“Did he mention why?”

“He did.”

“He’d gotten a phone call that morning, correct?”

“Yes, he had.”

“And you’re aware of what that phone call was about?”

Jus sighs and drops his head. “I am.”

“I’m sorry, it’s difficult to hear you when you don’t speak into the microphone. Can you repeat that?”

“I said I am.”

“You are what, Mr. McAllister?”

“I’m aware of what the phone call was about.”

“Enlighten us if you will, please.”

Jus looks at Mr. Rivers, who has his jaw clenched so tight, it wouldn’t surprise Jus if his teeth were cracking.

“He’d gotten a phone call from his friend’s father,” Jus says.

“That’s a bit vague. I’m sure you can be more specific. What could this ‘friend’s’ father have mentioned that would’ve been so distressing to Mr. Rivers, he’d no longer feel up to hiking?”

Jus clenches his teeth. “A disagreement.”

“A ‘disagreement’ involving whom?”

“Manny and the friend.”

“Interesting.” She shuffles her papers on the podium. “Your Honor, I’d like to enter into evidence a police report, filed on January twenty-sixth, that alleges Emmanuel Rivers physically attacked a Mr. Jared Christensen on Monday, January twenty-first.”

Mr. Rivers is shooting eye-daggers at the attorney.

“It wasn’t like that,” Jus says.

The attorney’s eyebrows rise. “Oh, it wasn’t?”

“No.”

“Which part of the report is incorrect?”

“Manny didn’t attack Jared.”

“So you were there to witness this ‘disagreement’?”

Jus drops his head again. “No.”

“We can’t hear you, Mr. McAlliste—”

“I said no.”

“So you can’t be completely sure Mr. Rivers didn’t attack Mr. Christensen.”

“Manny wasn’t that type of guy.”

“What type of guy?”

“The type who ‘attacks’ people unprovoked.”

“So you’re suggesting there was provocation.”

“Yes. There was.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because Manny told me…”

Jus sees SJ close her eyes, and he realizes his mistake.

“I mean—”

“So Mr. Rivers did, in fact, inform you that he’d assaulted Jared Christensen?”

Jus doesn’t respond.

“Mr. McAllister?”

Justyce just stares at her.

“Your Honor?”

“Answer the question, Mr. McAllister,” the judge says.

Justyce clears his throat. “Yes. Manny told me Jared made an inappropriate joke, so he hit him.”

“Who hit whom?”

“Manny hit Jared.”

“Hmm.” The attorney nods. “Sounds like a fairly familiar set of circumstances, doesn’t it, Mr. McAllister?”

“Objection,” Mr. Rentzen says. “The question is ambiguous.”

“Sustained,” says the judge.

“I’ll rephrase,” she says. “You were involved in a similar altercation on the night of January eighteenth, correct?”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” Jus says.

The attorney doesn’t miss a beat. “I have a statement here from a Mr. Blake Benson alleging that you assaulted him and Jared Christensen, unprovoked, at Mr. Benson’s home the night of January eighteenth.”

SJ bites her lip.

“Do you deny this accusation, Mr. McAllister?”

“It wasn’t unprovoked.”

“Are you saying you didn’t assault Blake Benson at his own birthday party?”

“No…”

“So you did assault Blake Benson and Jared Christensen.”

“Well, yes, but I was provoked.”

She actually smiles. “You arrived at Blake Benson’s house with Emmanuel Rivers, and within ten minutes, you’d started an argument with Mr. Benson, correct?”

“I didn’t start the argument. He did.”

She looks down at the podium. “It says here that Mr. Benson asked you and Mr. Rivers to come meet a young lady he was interested in. Is this true?”

“No.”

“Oh, it’s not?”

“He wasn’t ‘interested’ in her. He just wanted to get her in bed.”

“Mr. Benson said those exact words?”

“No…but he implied.”

“I see, so the young lady was a friend of yours, and you were defending her honor, then?”

“I didn’t know the girl, but—”

“You were jealous, then.”

“What? No!”

“For whatever reason, you didn’t like that Blake Benson wanted to take this girl to bed. So you assaulted him?”

“That’s not how it happened.”

“Ah, that’s right. Jared Christensen came over to defend Blake Benson, whom you were threatening at his own birthday party, and so you assaulted both of them.”

“That’s not what happened!”

“Maintain your composure, Mr. McAllister,” the judge says.

Jus breathes in deep and looks at SJ. She nods.

“Tell me something,” the lawyer says. “After you attacked Jared Christensen and Blake Benson, Emmanuel Rivers reprimanded you, correct? He sided with the victims of your unprovoked assault—”

“I already told you I didn’t attack them.”

“Well, you certainly didn’t wish Mr. Benson a happy birthday, did you?”

“Some words were exchanged that led to an altercation.”

“Can you be more specific, Mr. McAllister?”

Jus looks at Garrett. “A lot has happened since then. Can’t say I remember very clearly.”

“Hmm…are you having difficulty remembering due to more recent events, or because you were illegally intoxicated?”

“Objection, Your Honor!” says Mr. Rentzen.

“Overruled.”

“Had you been drinking on the night of January eighteenth, Mr. McAllister?” she presses.

Jus sighs. “Yes, I had.”

“And you hit Jared Christensen and Blake Benson, correct?”

“They were making racist comments—”

“A simple yes or no will do.”

Jus can feel Mama’s gaze. “Yes.”

The defense attorney nods. “Mr. McAllister, now that we’ve established that both you and Mr. Rivers had a history of responding violently to perceived verbal slights, let’s return to January twenty-sixth of this year. How familiar are you with the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances?”

“Not very.”

“Your Honor, I would like to enter the following into evidence.” She pulls a sheet of paper from her stack and walks over to the witness stand. “Mr. McAllister, read Article Four, section seventy-four-dash-one-thirty-three, aloud for the court, please. It’s highlighted there for you.”