“Likewise,” he agreed. “We're totally incompatible.”
“Polar opposites,” she said.
“The cobra and the mongoose.”
“Good-bye, Solomon,” she said, pushing the door open and heading back to the courtroom.
Fifty-two
LOVE VS. LAW
Victoria knew she had, at most, two minutes before the judge would return to the bench. Sitting with perfect posture at the Petitioner's table, she furiously scribbled notes on a pink index card.
“Your Honor, it is my sad duty under Part 2 of Rule 4, Subsection 3.3 of the Ethical Rules to report an obstruction of justice…”
Janice sat on the witness stand, thumbing through one of Judge Rolle's children's magazines, Zinkavich glaring at her from his crumb-covered table. The courtroom door opened, and Steve waltzed in, whistling.
Whistling!
Some upbeat tune. Trying to distract her, Victoria figured, sidetrack her from what the law required her to do.
Steve approached Zinkavich, slapped him on the back: “Jack, my man, let's do lunch sometime, whadaya say?”
“You been drinking?” Zinkavich said.
“Hey, Sis,” Steve called out. “Despite everything, I still love you.”
“Feeling okay, Stevie?” Janice said.
Victoria watched warily as Steve circled her table, winked at her, and said: “You look absolutely stunning, honey bun.”
She tried to ignore him and kept taking notes:
“My partner, Stephen Solomon, has committed a gross violation.. .”
Standing in front of the bench, Steve began singing, “How Deep Is Your Love.”
Singing! Like the sappy Bee Gees, only off-key.
Then he glided around the well of the courtroom, swiveling his hips, dancing a rumba with an invisible partner.
Dancing!
Victoria tried not to watch him, but that was impossible. Limber as a snake, he coiled his way from bench to bar, all the while singing. Somewhere between being touched in the pouring rain and living in a world of fools, he slid across her table, his butt scattering her index cards.
“You can stop taking notes, Vic.”
“Go away!” She snatched her cards as if they were thousand-dollar bills.
“You probably wonder why I'm so happy.”
“I don't care.”
“It just occurred to me you're not gonna tell the judge a damn thing. You know why?”
“Get away from me! Now.”
She couldn't believe his arrogance. Even after all this, he was still so cocksure of himself.
“Because I know what makes you tick, Vic.”
“Hah.”
“I know what's important to you. More important than all the rules in all the books.”
“Whatever you think you know, Solomon, you're wrong.”
He gave her that gotcha grin that made her itch to slap him again.
“No matter what you think about me, you love Bobby,” Steve said. “I saw it in your face when he was testifying. He said he wished you were his mom. And your look said you wished it, too. You love the kid with all your soul and all your being. And because you know he belongs with me, you couldn't live with yourself if something you did took him away. Just like I always told you, love trumps the law. So tear up your note cards, Victoria, because you can despise me until the end of time, but you won't do this to Bobby.”
He slipped off the table and plopped into the chair next to her. Victoria searched for a reply, but before she could say a word, the rear door to the courtroom opened and Judge Althea Rolle hurried in, robes flowing. “Don't bother standing,” she said, dropping into her high-backed chair. “We're gonna finish this up real quick.”
It had been a performance. Steve wasn't nearly as sure of himself as he tried to appear. But he had taken a shot, aiming for the deepest part of Victoria, the part she kept hidden. He had aimed for her heart.
If it didn't work, if she finked to the Fink and to the judge, he had another option. It would take them several days to crank up the machinery of the criminal justice system. You can't get an indictment overnight. You need subpoenas, affidavits, sworn testimony. Time enough to pack the old Caddy with everything important-some sweats, some John D. MacDonald paperbacks, the panini grill-and uncle and nephew would hit the road. To where, he didn't know.
Matamoras, Mexico? Tegucigalpa, Honduras?
He'd never been to either place, just liked the sound of the names.
“Now, Ms. Solomon,” the judge began, nailing Janice with a steely look, “my question is this…”
Steve sneaked a peek at Victoria. Perched on the edge of her chair, she looked like a bird about to take flight.
“Between the state and your brother,” the judge continued, “who would you choose to care for your son?”
“Your Honor, I have something to say,” Victoria said.
Damn. Steve wondered if his passport was up-to-date.
“Hold on, Ms. Lord,” the judge said. “You'll get your chance. Now, Ms. Solomon-”
“It's important, Your Honor.”
“I said, in a minute.” Judge Rolle gave Victoria a stern look, then turned back to Janice. “The state or your brother, Ms. Solomon? What's your choice?”
Victoria fidgeted in her chair but kept quiet. For the moment.
“I been in enough state facilities to know the shit that goes down there,” Janice said. “Stevie's blood. He's good people. Why not give him a shot?”
“I thought so,” the judge said.
Victoria sat at her table, clutching her note cards in a white-knuckled grip.
What's she going to do?
“Does the state have any more witnesses?” the judge asked.
“My cupboard is bare,” Zinkavich said, “but I move for a continuance until I can locate Mr. Thigpen.”
“Denied.”
“Then I ask that the Court withhold ruling until the State Attorney's Office can investigate the veracity of Ms. Solomon's testimony,” Zinkavich said, desperately.
“Denied.”
“I request for a stay of all proceedings until-”
“Denied. Ms. Lord, please sum up for the Petitioner.”
Victoria seemed stunned. “Oh, Your Honor, I'm not ready for closing argument. But there's something I need to disclose-”
“Ms. Lord, if you're half the lawyer I think you are, you already know which way the Court is leaning. So stand up, talk quick, then sit down.”
Victoria stood, shakily. “This is difficult. I don't know exactly how to say this.”
She was torn, Steve thought. Torn between her heart and those damn rules.
“Ms. Lord, just give me a thought or two about Mr. Solomon, and we'll call it a day, okay?”
Victoria's eyes seemed to focus on a spot on the wall. She sighed. Then she said, “Your Honor, Steve Solomon is the most exasperating man I have ever known.”
“That's a start,” the judge said. “Go on.”
“He has great empathy for people who've got no one to stand up for them. But he's also maddening, impetuous, utterly irrational.”
Winging it, Steve thought. But where would she land?
“He has absolutely no respect for the rules,” Victoria continued. “He makes up his own. He's witty and fun and smart, but he can do some incredibly stupid, thoughtless things. He-”
“Your Honor,” Zinkavich interrupted. “Is this closing argument or couples therapy?”
“Quiet,” the judge said. “I want to see where this is going.”
“I know this man, Steve Solomon,” Victoria said. “Oh, Judge, I know him so well. I've looked deep inside him.”
“Objection!” Zinkavich shouted. “Counsel is testifying. It's totally improper to offer personal opinions on the issues.”
“Counsel is right,” Victoria said, before the judge could rule. “I just crossed the line. It's forbidden by the rules. Frowned on by legal scholars.” Her voice took on a sarcastic lilt. “And, oh, how I've always followed the rules.”
Her face was flushed now, her eyes flashing with sparks. Running on emotion.
“I got straight A's while working two jobs and playing varsity tennis at Princeton,” Victoria said, while unbuttoning her double-breasted jacket. “At Yale, I was the star of the law journal.” She tore off her jacket and tossed it at Steve. His hands came up late, and the jacket covered his face before he could whisk it away.