Billie Jean pushed her way to the front doors. The guard stopped her but then recognized her and let her pass. She ran to the metal detectors. She tossed her purse at the guard manning the detectors and ran through with the iPad.
"Don't you want your stuff?" the guard yelled from behind.
She ran to the stairs. Judge Rooney's courtroom was on the third floor.
"Mr. Tucker, please answer the question. Did you rape and kill Dee Dee Dunston?"
At that moment, William Tucker finally understood the justice system. Not the system in which he was a defendant standing in a court of law surrounded by lawyers—a defense lawyer who played with people's lives as if he were a football coach drawing up plays on a chalkboard, a district attorney concerned not about justice but ambition and jealousy, and a judge who had to show the voters he was tough on crime in order to win reelection—and spectators who viewed a criminal trial as a reality show and reporters who loved scandal and cameras that captured the moment for cable news. In that system he was innocent but about to plead guilty. There was no understanding that system.
He understood the other justice system, the one called life. That justice system had accused, tried, and convicted William Tucker. Because he was guilty as sin. He was an arrogant, egotistical, self-centered star jock. A jerk. A lousy human being. A lousy teammate, friend, brother, and son. Especially son. Life had given William Tucker what the gangbanger next door had wanted most in life: a father. Not a biological father, but a real father. A great father. A father who had always been there for him. A father who stood by him when the world had turned against William Tucker. A father who loved him more than life itself. But he had treated his father like a fan wanting an autographed football. He didn't have time for his own father.
Now life had come down hard on William Tucker. Life had rendered its verdict, and it was harsh. He had to be punished—how can life be just if the guilty are not punished? He was a bad son. He was guilty as sin, and he had to pay for his sins. He understood life now, so he accepted his punishment. It was his destiny. He stood tall and faced the judge.
"Yes, Your Honor, I am—"
"Innocent!"
William whirled around to see Billie Jean burst through the courtroom doors holding an iPad high.