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“Round one goes to you, Desiree.”
“It goes to Mr. Lee and me,” she replied.
Battle looked at Jack. “If you think you’re leading the defense, think again. This young lady does not know how to play second fiddle to either man or beast.”
“Do you have the cause and time of death for us yet?” interjected DuBose. “Or are you going to ambush us at trial? If so, we have a number of pretrial motions we can file, including a change of venue and a request for a preliminary hearing.”
“That was waived.”
“By incompetent counsel, rendering that decision null and void. I know the supporting case law by heart, Edmund,” countered DuBose.
“We’ll see about that.”
“I saw your son last month. Brett is doing God’s work with the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department in Washington.”
Battle glared at her. “You have a funny definition of God’s work.”
“I thought it was pretty straightforward. Right versus wrong?” noted DuBose.
Battle glanced away from her and looked over Jack’s facial injuries. “No room for that in our legal system, Mr. Lee. I’m truly sorry it happened to you. But when you push them against the wall, some folks don’t know any better than to strike back.” He left with his legal posse.
The reporters flocked after him, pestering the man with questions.
A few moments later Howard Pickett came forward. “Miss DuBose, how nice to see you again.”
She barely looked at him. “I wish I could say the same.”
“You got the best of us a couple of times, but we returned the favor.”
“Yes, by sending four innocent men to prison for life, and spending three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars of your money trying to keep little Black kids from getting the same education as white children.”
Pickett laughed and turned to the reporters who had left the nonresponsive Battle and gathered around the pair, sensing blood. “A lawyer every second, twisting facts around to make it seem like she’s doing good, when all she’s really doing is destroying what America stands for.”
“And what exactly does America stand for?” she asked. “Liberty and equality but only for some?”
“What we stand for are good family values, a strong defense, small government and the right to live the American Dream, and the true and natural supremacy of the white race in the greatest country on earth. And we can make it even greater if we can stop the damn federal courts from horning in where they don’t belong.”
“Well, good thing the Founding Fathers didn’t agree with you on that,” said DuBose. “Seeing as how they created the federal courts as an equal branch of government to do exactly what they’re doing right now.”
“And what is that, exactly?” said Pickett in a bland tone.
“Giving full force to the language of the founding documents we rely on to be a great and everlasting democracy, starting with ‘all men are created equal.’ I figure if we adhere to that one literally, but also include all women, good things will follow.”
“Well, it’ll be a long wait then.”
“Oh, I’m a patient person,” replied DuBose.
“It may not be up to you,” retorted Pickett.
“Well, it certainly won’t be up to you,” she shot back.
Pickett grinned, spun on his heel, and walked out.
As Jack and DuBose exited, the flock of reporters turned on them, but Jack quickly led DuBose through the gauntlet, out onto the street, and down a narrow alley lined with dented garbage cans where eager blackbirds were trolling for their breakfast. The reporters finally gave up pursuit, and wheeled around to sprint to the nearest phone booth to report in. Jack and DuBose slowly walked back to his office.
“So I take it Pickett has a habit of showing up and getting in your way?”
“His idea of America is antithetical to everything this country should stand for. And yet millions of people believe the man makes perfect sense.”
