Once again the week has caught up to me before I have had a chance get my thoughts together so my readers get another Bail Bonds in Houston story.
I just thought this one to be funny, I guess a lot of them are, the names and locations have been changed and you do not get the whole story, just a tiny bit, sorry.
The year was 1984, I was sitting at my desk looking out the window when a Cadillac pulled up to the front of the office, the first thing I noticed was the huge long horns hood ornament, the second thing I took notice of was the Louisiana license plate.
Two rather large men got out of the car, one was bald and the other had red hair. They stepped into the office and with a very distinctive Louisiana accent the bald man said, “How you doin son, my name is Pierre Lafourche, (he pronounced his name “La foosh,”) heah-in Texas you say, (then he pronounced his name “La foosh,”), but not around me.”
The way he said it was not in a menacing way, but deliberate and to the point, it was quite clear that he expected his name to be pronounced correctly.
The big red haired man, let’s just call him “Red,” then leaned over my desk just a little and said, “Thas Rat,” and that would be “That’s Right” for those of you who can not read Louisiana dialect.
Again, I do not think that their intent was to intimidate me, but these two characters were the type to intimidate anyone without ever trying.
I tried not to appear intimidated at all though and said, “How can I help you Mr. La foosh.”
He said, “Mah waff, she in jail for muuda, I like to go-head-n get huh out.”
The problem with getting people out of jail that are not from Houston is exactly that, (they are not from Houston), and Houston Bail Bonds are difficult enough to write for people who live here. The city is so large and such a melting pot of people from everywhere that many live in Houston temporarily, or just moved here and have all their roots someplace else. The bottom line is that a Houston Bail Bondsman has to be careful and ask questions and get plenty of information in order to determine flight risk.
Naturally when a person from another state is in jail in Houston the logistics of getting back and forth to court appearances, and the simple fact that it becomes more difficult to track and search for people who abscond is a very real concern. The idea of getting someone out of jail from another state that has been charged with murder comes with lots of questions.
So again, without trying to appear in the least bit intimidated I said, “I couldn’t help but notice when you pulled up that you have Louisiana tags on your car.”
Mr. La foosh said, Thas rat son, I’m from Nawlins, you eva been to Nawlins?”
I had been to New Orleans several times and replied, “Yes sir, I have, I love it there, always a party goin on somewhere.”
The way Mr. La foosh had asked the question it seemed apparent that the fact that I had been to New Orleans before was supposed to be some kind of an ice breaker. Anyway, after acknowledging that I had in fact been to New Orleans before Mr. La foosh again in a very deliberate way and very much expecting my complete co-operation said, “You ask anyone from Nawlins who I am, they tell you who I am, ask the Sheaif, (Sheriff) the Maeyah, (Mayor) you ask anybody in Nawlins, they tell you who I am.”
Then Red leaned over my desk again and said, “Thas rat.”
Trying my very best to explain my situation without sounding as though I didn’t believe what Mr. La foosh had said, I explained that his wife had been charged with the most serious offense that a person could be charged with and that I really couldn’t just call the Sheriff or the Mayor of New Orleans and the only way that I was going to be able to help would be if he was willing to leave something as collateral to secure the bond in the event she failed to appear in court for any reason.
Mr. La foosh was wearing three diamond rings, it would have been impossible for anyone not to have noticed them, they were three of the largest diamonds I had ever seen set into a ring.
After I had explained that collateral would be needed Mr. La foosh looked at me as though he were a little confused and said, “Collateral, watch you mean, collateral?”
As diplomatic as I possibly could say it I replied, “One of those rings would probably do the trick.”
Then Mr. La foosh looked down at his hands that he had resting on my desk then looked back at me and said, “Boy…., I give you one of these rangs you gonna have ta give me some collateral.”
Then Red looked down at me, leaned over my desk a little closer and said, “Thas rat.”
The story goes on from here, but this is all you get, except that I did make the bond, she did go to court and that I’ve always had the feeling that Mr. La foosh wasn’t politically connected to the Sheriff or Mayor of his home town, but that they were very much connected to him.