Free Love, Lies and Scandal by Earl Sewell Page A

daughter, Trina.

    "Hey, Daddy. I can't wait for you to get home. I've missed you."

    "I've missed you, too, honey," Jesse answered.

    "Daddy, guess what?" Trina asked.

    "I don't know, what am I guessing about?"

    "I'm on the volleyball team at school."

    "You made it. Well, congratulations. We'll have to celebrate when I get home."

    "Thank you. I didn't think I was going to make it at first, but they posted the results of the tryouts today after school and I saw that I'd made it. I'm so excited."

    "When is your first game?" Jesse asked.

    "In a few weeks."

    "That's wonderful. I can't wait to come watch you play." Talking to Trina made Jesse feel a little better. Before he realized it, JoAnn had sat in the empty seat next to him and removed his magazine from his lap to thumb through while he spoke with Trina. He stayed on the phone with his daughter until it was time to board the plane. Once he ended the phone conversation, he gave JoAnn back her cell phone, took his magazine back and walked onto the plane without saying a word to her.

CHAPTER 9
    WILL

    A fter Angela dropped Will off at home from his trip to Philadelphia, he began unpacking his luggage. He checked all of the pouches in the suitcase to be sure that no evidence that would expose his affair with DaNikka was inadvertently overlooked. Afterward, he made his way to his office and began working on a draft of his speech regarding an amendment to a resolution on public housing. As he was proofreading his work, his cell phone vibrated on his hip. He ignored it; he'd check it after he finished. A few moments later, his house phone rang and Will once again ignored it. He made some revisions to his speech, printed it out and read over it once again. No sooner had he finished reviewing that his cell phone rang again.
    "Who in the world is calling me like this?" Will unholstered his phone, glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Smoky, his brother.

    "Where in the hell are you at, man?" Smoky growled.

    "I'm at home," Will snarled back. He wasn't in the mood for Smoky or his attitude. At times Smoky was both offensive and abrasive.

    "I need your help, Will. I'm in a bad way," Smoky explained.

    "Smoky, I'm not about give you any money and you know that," Will said as he sat the phone on his desk and pressed the speaker button.

    "You don't have to give it to me. Just give it to the city so I can get the hell out of jail."

    "Jail! Smoky, what the hell are you doing in jail?"

    "I need you to come bail me out."

    "What did you get arrested for?" Will asked, irritated that his plans were about to be interrupted.

    "They're trying to jam me up on some bullshit-ass charges. I told them that they didn't know who the fuck I was. But they brought me in anyway."

    "On what charges, Smoky?" Will asked once again.

    "What the fuck does it matter, man? Just come get my ass out of here before I hurt somebody. You know that this place is not equipped to handle me."

    Will sighed. "Smoky, you are far too old to be getting arrested. What station do they have you at?" Will opened his desk drawer and pulled out a pen and a notepad and wrote down the information. "I'll be there within the hour," he said and hung up the phone.

    When Will arrived at the station in Martinez, California, he learned that Smoky had been arrested for buying marijuana from an undercover narcotics agent. Will posted the one-thousand-dollar bond and waited for an officer to escort Smoky from his jail cell.

    Forty minutes later, Smoky was rolling himself toward Will in his wheelchair. Will stood up as his brother approached. Before Will could react, Smoky had curled his fingers into a fist and punched Will in the gut.

    "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Will coughed and was about to strike back.

    "It's unlawful to hit a man in a wheelchair," Smoky said quickly.

    "What the hell did you hit me for?" Will asked.

    "For not answering your damn phone," Smoky said as he rolled away.

    "Smoky, I swear, if you