has he lived here? He can’t get rid of his accent by now?”
I sighed. I’d always known that she was self-absorbed and well, a little slow, but mean was new for her. “Yoshi’s the best public defender this town has. Be thankful he was assigned to 49
Lynn Galli
your case.” It was too much to ask that she be thankful that I had enough pull over at the PD’s offi ce to get him assigned to her case.
“Feh! This will blow over. That bitch won’t follow through.
At least not once we’ve all had a little chat with her.”
She couldn’t really be this stupid, could she? Threatening the woman she’s already hit?
“You could talk to her?” It wasn’t really a question. She meant it as an order, but she always thought raising her infl ection at the end of an order complete with pouty lips made her too charming to resist. “It’s what you do for the mayor, right?”
My stony stare served as a reply. No way in hell I’d be going anywhere near someone who’s recently been battered to try to talk her into dropping the charges for an idiot friend of mine.
“The mayor does not get drunk at a bar and slap any woman who talks to her husband.”
“She doesn’t have to. She’s got people who do that for her.”
“Valerie,” I kept calm, “I bailed you out. That’s the extent of my involvement in your mess.”
“Gaaawd! You make me sound like a career criminal.”
“You’ve been arrested four times.”
“But two were in high school. Those don’t count.” She recognized my disbelieving look. “I should have called Maria.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Well, duh, she met a guy. So did Nancy. You’re the only I knew who wouldn’t be sleeping with some guy this morning.”
She giggled like this was some inside joke that I would never be able to understand. She actually liked that I was a lesbian since I’d never be any competition for her men, but she and the girls made sure I remembered I was a lesbian any time we went out to a bar together. Apparently my bangs envy wasn’t the only envy in the group. They wanted my golden blond hair color as well as my never needed a tanning booth skin tone. They didn’t like 50
Objection
that trolling men looked at me as often as they glanced at them.
“Maybe that’s why you’re always so angry. We need to get you laid. You know if you slept with guys, you’d have a lot more opportunities. It’s hard to fi nd lezzies in this town. Seriously.”
Grabbing the keys from her hand, I unlocked her condo door and encouraged her inside. “Have the bail money in my hands by end of day. And stop sounding like you’re auditioning for some second rate television dramedy that hasn’t fi gured out that they’ve stolen eighty percent of their storylines from shows that aired over ten years ago.”
Her shocked mouth opened and closed without the ability to form words. I shut her front door before she found her voice again.
51
TWO
It was noon before I was disturbed again. I was supposed to be preparing for the mayor’s next event. Instead I was pacing the nearly deserted corridors of city hall, bothered by a lot of things.
My cell phone buzzed. Without looking at the display, I could guess who it was.
“How much this time?” the familiar baritone spoke into my ear.
I didn’t bother to wonder how he’d found out already. “Five grand, and she’s not getting out of this one, Thad.”
Valerie’s uncle took a moment before he replied. Despite being only a year older than Valerie, he took his family relationships seriously. He’d been Valerie’s guardian angel ever since I’d met him. Often, I wondered why he bothered. She never seemed to appreciate it. “I’ll transfer the money to your account today. Thanks for taking care of the bail process. Should I hire an attorney?”
“If you keep making it easy for her to forget these major mistakes, she’s never going to stop making them,” I reminded him as I always did whenever his niece did
I sighed. I’d always known that she was self-absorbed and well, a little slow, but mean was new for her. “Yoshi’s the best public defender this town has. Be thankful he was assigned to 49
Lynn Galli
your case.” It was too much to ask that she be thankful that I had enough pull over at the PD’s offi ce to get him assigned to her case.
“Feh! This will blow over. That bitch won’t follow through.
At least not once we’ve all had a little chat with her.”
She couldn’t really be this stupid, could she? Threatening the woman she’s already hit?
“You could talk to her?” It wasn’t really a question. She meant it as an order, but she always thought raising her infl ection at the end of an order complete with pouty lips made her too charming to resist. “It’s what you do for the mayor, right?”
My stony stare served as a reply. No way in hell I’d be going anywhere near someone who’s recently been battered to try to talk her into dropping the charges for an idiot friend of mine.
“The mayor does not get drunk at a bar and slap any woman who talks to her husband.”
“She doesn’t have to. She’s got people who do that for her.”
“Valerie,” I kept calm, “I bailed you out. That’s the extent of my involvement in your mess.”
“Gaaawd! You make me sound like a career criminal.”
“You’ve been arrested four times.”
“But two were in high school. Those don’t count.” She recognized my disbelieving look. “I should have called Maria.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Well, duh, she met a guy. So did Nancy. You’re the only I knew who wouldn’t be sleeping with some guy this morning.”
She giggled like this was some inside joke that I would never be able to understand. She actually liked that I was a lesbian since I’d never be any competition for her men, but she and the girls made sure I remembered I was a lesbian any time we went out to a bar together. Apparently my bangs envy wasn’t the only envy in the group. They wanted my golden blond hair color as well as my never needed a tanning booth skin tone. They didn’t like 50
Objection
that trolling men looked at me as often as they glanced at them.
“Maybe that’s why you’re always so angry. We need to get you laid. You know if you slept with guys, you’d have a lot more opportunities. It’s hard to fi nd lezzies in this town. Seriously.”
Grabbing the keys from her hand, I unlocked her condo door and encouraged her inside. “Have the bail money in my hands by end of day. And stop sounding like you’re auditioning for some second rate television dramedy that hasn’t fi gured out that they’ve stolen eighty percent of their storylines from shows that aired over ten years ago.”
Her shocked mouth opened and closed without the ability to form words. I shut her front door before she found her voice again.
51
TWO
It was noon before I was disturbed again. I was supposed to be preparing for the mayor’s next event. Instead I was pacing the nearly deserted corridors of city hall, bothered by a lot of things.
My cell phone buzzed. Without looking at the display, I could guess who it was.
“How much this time?” the familiar baritone spoke into my ear.
I didn’t bother to wonder how he’d found out already. “Five grand, and she’s not getting out of this one, Thad.”
Valerie’s uncle took a moment before he replied. Despite being only a year older than Valerie, he took his family relationships seriously. He’d been Valerie’s guardian angel ever since I’d met him. Often, I wondered why he bothered. She never seemed to appreciate it. “I’ll transfer the money to your account today. Thanks for taking care of the bail process. Should I hire an attorney?”
“If you keep making it easy for her to forget these major mistakes, she’s never going to stop making them,” I reminded him as I always did whenever his niece did
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