26 - Haley
26
Haley
I tapped my foot while waiting for the judge to arrive. I’d never actually been in a courtroom before. Even though it was a parking ticket, I was kind of nervous.
While I waited, my mind drifted to the other night.
Jordan was completely different than I expected.
I couldn’t wrap my head around how much he’d changed. The Jordan I remembered from high school blew spitballs and made fart noises. He didn’t take anything seriously, whether it was calculus or gym. He spent the vast majority of his energy trying to make people laugh.
But he was never cruel back then. He broke into the school’s P.A. system to play Lady Gaga on the first day of pride month. When the captain of the football team made fun of another student for being in a wheelchair, Jordan literally blew up his locker with firecrackers. The entire football team cornered him in the parking lot after school, which had prompted Jordan to drop his backpack and loudly announce, “In my defense, I didn’t know it was your mom I was fucking. The bathroom stall was dark .”
Now that I thought about it, I guess it kind of made sense that Jordan would be great with kids. I was more surprised that he’d cleaned up his act enough to become a doctor.
Shit. I really liked him. I couldn’t wait to see him at baseball practice this afternoon.
It was difficult to separate my feelings. Did I really like Jordan, or did I like the way he stepped into a fatherly role with Bran? The latter certainly factored into it, but I wasn’t sure to what degree.
But did it matter? He was great. And, somehow, he was single.
There was just one problem: when I thought about Jordan, I thought about Lucas. There was a complex tangle of feelings there, a knot that I wasn’t sure I could untie even if I wanted to.
Ugh. What a mess. Maybe the foursome was a bad idea after all.
I smiled to myself in the courtroom. No. It definitely wasn’t a mistake.
“All rise for the honorable Judge Simmons!” the bailiff announced.
There was a reckless driving case ahead of mine, and the judge seemed like he was in a bad mood. But the defendant was a lazy looking slob in his twenties, so I hoped I would do better since I was wearing a pants suit.
“Next item on the docket! Case number 1062472, City of Vancouver versus Haley Mercer. Please step forward.”
I smoothed out my blazer and approached. “Good morning, Your Honor.”
The judge shuffled some papers around. “Ms. Mercer. You’ve been cited for leaving a vehicle illegally parked in a restricted zone.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” I said. My voice sounded so quiet in this room; the high ceilings and wood framework seemed to absorb sound. “The car battery died, and the wait for Triple-A was over an hour.”
Still staring at the papers in front of him, the judge said, “And you thought that was a valid excuse to leave your vehicle there?”
“I had my five-year-old son with me, Your Honor. It was after baseball practice, and I needed to get him home for dinner.”
“Your husband couldn’t wait for Triple-A?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m a single mother, Your Honor. Fortunately, my son’s baseball coach gave us a ride home. I don’t know if it’s in the report, but Triple-A didn’t arrive until several hours after I—”
“Ms. Mercer,” the judge interrupted, finally looking up from his papers. “I’m not interested in excuses. The law is clear, and you are not above them simply because you’re a single mother. The city of Vancouver does not care about your personal situation.”
“I understand, Your Honor, but—”
“You are responsible for ensuring your vehicle is parked legally at all times, no matter the circumstances,” he barked at me. “And rather than bearing that responsibility, you come into my courtroom, and waste everyone’s time, because you think you deserve special treatment. Is that right?”
This was going poorly. I could feel all hope slipping away.
A voice called out behind me. “Your Honor, my client is merely trying to show that she made every reasonable effort not to leave her car parked there overnight.”
I did a double-take as a dark-haired man in a suit passed through the wooden barrier separating the viewing gallery from the front of the courtroom. “Shay?” I whispered. I almost didn’t recognize him dressed like this.
Or dressed at all.
“Mr. Laramie,” the judge said with familiarity. “I saw your name on the docket, but I thought it was for a different case.”
“It is, Your Honor. But I know this woman, and felt compelled to step forward.” He gently put a hand on my back. “I don’t believe Ms. Mercer was asking for special treatment over this parking citation. I think she was merely trying to convey the hopelessness of the situation. Unlike most parking violations that come across your bench, this woman wanted nothing more than to move her car from that spot. But she wasn’t able to.”
I stared at Shay with wonder as he made his argument to the judge.
“I’m familiar with the city ordinance that Ms. Mercer violated. It was passed four years ago with the intention of stopping unhoused people from camping overnight in city parks. I will argue the morality of the ordinance some other time, since we do not want to waste any more of the court’s precious time, but I think it’s important to note that she did not violate the spirit of the law.”
The judge narrowed his eyes while he considered this.
“Also,” Shay added, grabbing the documents from out of my hand and skimming them. “The timeline shows that the enforcement of the ordinance was not done in good faith. This receipt from Triple-A shows that the battery was jumped at 9:42 PM. The citation was given at 9:47 PM. Only five minutes later. Even if Ms. Mercer had been vigilant about returning to pick up her car, she couldn’t have returned to it in time. Simply put, there’s nothing my client could have done to avoid this besides sit inside her car for three hours while waiting for Triple-A to arrive. At night. Alone.”
He glanced over at me with a sparkle in his dark eyes. Like a lion who had just cornered its victim.
“Now, I certainly don’t doubt Ms. Mercer’s ability to protect herself. But I would urge the court to imagine the position she was in. Choosing between her safety, and violating the law…” He spread his hands. “If there was ever a time for legal discretion, I believe this is it.”
I held my breath. The judge shuffled more papers, squinting down at something.
“Mr. Laramie makes a compelling argument,” he finally said. “After reviewing these circumstances, I am granting your request for dismissal. No penalties will be imposed. Please ensure, however, that you comply with all applicable parking regulations in the future, Ms. Mercer.”
“Of course, Your Honor!”
“You are dismissed.” The judge tapped his gavel, then turned his eyes away from me. “The court will take a brief recess and reconvene in ten minutes.”
There was another bang of the gavel. Everyone rose as the judge exited the courtroom. I stood frozen in place, shocked by the result.
“You all right?” Shay asked, lightly touching my arm.
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m just surprised that actually worked!”
Shay’s lip twitched in a smile. “The judge likes me because I never waste his time.”
“I didn’t realize you were a lawyer,” I said as we walked back to the gallery.
“Well, we never had a chance to get to know each other, did we?”
We grinned together, sharing in the memory. It all seemed so ridiculous to meet that night, that way. And now he’d gotten me out of a parking ticket.
“Lucas mentioned you had a law degree,” I said. “But I thought he was making a joke.”
“Why would that be a joke?”
“Because at the time, you were just some guy sitting on a couch in a hoodie,” I replied.
“This is going to blow your mind,” Shay said, leaning closer, “but lawyers wear hoodies. Sometimes I even put on a pair of…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “ Sweat pants .”
I gasped. “Scandalous!”
There was a woman in a pencil skirt standing nearby in the galley, watching us impatiently with a stack of papers in the crook of her arm. “I’m on the docket next. I’d better start preparing.”
“You seemed to do a good job without any prep with my case,” I said.
“I’m good on the spot.” He cocked his head. “You’re a real estate agent, right? I’m interested in looking at those new condos downtown, but my old realtor retired.”
“Yes!” I said, digging into my purse. “Here’s my card. Give me a call and we can schedule a showing! That condo technically isn’t allowing showings yet, since they’re still installing appliances, but I know a guy who knows a guy who can get us in.”
“I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way…”
“Are you kidding?” I replied. “You just got me out of a four hundred dollar ticket. I’ll drive to Seattle for showings if you want!”
He tapped the card against his palm, then nodded. “All right. I’ll get something scheduled.”
“Shay?” the woman behind him prodded. “I wanted to go over your statement before the judge returns…”
Shay pressed my business card to his forehead like a soldier giving a salute, then turned toward his colleague.
I practically skipped out of the courtroom, relieved about my ticket—and excited about Shay.