“No.” She shook her head quickly. “We was looking at her.”
Shame crawled slowly up my neck.
“At first, we thought she was talking on an earbud or something because she kept arguing with someone while drinking her coffee. But then we realized she was talking to herself.”
I kept my eyes forward as the memory slowly pushed itself back into my head.
I remembered Booda inviting himself to my booth. He sat across from me, and I was pissed at him, wanting him to leave me alone.
At least, that was the version my mind created.
The courtroom grew quieter.
“She kept looking over at us like we were bothering her. Then my friend laughed a little, and she snapped.”
The prosecutor nodded for her to continue.
“She said if my friend kept looking at her man, she was gon’ punch her in the eye.”
I almost cracked a smile, but instead, I kept my face perfectly still like Ms. Franklin had coached me to.
At the time, I thought those girls were being disrespectful. I remembered how irritated I got when they kept glancing toward our booth. I also remembered Booda trying to calm me down.
Only now I realized those girls weren’t staring at him.
There had never been anybody sitting across from me.
“No further questions, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said before returning to his table.
Ms. Franklin rose smoothly from her chair and buttoned the front of her blazer before approaching the witness stand.
“You said my client approached your table after your friend laughed. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“And before that interaction, she never threatened either one of you.”
“No.”
“She never touched either one of you.”
“No.”
Ms. Franklin nodded once. “You testified that you assumed my client was talking to herself because you didn’t see an earbud. Correct?”
The witness hesitated slightly. “Yes.”
“Did you check whether she had one in?”
“No.”
“So your entire testimony is based on assumptions.”
The woman shifted uncomfortably in the witness chair. “I mean…”
Ms. Franklin didn’t let her finish.
“You also testified that your friend laughed at my client before my client approached your table.”
