i need cash
Mom?
MOM
Jesus, Isabel, will you answer the kids? I'm working here.
"No," I said. "I don't believe my absence would create a hardship for my family."
"Have you discussed the possibility of serving with your children?"
"Yes—in a general sense. I tried to help them understand why jury service matters. Why it's part of how the system functions, and why it falls to ordinary people rather than professionals." I kept a straight face. "They weren't fully persuaded. But they listened."
The judge nodded. "Your questionnaire indicated your divorce was finalized recently. Would that circumstance affect your ability to focus on the evidence before you?"
There it was. The question I'd known was coming and had quietly rehearsed.
"I'm still adjusting," I said. "I won't pretend otherwise. But I've been managing a household, two teenagers, a job search, and the general reconstruction of my life for the past year, and I've managed to keep all of those things in separate compartments without them spilling into each other." I considered this.
The judge made a note.
I exhaled, looked up from my hands—
And met the deputy's eyes directly.
He was at his post. Of course he was at his post. He'd heard all of it: my divorce, my teenagers, my unemployment. His expression gave me nothing. He was very good at his job.
I was sent back to my seat and I resumed knitting. At the end of the session the judge dismissed eight more jurors.
But I was still standing.
July 21, Tuesday
THE POOLhad shrunk again—not dramatically, but noticeably, the way a sweater loses an inch in a hot dryer. Fewer faces. More space on the gallery benches.
When my number was called, I walked to the front of the courtroom with measured energy. I had retrieved a pair of aged slacks from the bottom of a dresser drawer and paired them with a blouse I'd borrowed from Lily's closet. This jury stint was revealing the limitations of my adult wardrobe.
"Juror 247," the judge said with a smile, "have you ever disagreed with a group?"
"Of course."
"Can you give us an example?"
I thought for a few seconds. "I was in an HOA meeting. A homeowner had fallen behind on their dues, and the association wanted to put a lien on their property."
The judge waited.
"It felt premature to me. I didn't know the circumstances, but I knew that liens have consequences and I thought we were moving too fast. So I volunteered to speak with the homeowner directly before we went that route."
"And what did you find?"
"Their automatic payments had stopped processing because of a banking error. And late notices were being mailed to an old address. The homeowner had no idea they owed anything and caught up on their dues immediately. There was no need for a lien."
The judge made a note. Across the room, the U.S. Attorney was writing something too.
"How comfortable are you expressing an unpopular opinion?"
"I'm a mom," I said. "I'm used to being unpopular."
