10 EXECUTIVE PARKING LOT, says the sign on the steel racks of Samsonite briefcases. It’s the o
11 “Bernice, no!” I shout, but she pays even less attention than usual. Driven by instinct, he
12 Only an hour later I have crossed the threshold into another world. A scented, serene world
13 My head buzzes with liquor from the night before; my stomach gurgles like a polluted stream
14 “Who’s there?” I shout, terrified. “Are you all right?” says the man. Concerned, professio
15 Maddie’s gone outside to play, and my mother hands me her dinner dish for rinsing. The chil
16 “Let’s do it,” Eletha says grimly as we encounter the first wave of reporters along the wal
17 I wake up on a green plastic couch in a room I’ve never seen before. My head hurts, but I c
18 Bernice rests her chin on the top of the plastic gate like Kilroy over the fence. My mother
19 The phone rings after the police leave. “Grace.” It’s a man’s voice, almost in a whisper. “
20 Needlepoint is usually surefire therapy. I take refuge in it at the most stressful times an
21 I spend a long time at the dining room table, feeling awful as Maddie sits enchanted by her
22 It’s Sunday, and Bernice, Ricki, and I sit on the bottom row of the hard steel bleachers, w
23 Monday morning I push open the glass door into the courthouse lobby. It’s mercifully clear
24 “You had a phone call, Grace,” Eletha calls out from Armen’s office, as soon as I get into
25 I slip my master key into the doorknob. It turns with a satisfying click, admitting me to t
26 Galanter’s office gleams in the morning light, all sparkling surfaces with sharp edges. Gla
27 I tell Winn the story while I pop chicken with rosemary into the oven and check on Maddie,
28 Wednesday is my alleged day off, but I decide to go in until Maddie gets out of school. I d
29 I sit at my desk with the form letter in my hand, reading it to Winn: We have been unabl
30 “Hang up, Grace,” Ben says. He closes the door behind him and locks it from the inside. “Ha
31 I wake up in silence and semidarkness. There’s a bed table at my side and a boxy TV floatin
32 “Will you look at that!” Artie says in amazement at the kitchen window. We all gather aroun
33 I sit in the darkened back row of the courtroom, where Winn sat that first day. Susan will
34 I turn the Magic Eight Ball over in my hands and read the bottom. Yes, definitely, it says
35 We sit uncomfortably in the darkness, on the carpeted steps that serve as seats in the elem
Final Appeal Page 25
