Dog Bite - Page 14

I had a meeting with a public defender just after lunch. I gave Bella a twenty and asked if she would take her sister to the Boys and Girls arcade on State. I watched them walk down the sidewalk, Bella holding her sister’s hand as they passed the bookstore’s plate glass window. She stopped and stared at something in the store, and then kept on. Once they crossed the intersection, I met the lawyer. She was younger than I imagined. 16 years prison. That’s all I could remember. 16 years. I’m not going away for 16 years. Do whatever you need to do, but that’s not possible. I’ll do anything else. But I’m not going to prison. The young lawyer seemed to understand, and that was that. Not much else to do. None of the police reports were ready. I’d see her again next month.