"You Should Probably Take That"

And that's the way it happened. The officer called his partner over for a consultation. They watched the video on his phone and then walked over to Kendall and her parents where they were advised that they were all being arrested for trespass and making terroristic threats and that additionally, Kendall was being arrested for violating a restraining order. As two more squad cars appeared, the officers began arresting Kendall and her parents. Kendall's mother became hysterical and Kendall began crying and cursing at the officers. Kendall's father tried to push the officers away to get to his wife and was tackled to the ground.

Shit show was putting it mildly.

Dan phoned his attorney and left a message: "Kendall and both of her parents were just arrested. I think I married into a family of idiots."

+++

Leroy Keys was feeling defeated and dejected. He, his wife, and his daughter had all been arrested on Friday night for trespassing and making threats towards his son-in-law. Because they were arrested on a Friday night, they sat in jail all weekend waiting to see a judge on Monday morning. Leroy and his wife had restraining orders issued against them directing them to stay away from Dan's home and place of business. Additionally, Kendall's bail was revoked and she was going to remain in jail for violating the protective order and making terroristic threats towards Dan. Leroy and his wife Sara were able to bond out, but Kendall would remain in jail for the foreseeable future.

He knew in his heart that he had failed as a father when raising Kendall. She was spoiled and entitled and probably a narcissist but she was also his little girl. His wife had spent the weekend sharing a cell with Kendall. Sara had not been willing to discuss what they talked about, but when Sara was released, she seemed angry and determined. About what, Leroy had no idea.

+++

Leroy called the attorney he had used for Kendall's first arrest. Once he had explained the situation to the attorney, he had commiserated with Larry but he had told him that he was going on vacation and would not be available. Which was true, but also a really great coincidence because he felt the whole family was nuts and he didn't want anything to do with them.

Leroy went through the yellow pages calling attorneys until he found one that could see him right away. If Leroy had known anything about attorneys, that would have been the first red flag.

Rollie Cruz was no one's idea of what an attorney should look like. Skinny, balding, with a hooked nose and small, narrow eyes, Rollie bore more than a passing resemblance to a buzzard, sitting on a power line waiting for its prey to die so that he could swoop down on the carcass. A vaguely remembered line from a long-ago literature class popped into Leroy's head; something about a "lean and hungry look." Some ambulance chasers advertised on TV and billboards. As you descended in pecking order, some ambulance chasers advertised on bus stop benches. Rollie Cruz looked like he advertised in massage parlors and on Fox News.

Rollie had a predatory smile on his face as Leroy handed him the business card that had been in Kendall's divorce packet. That smile soon turned to a grimace. Solomon, Klein, and Davis? What the fuck!?!

"I thought you said your son-in-law was a mechanic. How can he afford SKD on a mechanic's pay?"

"He owns a few shops," Leroy said. "I don't think he actually works on the cars."

Rollie rolled his eyes, deciding not to depend on his new clients for information. He turned to his computer and did a quick Google search of Dan Kenner of Kenner Automotive. Twelve locations. Nice.

"This looks promising. His business has twelve locations. That ought to be worth of chunk of change to your daughter in her divorce. We can probably get him to pay all my fees too." Rollie was not actually rubbing his hands together in anticipation, but it did not take much of an imagination to picture him doing so.

+++

"Go fuck yourself."

Rollie looked at his cell phone in disbelief. He had left a message with Dan's attorney, Dwight Solomon who had finally returned his call. Rollie had demanded an immediate meeting with Dan Kenner and his attorney to arrange for temporary spousal maintenance. Dwight had responded to Rollie and then disconnected the call.

Rollie immediately called Dwight Solomon back, fully intending to read him the riot act and give him a lesson on showing professional courtesy to fellow brethren of the legal profession.

"What part of 'go fuck yourself' did you not understand?" Dwight Solomon had asked without greeting or preamble.

'You want to play hardball, then we'll play hardball," Rollie said to himself as he placed his cell phone down on his desk.

+++

"Why didn't you tell me there were videos!?!" Rollie had shouted at his clients. "I walked into that conference room looking like a moron."

Rollie had finally succeeded at reaching someone at Solomon, Klein, and Davis. A first-year associate had phoned Rollie to set up a time for a preliminary conference. There was no need for Rollie's clients to attend this first conference.

The whole conference had been a wretched experience for Rollie; from the time he entered the law offices of SKD to him slinking out the door, was one long attempt to embarrass and humiliate Roland Cruz, Esquire.

It began when Rollie walked into the reception area and gave his name to the receptionist. He thought that if a dog turd left to dry on the sidewalk had suddenly sprouted arms and legs, grabbed a briefcase, and announced its intention to practice law, it would not have been received with any less warmth than Rollie had been. He had been directed away from the waiting area and into a small conference room and advised that someone would fetch him shortly.

Fetch. She had actually said that someone would fetch him as if he were a stick to be thrown to a dog. Rollie sat stewing in the small room for twenty minutes before someone fetched him. A child. Or at least she looked to Rollie like a child, barely out of high school. Lauren Davis was in fact, thirty-two and a graduate of Yale Law. Some might think it was her father, Lawrence Davis, being a named partner that put Lauren on the fast track to a partnership. They would have been mistaken. It was her inherited natural abilities and affinity for the law that saw her made junior partner before her thirtieth birthday. Rollie was aware of none of that. He took one look at Lauren and in his mind, dismissed her.

When Rollie sat down in the larger conference room, he was shocked to find Lauren taking a seat opposite him. There had been amusement in her eyes as Rollie began listing his client's demands. That amused look soon wolfish as Rollie wound down his list.

"They had recordings of your daughter attacking her husband. They had recordings of your daughter violating the restraining order and making death threats. They had recordings of you and your wife making death threats. They had a pre-nuptial agreement that you somehow forgot to mention to me.

"You made me look like a first-year law student instead of someone who's been practicing law for thirty years," Rollie said bitterly. The whole adventure had been a humiliating experience for Rollie and he was pissed.

"I'm firing you as clients. Go find someone else to deal with your bullshit. Oh, and here's my invoice for the time that you wasted. Now get the hell out of my office."

+++

Kendall and her parents glared at Dan from across the conference room table. Kendall had dressed to the nines and knew she looked good. She wanted her husband to see what he was throwing away. Dan looked at Kendall in amused silence; oblivious to her attempts to make him regret his decision to divorce her.

They had agreed to all points of the divorce. There was not much to divide. They would each take the things they came into the marriage with. Dan had purchased the house during his first marriage and would retain ownership since Kendall had never been put on the deed. She saw this as Dan not being fully committed to their marriage. Dan saw it as his subconscious not fully trusting Kendall. In the end, they were both right.

As part of the divorce settlement, Dan had required that Kendall return her wedding set to him and he would return his wedding ring to her. She had placed her rings in an envelope and slid the envelope across the conference room to Dan. He did not have an envelope so he had just taken his ring off this finger and slid it across the table to Kendall where it sat throughout their meeting.

As they stood, finished with the task that brought them together for the last time, Dan had a question for Kendall.

"Can you tell me why? You had a good life. I know you loved me and I loved you. Why would you throw away everything for a fling."

Kendall sighed and looked up for a moment before looking at Dan. "I don't know...Boredom? Restlessness? Increase my odds of getting promoted? Maybe a bit of all three. What do you want me to say, Dan? Do I regret cheating on you? I regret getting caught. I can't say I regret the affair or the sex. It's who I am. But you were a good husband. I just wasn't a good wife. I don't know that I'll ever be a good wife. For anyone."

Dan nodded. Kendall had not told him anything that he did not already know or guess.

Kendall gathered her purse and papers and turned to go.

"Kendall..."

She turned around to look at Dan who pointed to his wedding ring, still sitting on the conference table.

"You should probably take that."

Author's Notes.

The story of Kyle Evans and Cory Calloway has yet to be told. I'm pretty sure that William "Bill Squared" Williams will be featured in their story and things will probably not go well for him.