“Morning, y’all,” she said.
Mr. Reeves nudged her forward. “Eleanor, I’d like you to meet Nova Jones and her mother, Starla. Ladies, this is Miss Eleanor Lindquist. Eleanor is an assistant attorney general with the office in Montgomery.”
Nova stared at the two fancy-pants lawyers while she tugged on her worn T-shirt, a hand-me-down from her mama. Mr. Reeves was nice-looking in an ordinary way, but Miss Lindquist looked like she’d walked right out of a TV show. She sure as hell didn’t look like anyone Nova knew in Union Springs.
As Nova was staring up at her, Miss Lindquist bent down. “I’m looking forward to getting acquainted, Nova. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Nova wondered what she meant. For sure, everybody was talking about her. But they weren’t saying anything good.
“Yes, ma’am,” Nova whispered. “Nice to meet you.”
The baby pulled his thumb from his mouth with a pop and started talking. Just nonsense sounds, mostly.
While he babbled, the pretty lawyer looked at him real close, like she was examining a flower. “What a pretty baby!” she exclaimedwith a smile on her face. She smiled at Caden. She smiled at Nova.
But Nova saw something else on Miss Lindquist’s face. She knew what the lawyer really thought. She thought Nova was dirty. Nova kept telling herself that wasn’t true and could no longer tell what was real anymore.
Her mama tried to settle Caden down, but his patience was all used up. He started up crying again.
Nova watched her mama bend him over her shoulder and swat his bottom. “You stop that!”
That made Caden cry even louder. Nova could’ve told her that would happen, but nobody was asking for her opinion.
Miss Lindquist turned to Mr. Reeves. “Robert, tell your clerk she needs to take this mama and her baby to a restaurant. Somewhere they can get something for the baby to eat.”
Nova’s mama didn’t argue. “He eats McDonald’s. Love those nuggets and fries.”
“Perfect. What is it now, eleven thirty? You go have a nice lunch and come back in about an hour. We’ll be all done by then.”
Mr. Reeves made a quick call on his cell phone. A few seconds later, Nova saw a young woman coming down the hallway. She walked right up to her mama and Caden. Ignored the fact that the baby was wailing like crazy. Just patted him on the head like he was a puppy. “Hi! I’m LuAnne. You two ready to go?”
Nova watched as her mother walked out with the baby and the clerk.
When she looked up, Miss Lindquist winked at her. “Nova, I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking. You’re wishing that you were going to McDonald’s, too.”
Nova ducked her head and looked down at the floor, embarrassed.She wasn’t sure what to say, so she nodded because it seemed like something she should do. Nova hadn’t eaten all morning. She knew she should be hungry. But she hadn’t been able to keep anything down since what happened to her.
The silence in the room was heavy as they all stood there and waited for Nova to give her order.
“Chicken nuggets and fries?” Nova Jones said.
Nova kept waiting for someone to notice that she wasn’t really there. She felt off balance, like she’d stepped out of her body and forgot where she put it.
She still remembered the pain in her stomach, and the chunks of blood that came after. She remembered it so often, it was like the pain never went away. The pain stole all the breath from Nova’s body. She was still waiting to get it back, so she could breathe again.
“Come with me,” Miss Lindquist said. Nova stood up and followed her through the door into a big office. Mr. Reeves came in right behind them.
“Don’t you worry, Nova,” said Miss Lindquist. “I’m going to take care of everything you need.” And then came out with a little laugh. “What kind of lawyer do you think I am, starving my star witness? Do you think I’d do that?”
Did she expect an answer to the question? She had no idea what a star witness was. She’d never felt like the star of anything.
“Nova, you’re a VIP in this courthouse—a very important person—are you aware of that?”
Nova didn’t feel important. She often felt like a rabbit being chased by a coyote. Her heart was pounding through her chest so hard, she thought surely people could see it thump-thumping through her T-shirt.
Nova shook her head. “No, ma’am. Never thought I was important.”
“Well, you are. You’re making history, Nova. And so we’re going to take very good care of you. Okay? Starting with McDonald’s. Anything you want.” She turned to Mr. Reeves.
