Miz Sara Finds an Unlikely Ally

I made them both promise me that they would do nothing but observe and try to determine if Jodie and Justin were indeed living in the house Rosa Brindisi owned. "You can take your camera and get photos, Cindy," I cautioned them, "but nothing more."

After that there was no stopping them, and soon they were driving off for southeast Atlanta. I was left to hold down the fort and dither until their return. The later it got the more anxious I became, but finally I was rewarded by the beam of car headlights shining through the leaded glass beside the front door of my office.

As the two of them came in the door, I could tell immediately that they were subdued, and that made me uneasy. "What in the world happened?" I demanded. "What took you so long?"

Martin sat silently; it was Cindy who answered for them. "When we got over to Cabbagetown, we decided to park on Estoria Street and walk through the park so we wouldn't be spotted. We went strolling like a pair of lovers, but, fortunately, there wasn't anyone around." She smiled at Martin, trying to lighten his gloom with a little levity, but he was clearly not in a cheerful mood.

"We crossed the park and then walked up to the backyard of the house Miz Rosa owns. Martin spotted the big three-wheeled tricycle he'd bought Justin for his birthday. Then we saw Jodie's car in the driveway, so we were almost certain we were right. Martin wanted to go up and try to peek in the windows, but I thought it would be wiser to walk around the place first, just to make sure it was safe."

"When we got around front, we saw there was another car parked there, one Martin didn't recognize. That made us suspect Jodie might have a visitor, so we felt like we'd have to be extra careful. Anyway, we looped around behind the house and snuck up to the back. Sure enough, the first window we looked in was Justin's room; he was sound asleep in bed."

She paused at that point, and looked at Martin before continuing. Somehow I knew I wouldn't like what she had to say next.

"Just then," Cindy continued, "we heard a noise coming from one of the other windows, so we edged over there to see what was going on." She paused again and Martin's head sunk a little lower.

"It was Jodie, Miz Sara, and she was in bed with another man. They were . . . being intimate. Anyway, I took my camera and began videoing everything. It was pretty dark -- there wasn't much light in the room -- but you could clearly tell it was Jodie. Neither of us had ever seen the other fellow before."

With that, Cindy handed me her camera so I could see what they had witnessed. There on the small screen I could clearly see Jody lying partially on top of a man. Both of them were nude, and she was performing fellatio on him. As he began to groan, Jodie slid forward until she was astride his erection. Then she positioned his penis with her hand and began to grind down onto him. The pace of their exertions accelerated, accompanied by gasps, moans and curses from the two of them, until both of them appeared to reach simultaneous climaxes, and they collapsed on the bed. Then, as I watched, Jodie pulled her lover upright into an embrace.

"Oh my heavens!" I gasped at what I was seeing.

"I'm sorry, Miz Sara," Cindy offered. "I should have warned you that the video was pretty x-rated."

"That's all right, Cindy," I said, "We've both seen such things before."

Then I turned to Martin. I knew now why he was so subdued. It's one thing to believe that your wife may be cheating on you; it's quite another to witness her infidelity in the flesh. He was delighted and relieved to have found his son, and sick at heart to have found his wife in the arms of her lover.

Ever pragmatic, Cindy wanted to know, "What happens next, Miz Sara?"

"What you've found out tonight is extremely important to us," I told her. "I'm so impressed at the way you tracked Justin down with so little to go on. We would never have found him without you." Martin looked up and smiled at Cindy as well. Despite his foul mood, I could tell how grateful he was to her.

"Now," I said, "I want the two of you to go home and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. I'm going to try to meet with Miz Rosa at the first opportunity. Martin, if you can come by after work, I'll give you an update on whatever I accomplish."

The adrenaline from their adventure had long since worn off, and the two of them were as tired as I. They headed out the door.

The next day, I had no difficulty setting up an appointment with Rosa Brindisi's office. In fact I got the distinct impression she was eager to see me, probably hoping we were ready to accede to her demands. "I'll bet she's looking forward to her moment of triumph," I thought.

When I arrived at her office, I was once again quickly ushered into Rosa's presence. Her face was beaming as she greeted me. "Well, Miz Sara, I'm so glad to see you this morning. I'm sure your visit has to do with the Peterson case, right?"

"Yes it does, Miz Rosa," I replied evenly.

"Good, good," she responded, "I'll just get out the property settlement and we can . . ."

"This is not about the property settlement," I said sharply, interrupting her.

She frowned and raised one eyebrow. "Very well, Miz Sara, what's on your mind this morning?"

"When we met before, Miz Rosa, you assured me that little Justin Peterson was in a safe environment."

"And he is," she came back, "he definitely is."

I went on, "And you also assured me that his mother was not living in sin with her lover in her new place of residence."

"Of course she's not," Rosa shot back impatiently.

"Very well, how do you explain this?" At that I handed her the camera Cindy had used last night to film her surveillance. I pushed the PLAY button.

Cindy had managed to capture the Tye street sign and the house numbers on camera. Rosa was visibly startled when she realized we knew where Jodie and Justin were living, but she quickly regained her composure. "How very enterprising of you to track her down, Miz Sara."

"Keep watching," was all I said.

The scene now shifted to the bedroom window where Jodie was disporting herself with her lover. A wry smile came to Rosa's lips as she watched Jodie's ministrations to her boyfriend. "Well, well, I wondered how long that little minx would be able to keep her panties on."

Then she turned to me and handed me back the camera. "All very interesting, Miz Sara, but I've seen pornographic movies before, and this isn't even a very good one. Just because my client managed to sneak some lover into her bed does not in any way alter the basic issues of this case."

"Miz Rosa," I said in a quiet voice, "you haven't seen the end of the video. Please keep watching."

I handed her back the camera and she resumed watching the sexual interlude. I could tell she was growing increasingly impatient, when the camera showed Jodie pulling her lover up for a final embrace. The man's face was clearly revealed in the light from the bedside lamp. Rosa gasped. "Bastardo!" she yelled, slamming her fist onto her desk with such force that it shook the little Venetian glass figurine she kept there. "That's my husband!"

She proceeded to curse for a full minute in a language I could only assume was Italian. Finally, she looked up at me. "That sneaky little bastard!" she said angrily. "He must have met her when he was in the hospital for his appendectomy. There I was feeling so sorry for him and the little cheater was hitting on his nurse!"

She looked at me and said rather humbly, "I never knew who her sugar daddy was, Miz Rosa. I would never have put her in that house we bought if I'd known he'd been the one she was seeing."

Suddenly, her countenance grew dark again with a combination of anger and fear. Her look made me think of a cornered animal. "Who else have you showed this to?" she demanded loudly.

"No one," I said quietly. Then I picked up the camera, opened the case, removed the memory card and handed it to her.

Her face slowly relaxed, and she looked at me as if assessing a creature with which she was not familiar. "In some people's hands, that video would have humiliated me, made me a laughing stock. There are people in this town who would love to do that. You could have hurt me badly and done so very easily."

"That's not the way I was raised," I replied. "There may be times when we are rivals, but you are not my enemy."

She continued to look at me in silence; then she nodded her head as if she'd reached a decision.

"I'm not used to acts of kindness from others, Miz Sara. I owe you."

She rose and walked from behind her desk to stand in front of me. "If you and Mr. Peterson can be at your office late this afternoon, I'd like to call on you."

When I told her we'd be sure to be available, she nodded and said, "I'll see you all then." Then, to my astonishment, she reached out and hugged me as though we'd been lifelong friends. She returned to her desk and I left to drive back to my office.

When I came in the door, Cindy was almost beside herself in her eagerness to hear what had happened. "Before we do anything else, Cindy, I want you to call Martin and make sure he comes over here as soon as he can get away from the bank. I'm not sure what's going to happen," I told her, "but I think we're going to have a 'royal' visitor."

Cindy raised her eyebrows at my remark, but then hurried to her desk to call Martin.

I refused to talk to her about my meeting with Rosa until Martin arrived. I didn't want to have to tell the story twice, and I wanted to hear their reactions together. Not surprisingly, Cindy wasn't worth much all day. She kept pestering me for information, but I held firm until Martin finally arrived. He too was on pins and needles.

When I recounted the scene in Miz Rosa's office that morning, the two of them were stunned to learn that the mysterious secret lover was none other than Rosa Brindisi's husband. I had met him once or twice in the past, and had been shocked to see him in Cindy's video.

"How in the world did he come to take up with Jodie?" Martin wanted to know.

"From what Miz Rosa said," I explained, "her husband was in Grady Memorial for an appendectomy almost a year ago. They must have met there and he began seeing her after that. All the time that Jodie was cheating on Martin, she was doing it with Rosa's husband -- behind Rosa's back."

At that point our conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Rosa Brindisi, who swept regally into my foyer wearing yet another red dress. She smiled warmly at me, and then stepped forward to introduce herself to Martin. He was polite but cool to her. She, of course, picked up on that immediately.

"Don't be angry with me, Mr. Peterson, it was just business," she said. "Besides," she went on, "I have a surprise for you."

With that, she opened the front door, and in walked her husband. As he entered, the first thing we noticed about him was the prominent purple shiner on his left eye. The second thing we noticed was that he was leading a little boy in his hand.

"Daddy, Daddy," Justin yelled, and went running into his father's arms. I don't think any of us had a dry eye as we saw the father and son reunited.

As the commotion continued, I stepped over to Miz Rosa and nodded toward her sullen husband. "I'm glad to see you two are still together."

She looked at him, then turned to me and said grimly, "He may be a bastard, Miz Rosa, but he's my bastard."

She looked back at the happy scene again. Cindy was down on her knees hugging Justin. "And who is this pretty young thing?" Rosa asked.

"May I present Miss Cindy McCarty, my assistant. She's the one who figured out where Justin was, and she also took that video you watched."

"Very clever of you, my dear," Rosa said to Cindy, who was now standing. "If you ever get tired of working for Miz Sara, come and see me."

Cindy smiled and nodded demurely, but I felt pretty certain she had no interest in changing sides, especially not with Miz Rosa.

The Italian attorney then turned to her husband and ordered him sharply to go and get the car ready. He slunk out the door, and she prepared to leave as well. Before she did so, however, she turned back to me and said, "Miz Sara, please give me a call the end of next week. I think I'll have some more news about this case by then that will be of interest to you." Then she turned and went out the door.

After she and her husband had left, I decided to close the office early. Martin and Cindy were eager to take Justin out for dinner, and I was just worn out from the dramatic few days we'd had. The three of them headed out, and I prepared to close up shop and enjoy a relaxing weekend.

But just as I was about to close and lock the front door, Phil Wasserman appeared on the steps. His shoulders were slumped and his face was crestfallen; obviously he'd had some bad news.

"Come in, Phil," I urged him. "What's the matter?"

"Miz Sara, it looks like I'm going to be needing your help after all. Valerie has filed for divorce."

"Valerie?" I said in surprise. "You were the one contemplating divorce, not her."

"She told me today," he said sadly. "She's been seeing Marshall ever since that fateful night. She's fallen in love with him. He's going to leave Nancy, and he and Valerie are going to get married. She handed me the papers this afternoon."

"Oh, Phil, I'm so sorry," I offered. "Do you think there's any chance she might change her mind?"

"I don't think so, Miz Rosa," he said resignedly. "She told me that she had never felt with me what she does with him. Even if she were to have a change of heart down the road, I don't know that I could ever go back with her after hearing that."

There wasn't much I could say after that, except to assure him that I'd handle his case and try to ensure a fair settlement.

After he left, I shook my head and thought how hard it is to know how people will react to different situations. Phil Wasserman had wanted to spice up his marriage; instead, he aroused his own insecurities while pushing his wife into a relationship that transformed from lust into love. I was reminded of a line from William Shakespeare, my favorite author. Appropriately enough, it's from A Midsummer Night's Dream: "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

The next week was pretty routine, but I have to confess I was eager to hear what news Rosa had for me. Accordingly, I called her first thing Friday morning, as she had asked. When I reached her, her tone of voice was friendly, but there was a steely edge to it.

"I have some news for you about Jodie Peterson," she told me without delay. "It appears that she has had several adverse events in her life. She was pulled over for a routine traffic check, and the investigating officer found a small quantity of marijuana in her car. Normally, that would only have resulted in a misdemeanor charge. Unfortunately, her nursing license in Georgia was up for renewal, and when the board learned of her indiscretion, they denied her application. Since she no longer has a place to live and is unable to work in her chosen profession in Georgia, she has informed me that she intends to return to South Carolina to live with her parents. Under the circumstances, she has decided to abandon her petition for divorce."

"How very interesting," I thought to myself, "I always knew that Miz Rosa was well connected in this state, but I don't think I realized just how well."

To Miz Rosa I replied, "I'm sorry to hear of Mrs. Peterson's misfortune, but that's certainly good news for Martin and his son. However, given all that has transpired, you won't be surprised to hear that I think Martin himself will now wish to file for divorce."

"I'm not surprised at all," she said calmly. "Of course, since she's moving to South Carolina, I will no longer be able to represent her. I'm sure, however, that she'll be able to find adequate representation there."

There was a pause, and then Rosa spoke again, this time with warmth. "I hope I'll see you again sometime soon, Miz Sara. It's been a real pleasure getting to know you."

I assured her, "I feel the same way, Miz Rosa."

As it turned out, we were not to encounter one another until almost a year later, and in a somewhat unlikely setting. The Georgia Bar Association holds its annual Barrister's Ball on the weekend nearest July 6th in commemoration of the death of Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers. I saw a certain irony in the fact that the chancellor of England had been beheaded, but no one else cared; they thought it was a great excuse to throw a party.

Now I'm not much for fancy dress-up balls and such, but, as a member of the Ethics Committee I felt it was my duty to attend. They give all the committee members four tickets, so I invited my old friend John Nesbitt as my date. John was a widower and also an attorney whom I greatly respected, so I felt very comfortable asking him to come with me. I gave the other two tickets to Cindy. I thought she was more likely to enjoy the dinner-dance than I would.

John and I got to the party a bit early. We made our way to our table and were just getting seated when Rosa Brindisi came striding up with her husband in tow. She was wearing a long red dress which, given her short, heavy stature, reminded me of nothing so much as a mound of pasta marinara. But her greeting was warm; she seemed genuinely glad to see me.

Once she had been introduced to John, she looked at our table and then summoned her husband. "The wine they're serving tonight isn't worth washing dishes with. Go to the hotel bar and buy four bottles of their finest Asti Spumante and bring them to Miz Sara," she commanded.

As he left sullenly on his errand, I smiled at Rosa and said, "I see nothing has changed in your home life."

She smiled back and said, "Oh yes there has. I keep him on a short leash now, a very short leash!"

With that, she kissed me on the cheek and swirled away. I turned to John and told him, "She makes for a rather dramatic friend, but you wouldn't want her as your enemy."

While we were chuckling at that, Cindy arrived to join us at our table. I was pleasantly surprised at her dress. It was stunning, but sophisticated and tasteful rather than overtly sexy. "My little girl seems to be growing up," I thought.

I wasn't surprised to see the young man who was accompanying her; it was Martin Peterson. As I'd expected, when he learned that Jodie had abandoned her divorce petition, he'd quickly asked me to file on his behalf. She had not contested the divorce; in fact she seemed to want nothing to do with anything connected with Atlanta any more. I thought again of all that had happened. Jodie Peterson had made a serious error in judgment when she crossed Rosa Brindisi.

I had also known that Cindy and Martin had continued to see one another after Martin's divorce was final. Although he no longer had business reasons to frequent our office, he and Justin continued to show up often when the work day was done, and the three of them would head out for the evening.

Now, as we greeted them, Cindy seemed to be absolutely glowing.

"Martin, what a pleasant surprise! I'm so glad you're here tonight," I said, meaning every word of it. I really had come to like the young man.

"And I have another surprise for you, Miz Sara," Cindy said, scarcely able to contain herself. She held out her left hand, on which a brilliant diamond was gleaming. "Martin and I are engaged!"

Of course John and I scrambled to our feet to congratulate the smiling couple. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate their happiness in such festive surroundings.

As I resumed my seat, I couldn't help thinking that I'd soon be looking for another assistant. I hated the thought: Cindy had proved so bright and brave and full of initiative I couldn't imagine possibly finding a suitable replacement. Yet I couldn't help but feel happy for her, and I thought she was definitely ready to move into the next stage of her life.