Frank smirked. “Indecent exposure.”
“So tell me the whole story, from the beginning.” We sat on a bench outside of the courtroom, waiting for the afternoon warrant session to begin.
Emerie hung her head. “Do I have to?”
I lied. “You’re going to have to tell your story to the judge, so as your attorney, I need to hear it first.”
She’d no doubt be pissed when she realized an appearance ticket didn’t require recounting the events in question. We would walk in, plead guilty, pay a fine, and be out the door in an hour. But my entire day was wasted, so I deserved a little fun. Plus, I liked the fiery side of her personality. She was even sexier pissed off.
“Okay. Well, I was here in New York for the summer visiting my grandmother. And I met this guy. We went out a few times, were getting close, and this one particular August night it was really hot and muggy. I’d just graduated high school and never did anything even remotely wild back home. So when he suggested we go skinny dipping in the public pool, I thought, Why not? No one will ever know.”
“Go on.”
“We went to the Y on Eighty-Second Street that has an outdoor pool and hopped the fence. It was so dark when we got undressed, I didn’t even think the guy would be able to see me.”
“So you undressed? What color were your bra and underwear?” Seriously? I was a sick fuck asking these types of questions. But in my twisted imagination, I saw her in a little white thong and matching lacy bra.
She looked momentarily panicked. “Do you really need to know all this? It was ten years ago.”
“I should. The more details the better. It’ll show the judge you remember the night well, and he’ll think you’re remorseful.”
Emerie nibbled on her thumbnail in deep thought. “White! They were white.”
Nice. “G-string or briefs?”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she covered her face with her hands. “G-string. God, this is so embarrassing.”
“It’ll make things easier to flesh it out now.”
“Okay.”
“Did you undress yourself or did this guy undress you?”
“I undressed myself.”
“Okay. What happened next? Tell me all the details. Don’t leave anything out. You might not think it’s relevant, but it could help your case.”
She nodded. “After I got undressed, I left my clothes in a pile near the fence we’d climbed. Jared—that’s the guy I was with—he took off his clothes, left them next to mine, went to the high-dive board, and cannonballed in.”
“Then what?”
“Then the police came.”
“You weren’t even in the water yet? No fooling around in the pool or anything?”
“Nope. I never even made it into the pool. Right after Jared came up for air, the sirens were flashing.”
I felt like I got ripped off. All that build-up and that’s it? Not even any groping? Before I could ask her any more questions, a court officer rattled off a list of names. I heard him call Rose, so I guided Emerie to where he was standing outside of the courtroom with a clipboard.
“Room 132, down the hall to your right. The ADA will meet you there to discuss your case before
you see the judge. Wait outside. She’ll call your name when it’s your turn.”
Knowing where the room was, I walked Emerie down the hall, and we took a seat on the bench outside. She was quiet for a minute before she spoke. Her voice had a little shake to it, like she was fighting back crying.
“I’m so sorry about all of this, Drew. I probably owe you five thousand dollars for all of your time, and I can’t even afford to pay you five hundred.”
“Don’t worry about it.”