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Authors: Beverly LaHaye
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said.
C HAPTER
Twelve
The courtroom smelled moldy, and paint peeled off the walls. A big crack cut through the ceiling plaster, and the industrial tile on the floor looked as if it needed a good washing with Lysol.
It was a depressing place, where lives changed with the strike of a gavel.
She saw Steve sitting with Rick and Annie, and on the other side of them, Jerry had slipped in. Behind them, Brenda, Sylvia, and Tory sat together. Little Hannah lay asleep in her stroller next to Tory. The court was already in session, and those with traffic violations were quickly being processed. Quietly, Cathy slipped into the row between Steve and her children. Brenda leaned up. “How do things look?” she whispered.
Cathy drew in a deep breath and indicated that she really didn’t know. Before Cathy could respond, a side door opened, and those charged with criminal offenses were paraded in, all dressed alike in their orange jumpsuits.
Annie made a noise and covered her mouth. Her shocked eyes fixed on her mother, as if asking if she was going to allow this.
Cathy couldn’t take her eyes from her son.
He sat next to a boy with a goatee and colored tattoos of serpents down each arm. The boy smiled as he saw some of his friends in the back of the courtroom, and she saw that two of his teeth were missing. He looked as if he’d recently lost a fight but hadn’t learned from it.
Steve held one hand as she waited for their turn, and Annie latched on to her other one. The toothless kid next to Mark was called, and she watched as his teenaged wife got up and limped to the front of the courtroom.
After the case was read out, the judge regarded the girl. “Want to tell me what happened to your face?”
She looked at her boyfriend. He gave her a threatening leer that no one in the courtroom could have missed. But little hinged on the obvious, Cathy thought. It was all about paperwork and lawyers making the right motions.
She turned back to the judge. “I fell,” she said. “That’s all. I just want him out of here.”
The judge gave a long hard look at the boy, who obviously had little respect for the girl next to him. “You’re charged with Assault and Battery. How do you plead?”
The kid’s proud chin came up. “Not guilty.”
The judge gave the lawyer a look of disgust. “If she won’t talk, my hands are tied. Case dismissed.” He pointed a finger at the kid. “But I’d better not see you back in here. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” the boy said, his chin held high. A grin cut across his face as they let him go.
And then came a case with a drunk driver who’d killed someone, and then a car theft followed by several other drug charges.
Finally, it came to Mark.
He looked like a little boy as he stood up and shuffled to the front. She thought he was about to cry. Wouldn’t the judge see that this wasn’t an everyday occurrence for Mark? Wouldn’t Mark’s young features soften his heart?
“What do you plead?” the judge asked.
“Guilty,” Mark choked out, then glanced back over his shoulder at his mom. Cathy nodded her head, hoping to give him some strength. When Mark looked at his father, Jerry looked down at his hands.
The judge flipped through the pages again, studying the file. She wanted to tell him to forget the papers and look at the boy. She wanted to get up and tell the attorney not to just stand there, to do something and do it quick.
“Your Honor,” Slater told the judge, as if her very thoughts had prompted him. “My client is only fifteen years old. His record will show some prior offenses, but it’s worth noting that both of them occurred on the same night a year ago. There haven’t been any since.”
“Until now,” the judge said, peering at the attorney over his glasses. “And if I let him off the hook this time, then he’ll do it again. Trust me. I see these kids over and over.”
“No, Your Honor!” Mark blurted out. His attorney tried to silence him, but the
C HAPTER
Twelve
The courtroom smelled moldy, and paint peeled off the walls. A big crack cut through the ceiling plaster, and the industrial tile on the floor looked as if it needed a good washing with Lysol.
It was a depressing place, where lives changed with the strike of a gavel.
She saw Steve sitting with Rick and Annie, and on the other side of them, Jerry had slipped in. Behind them, Brenda, Sylvia, and Tory sat together. Little Hannah lay asleep in her stroller next to Tory. The court was already in session, and those with traffic violations were quickly being processed. Quietly, Cathy slipped into the row between Steve and her children. Brenda leaned up. “How do things look?” she whispered.
Cathy drew in a deep breath and indicated that she really didn’t know. Before Cathy could respond, a side door opened, and those charged with criminal offenses were paraded in, all dressed alike in their orange jumpsuits.
Annie made a noise and covered her mouth. Her shocked eyes fixed on her mother, as if asking if she was going to allow this.
Cathy couldn’t take her eyes from her son.
He sat next to a boy with a goatee and colored tattoos of serpents down each arm. The boy smiled as he saw some of his friends in the back of the courtroom, and she saw that two of his teeth were missing. He looked as if he’d recently lost a fight but hadn’t learned from it.
Steve held one hand as she waited for their turn, and Annie latched on to her other one. The toothless kid next to Mark was called, and she watched as his teenaged wife got up and limped to the front of the courtroom.
After the case was read out, the judge regarded the girl. “Want to tell me what happened to your face?”
She looked at her boyfriend. He gave her a threatening leer that no one in the courtroom could have missed. But little hinged on the obvious, Cathy thought. It was all about paperwork and lawyers making the right motions.
She turned back to the judge. “I fell,” she said. “That’s all. I just want him out of here.”
The judge gave a long hard look at the boy, who obviously had little respect for the girl next to him. “You’re charged with Assault and Battery. How do you plead?”
The kid’s proud chin came up. “Not guilty.”
The judge gave the lawyer a look of disgust. “If she won’t talk, my hands are tied. Case dismissed.” He pointed a finger at the kid. “But I’d better not see you back in here. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” the boy said, his chin held high. A grin cut across his face as they let him go.
And then came a case with a drunk driver who’d killed someone, and then a car theft followed by several other drug charges.
Finally, it came to Mark.
He looked like a little boy as he stood up and shuffled to the front. She thought he was about to cry. Wouldn’t the judge see that this wasn’t an everyday occurrence for Mark? Wouldn’t Mark’s young features soften his heart?
“What do you plead?” the judge asked.
“Guilty,” Mark choked out, then glanced back over his shoulder at his mom. Cathy nodded her head, hoping to give him some strength. When Mark looked at his father, Jerry looked down at his hands.
The judge flipped through the pages again, studying the file. She wanted to tell him to forget the papers and look at the boy. She wanted to get up and tell the attorney not to just stand there, to do something and do it quick.
“Your Honor,” Slater told the judge, as if her very thoughts had prompted him. “My client is only fifteen years old. His record will show some prior offenses, but it’s worth noting that both of them occurred on the same night a year ago. There haven’t been any since.”
“Until now,” the judge said, peering at the attorney over his glasses. “And if I let him off the hook this time, then he’ll do it again. Trust me. I see these kids over and over.”
“No, Your Honor!” Mark blurted out. His attorney tried to silence him, but the