I went through the scanner, tossing my phone and keys, along with my knife, into the dish as I walked through.
The guard manning the machine looked at the knife, deemed it “acceptable” and said, “Good to go.”
I went to the courtroom and walked to the stupid seats where the jury was supposed to sit and did just that.
One seat down and over from the redhead that was taking up way too much space in my brain.
“Um, sorry.” A Hispanic woman tapped me on the shoulder. “Would you mind switching with me? You’re really freakin’ tall and big, and I can’t see over you.”
I stood up without a word and stepped to the side.
She snuck around the seat and took mine, leaving me the seat next to Constance.
Constance looked like she was fuming as I took my seat.
“Great,” I heard her mutter under her breath.
I didn’t comment.
Instead, I rested my arms against the armrests and crossed my hands over my belly as I leaned back in the seat.
As I did, my legs spread a little wider than my neighbor liked, and she whacked me with her knee, I assume, to keep me on my side.
I ignored her and spread my legs wider.
She really didn’t like that.
She leaned toward the woman on her other side, and I nearly laughed out loud.
She looked so damn uncomfortable it was comical.
“Men manspreading,” Constance explained to the woman next to her when she explained why she’d leaned into her space.
The woman replied with, “Well, he is a really big guy. These are pretty small seats.”
My smile went from inside to outside as I had to laugh at the betrayal on Constance’s face when her new friend didn’t immediately shit-talk me.
The trial got underway, and I listened quietly to each side as they started their talks.
The judge asked questions.
The lawyers and eventually the witnesses answered.
Needing clarification on something, I signaled the bailiff, and he came over.
I asked him my question, and he nodded before discreetly walking over to the judge while the opposing counsel was questioning a witness.
The judge listened to the bailiff, nodded, then said, “Opposing counsel, could you repeat what you asked him about the humming noise?”
The lawyer asked. “Sir, can you tell me again about the noise?”
The man started to speak.
“Well, it’s this obnoxious, constant, loud droning noise. And sometimes, it even ramps up to a high-pitched whine. Not to mention, every single day, every hour on the hour, there’s this high-pitched beeping noise that goes off signaling something to the workers. I don’t know. It’s louder than a train horn. Even worse, where we live, there’s a quiet zone. Trains can’t even use their horns when they cross through on the train tracks! Yet, this stupid data center can let that go off every hour on the hour.”
I grinned.
That’s what I wanted to hear again.
