, and her kids. I heard her gasp, and I knew I had her.

"Bring them here, Jack. Right away. Your father and I will take them in for as long as they need."

"Thanks, mom. You're the best."

"I love you too, baby". She hung up.

I went downstairs and up to the squad car where the two 'individuals' were housed. I motioned for the two other cops to turn away and Officer Jones took a little walk around the grounds. I hauled the one perp out of the car and braced him on the trunk. With that, Louie rolled up and started to load the car.

"You sure you want to fix this junker?".

"Just find out how much and let me know, o.k.?". I turned to the shits.

"O.K., this is what's gonna happen, punk. I'm a detective, so I don't have a body cam. There's no record of this, so listen carefully. You're going to get a citation for disorderly conduct."

He relaxed until I dropped the other shoe.

"Then you're gonna go find Santos and tell him that Gloria Ortiz is in witness protection. She is 'off the table'. If anybody comes near her or her kids, they will disappear. Period. Understand?? Then you will disappear or I will make it my business to let ALL your friends know the reason you were let off was because you agreed to be CI's for the cops. BOTH of you. Got it?".

He quailed and said, "You can't do that!!".

"Hide and watch, punk!".

He choked and nodded his head. "I want to hear it!".

"Yeah, Yeah, O.K," he said.

I let his throat go and told the two cops to write them both up and cut them loose, like I said.

With that, Donna and Gloria came downstairs with two suitcases and three large plastic bags. Pretty pathetic. The two shits left quickly without a backward look. I turned to Gloria and said, "Alright, let's get you taken care of."

She looked around and said, "Where's my car?"

"OH, I had it towed to a scrap yard. It was just junk." O.k., dumb.

She went into hysteria mode again, and I got a death stare from Officer Smith. "JACK!!".

"I'm sorry, I had a friend come and take it to get it fixed. I was just trying to make a joke. Ha, ha."

Both women fixed me with death stares, and Officer Jones and the other two cops looked around for someplace else to be, so they would not have to witness my demise.

"Come on, let's get you some place safe and help you get your life back."

I led her to the unit and put her belonging in the back seat. Officer Smith handed me three business cards.

"These are her Parole officer, her contact at CPS, and the lady at Social Services. DON'T LOSE THEM!!".

"One thing at a time. I'm going to get her a lawyer and then get her kids, and then get her situated. Tomorrow we'll take care of all this", I said to Donna.

She looked at me. "See that you do." Then she grinned.

Now Donna was cute. Bubbly and desirable. But she was happily married, to an accountant in city hall. I had played softball against him at the 4th of July picnic. They had one child. I don't mess with married women. And I liked her, as a friend and a co-worker. So I passed on everything else.

We went back to the police station and I got her situated in my Bronco, with her belongings, and went in and turned in the keys to the unit I had used. We left to go to my brother-in-law's office.

As we drove I snuck a glance at her. She was curled up as best she could be while strapped into a five-point harness in a custom bucket seat. She was staring out the window and seemed lost in her thoughts. I stared out the windshield and then I spoke.

"There were no child seats in the back of the Toyota." My statement hung in the air. But she never moved.

"I don't have any. They're too expensive. I just put them in their seat belts and made sure they were in tight and I drove very carefully."

I looked at her.

"If you had been pulled over, for anything, even a taillight, and the kids were in the car, you would have been cited, and probably had the kids taken from you and put with CPS. And given your parole status, nothing good would have come from it."

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She spun towards me and shrieked.

"I DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY!! I can't afford them!! I do the best I can." She lost it again.

"Besides, how are you going to bring my children home from school in this truck? Just because you are a COP. You think you can do anything!!".

I looked at her for maybe five seconds, intently. Yeah, I know, eyes on the road. Then I looked forward.

"WELL, ANSWER ME!!".

Without hesitation, I jerked my right hand towards the back seat, pointing.

She stared, then swiveled and looked at the two identical bucket seats in the back, with two child seats attached. She turned back. She stared at me. At least, this time I was not incinerated. Actually, I felt kind of good.

"You have children?", she asked.

"No."

"Are you married??".

I sighed and my mind went to a dark place. One I had not been to in more than six months.

"Not any more", I said.

"What happened?".

I looked at her again and figured I knew more about her than she knew about me. We need to level the field.

"My wife cheated on me, left me, and filed for divorce. She said I was only a cop, and not good enough for her. Go figure."

She looked horrified. I had gone from being the object of disdain to an object of pity. Well, it could have been worse. As a matter of, it had been. At least she didn't look like she wanted to kill me.

"Well, then, why do you have kid's seats in your car?"

"My sister and her husband have two kids, about the same age as yours. Sometimes I chauffeur them around. My mom and my dad have seats also, in case they have the kids. In my mom's Lincoln, and my dad's F-250 crew cab." 'You'll see, I hope, unless you refuse to stay there', I thought.

"My one brother has them, too. My other doesn't. He has a Dodge Charger. I think he doesn't so that if he needs to give them a ride, he has to borrow my Bronco. He likes driving it." I smirked a little at the thought.

'But he would never admit to that'.

She looked at me with a new attitude.

We rolled up to Dan's office. The law offices of Wassermann, O'Connor, and Smith. My brother-in-law was a junior partner, specializing in criminal law. My sister, Evie, had just made a junior partner. Her field was family law. They were both highly thought of at the firm.

I parked in a visitor's place and we went into the lobby. There sat Mrs. Magritte Swanson, the receptionist and office manager.

"Jonathon! How are you? What brings you here today?".

"I'm fine, Mrs. Swanson. I need to see Daniel if he's available".

She consulted her computer screen saying, "Just one moment".

"He's free. Go right in, Jonathon." With barely a nod to Gloria, she hit a button to Daniel's office, telling him he had visitors.

I led Gloria to Daniel's office and walked in on my brother-in-law with his suit jacket hanging on the coat rack, his tie slightly loose, and his sleeves rolled up. He rose.

"Jack! What brings you around? And who is this?", he nodded to Gloria.

"Danny, I, that is we, need a favor. This is Gloria Ortiz, a friend. She's on parole and she needs a lawyer". With that, I tossed her file on his desk. "She lost her job, and she's pretty much destitute. She's probably going to be evicted next week."

Dan stuck his hand out and shook Gloria's hand. He looked at me as he released her hand and picked up her file. He sat back and started to read. After perusing it for about five minutes, he put it down and reached into his desk drawer for his tape recorder, placing it on the desk and turning it on.

"Ms. Ortiz, do I understand that you want me, Daniel Williams, to act as attorney for you, representing you in any criminal actions or parole negotiations?".

She looked at me and I nodded my head 'yes'.

She turned to Daniel and said, "Yes, I do. But I can't afford to pay you...".

"Don't worry about that, it will be 'pro-bono'." He turned to me and said, "I don't anticipate much, as it looks pretty cut and dried. What about her kids? Do we need to get Evie involved?".

I thought for a moment. "Couldn't hurt, I guess."

Daniel hit the intercom and I heard my sister's voice.

"Yes, Daniel what's up?".

"Can you spare a moment? I have a new client who might need you, too".

"Be right there".

About three minutes later, Evelyn Williams entered. Her face broke into a huge smile when she saw her 'favorite' little brother, then tapered off to a small grin when she saw Gloria.

"Hello, Jack, what brings you here?", she said, hugging me.

Dan spoke.

"Evie, I would like to introduce Ms. Gloria Ortiz." He looked at me and grinned.

"She is a 'friend' of Jack's and she has retained me to represent her in an appeal of a criminal action against her. She has two small children, lost her job, is technically 'broke', and may need a family lawyer also".

By the look on Evie's face, we had her.

"Oh, you poor thing!", she said.

Gloria reached for my hand and squeezed it. That did not go unnoticed by husband and wife, but I was in total shock. What just happened??".

Dan passed the folder to Evie, she opened it and started to read. Dan keyed his intercom again and a sweet voice said, "Yes, sir?".

"Myra, could you come in here a moment, please?". Myra was Dan's secretary.

She came in and Dan took the folder from his wife and handed it to Myra.

"Please copy these and start of file for Ms. Gloria Ortiz".

"Right away, boss".

"Now, we will talk to the ADA about getting a hearing and getting this set aside. Meanwhile, keep going to your parole meetings and don't volunteer anything, about your job status or living arrangements. Understood??".

She showed some of the backbone and grit I had come to admire.

"Yes, sir. I can do that."

With that, Myra came back in with a file folder and handed it to Dan, and then gave the original back to Evie. Dan popped the mini-cassette out of his recorder and put into the folder. He turned to me and looked at the two of us.

"So, what's next?".

"We're going to pick up her kids at school, then taking all of them to the safe house". I hoped that I didn't blush too much as I said this and retrieved the original file from Evie. Thank God that Gloria didn't know where we were going.

"Tomorrow after we get her kids off to school, we're going to see her parole officer". I held my hand up and stopped Gloria from talking.

"I know you're not due till Wednesday, but I know your P/O. He's a good guy. We are going to 'beat the clock' as they say and try to get ahead of this".

"Then we' ll pay a visit to the CPS lady, and finally to the Social Services lady. After that, we'll pick up the kiddies, and return to the safe house. Sound o.k.?".

Dan looked at me, then Gloria, then turned to his wife. Evie was studying us a little more closely. Finally, she turned to her husband and shrugged. Dan smiled. He handed me three business cards.

"Sounds good. Again, like I said, DON'T volunteer anything new. Just bring them up to speed".

We rose and exchanged pleasantries. Gloria thanked her two new lawyers and we left. As we went out the door, Evie turned to her husband and said, "Well, that was interesting!".

Dan was still looking at our departing backs.

He grinned. Turning to his wife, he snickered and said, "More than you realize, hon. More than you realize. Did you notice they were holding hands on the way out??".

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We got in the Bronco and buckled up.

"They seem very nice, your sister and brother-in-law. And very much in love, I think." She looked at me with wide eyes.

"Yes, they are. Are you o.k. with everything, so far? '

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? You just set me up with two cool lawyers at no charge to me, told me we are spending the night at a safe house, we're going to pick up my kids, and tomorrow we're going to see my worst nightmares".

"Your parole officer isn't that bad a guy", I said.

"No, not him. He's a pussy cat. It's the other two. I don't like them. They want to take my kids." Here come the tears again. It seems the only important things in her life are her children.

"AAH, don't sweat it. We'll handle it all, one thing at a time".

She stared at him.

"What is it that you want? Why are you doing this? You are being so nice to me, you must want something". Her tone changed as her eyes narrowed and the tears stopped. She was pissed at me again. "You all want something. All men are the same. I have had so much more pain than you, you cannot imagine". She turned and stared out the window again as we pulled away and headed for her kid's school.

I was stumped. This woman was so badly hurt and broken that it would appear nothing I could say or do would change her mind. Maybe the truth??

We drove in silence. Finally, we pulled into the school parking lot.

"Over there," she said. "Because they aren't getting on the bus, you have to wait in the lot for them to come out".

I looked at my watch and realized we had about 45 minutes till they got out.

'WHAT THE HELL!' I thought. 'I've got nothing to loose'.

"Look", I said, "You know almost nothing about me. I, on the other hand, have your whole life history. So here it is".

I proceeded to tell her everything about my story, with the exception of the discussion with my dad. I told her about my wife's affair, her continued adultery, her leaving me, the letter, and filing for divorce. I poured the 'poor me' pity glass out about the hit to my masculinity with her scathing comments. I was almost sobbing when I finished.

As I talked, she slowly turned and stared at me, her eyes widening as my story progressed. By the time I had finished (or all I could elucidate lucidly), she was almost aghast. Now I was looking straight ahead out the windshield. She was silent. Then she reached across and took my hand. I turned and looked at her.

"I have acted as I did because it was how I was raised, the way to behave. The right thing to do. I didn't want anything from you. And you know what? My parents were right. It made me feel good, real good. I haven't felt this good in over a year and half, before my wife and I started to come apart. Was it me, or did you have something to do with it? I don't know, and I don't care".

"And I haven't even met your kids, yet".

She stared. Then she smiled.

I don't remember seeing her smile before. Grin, maybe; smirk, occasionally. But not really smile. It was worth it.

"O.K., maybe you have had a rough time of it. And maybe you don't want anything else. If that is the case, you could possibly be the only male in recorded history who didn't want 'anything else'", she grinned. About that time, the dismissal bell rang and the doors opened to dump kids everywhere. Gloria got out and walked towards the stampeding throng, looking for her two. I got out and walked around to lean against the right front fender on the Bronco.

'Well, here goes nothin', I thought.

Two little people detached themselves from their brethren and ran towards Gloria. The short female type was a virtual spitting image of Gloria. Smooth, angular face with that soft olive-skinned complexion. Big, soft, deep-set eyes and long luxurious black hair. She was cute. She clutched her unicorn backpack as she hugged and kissed her mom.

Her brother was different. You could see the Afro-American influence in addition to Gloria's likeness. His skin was a slightly darker shade than Gloria's and his hair was slightly curly, close-cropped, and short. His face was slightly rounded and his eyes were deep and dark. A good-looking little boy, and he was all over his mom. He had dropped his Batman backpack, and he was laughing and looking up at his mom.

'Good looking kids. Happy, too. She's a good mother', I thought.

She took their hands, he picked up Batman, and laughing, they walked towards me. I stood up straight and smiled at them. As they came up to the truck, little Marilyn Ortiz dropped her mother's hand and walked up to me.

"Hello. My name is Marilyn. What's yours?".

"My name is Jonathan Stone, Jack to my friends. Want to be my friend??"

"O.K.", she grinned. Her brother, Micheal, not so easy. He dropped Batman again and moved between me and his mother. His arms hung down at his side, but his hands were clenched into fists.

"Who the hell are you??". Micheal was loaded for bear. O.K., I can handle this.

I think.

His mother interposed.

"MICHEAL ORTIZ!! Watch your manners!".She was using the same tone she used to use with me, up until an hour or so ago, but with a mother's overtone. I gestured 'I got this' to her and dropped to one knee.

"Hello, my name is Jack Stone. I am trying to help your mom, and I guess you and your sister as well. I see you are in charge of security here, so I am going to need your help to keep you guys safe. Whatta ya say? Deal? Can you help me??". I stuck out my hand to shake, but that looked like a non-starter. This little guy was too wary.

Then I remembered that my nephew Daniel Jr. has this thing he does that he thinks is cooler than shaking hands. He says 'THAT'S for old people'.

I pulled my hand back and stared at him.

"Are you sure you won't help me, buddy?".

I made a fist and stuck it out here. His expression changed and he stared at me, unsure now. He turned his head slightly and slowly brought his little fist up and bumped mine. He looked at me.

"Deal, Mr. Stone." He grinned a little.

I returned the grin, pulled my hand back, and exploded my fingers. His face broke into a huge smile and exploded back at me.

I stood up and said, "Come on, time's a'wastin, as they say."

I led a startled and surprised mother and two happy little kids to the Bronco. I motioned to Michael to come to my side of the truck and opened my door. I knew he could handle getting in so I left Gloria to get Marilyn in on her side.