“And if he’s never had a serious relationship then he wouldn’t know what to do,” I added.

“I agree,” Beth said. “He’s probably really attracted to you but you make him feel off balance because you don’t throw yourself at him like so many other women. He doesn’t know how to handle it.”

“He’s always laughed at me and made fun of me,” Lily argued.

“Humor is often a defense mechanism,” I pointed out. “I think he wields that sarcasm like a sword and uses it like a shield.”

“Well, I’m not sure I’m up for that battle. I could become a casualty. I could just picture him yelling at me in bed, or worse, laughing at me!”

“I think neither one of them is ready yet,” I said to Jess and Beth.

“So what’s up with you romance-wise,” Jess asked Beth, changing the subject. Beth told us about the guys she had been on dates with – none of whom she had found terribly impressive. Then talk turned again to my rapidly approaching engagement party.

“It’s going to be gorgeous!” Beth gushed. “My mom and I just bought our gowns and we’re so excited. We have family coming from all over!” Family. The word that struck terror into my heart.

“Are all of your relatives coming, Gab?” Lily asked.

“Yeah,” I said weakly. “Unfortunately.”

“Oh come on honey! They can’t be that bad!” Jess laughed.

“If you don’t believe me, ask Braden. Luckily, there aren’t all that many of the weird ones. I mean, my dad’s side of the family is pretty normal. It’s my mom’s side that worries me. Her brother Ira lives and breathes dry cleaning. He’s got a chain of shops in Queens and Brooklyn and it’s all that he thinks about, which is good in some ways, because whenever he talks about anything else he says the most tactless shit you’ve ever heard.”

“More tactless than Drew?” Beth asked, sounding surprised.

“He makes Drew seem suave,” I answered. “But even he is not as bad as my grandmother, who will be blessing me with her presence the day before the party too.”

“Maybe this isn’t the best time to mention this but my parents invited her along with your aunt and uncle and cousin Rachel for a house party on Friday night.”

“What?!” I cried, spitting out a mouthful of Chianti onto Lily’s white shirt. “I’ll pay for that, by the way,” I told her. “Are you nuts?!” I asked, turning my attention back to Beth. “You don’t want to invite that woman into your home! You’ll have to have to have it cleansed by a medicine man and blessed by a priest after she leaves!”

“Gabrielle!” Beth laughed, sounding shocked. “She’s your grandmother!”

“Oh my God! Why? Why? What have I done?” I asked the ceiling imploringly.

“I’m sure it will be just fine, Gab,” Lily said reassuringly.

“You’ve never met her!” I practically shouted. “Evil has a name and it’s Rose Lipschitz!”

“Rose Lipschitz? You’re kidding, right?” Jess asked, coming back into the room from the kitchen and handing Lily a damp cloth to wipe the Chianti off her shirt.

“Bubbe is no laughing matter. Please let me apologize in advance to your family, Beth.”

“For what?” Beth laughed.

“For everything,” I answered and chugged the rest of my wine.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

OCTOBER

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Commonwealth v. Durbin

“Ms. Holden, where are you employed?” Braden asked the witness, Britney Holden, who had big Jersey Girl hair, a big Jersey Girl accent and a wad of gum the size of Jersey lodged in her mouth.

“H&R Block.” Incidentally, in addition to the accent she also had a voice that made you want to jump off a bridge. It sounded like someone had taken a screeching cat and dragged its nails across a blackboard.

“Were you employed there on September twelfth?”

“Yes. I was.” I hoped that she wasn’t the front desk person. Personally, I would rather risk an audit than go to that H&R Block if she was there. I felt like my ears might start bleeding.

“Was the defendant Mr. Durbin also employed there?”

“Yes.”

“Did you work in the same area?”

“Yes. His cube was right next to my cube.” Wait, who was the victim here?

“Did anything out of the ordinary happen on that day?”

“Yes. I was on the phone with a girlfriend of mine when suddenly he came crashing through the wall of my cube.”

“Right through the wall?”

“Yes. Right through the wall. Then he grabbed my cell phone and beat it.”

“Wait – you mean beat it, as in he left with it?” Judge Channing asked.

“No. He actually beat it. He threw it down on the floor and he stomped on it but it didn’t break. So he picked it up and slammed it against my desk several times but it still didn’t break, because, you know, I have one of those protective covers on it. Then he slammed a book down on it a few times and when it still didn’t break, he screamed.”

“He screamed? Did he say something?”

“Yes. He said, ‘die die die motherfucker!’ Then he went running outside, and while we all watched from the window, he ran over it with his car.”

“How much was the phone worth?”

“One hundred and ninety dollars.”

“Thank you. No more questions.”

“Any questions, Ms. Ginsberg? Recall that this is just a preliminary hearing, not a trial, so whatever motivated your client won’t be relevant. In fact, I’m sure it’s no mystery at all what motivated him, and perhaps a jury will feel some sympathy, but this is neither the time nor place.”

“Well then, I suppose I don’t have any questions, Your Honor.”

“Good choice Ms. Ginsberg. I’ll hold it as a theft rather than as a robbery.” I guess that was my gift for not annoying him by making him listen to Ms. Holden’s voice any longer.

“Thank you, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Roth, call the next case.” Just then a deputy came in.

“Sorry to interrupt, Your Honor, but Judge Wilson is ordering Ms. Ginsberg downstairs to talk to a defendant.”

“Tell him she’s busy,” Judge Channing snapped.

“It’s kind of important, Your Honor. They brought in the defendants on that West Two Ten case for some kind of emergency hearing and there’s a guy in there who she was representing. The PD he has now is out in the districts and since she was the last counsel of record and they have to do the hearing, he needs her to at least talk to him until his lawyer can get here.”

“Alright then,” Judge Channing conceded. “She can go down to talk to him and explain what’s happening until his lawyer gets here. I’ll take Mr. Roth and Ms. Albright’s cases first. But I’m going to need her back here when they’re done.”

“That should be fine, Your Honor. Mark Patterson is the guy’s lawyer now, and he called to say he’s on his way in.”

“Okay, Ms. Ginsberg. You’re excused for now.” I looked nervously at Braden. He did not look happy at all. Just what I did not need a few days before our huge engagement party. I sighed and grabbed my notebook.

“I’ll be right back.” Famous last words.

In retrospect, something felt off from the very beginning. I met up with two senior defenders, Tom and Rob, who filled me in quickly on the hearing. When the deputy buzzed us in he seemed distracted, and I heard raised voices somewhere within and what sounded like a scuffle. I tensed up instinctively but we kept walking toward the interview rooms because those sounds weren’t exactly foreign in lock-up. We had just made it there when all hell broke loose. I was confused at first and I didn’t understand what was happening. There was shouting and people were running and pushing. We turned and started back for the door but then I saw a blur of bodies in motion blocking it. I heard a gunshot and my heart almost stopped. Tom and Rob shoved me into an interview room. Holy shit! We weren’t going to be getting out of there.

“What’s going on?” I asked, feeling terrified.

“I don’t know, Gab, but there wasn’t any way we were going to get through that door with the fight that was going on there,” Tom answered.

“Who was that fighting?”

“Looked like two deputies and two West Ten Sixers,” Rob said.

“Oh my God.” My stomach felt like it dropped to my feet. It was the gang members and they were out of their cells.

“Just stay calm Gabrielle,” Tom said. “People had to have heard the gunshot and they’re going to send reinforcements here really soon.”

“What if they start a shoot-out? We’re like sitting ducks in here.” I wasn’t handling this well.

“Only one deputy would be armed so there should only be one gun,” Rob replied.

“Yeah, but who has it?” I was starting to shake. This had to be a nightmare. This kind of thing didn’t really happen, did it?

The door burst open then and a guy in prison clothes ducked inside with us and slammed it again. He looked up at us and got startled. Putting his hand over his heart, he took a deep breath. If he was a gang member, he wasn’t one of the braver ones.

“Ya’ll scared the shit out of me! I didn’t know this room was occupied, but it’s gonna be a little more occupied, because I ain’t goin’ back out there!”

“What’s going on out there?” Tom asked. I could still hear shouting and crashing sounds but thankfully there were no more gunshots.

“What the f**k you think’s goin’ on? Bunch gangbangers going fuckin’ apeshit!”

“You’re not West Six Ten?” Rob asked.

“Do I look like a motherfuckin’ gangsta? That ain’t even my part of town.” I looked at him and I had to admit he didn’t look like a motherfuckin’ gangsta. At least he didn’t have any tattoos and he didn’t look very tough. He was kind of scrawny, to tell you the truth. Gang bangers came in all shapes and sizes though.

“Who are you?” Rob asked.

“Terrell Jones, and I’m only in here because I bought a bag of weed off the wrong guy. Shit ain’t even illegal in Colorado and they dump me in here with a bunch of criminals.” Terrell sounded seriously aggrieved. “Hey wait. You guys PDs?”

“Yeah, why?” Tom answered.

“Well, hallelujah, praise Jesus! It’s about fuckin’ time! I’ve been tryin’ to get in touch with ya’ll! That cop set me up, man!”

“Uh, Terrell, I don’t think this is the time,” Rob began. Out the window in the door I saw two people fly past and then I heard a crash.

“It’s never the time, man! I’m tellin’ ya I was entrapped goddamnit and I need defendin’!”

“Okay, uh, Gabrielle, why don’t you talk to Terrell here and I’m going to take a quick look out there and see if I can find out what’s going on,” Tom said.

“What are you whack?!” Terrell cut in. “I’ll tell you what’s goin’ on. Some fancy private defense lawyer with mo’ money than brains came strollin’ into a cell and ordered the guard to uncuff his gangsta client and the stupid ass guard did it. The dude went fuckin’ nuts and grabbed his lawyer by the neck. In came Dudley Dooright deputy with his piece and another banga’ took him down from behind. I don’t know what happened then because the door was open and I was on my way out but it looked like a fight over the gun and now somebody out there is strapped up. I figure it must be one of the home-boys ’cause if it weren’t we’d be out of here by now.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do but wait then,” Tom said.

“So, while we waitin’ let me tell ya’ll how I was set up!” I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves and focus. I sat down at the desk and started listening to Terrell’s story about how he was the real victim in his case.

It wasn’t lost on me that I was a woman trapped in a locked area with a bunch of loose, and possibly armed gang members. Who had probably been incarcerated for a while. Without access to women, but I tried not to think about it. It actually wasn’t as hard as one would believe because I felt kind of numb at the time and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Looking back, I’m pretty sure that I was experiencing mild shock.

There were still the sounds of yelling and fighting outside but I kept taking notes on how Terrell believed that it was totally unacceptable that a cop would tell him that he was running a special on marijuana. After all, who could resist a buy one get one free deal?

I had no idea how much time had gone by, but finally, after what felt like an eternity, we heard a huge crash and loud voices. The door flew open and I saw officers in riot gear there. They ordered us out, and believe me, we weren’t arguing! As soon I cleared the outside door I saw Mark, who ran over, grabbed me, and pulled me out of there and past a gauntlet of reporters yelling out questions. He yanked me into a stairwell, grabbed me by the arms and spoke to me frantically.

“Are you okay, Gab?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. There are reporters. How long were we in there?”

“Only about twenty minutes. They were probably in the building already.”

“Twenty minutes! Oh God! Braden! Is Braden okay?”