“I’ll do my best.”
“Forget your best.Do the boss.”
I shook my head. “That is such bad advice.”
He kissed my forehead. “Maybe. But some storms are meant to be danced in, not dodged.”
CHAPTER 7
Jagger
14 years ago
“Should we go in?” Marla asked. The two of us were waiting outside the courtroom. My joke of a public defender was nowhere to be found, and the court officer had just called my case for the second time. I walked over to him.
“I’m Jagger Langston. You called my name, but I don’t know where my attorney went. He was here a few minutes ago on his phone.”
“Who’s your attorney?”
“Leonard Adams.”
The court officer frowned. “He’s probably down the hall with a different client. That guy will find a way to squeeze someone in if you go to take a piss.”
“What should I do?”
“I can push you down on the calendar. I still have two more cases to call this afternoon. Hopefully he’ll turn up by then.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
I walked back over to Marla, who was biting her nail again. “Stop doing that. You’re making me nervous.”
“I’mmakingyounervous? My parents don’t know you were arrested again, and if they find out I’ve been keeping your secret, we’rebothin hot water. And your dumb, disappearing lawyer called Judge Hanover JudgeHammerbecause of how hard he is with sentencing. Why the heck did you and your stupid friends break into the school anyway? You usually get in trouble fornotgoing to school.”
I shrugged. “It was cold out. We wanted to play basketball.”
Marla shook her head. “You have to stop hanging out with those guys—and that new girl you’re going out with, too.”
“What’s wrong with Lexi?”
“Last week, I was watching a soccer game on TV when she came over. You weren’t home yet, so she sat down and started watching with me. I asked if she liked soccer, and she said no, she only really likes bolly-ball. It took me almost five minutes to figure out she was referring tovolleyball. She’s seventeen and seriously had no idea that the word isn’tbolly-ball.”
I sighed. “Lots of people get things wrong. Remember when you thought that Rihanna song was ‘chips and dip excite me’, instead of chains and whips?”
“I wasten! And Lexi played on thebolly-ballteam for two years in middle school.”
“You’re making that up.”
Marla made an X mark across her chest. “Cross my heart. Ask her!”
After we both had a good laugh, Marla seemed to study my face. I thought maybe something was on it, so I swiped at my cheek. “What?”
“You have dark circles under your eyes. You’re having trouble sleeping again, aren’t you?”
“I sleep just fine.”
She frowned. “Sure you do.”
Forty-five minutes later, there was still no sign of my lawyer when the court officer came out again. He looked at me. “You’re up, buddy. Still no sign of Lenny?”
