My family has all gone home, although I’ll miss them, I enjoy the quiet and solitude.

This weekend I am going to spend some quality alone time with my husband.

I have been using glasses to read books for the last two years, and now I have finally given in and will be wearing them while using the computer also.

Yesterday my 15 year old daughter met a boy. I’m not sure I am ready for this.

I am so glad that I found Blogstream, you people are really great.

He had put his life in her hands, and so she had to make the decision. She took a deep breath and said to the detectives, “Okay. If he decides to cooperate, could we leave the state on our own, without being in the witness protection program?”

Luckily, Agent Goodman said that could be arranged. She figured they could go stay with his family in Florida for awhile, that way she could keep in touch with her kids, and hopefully they would be far enough away to be out of danger, they would have to take the chance, she could not bear to give up her children.

Over the next few hours, her husband confessed to two counts of armed robbery. He would be given immunity for everything else he had done with this crew and the detectives wanted as much information as they could get. There had been a dozen other smaller jobs that he had been involved in, including using stolen credit cards, passing counterfeit bills, burglary and drugs. Her husband answered question after question, it seemed to go on endlessly. Finally they were finished, he would be released the next day.

It was getting dark as she left the building, what a horrible evening. Freezing rain was coming down and she wasn’t sure where the bus stop was. She wanted to cry, or scream, but she didn’t, she was afraid that if she broke down now she would lose her mind, she had a baby to go home to, she had to be strong. Plus she had to face her family, they had never liked her husband at all. The last thing she needed to hear right now was “I told you so”.

Perhaps her parents had been right, she thought about when she and her husband had decided to have the baby, he had promised that he would hold a steady job, and give up drinking and drugs, That had lasted for almost three years, then he lost his job and got involved with some bad people. And now she had to stick by her husband, she felt she had no other choice and it spite of what he had done, she still loved him.

Her husband got out of jail the next day, it was March 9th, her birthday. The kids came over and they all had dinner upstairs at her sister’s apartment. She has a couple of pictures from that evening, but she doesn’t remember it, she doesn’t remember what she told the kids, or if they said goodbye. Thinking about it still makes her cry. After the kids went home, they had packed a few things, and lay down on the bed to try and rest, but they couldn’t, so they just held each other. Then in the middle of the night, when no one was around, they put a few belongings into their car and left the city.

Epilogue

Her husband flew back to New York under an assumed name several times to testify, he was threatened in the courtroom and kept in protective custody while giving his testimony. The man he testified against was found guilty on various counts and sentenced to forty years.

Jimmy Lorenzo also pleaded guilty and cooperated and was sentenced to five years probation, and. is currently in the witness protection program.

Her husband was sentenced to five years probation, they bought a house in a rural area, he got a job and gave up drinking and drugs. That lasted around three years, then a rich lady made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

If you have been reading my blog prior to this story, then you already know what happened next.

After she hung up the phone, she went back to bed. It was a cold morning and the forecast had predicted snow. It felt good to get under the covers. She wondered if her husband was cold and thought about visiting him in a few hours. The detectives had said she could see him at 1:00 in the Federal Building, so he was probably there right now being questioned. At least they weren’t taking him to Rikers'. That place gave her the creeps, she had heard many horror stories about it, and hated the thought of having to go to that Island to visit him

She already missed her husband, and he had only been gone for a few hours. Suddenly her thought were interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. She ran into the kitchen, picked it up and said hello. The voice on the other end was one that she did not recognize, it was a male with a typical New York accent.
“Are you okay,” he had asked.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry we will take care of everything,” and then he hung up. She sat on the couch trying to sort out this new twist. She figured that Jimmy had called the man in charge to let him know what was going on, and he had called her to reassure her. He probably didn’t want her to panic and start saying things she shouldn’t say. She felt sure that she had handled the detectives reasonably well. So they were going to take care of everything, which meant that they would be providing a lawyer. Maybe everything would be okay, she told herself, trying very hard to stay calm.

By then it was time to get dressed and take the baby to her mother’s. She told her mother that her husband had been arrested and tried to say as little about it as possible. In their family they never really discussed problems, and mostly kept things hidden from each other, and at times like this she was glad.

Finally after taking three buses, she arrived at the Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn. She had to go through a metal detector as she entered the building and then asked the guard at the desk for Detective Goodman. She was told to wait as he made a phone call and a few minutes later Goodman and her partner emerged from the elevator.

“Good afternoon, if you don’t mind we would like to speak to you before you see your husband”. They led her down the hall into a small room. When they were all seated Goodman said, “Okay, here’s what’s going on.”

Agent Goodman explained that her husband had been implicated in the robbery of two armored cars. One of the other crew members had been arrested on another offense and had given them the stolen car. They were going to use DNA samples to prove that her husband had been in the car, plus they had a witness and were going to put him in a line-up, and although he was wearing a mask, they were still confident that that could get a positive ID. Since her husband did not have a record, they had arrested him first, hoping that he would be willing to cooperate. They were after the boss, the man who had come up with this plan, which was only one of many.

If he did not cooperate he was looking at a sentence of fifteen years. That would be his daughter’s whole childhood, she would practically be an adult by the time he got out. The detectives were asking her to reason with her husband, and help him make the right decision. The whole situation seemed surreal to her, she was so confused and scared. Why should she have to make this decision? If her husband pleaded innocent, they would pay for his lawyer, it would probably be a long drawn out process, going back and forth to court. Would he be able to get off? Fifteen years is a long time, was it worth the risk?

After thinking it over for a few minutes she had some questions.
“What would be the penalty if he pleads guilty and cooperates?”
“We would ask the judge for leniency, however, there is no guarantee, he could get probation or he could get up to five years.”
“What about our safety, wouldn’t it be dangerous for him to testify?”
“Well, yes, so we would put you in the witness protection program.”

Just when she thought things could not get any worse, they did. She couldn’t go in the witness protection program. She had agreed to give her ex husband legal custody of their two children. They had what she considered a perfect arrangement, she did not work, and picked the kids up from school every day, they ate dinner at her house and then went home to their dad’s in the evening, and she had them every other weekend. But she wouldn’t be allowed to take them with her. There was no way she was going to go away and never see them again, not even be able to talk to them on the phone, or write to them. But would it be safe for her and they baby to stay in the city if her husband went? No of course not, they would use his family to try to get to him. She needed some time to think about this, it was an impossible decision.

She told the detectives that she would discuss it with her husband, and they finally had him brought in. He was happy to see her, but he was obviously very scared. She had never seen him so panicked. He was usually so cool and calm, always assuring her that everything would be alright, but not this time, this really got to him and he was not even trying to hide his fear. They talked briefly about the options and then he asked her, “what should I do?’

It was Jimmy Lorenzo*, he had gone out with her sister for eight years. He was always at their house when they were kids. Her sister had finally broken up with him when she had started college and he had showed no sign of ever wanting to get a job. He had a new car and always seemed to have money, but no one really knew how he made his money. When her husband had lost his job last summer, he had begun going to the park with her and their daughter. They had run into Jimmy and his girlfriend who also had a baby girl around the same age. She had wound up introducing them and they all spent many lazy afternoons hanging out in the park. A friendship had developed and they had been to each others houses for cookouts and they had gone to Jimmy’s daughter’s two year old birthday party in January, but last month when he had been invited to theirs he had said that it wasn’t a good idea for them to be seen together, too many questions were being asked. She had thought he was just being paranoid. He was an extremely private person and tended to be very secretive.

So she admitted to knowing him and explained that he dated her sister, but left out the rest. And she had to give them his name. She didn’t think that wasn’t a big deal, after all everyone in the neighborhood knew him, or at least knew of him.

They asked her a few more questions, which she answered honestly, she told them the name of the bar where her husband worked, but only knew the first name of his boss.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, they were ready to leave. Agent Goodman gave her a business card and told that her husband was being held in the Federal Building in Brooklyn and to come by at one o’clock and she would be able to see him.

She wondered what exactly her husband had done and what evidence they had against him. If they had a witness he was probably in a lot of trouble. Her husband was just over six feet tall and had red hair and when he had a beard it was also red, not exactly your average looking guy on the street. I wish I could talk to someone about this, she thought. But she knew she shouldn’t say anything over the telephone, besides it was still very early in the morning. She took the baby into her room and lay down on the bed, softly whispering the magic words, “don’t worry honey, everything is going to be all right.” These words however were not meant for the baby, they were meant for her. Eventually her little one fell asleep, but she could not.

She was worried and felt helpless. What would her husband want her to do? He would probably want her to warn the others, but she did not want to appear involved in this in any way. But finally she decided to call Jimmy hoping he could tell her what to do, or reassure her in some way. Maybe his girlfriend would answer and they could talk a bit. But when she called them it was Jimmy who answered.

“A bunch of people came to my house this morning.” After a short pause he responded,
“When the left, did they take anything with them?”
“Yeah”
“Okay, we’ll get back to you”, and with that he was gone.

*pseudonym