We, the Jury by Robert Rotstein

Author:Robert Rotstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2018-09-10T18:23:07+00:00

JUROR NO. 1

THE FOREPERSON

Sinatra jumps in my lap, making me make a typo.

“Oooh, you naughty boy, Sin-Sin! Ooh, you naughty kitty!”

Sinatra meows. I named him Sinatra because he’s part Siamese and he has blue eyes. He was five when I got him—old—so he’s Old Blue Eyes, meaning Sinatra, get it? Everything was wrong with him when I got him: a UTI, fleas, worms—yuck!—you name it, but I nursed him back to health. My tabby, Melody, loves him. My black kitten, Teddy, doesn’t like Sin-Sin. It’s Teddy’s fault. He’s an adolescent, annoying, always wanting to play, and Sinatra has no patience for it.

Phew. Tomorrow morning, it’ll all be over. Phew! Hard to believe. Phew. Why am I feeling sad? But it’s kind of sad. I’ve done public service, done good. Day after tomorrow, it’s back to work at the insurance agency. Not much public service in the records department. Maybe I’ll look for another job in an animal shelter or something. I could start that pet-sitting business I’ve always talked about. The problem with that is, I doubt I can get the permits, and my son says no, the house already stinks of cat pee. He doesn’t live here, so what business is it of his? It’ll be tough. Real tough. Who wants to hire a fifty-six-year-old with only two years of community college? It won’t be enough that I’m good with animals. Maybe I should learn QuickBooks. I’ll learn QuickBooks and work as a bookkeeper, maybe for a vet or in a shelter. If I had the money to quit my job and go back to school, I could become an architect. I have a better eye than her.

The folks at work are going to want to hear all about it. I’ll be a rock star. I’m the jury foreperson in the Sullinger case. If any of the guys get into the sex part, I won’t tolerate it. I’ll report them to HR.

Are we doing right by Amanda? The trial lasted so long, and to only be out a day, less than a day? Us jurors must take the process seriously. That’s what the judge instructed. Are we doing that? I hope so. Maybe this isn’t a hard case. Two words make this an easy case: Lacey Sullinger.

“You be a good boy,” I say to Sinatra, who starts purring. I hit the backspace key, delete Sinatra’s typo, and retype my name in the search box. I’m curious about my brother and sister jurors. Yeah, the judge said to stay off the internet, but we’re human, right? Anyway, I’m not looking at articles about the case or anything, just stuff about the other jurors.

The results come up. I don’t have more than a page of search results about me, and they just mention my address, age, relatives. Phone book stuff. I guess that’s because us jurors are anonymous and our names aren’t linked with the trial yet. I’m Juror No. 1. You’d think the reporters would discover our names. But maybe they don’t print our info out of ethics.

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