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“You’re going to use Hector?”
“Yes. What other choice do I have? Richard’s screwed if I don’t.”
“He doesn’t want to drag his friend through the mud. If you do this, he will hate you.”
“Believe me, I will survive just fine. I’m his lawyer, not his friend. His parents are paying me to keep him out of jail, so that’s what I’m going to do. His personal feelings mean nothing to me.”
“Levi, you know what will happen if you do this—”
“Yes, he will return to high school, and never touch drugs again.”
“Not that!” she yelled. “Every black activist in America will use him as the poster boy for injustice in the legal system. Hector’s parents will get on every station claiming that their son, their dead son, was put on trial for one mistake. This will not be the end of it, and I’m sure Richard won’t run from drugs, but run to it, or at the very least, alcohol, to help him block out the fact that he not only betrayed is best friend, twice, but that the world now hates him because of it. He will self-destruct, and when it happens, everyone will point and say that’s what he gets.”
I fought back a smile. “I thought you wanted him in jail,” I said, “yet here you are; defending him.”
She sat back, crossing her arms. “Your plan is stupid.”
“Harvard education right here,” I said. “My plan will give us a win.”
“What’s the point of winning if you don’t help anyone? What’s the point of it if you only make things worse?” she muttered, opening the door as we pulled up to her house.
She didn’t even look at me as we exited the car and I walked her to her door.
“Fine,” I said.
She stopped, turning back, “Fine?”
“We won’t throw Hector under the bus.”
“So what will you do?”
“I’m going to hold a press conference—well, no, you’re going to hold a press conference, with Richard.”
Her mouth dropped open, “I’m going to do what now?”
“Tomorrow afternoon, you will sit by Richard as he apologizes to everyone he has offended, and as he states that he never meant for anyone to get hurt. Then, you will say how Richard was just one of many students who threw parties where pills, and other illegal substances, are used and abused, and on top of that, you will state that the fact that the police haven’t even bothered to focus their efforts on finding the dealer is in itself a crime. Most of all, you will do it convincingly. ”
“If you know what I’m going to say, then why don’t you just say it?”
I shrugged taking a few steps towards her and closing in the almost unbearable distance between us. At that precise moment, the wind shifted, causing her hair to flutter around her face. Taking advantage of the opening nature had granted me, I brushed her hair back into place.
“Three reasons,” I whispered. “One: I’m your professor and I’m telling you to. Two: You and Richard have built up a rapport. You can’t fake something like that on television, and that way, people will see that you really do believe he shouldn’t be charged.”
“And the third reason?” she asked as she took a step towards me, closing the distance between us even more.
“What do you think?” I asked her.
I waited for a second before her brown eyes narrowed at me— “It can’t be about race if I’m sitting there. You—urgh!— You were planning this from the moment we left the house weren’t you?”
I dropped her a wink and turned back towards my town car.
“This is not alright!”
“Use what you have Thea, I’ve told you that before. Don’t let anythi
ng stop you from winning. The race card has been thrown on the table, so take it off and you’ll have your name associated with one headline case by tomorrow. Don’t let your feelings blow it for you. You’re better than that, and I will not hesitate to kick you out of class if you fail, right after using you as an example to the others. Goodnight.”
Getting into the car, I slammed the door shut, and as my driver pulled away from her house, I rested my head against the back of the front passenger seat, trying, in vain, to will my hard-on away.
