Of course, I had to wait for everyone else, including the male prisoners, to have their moment in court. I wanted to leap up and run away from that bench where I sat with the other defendants. It was all I could do to refrain from sticking out my tongue at Alcee Beck, who looked like he was going to have a heart attack.
Andy Bellefleur had come in to stand beside his cousin Terry. Terry whispered in his ear, and I knew he was telling Andy I'd made bail. Andy looked relieved. Terry punched Andy in the arm, and not in a "hey, buddy" kind of way. "I told you so, ass**le," he said audibly.
"Not my doing," Andy said, a little too loudly. Judge Rosoff looked pained.
"Bellefleurs, please remember where you are," she said, and they both stood at attention, absurdly. The judge had a twitch at the corners of her mouth.
When all the prisoners had been arraigned, Judge Rosoff nodded and Jessie Schneider and Kenya herded us out into the van. A second later, the parish bus began loading the male prisoners. Finally, we were on our way back to the jail.
An hour later I was dressed in my own clothes again, walking out into the sun, a free woman. My brother was waiting. "I didn't think I'd ever get to pay you back when you stood by me when I was in jail," he said, and I winced. I hadn't ever pictured that happening myself. "But here I am, picking you up at the hoosegow. How'd you like those toilets?"
"Oh, I'm thinking of having them put in at the house, to remind me of good times." Since he was my brother, he ground it in for a couple more minutes. My nickname was now "Jailbird," and my picture on Facebook had bars drawn over it. And on and on.
"Michele?" I asked, when Jason ran out of funny comments. Since we'd been together all our lives, Jason understood what I meant without the whole sentence.
"She couldn't get off work," he said, meeting my eyes so I'd know he wasn't lying. As if I couldn't have told by seeing directly into his brain. "She woulda come, but her boss wouldn't let her off."
I nodded, ready to believe Michele didn't think I was guilty.
"The last time we talked about Eric, you and him were on the outs," Jason said. "But he must be carrying a torch to have bailed you out like that. That's a shitload of money."
"I'm surprised myself," I said. And that was a huge understatement. Based on past experience, when Eric got angry at me, he let me know about it. When he'd decided I was being prissy about killing a few enemies in a bloodbath, he'd bitten me without bothering to take away the pain. I'd let that incident go by without having a showdown over it - a mistake on my part - but I hadn't forgotten it. After our terrible confrontation the night before my arrest, I had never expected this magnanimity from Eric. Even attributing it to a sentimental gesture on his part didn't match what I knew of Eric. I definitely wanted to ask Mustapha a few questions, but he was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Sam, which was somewhat more of a surprise.
"Where do you want to go, Sis?" Jason was trying not to act like he was in a hurry, but he was. He had to get back to work; he'd taken an extended lunch hour to come to court.
"Take me to the house," I said, after a second's thought. "I have to shower and put on clean clothes and, I guess . . . go in to work. If Sam wants me there. I might not be such an advertisement for the place now."
"Are you kidding? He went nuts when he heard they arrested you," Jason said, as if I should have known what had happened while I was in jail. Sometimes Jason got what I was kind of jumbled up with "psychic" or even "omniscient."
"He did?"
"Yeah, he went to the station to yell at Andy and Alcee Beck on Sunday. Then he called the jail about a million times to ask how you were doing. And he asked the judge who the best criminal lawyer in the area was. By the way, Holly's been working in your place while you were out sick and this morning, just to pick up a little extra cash for the wedding. She says don't worry! She don't want to come back regular."
When we got to Hummingbird Road, I thought, I'm really free. I didn't know if I'd ever recover from the overwhelming humiliation of being arrested and going to jail, but I assumed that when I'd gotten over the oppressive weight of the experience, I'd have learned some lesson God wanted me to learn.
I had a moment of thinking of our Lord being dragged through the streets and pelted with offal and then having his court hearing in a public place. Then being crucified.
Well, not that I was comparing myself to Jesus, I told myself hastily, but I'd done that kind of backward, right? Almost been crucified, then been arrested. We had something in common, Jesus and me! I threw that thought out of my mind as not only a gross exaggeration, but maybe even blasphemy, and focused instead on what to do with my new freedom.
Shower first, for sure. I wanted to wash off the jail smell, plus I hadn't showered since Saturday morning. If I'd gone back to my cell after the courtroom, I could have showered with the other female inmates. Woo-hoo!
Jason had been silent during our drive to my house, but that didn't mean his brain hadn't been busy. He was glad Michele was cool with my arrest, because it sure would have been uncomfortable if she'd thought his sister was guilty, and that might have delayed the wedding. Jason really wanted to get married.
"Tell Michele to come see the dress I bought for my bridesmaid dress, anytime," I said, as Jason pulled up behind the house. I'd retrieved my purse when I'd been released, so I had my keys.
Jason gave me a blank look.
"The one I bought to wear to your wedding. I'll call her later."
Jason was used to me chiming in on his thoughts. He said, "Okay, Sook. You take it easy today. I never believed you done it. Not that she didn't have it coming."
"Thanks, Jason." I was genuinely touched, and of course I knew he was completely sincere.
"Call me if you need me," he said, and then he took off for work. I was so glad to unlock the door and be back in my own home, I almost started crying. And after being jammed into a jail cell with a hungover Jane Bodehouse, it was exquisitely sweet to be alone. I glanced at the telephone answering machine, which was blinking furiously, and I was certain there were some e-mails waiting for me. But a shower came first.
While I dried my hair with a towel, I looked out the window at the shimmering landscape. Everything looked dusty again, but it would be a couple of days before I needed to water, thanks to the recent rain. I actually looked forward to getting out in the yard, because after jail it looked incredibly beautiful. The extravagant growth and lushness had only increased while I was gone.