SEASON 1 PART 19

The following morning unlike Malachi who was well rested, Aundrea struggled as usually to get out of bed. QJ on the other hand, woke up with bad stomach cramps. The cramps were so strong that he turned down the bacon and eggs that everybody else was eating. He attempted to take his vitamin with a cup of orange juice however after a quick burp, he rushed to the bathroom where he purged everything that he had eaten the night before.
“Junior, you alright?” Quincy asked as he approached the bathroom door. The door was locked and he was unable to walk in. When QJ opened the door, Deja decided to take his temperature.
“You’re a little warm”
It was decided that he’d stay home for today and depending on how he felt, he may have to stay home the following day. After breakfast, Deja dropped the kids off to school while Quincy suggested QJ take some Robitussin.
“Yuck!” QJ exclaimed.
“Okay then, I’ll go to the grocery store. I’ll be right back. You need to go lay down for a bit. I’m gonna get get some sprite, crackers, and some soup.”
While Quincy was tending to his ill son, Anita was tending to some business at work regarding a case involving a pharmaceutical company’s new drug.  She had just had a moderately successful case where her client won primary custody of his children and the mother ordered to take anger management classes. In this case however, this is affecting children primarily in the lower income Black and Latino communities.
“I need you to read over this case, I’ve already got an acting lawyer on it, however I need you to prepare the documentation for it” her boss requested.
“Sure sir.”
“Thank you. I’ll be back around 11:00 am”
This is someone who graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s in Marketing. She was in the top 10% of her graduating class in Law school. She’s always been a great debater and was prepared for in the even that she had to resume the position of being the firm representative.
After nodding in agreement, she took the time to contact her old classmate from law school Latrice.

Latrice recently started her own practice and tends to keep up with the trends going on in lower income communities due to growing up in south central and seeing first hand the neglect at hospitals in those communities.
An hour later she took her lunch break. As she rode the elevator with her colleague Carmen, she decided she wanted to talk as little as possible about the case. She decided to text Yvonne who was in between flashbacks to her sons high school graduation and research of her own.
“You can just ride with me” Carmen said
“Thank you”
After Anita and Carmen arrive to the restaurant, Carmen asked “Do you know anyone affected personally by this?”
“No, I didn’t grow up in a low income area and my people are from south Louisiana, swamp land.” She continued, “That said, I’m not unfamiliar with that shit that they try to plague black and brown communities with.”
Looking at the menu, Anita ordered a Caesar salad and a mango tea while Carmen ordered a house salad with no cheese with a water.
“Can I add grilled chicken?”, Anita asked noticing the option to upgrade for $2.00 more.
“Sure I’ll go get that right in”

“So how’s the real estate thing going? Or did you put that on hold?”

“I start my classes in two weeks.”

Like her sisters, she’s got a mind to make money. As a little girl she had always had a thing for Numbers and was drawn to the business side of interactions. Furthermore it was a good idea to have something to fall back on.

“I’d eventually like to branch out into handling real estate cases as a lawyer. I’m gonna be a black girl who rocks! My sisters and I are black WOMEN who rock!”

After that statement she begin looking at the alcoholic beverage menu on the table. She’s actually consider the drink had she not had to go right back to work.

“Our boss would never know”

“Too risky”

Anita enjoyed a sporadic alcoholic beverage but being the sole black person at the firm she decided she was not going to put her job at risk for the sake of satisfying her taste buds. As their food arrived they took a moment to appreciate that the firm the worked at closed for lunch. Anita Caesar salad came with a vinaigrette type of Caesar dressing and romaine, croutons, and Asiago cheese.

After eating and collecting their checks Anita made a quick run to he restroom before they headed out. Barely beating their boss back to work they arrived 5 minutes after 1:00 pm.
The rest of the day was rather mild other than the occasional brief readings. Anita spent the rest of her evening researching the company and reviewing their history. Apparently this isn’t this companies first run in with a lawsuit of this nature. A similar incident happened back in South Carolina with multiple residents coming up dead. This was settled out of court when the company paid a total of 35.9 million to a total of 15 families.
That evening she managed to work in a short run and a shower before putting on a curlean blue top and a pair a blue jeans. She met Latrice 15 minutes earlier than what was expected.
After a hug, they managed to get a table when Anita jumped right to the chase.
“So what do you know?”
“Well I know that the drug is referred to by residents as the “trance drug”. This drug is altering our kids minds. Another one, but it’s got ‘em beamed out of their skulls. It’s like Xanax times 5. They’ve been doing this shit for years. They put steroids in groceries in these urban communities, the medical professionals and I use that term loosely are half-assed.”
Latrice referred to this drug as the damnation drug.
“It’s making women sterile. Kids are foaming at the mouth. I’ve heard that one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit has a child in ICU. The plaintiffs are asking the firm that you are at to represent them. This drug, from what I’ve heard is a combination of an emetic and some sort of psychedelic." 
"My brother-in-law is a pharmacist. He’d probably be able to tell me exactly what’s in it.”
“It’s some bullshit that they’ve come up with in a lab”
“Isn’t it all?”
They looked at the menu for a moment when Anita said "Girl, I ate a salad for lunch, I’m ordering a steak!”
“Well I am going to get this chicken and shrimp pasta”
“What would you like to drink?“ the waitress asked
“Sprite”
“Strawberry Lemonade“
They periodically talked during their meals when Latrice revealed that she was engaged.

It wasn’t that Anita was afraid of commitment, she just wanted a beau who was on her level or higher.

Well I’m gonna get a to-go box, I’ll probably eat the rest of this steak for lunch tomorrow.
Later on Yvonne received a phone call from Abram.

She then had a flashback to his 13th birthday. She took him out to eat at an Italian restaurant where he created his own pizza along with a piece of white chocolate cake for dessert. The cake had a raspberry glaze that was homemade. He loved Italian as well as Mexican and it was usually one of these two choices that he requested on his birthday. 13 was a milestone as he hosted his first dance party that weekend. His birthday generally falls in during a weekday. At 18, he’s not so much of a partier, but likes a social setting.
After sitting for a minute to ponder on one milestone, she had  a flashback to his high school graduation. She thought about him in his cap and gown, remembering his name called as he picked up his diploma. They had been close all his life. Sending him off was rather bittersweet, though she wasn’t far.
“I just pray he doesn’t back down last minute” she said before shutting her light off and going to bed.
TO BE CONTIUNED WITH EPISODE 20.