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

第九章善意善意的 源自拉丁语，意为“诚信”，真诚，意为“真实的东西”。 杰西倒挂在绿色机器上，她的膝盖钩在一个猴子架上。 她决定，这将是有史以来最棒的星期五。 放学后，每个人都会聚集在操场上参加测试——甚至梅根也不例外，她已经说服了母亲晚一点离开，去参加他们的旅行。 奥弗顿太太已经允许他们放学后使用操场上的设备。 杰西拿着她的地图。她有她的笔记卡。 她至少练习了20次结案陈词。 埃文甚至听了她的练习，并给出了答案

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."

她提出了一些如何把演讲做得更好的好建议。 今天一定会很棒的，她想。 就在那一刻，斯科特·斯宾塞走了过来，把脸贴在了她的旁边。 “我妈妈将成为我的律师，”他说。 “什么？”杰西说。她抓住栏杆，翻到地上。 大家都知道斯科特的妈妈是在市中心工作的大律师。 杰西听过无数次关于她的办公室有多豪华。 斯科特说从她办公室的窗户可以看到整个城市。 有时她的名字甚至出现在报纸上。 “这是正确的。我的妈妈。她要和你一起拖地。 她会把你活埋的！”杰西眯起眼睛看着斯科特。 “她要请一天假？”“不，”斯科特对杰西冷笑着说。 “但她说她会早点离开。 我告诉她这件事很重要，她说她会来的。” “嗯，她——她不能。”杰西结结巴巴地说。 “这只适合孩子。成年人不得入内。”

"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

“你是说我不能请律师吗？”“我没那么说，”杰西说。 但她被困住了，她知道这一点。 每个人都有获得法律顾问的权利。 在《陪审团审判》的第二页 这是法律。“很好，”她说，双唇合在一起。 “不过她最好别迟到。” 那天下午，杰西在操场上跑来跑去，疯狂地想把法庭布置好，以便审判能按时开始，这时她想起了这句话。 谢天谢地，奥弗顿太太没有问任何问题就让他们使用了操场上的设备。 她说得很清楚，他们玩完后，埃文有责任把所有东西都带回来。 尽管是周五下午，学校也放假了，但严格意义上说，直到周一早上，他仍然是设备经理。 到四点差一刻，杰西把所有的设备搬到外面，把牛奶箱放在榆树下，把它竖起来，这样就能看到

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

就像一个讲台。她在板条箱顶上放了一堆索引卡，上面写着大卫·科克里安应该说些什么，然后她把大卫叫过去。 他一只手拿着一个真正的木槌，另一只手拿着一个棕色纸袋。 “看看我从我爸爸那里借了什么，”大卫挥舞着木槌说。 “这是一个恶作剧礼物，他说我们可以用它。” “里面是什么？”杰西指着袋子问。 大卫把手伸进包里，掏出一团黑布。 他把它套在头上。 布在他的脚边溅起水洼。 “这是我哥哥的毕业礼服，”他说。 “我知道它看起来很大，但等一下。” 他走到讲台后面，好让牛奶箱盖住拖在地上的多余布料。 杰西不得不承认，这让他看起来像个真正的法官。 当他把小木槌敲在他带来的一块木头上时，杰西觉得也许她真的可以指望大卫·柯克里安来完成他的任务。 在牛奶箱前面，杰西放了两个

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."

篮球，一个给埃文坐，一个给斯科特。 杰西的“椅子”是躲避球，她把它放在埃文的旁边。 她要不要给斯科特的妈妈准备另一个躲避球？ 她无法想象一个成年人像孩子们那样坐在球上，所以她把第二个躲避球留在了板条箱里。 在一边，她把跳绳拉长，在草地上形成一个盒子，陪审员将坐在那里，在另一边，她放下一根弯弯曲曲的跳绳，标记证人在等待作证时将站在哪里。 观众只有六个人，所以杰西想他们可以坐在她小心翼翼放在草地上的三个飞盘后面。 “看起来棒极了！”梅金说着走到杰西身边。 杰西环顾四周。这是她第一次真正看到法庭。 这不仅仅是她脑海中的画面。 它不仅仅是一张画在纸上的地图。 这是一个真诚的法庭。真正的交易。 她点了点头，一只蝴蝶在她肚子里搔痒。 “到目前为止，一切顺利。”