“Sure,” I responded with a half-hearted shrug.
She pursed her painted red lips and narrowed her eyes at me, but she didn’t say anything else as I walked back to my cubicle, and to the bright login screen on my computer. The old machine had seen better days, but since the Public Defender’s Office wasn’t exactly flush with cash, it wouldn’t see retirement anytime soon. It was functional enough to send and receive emails, though, and it could handle basic search requests, so I tried not to be too irritated when it whined and took forever to load the home screen.
When it was finally ready, I pulled up my email and retrieved the digital copies of the papers that I had sent to myself from the printer. I sent the files to the Judge, the clerk of the court, and my boss, and then turned to the rest of the paperwork I had to finish. I refused to think about Fuentes Shipping Company until I was done, but that meant my mind kept drifting back to my mother instead.
She had raised me as a single mother since I was little. Her highschool sweetheart had been my father, but he had died in a car wreck that the cops had blamed on exhaustion, though my mama had always blamed the boss who’d insisted that my father work almost nonstop for two weeks straight because he was too cheap to hire a temp to help out. She’d worked three jobs to put me through college and law school, and after my father died, her entire life had revolved around me. It was my turn to return that gift, and that meant I would do whatever I could to take care of her while she was sick.
I realized that I’d been staring blankly at the computer screen for nearly an hour, so I pushed the worry for my mom to the back of my mind for a moment, next to the offer from Fuentes, and picked up the file in my inbox. One way or the other, it was probably my last case with the Public Defender’s Office, but I still needed to give it my full attention. I scanned the file quickly, and then dialed the contact number that was listed.
“Rick Smith?” I asked when someone picked up the phone.
“Yeah, who's this?” a young man snapped.
“This is Rob Torres,” I explained. “I’m the public defender that’s been assigned to your case. Can you come in today to discuss what we’re going to do?”
“Today?” the man repeated and then whispered something to someone he was with. “Yeah, sure. I’m nearby. I’ll be there in five.”
“Great. I’ll--” I stared at the phone in irritation as I realized the kid had hung up on me.
I sighed, and then flipped through his case file again. It was his second petty theft charge in as many months. The first time, he’d served the full thirty days of his sentence, and he’d been released just a few weeks ago. But he’d already been picked up for trying to shoplift a new gaming system, and I sighed as I wondered what story he would offer to excuse this second theft.
“Yo, Torres, right?” a floppy, blonde-haired young man in baggy jeans and t-shirt said as he stood in the entry to my cubicle.
He had a tattoo of a naked woman on his right forearm, and his clothes were so wrinkled that I was pretty sure he’d slept in them. His shoes were the only pristine part of his outfit, and I knew they cost a few hundred dollars.
“Yes,” I said. “Please take a seat. You’re Rick?”
“Fo’ sure,” the young criminal replied and gave me a lopsided grin as he flopped down into the black plastic chair. “I heard you the best.”
“I do try,” I said while I flipped through the rest of his rap sheet. “It seems they have you on camera trying to steal a… PS5?”
“Yo, I was framed!” Rick exclaimed. “I’s just tryin’ ta find the register, and then that old grandpa started screamin’ that I was tryna’ rabbit.”
“Right,” I responded and nodded my head. “It says here you ran when the security guard tried to stop you?”
“I’m not tryna’ go back,” the junior thief rolled his eyes. “So you gonna get me off, right?”
“You’ve been out of prison less than thirty days,” I told him as I turned to look at him fully. “They have you on camera trying to steal the game system. And you tried to run when you were caught.”
“So you not gonna do nothin’, then?” the blonde man huffed and folded his arms over his chest as he glared at me. “You just another suit. An’ I heard you was actually good at what you do.”
“I’m very good at what I do,” I snapped. “But there’s not much I can do with a perp who gets caught on camera, disrespects the cops who catch him, and is just out of prison.” I took a deep breath and sat up to my full height so the smaller man would know that I was not to be trifled with. “I can probably get you community service. But you’ll have to actually seem like you want to make a change in your life. If you think you can do that… then I’ll call the prosecutor. If not, then you’re welcome to find yourself another lawyer.”
“Damn,” Rick shook his head, and his shoulders hunched in on themselves as his ego deflated. “A’ight. I’m sorry. I’ll do what you tell me.”
“Good,” I said. “If you see my number, then I expect you to answer the phone. And don’t get into any more trouble until after the trial or I
