Chapter 1: The Journalist. Wednesday, November 5. It was 7 am, even though it still appeared dark outside through the apartment’s bedroom window. Her body felt heavy, slow; 7 am was better than the 2:30 am wake up call from the day before. Even with the extra hours of sleep, she still felt like she needed more, like she couldn’t be fully restored even if she slept twelve more hours. Jolene took stock of the somewhat unfamiliar room, assessing her next steps as she readied

Wednesday, November 5. It was a special set hearing - 10 am, Department 1122; something of a misnomer, as everything seemed rather normal from the outside looking in. It wasn’t a scene of the great orators, of Atticus Finch and Euwella Maywell, of Lt. Kaffee and Col. Jessup. It was the everyday lawyers and their clients in front of the well-versed judge who had heard the stories of everyday people trying to live through extraordinary times and circumstances. It was just ano

///// Wednesday, December 3. Dinah checked her phone again; nervous habit. Always the first one to the courtroom, she waited for opposing counsel to stroll in five minutes before the hearing started, and for the judge to take the bench approximately 20 minutes after the hearing was scheduled to start. It was the normal cadence of federal litigation. In those few quiet moments she had, where the courtroom deputy and the clerk checked in about the day’s events, and the quiet h

Wednesday, December 3. “I feel like she’s unraveling, maybe?” Jo speculated, walking behind Rosie, Rui, and Max as they exited Department 1122. Rui waited until the doors of the courtroom shut behind them. “Well, it's really unethical for us to opine like that, but off the record - yes, definitely yes she is unraveling like a piece of thread off a H&M pantsuit.” It was an oddly specific reference, but Rui said it with such confidence that Jo could do nothing but nod her head

Wednesday, December 3. Her hand was cramping, but she was proud that she got every nugget detail that little Noah had to offer. She stretched out her fingers by playing action heroes with Noah on the courthouse floor while Rui and the CPS worker were discussing next steps in his legal representation of Noah. “BLAHHH I AM THE HULK - SMASH!” Jo yelled out as Noah’s little Daredevil came charging for her Hulk. “No, Jo-Jo, it's HULKSMASH!” Noah corrected. She wasn’t sure where