The Discard

The Discard-Full Story

Present Day (9.30 am), Court of Riverside County:

"All rise. The honorable judge Thomas Mnuchin. The court of Riverside County is now in session."

The tense silence that pervaded the courtroom was broken by the din of scraping chairs and shoes as the people stood up. From the unassuming doors at the front emerged a cloud of black robes engulfing a sturdy man with paper white skin, blonde hair and blue eyes.

Damn. Emilio Santos cursed inwardly. Judge Mnuchin had a reputation for being strict and for following the rules to the dot. This case was unusual and would require quiet a bit of room for the contortion of law for it to favor him and Boli.

He glanced at Boli sitting next to him. The girl was wearing simple clothes, as per his direction – a loose, white dress with plain shoes. A black necklace graced her neck with a silver locket hanging from it. The only makeup she had on was some lip gloss. He wanted her image to scream 'innocent' but now he was worried it might come off as naïve or gullible. It was possible that the defense would twist that to make it seem like Boli was childish or stupid.

Well, they would deal with the punches as they came. For now, he was worried Boli would just pass out; the girl looked terrified. No wonder why; this would probably be the hardest, most excruciating ordeal of her life. Even though it was Ranjeet's trial, it was Boli who was going to be scrutinized and judged. It was not only that she was a female in what was primarily a he-said-she-said case, but that the case itself was unique and vague of the highest order. Emilio had taken many a cases, mostly dealing with stories of pain, oppression and abuse. He had won most of them; that was how he had made his name in the industry. But it wasn't the name he was after. It was the fact that he could not stand to see anyone in pain. He had been that person; left all alone in the States after his parents were deported. He had been lost, confused and most of all; in intense emotional pain. But he had found no one to help him, no one to guide him. And as he had stumbled through life, he had sworn never to do whatever he could to make sure no one else was left so helpless, so vulnerable. He knew he could not save everybody trapped so, but he would help as many as he could. That is why when he had heard of Boli and her hopeless case, he immediately picked up the case. Because if he was not going to fight for her, who was?

36 days ago, Emilio's office:

It was the end of the day and Emilio's Oxford shirt was now a landscape of creases. He had pushed his sleeves up to his elbow and was literally elbow-deep in papers. A neglected cup of coffee, now cold and bitter, sat sadly on one of the corners of the desk, dangerously close to the edge.

"Tara, what's the update on the McLauren case?"

"We're all set for that. I've reached out to Dr.Phinglass and he's agreed to attend court as an expert witness for us."

"Perfect. We've got to let them know..."

"I've already made all the arrangements."

"Thank God for you." Emilio heaved a sigh of relief and looked up to see a proud smile on the African-American woman's face. She pushed a piece of paper in front of him, "I hope you don't mind; I've taken the liberty of drafting an Opening Statement for you."

He smiled, "How can I mind you taking a load off my back? I'll give it a read over as soon as I'm done here but I'm already sure I'll love it."

She nodded, "Well, I'll leave you to it."

She turned around and started to walk out of the office but stopped at the door, reluctant to leave.

"Tara, everything alright?"

Tara took a deep breath and turned around to face him, "Okay, I know you've already prepared your case and everything. But I think, we should check out the insurance agent."