"Hi, Scott," I said pleasantly. "Time to head home, okay?"
He loped down the stairs and walked past me.
"Your shirt is on inside out," I informed him.
He looked down, flushed in realization, then bolted out the door.
I looked up at Lily. "You know how I feel about you being alone with Scott in your bedroom."
"God, Mom, we were just listening to music."
"Uh-huh."
"Did they cut you loose from the jury?" she asked.
"Not yet."
She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "What a drag. Do you even get paid to do this?"
"Some. Not much."
"Then why do it?"
I blinked up at her. "Because it's my civic duty, like everyone." I tapped my watch. "We have therapy in a few minutes. Have you seen Josh?"
"Dad took Josh to the FIFA game. Last-minute tickets." She picked up her phone. "So."
With effort, I squashed my supreme frustration and pivoted. "So we can do a session just the two of us."
"No." She said it simply. "Mom. I think you should do this one alone. Josh and Dad and I are all totally fine."
She drifted back toward her room with the unhurried energy of someone who considered the conversation concluded.
I stood in my own living room, keys still in my hand, fairly certain that "we're all totally fine" was the least fine sentence she'd ever said to me.
July 16, Thursday
"JUROR 247,please come forward."
I was less nervous this time about sitting in the witness stand, but since I was the first juror called, I didn't know what to expect in the line of questioning.
When I was settled, the judge gave me a warm smile. "I'd like to ask you about leadership. Would you describe yourself as someone who tends to take charge in group situations, or do you prefer to follow someone else's lead?"
I opened my mouth to say the modest, reasonable thing, then I stopped myself. "Both, depending on the situation," I said. "If someone in the room knows more or has more experience than I do, I'll follow their lead and ask questions. But if nobody's steering and something needs to happen, I'll step up."
A beat of silence. The lead prosecutor—sharp, no-nonsense, who had not smiled once in my observation—wrote something down.
"How do you handle conflict?" the judge continued.
"I try to understand what everyone actually needs, as opposed to what they say they want, which in my experience are often two different things. Then I look for an outcome that gets most people most of what they need." I considered. "Also, sometimes people just need to be heard before they can move forward. Jumping to solutions without listening tends to make things worse."
More writing from the prosecution table.
"And when you've gathered information and need to make a decision," the judge said, "how do you approach that?"
"I try not to make permanent decisions under temporary pressure," I offered. "And I try to be honest about when Idon't have enough information yet, rather than guessing and committing to the guess."
Both attorneys were making notes.
