28 Seconds by Michael Bryant

28 Seconds by Michael Bryant

Author:Michael Bryant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US


TEN

For the Defence: Marie Henein

Marie Henein should have a comic book series done on her. Her Clark Kent nameplate says criminal defence counsel, but she’s a superhero to me and everyone she rescues. It’s impossible to describe Marie without saying the word tough. Street legal worn, turned out tough. The toughest I’ve known. My ex-wife Susan is considered tough by many, and Susan was plain old scared of Marie.

“She should be,” Marie replied when I told her. Without smiling. But tough is often misunderstood, I think. Former Supreme Court Judge Frank Iacobucci explained this to me. He said, for lawyers, you’ve got to be smart to be tough. Otherwise, it’s just bluster. To be tough requires forging a path against great resistance, full of obstacles, with a clear, difficult target on the horizon. It was John Wayne who said, “If you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.” That’s smart/tough.

Doorbell rang. I could see the silhouette of Marie Henein and a young man, through the translucent curtains covering the front door window. It was around 6 p.m., September 1. When I opened the door of my house, to let in Marie with her associate, I was surprised at how pretty she looked, for someone who was clearly ferocious. Her high heels looked particularly expensive, which said something because lawyers like their shoes. Often it’s the only accessory that’s their own, once they have the generic black gowns put over their white-collared barrister shirts and black vests.

I recall that she had an overcoat on, and shook out an umbrella. But that makes no sense because it never rained that day. Her height was difficult to discern. Those shoes were high, the leather looked like it had come off an endangered species, and the cut was something that could have been in the Museum of Modern Art.

Marie has different looks, different masks. Of Lebanese descent, she’s dark and her hair is short; curvy and lean at the same time. Her brown eyes are big and brooding, hard and unhappy. Jovial is not how I saw her most of the time, during our time together with me as her client. Marie is in the rescue business, after all. Like a veteran paramedic, she’s seen it all.

Standing in my doorway, briefcase in hand, Marie shook Susan’s hand, said hello sweetly to my inquiring kids, then switched from mom to poker-faced lawyer while I blinked.

Marie had a look about her that I’d not seen before except in a boxing ring, or on Reggie Jackson’s face as he went up to hit his third home run in one night during the World Series. The Yankees’ manager, Billy Martin, said that the look on Reggie’s face was such that he’d have been shocked if Reggie had NOT hit a home run at the plate. Marie had that look and I’d see it over and over again as we worked together.

We went to the top floor of the house. Her associate, Jordan Glick, sat at the desk because he was using the computer.



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