MILDRED

Mr. Cohen tells us it’s complicated.

A chill makes me pull my sweater closed.

I nod. Complicated?

The first thing we have to do,

he says,

is find a way to get our case

back in the courts.

While he’s flipping through a stack of papers,

he’s talking—he’s saying

our case was heard five years ago.

We should have brought it to him

then—within 120 days

of our sentencing.

Then he laughs and says,

“But I wasn’t even in law school yet,

five years ago.

Let me think about how to get this in the courts—

find a hook—

and I’ll call you. I think we can win this.

It’s an important case,

Mr. and Mrs. Loving.”

Important.

I nod again.