Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Bona Fide bona fide (bona fide), adj. From the Latin, meaning "good faith," genuine, signifying "the real thing." Jessie was hanging upside down on the Green Machine, her knees hooked over a monkey bar. This, she decided, was going to be the best Friday ever. After school, everyone would gather on the playground for the trial—even Megan, who had talked her mother into leaving later for their trip. Mrs. Overton had already given them permission to use the playground equipment after school. Jessie had her map. She had her note cards. She had practiced her closing argument at least twenty times. Evan had even listened to her practice and had given

her some good tips on how to make the speech better. Today is going to be great, she thought. At that moment, Scott Spencer walked over and stuck his face right next to hers. "My mom's going to be my lawyer," he said. "What?" said Jessie. She grabbed hold of the bar and flipped herself onto the ground. Everybody knew that Scott's mom was a big-time lawyer who worked downtown. Jessie had heard a million times about how fancy her office was. Scott said you could see the whole city from her office window. Sometimes her name was even in the newspaper. "That's right. My mom. She's going to mop up the floor with you. She's going to bury you alive!" Jessie squinted her eyes at Scott. "She's taking a day off from work?" "No," said Scott, sneering at Jessie. "But she said she'd leave early. I told her it was important, and she said she'd be here." "Well—she—can't," said Jessie, stammering. "It's for kids only. No grownups allowed."

"Are you saying I can't have a lawyer?" "I didn't say that," said Jessie. But she was stuck, and she knew it. Everybody has the right to legal counsel. It was on page two of "Trial by Jury." It was the law. "Fine," she said, pressing her lips together. "But she'd better not be late." Jessie remembered those words that afternoon as she ran around the playground, madly trying to set up the courtroom so the trial could start on time. Thank goodness Mrs. Overton had let them use the playground equipment without asking any questions. She had made it clear that it was Evan's responsibility to bring everything back when they were done playing. Even though it was Friday afternoon and school was over for the day, he was still technically the Equipment Manager until Monday morning. By quarter to three, Jessie had carried all the equipment outside and set up the milk crate under the elm trees, standing it up on end so that it looked

like a podium. On top of the crate she placed the pile of index cards that told David Kirkorian exactly what he was supposed to say, then she called David over. He was holding a real wooden gavel in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other. "Look what I borrowed from my dad," said David, waving the gavel. "It was a gag gift, and he said we could use it." "What's in there?" asked Jessie, pointing to the bag. David reached into the bag and pulled out a bunched-up ball of black cloth. He slipped it over his head. The cloth puddled at his feet. "It's my brother's graduation robe," he said. "I know it looks big, but just wait." He stepped behind the podium so that the milk crate covered all the extra fabric dragging on the ground. Jessie had to admit, it made him look like a real judge. And when he banged the gavel on a block of wood he'd brought, Jessie felt maybe she really could count on David Kirkorian to do his part. In front of the milk crate, Jessie placed two

basketballs, one for Evan to sit on and one for Scott. Jessie's "chair" was the dodge ball, and she set it up right next to Evan's. Should she set up the other dodge ball for Scott's mother to sit on? She couldn't imagine a grownup sitting on a ball the way kids did, so she left the second dodge ball in the crate. Off to one side, she stretched out the jump ropes to form a box on the grass where the jurors would sit, and on the other side she put down a squiggly jump rope that marked where the witnesses would stand while they waited to testify. There were only six people in the audience, so Jessie figured that they could just sit behind the three Frisbees that she had carefully placed on the grass. "It looks great!" said Megan, walking over to Jessie. Jessie looked around. For the first time, she could actually see the courtroom. It wasn't just a picture in her head. It wasn't just a map drawn on a piece of paper. It was a bona fide court. The real deal. She nodded, a single butterfly tickling the inside of her stomach. "So far, so good."