Page 101 of Protecting Christina

“Objection!” I shouted from my seat, and the judge turned toward me. “Excuse me?”

The prosecutor dropped his head into his hands and sighed.

“My apologies, your honor. But he is leading the witness and that line of questioning is uncalled for.”

This time, the judge raised his eyebrows. “That may be the case, Ms.—”

“Polito,” I added.

“Right. But you are out of line. Another outburst from you and I will ask you to leave my courtroom.”

“I understand, your honor.” I sat back down, crossed my legs, and bit my tongue, both literally and figuratively as the defense went on with his line of questioning.

I glanced over at the jury box and examined their faces. One shook his head and yawned as though my little outburst had just woken him from a nap, and it probably had. Two of the women watched Lynette intently, but I couldn’t tell if they were sympathetic to her testimony or judgmental. The rest seemed unphased while one nodded when our eyes connected.

My heart sank as I worried Simon would get away with this, too. No one had ever held him accountable for what he’d done in high school, including me, and it ate me up inside.

I hadn’t realized my fingernails were pressed into the palm of my hand until Will unfolded my fingers, one by one, and placed his hand into mine.

He squeezed it, and I squeezed his back. “I’ve got you,” he said, and I nodded, feeling my throat tightening.

A few minutes later, the courtroom door opened, and for some reason, this time, I turned around.

I blinked when I saw her, unsure if I’d conjured her up in my desperation. But my sister walked through the doors, her eyes scanning the rows of seats until they landed on me.

She didn’t walk toward Will and me, instead she remained at the back. Her eyes pleaded something, and I wished I’d known her better to guess what that would be.

“Excuse me,” I said to Will and brushed past him as I tiptoed down to the end of my row. When I reached my sister, I grabbed her hand. “Come sit with us. There’s plenty of room.”

“How’s it going?” she asked, ignoring my suggestion, and staring at her friend.

“Um. Fine. Lynette is holding up.”

She turned to look at me. “For a lawyer, you’re a terrible liar.”

My lips cracked into a grin. “Only when I’m around my big sister.”

She blinked and inhaled sharply. After a few seconds of deep breaths, she said, “I think I want to testify.”

My heart soared, but I pulled it back into my chest. It beat like a caged butterfly. “What do you mean, ‘you think?’”

“Well, if it will help, I want to do something. But if it’s not—”

“Yes,” I said, gripping her hand. “It will help. The more who can testify against him, the better his chances of being sent away. But it won’t be easy.”

“What do you mean?”

“The defense is a prick, which isn’t surprising since he’s representing Simon. So, if you want to do this, I’m going to help prepare you for it.”

“You would do that for me?”

“Of course, Donna. You’re my sister, and it’s time I started acting like it.”

Donna bit her lip but squared her shoulders. “Ok, tell me what to do.”

“I will. But first, we need to call a recess. Wait here.”

I walked back to my row and scooted over to my seat.

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