'It will expand our base, make us more visible in the legal community, and help with raising money.'
'Sure,' I said, without conviction.
Liza was back. 'Kelvin Lam is in the rear,' she said, nodding. 'Second table from the back. Wearing the Redskins cap.'
'Did you talk to him?' Mordecai asked.
'Yes. He's sober, pretty sharp, said he's been staying at CCNV, works part-time on a garbage truck.'
'Is there a small room we can use?'
'Sure.'
'Tell Lam a homeless lawyer needs to talk to him.'
* * *
Lam didn't say hello or offer to shake hands. Mordecai sat at a table. I stood in a corner. Lam took the only available chair, and gave me a look that made my skin crawl.
'Nothing's wrong,' Mordecai said in his best soothing tone. 'We need to ask you a few questions, that's all.'
Not a peep out of Lam. He was dressed like a resident of a shelter--jeans, sweatshirt, sneakers, wool jacket--as opposed to the pungent multilayered garb of one sleeping under a bridge.
'Do you know a woman named Lontae Burton?' Mordecai asked. He would do the talking for us lawyers.
Lam shook his head no.
'DeVon Hardy?'
Another no.
'Last month, were you living in an abandoned warehouse?'
'Yep.'
'At the corner of New York and Florida?'
'Uh-huh.'
'Were you paying rent?'
'Yep.'
'A hundred dollars a month?'
'Yep.'
'To Tillman Gantry?'
Lam froze, and closed his eyes to ponder the question. 'Who?' he asked.
'Who owned the warehouse?'
'I paid rent to some dude named Johnny.'
'Who did Johnny work for?'
'Don't know. Don't care. Didn't ask.'
'How long did you live there?'
''Bout four months.'
'Why did you leave?'
'Got evicted.'
'Who evicted you?'
'I don't know. The cops showed up one day with some other dudes. They yanked us and threw us on the sidewalk. Couple of days later, they bulldozed the warehouse.'
'Did you explain to the cops that you were paying rent to live there?'
'A lot of people were saying that. This one woman with little kids tried to fight with the police, but didn't do no good. Me, I don't fight with cops. It was a bad scene, man.'
'Were you given any paperwork before the eviction?'
'No,'
'Any notice to get out?'
'No. Nothing. They just showed up.'
'Nothing in writing?'
'Nothing. Cops said we were just squatters; had to get out right then.'
'So you moved in last fall, sometime around October.'
'Something like that.'
'How did you find the place?'
'I don't know. Somebody said they were renting little apartments in the warehouse. Cheap rent, you know. So I went over to check it out. They were putting up some boards and walls and things. There was a roof up there, a toilet not far away, running water. It wasn't a bad deal.'
'So you moved in?'
'Right.'
'Did you sign a lease?'
'No. Dude told me that the apartment was illegal, so nothing was in writing. Told me to say I was squatting in case anybody asked.'
'And he wanted cash?'
'Only cash.'
'Did you pay every month?'
'Tried to. He came around on the fifteenth to collect.'
'Were you behind on your rent when you were evicted?'
'A little.'
'How much?'
'Maybe one month.'
'Was that the reason you were evicted?'
'I don't know. They didn't give no reason. They just evicted everybody, all at once.'
'Did you know the other people in the warehouse?'
'I knew a couple. But we kept to ourselves. Each aparmtent had a good door, one that would lock.'
'This mother you mentioned, the one who fought with the police, did you know her?'
'No. I'd maybe seen her once or twice. She lived on the other end.'
'The other end?'
'Right. There was no plumbing in the middle of the warehouse, so they built the apartments on each end.'
'Could you see her apartment from yours?'
'No. It was a big warehouse.'
'How big was your apartment?'
'Two rooms, I don't know how big.'
'Electricity?'
'Yeah, they ran some wires in. We could plug in radios and things like that. We had lights. There was running water, but you had to use a community toilet.'
'What about heating?'
'Not much. It got cold, but not nearly as cold as sleeping on the street.'
'So you were happy with the place?'
'It was okay. I mean, for a hundred bucks a month it wasn't bad.'
'You said you knew two other people. What are their names?'
'Herman Harris and Shine somebody.'
'where are they now?'
'I haven't seen them.'
'Where are you staying?'
'CCNV.'
Mordecai pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Lam. 'How long will you be there?' he asked.
'I don't know.'
'Can you keep in touch with me?'
