the famous lawyer

– You are lurking through the darkness Horace P Krouch Esquire – For the third straight night – What is so important that it brings you back to New York City from your case in Sea View

– You conceal your face but your large frame is easy to follow among the emaciated shadows lurking the night – Where are you going so late – Why are you moving so fast – What is in the bag – So many questions – You are an enigma

– Families and tourists are long asleep in the Big Grapple – All but the 24 hour stores are closed – The tour vans and Hudson cruise ships are all tucked away – But I want to follow you – I need to know more about you – What outcome will you get in this case – Guilty locks the Satin Strangler and Destiny Blande together in a cell – Not guilty unfetters their bond – Lets the Satin Strangler loose again to thrive – Which will it be

– New York City is littered with stragglers now – The homeless staking their claim for the night – Drunken students deciding between one more bar and a long subway ride home – Gypsy cabbies and hookers hoping for one last fare

– You mixed in with the crowds earlier – The lawyer with the briefcase – In a business suit you looked the part – Serious and meticulous and ever so important – How do you look now Horace P Krouch Esquire – In your faded jeans and sweatshirt and baseball cap – Camouflage to fit in with the rabble of the wee hours – You are one of them now – The tired the poor the huddled masses lurking in the shroud of night

– Where are you going – What could be so important at 4 in the morning – What could make you stray so far from your upper east side security to the untamed streets of the Village – You look over your shoulder – Again and again – What is it that you are looking for – What are you afraid of – Not me – I have followed you the whole way and you have not even noticed me – You break my heart sometimes – Are you afraid of the cameras – The paparazzi – Are you afraid of becoming breaking news

– The streets are darker here – We must be getting closer to your destination – How right I am – You walk down a staircase from the street to a basement door – No lights – No signs – Just a door in the shadows – Three knocks – A pause – Three more knocks – You look back over each shoulder – Are they getting closer now – The voices you hear – The demons you fear – Do they know where you are and what you plan to do – The door opens – A face recognizes you – Looks in both directions then lets you in

– I sit on a bench and wait – Other men follow you inside – One more every few minutes – They each look over their shoulders – Knock on the door the same way – Those leaving the dark doorway walk with their heads hanging a little lower – What are you all doing on the other side of that door as the rest of the world sleeps – What are you doing in there Horace P Krouch Esquire


– Barabbas

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