RECLAIM MY HEART(9)

“He has great potential.”
Taylor only nodded. “I’d like for Zach to explain what happened. Why were you out so late at night, son?”
“Excuse me, sir, if you would.” Lucas slid his fingers along the full length of his ink pen. “I instructed Zach earlier that, as his representative, I’d be doing most of the talking. He’s never been in this kind of situation before, and he’s feeling apprehensive.”
“I sympathize, Mr. Hawk. I do. But not enough to let you run my courtroom. I’d like to hear what Zach has to say for himself. He obviously thought he was man enough to go out and break the law. He needs to be man enough to explain himself. I’d like for him to tell me, in his own words, what he was doing. What was he thinking? Why was he consorting with delinquents?”
Zach looked at the judge, then looked away. He fidgeted in his chair. “I didn’ know.”
“You didn’t know what, son? That it was too late for you to be out? That spray painting graffiti on a building that doesn’t belong to you is wrong? That breaking the law has consequences?”
Lucas ground his teeth, hoping Zach kept his cool in the face of the judge’s taunts.
“I didn’ even know those dudes.”
The Judge nodded. “I see.”
“I just met ’em,” Zach continued. “They asked me if I wanted to hang out. Have some fun.”
“Do you have any idea how often I’ve heard the I-never-met-those-kids-before story?” The man tilted his head. “Why were you out so late in the first place?”
“I had a bad day. Had a fight with my friend.” The teen shrugged. “I felt like I was crawlin’ outta my skin. I needed to get out the house.”
“So you needed to get out of the house. And where was your mother?”
“Workin’.” Zach’s chin dipped and his tone lowered. “She’s always workin’.”
The Judge zeroed in on Tyne. “Is this true, Ms. Whitlock?”
“I’m a single mother, Your Honor. I have bills to pay just like everyone else,” she said, her voice tight. “I own a catering company. I fix food for parties. People have parties at night. If I want to pay the mortgage and utilities, buy food, clothes, I have to work at night.”
“Even though it means forfeiting your son’s safety and wellbeing?”
Tyne was clearly taken aback. “That’s not fair.”
“Oh, I disagree. It’s perfectly fair. You’re his parent. Zach should be your number one priority.”
“He is my number one priority. Why else would I work so hard? Six days a week, sometimes sixty hours a week. There’s no other reason except to provide a roof over his head and clothes on his back. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to provide for a child these days?” Tyne clamped both hands on the arms of her chair. “And I’d like it noted for the record that I usually only work two nights a week. Friday and Saturday. And my partners and I try to schedule things so that each of us has one weekend off a month.” She fumed. “Yes, I work long hours. But I have to earn a living.”
Lucas picked up the file in front of him and tapped it lightly on the table to get Tyne’s attention. He looked at her. Hard.
She took a deep breath, but her shoulders remained rigid. Then she muttered, “Do you have any idea how much sneakers cost these days?”
Judge Taylor ignored the question. He looked at the man sitting at the far end of the table to Tyne’s left. “And, if I might ask, who are you? And what’s your role in all of this?”
“Rob Henderson, sir.” He stood. “I’m Tyne’s, er…?Ms. Whitlock’s fiancé. I was at her apartment the night all this went down. But I fell asleep, so I really can’t tell you anything.” He sat down, but then he bolted back to his feet. “Your Honor.”
Taylor studied Henderson for a moment, giving him far more notice than Lucas felt the man deserved. The judge told Rob to take his seat before swinging his attention back to Zach.
“So, son, let’s get back to that night. You met these dudes, as you called them. They asked you if you wanted to have some fun.”
“Yes.”
Lucas slid his foot over an inch and gave Zach’s shoe a light tap.
“Yes, sir,” Zach said to the judge. “They asked me if I had money.” The teen shrugged again. “I told ’em I did, and they said we should go tag some stuff.”
“’Tag some stuff’—” the judge rested his elbows on his desk and his chin on his fisted hands “—meaning to spray paint your name or your gang sign on dumpsters or fences or buildings or whatever, correct?”
“I’m not in a gang.” Zach quickly added, “sir.” He swallowed hard. “And the taggin’ was their idea, not mine.”
“But you admitted to buying the paint. The police report states the receipt was in your pocket.”
The teen lifted one shoulder and his voice went meek. “I was the only one who had any money.”
Lucas could feel Zach’s shame, his defeat. “Your Honor, I’ve already explained that I just met Zach. That I don’ fohat I dt really know him. But he’s never been in any trouble before. I think it’s quite clear that he just got in over his head here. Those boys were older than Zach. I’m sure he felt flattered that they’d even talked to him.”
Taylor glanced at a document on his desk. “Officer Perez noted in her report that Zach mouthed off, and that he acted rudely.”