Olivia, her father and I sat at the table. Her father sat across from me, and Olivia sat at the end of the table, between us. She had placed square of lasagna on all of our plates. We ate in an awkward and uncomfortable silence. I took a sip of my ice tea and glanced at Olivia.
“You know, I was thinking that while you’re here, we could try that new steak house across from my office. It could be a pre-celebratory dinner once I get the charges dropped.”
Olivia gasped. “Daddy, no! Those steakhouses are disgusting. They’re responsible for the murder of millions of cows!”
“Of course they are, Olivia. The steak has to come from somewhere.” He shrugged, smirking at me.
I chuckled softly, and when Olivia shot me a dirty look, I hid my smile by taking a sip of my ice tea.
Olivia sighed. “I don’t mind cooking.” She insisted. “I don’t see why you insist on going to restaurants all the time. It’s expensive, and it’s probably not as healthy as eating at home with fresh organic vegetables.” She insisted, taking a bite of her lasagna.
“Okay. So what day are you making us steak?” Her father asked.
Olivia scowled. “You’re right. You’d better go to your stupid steak house. But I’ll be staying here.” She picked up her plate and brought it to the kitchen, placing it in the sink.
I shrugged lightly and stood up, taking my own plate to the sink.
“You cooked, so I’ll do the dishes.” I offered.
Olivia shook her head. “It’s okay, I’ll do the dishes and put away the left overs. You guys can get started on whatever you need to do.” She insisted, taking the plate from my hands.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She smiled. “Go ahead.”
Olivia’s father had already moved into the living room. He eased himself into an arm chair and opened his briefcase.
He removed a yellow legal pad and a pen.
“Do you want coffee?” Olivia asked. “We don’t have any, but I can run out. There’s a starbucks not far from here.”
I would have killed for coffee, but I shook my head.
“No, thanks.” Olivia’s father said distractedly.
“Did you want tea?” She offered me.
I wrinkled my nose and shook my head. Olivia smiled and gently nudged me in the direction of the living room and her stern looking father. He’d put his glasses on and was rummaging through his papers.
I sat down on the sofa, placing my elbows on my knees, poised to pay attention and listen.
“Now, I just need to go over what happened the night you were arrested. Did you have prior contact with the arresting officer?”
“Yes. He arrested me in July after my accident.”
“And you were charged?”
I nodded. “I was charged with driving under the influence, endangering a minor and a minor possession charge. I had a joint in my pocket.”
“Uh-huh. And did he discover the drugs or did you disclose that to him?”
“Uhh…” I had to think back and in order to do that, I had to force away a ton of cloudy drunken memories. “He discovered it. He searched me while I was in handcuffs.”
Olivia’s father nodded, making a note of this on his pages.
“And what were you officially charged with?”
“Um… my lawyer at the time advised me to plead guilty to the driving under the influence, and the charges of possession and endangering a minor were dropped. I petitioned the judge and because I was a minor, I had to do rehab, probation and random drug testing. I had to give up my license too.”
Olivia’s father nodded.
“And you were adhering to the terms of your probation?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I did everything I was told to. I even brought my marks up at school and everything.”
“Good.” He nodded.
“But the same officer pulled us over before too.” Olivia spoke up from the kitchen. It made perfect sense that she was listening.
I nodded. “Yeah. He pulled us over before Christmas.”
“And what was the reason for that?”
“He didn’t give us one. He asked me to step out of the vehicle. “
“Were you driving?”
“Of course not. I was in the passenger’s seat. Olivia was driving.”
Olivia’s father turned to Olivia. “We’re you speeding?”
“No.” She insisted. I was maybe one or two clicks over, but I wasn’t speeding.” She insisted.
“Did you have anything to drink?”
“Of course not.” Olivia blinked. “I don’t drink.”
“Were you weaving? Did you make any mistakes?”
Olivia shook her head. “Not that I know of. And if I did, shouldn’t the cop have told me?”
Olivia’s father nodded. “He should have. That leads me to believe that there wasn’t a reason for him to pull you over.”
He turned back to me. “What happened after you exited the car?” He asked.
“Well, I knew immediately that officer Lock was up to something. So I told Olivia to stay in the car and go out. He asked where I’d been hiding.”
Judge James nodded. “Okay, so it seems like he’s been looking for you.”
“That’s what I thought too.”
“What happened after that?” Judge James replied.
“He threatened me, saying he could throw me in jail for twenty-four hours without having to charge me.”
Judge James looked up at Olivia. “Would you be willing to testify to this?”
“Absolutely.” She answered. “I even told the officer that I had been with him all day and he hadn’t done anything wrong.” She crossed the room and sat next to me on the sofa, tucking her bare feet beneath her. She placed a glass of water in front of me. “Thanks.” I whispered to her.
“What happened after he threatened you?”
I drew in a deep breath. “He threatened to arrest Olivia too if she didn’t get back into the car.
Judge James raised his eyebrows. “Olivia, why didn’t you tell me this?”
“I had no idea that all this would happen. I thought he was just being a jerk.” She shrugged lightly. “I probably should have mentioned it.” She conceded.
“I’m glad you did. Its good that there’s an extra witness.” Her father mused, making more notes.
“What happened afterward?” Judge James asked.
I glanced at Olivia as she shifted slightly toward me.
“He handcuffed me and shoved me against the hood of the car. He searched me…” I paused to remember exactly what had happened.
“He accused you of stealing the car.” Olivia added.
“Oh, right.”
Judge James chuckled. “Interesting. Then what happened?”
I laughed softly. “Well, tough little Olivia here threatened him. She said she was going to charge him with police brutality and search without probable cause and all kinds of legal stuff…”
“Nicely done.” Judge James mused.
Olivia beamed proudly. “Thank you. But all I had to do was mention your name and he stopped in his tracks like a scared little puppy. He removed the handcuffs from Isaac and let us go.”
Judge James smirked slightly. “Interesting.” He made notes on his notepad.
“What did you do after officer Locke left the scene?”
“We talked for a few minutes.” Olivia said. “I talked Isaac into going to the emergency room.”
“Excellent. That’s a great secondary witness to this. Do you remember the name of the doctor who looked at you?” Judge James asked.
I shook my head. I honestly didn’t remember if the doctor had told me his name or not. I was too eager to get out of there at the time.
“Doctor Stanley.” Olivia answered immediately.
“Good.” Judge James nodded, scribbling the name in his notes.
“Now, this most recent time. Can you tell me what happened?”
Olivia and I meticulously went over what had happened. I explained in every detail what went on while I was in the interview room.
Olivia listened intently, hanging on my every word.
Judge James nodded absently and took notes.
He shuffled through his papers. “Now, you were pulled over on… east 11th street.”
I nodded.
“I have the bank records from Officer Locke here… He used a bank machine at the Rosewood Shopping center on South one-oh-one street east… about half an hour before he pulled you over.”
“That doesn’t really prove anything though. It just proves that he was in the area we were in. Which obviously he was since he pulled us over.” Olivia frowned.
“Exactly.” Her father nodded.
I frowned. “How much marijuana did he charge me with having?” I asked.
“Uhh…” Judge James checked his papers then answered. “Three point one grams.”
I thought for a moment, almost afraid to say anything in fear of incriminating myself. “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve bought pot, but three grams in that area would cost about three hundred and fifty to four hundred dollars… How much money did he take out from the bank machine?” I asked.
Judge James shuffled the pages again. “Three hundred and eighty dollars.” He said triumphantly. “That might just break this case, Isaac. I’m going to rush down to the office and have my legal aids start on this new information.” He gathered his papers and shoved them into his brief case.
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