REBEL

-1-

June 17, 1989 (Present day)

The unmistakable blare of the alarm that indicates the opening of a cell filtered towards the hall as Jody Allen walked in, as nervous as a Christian Scientist with a severed artery, hands in her pocket, her head down. Despite the confidence she had told herself numerous times that she had, first of all in front of the mirror and other times in her head, she still felt self-conscious as she made her way across the police common room filled with different police men at their desks.

She walked up to a lanky salt and pepper haired cop who sat behind a metal desk, looking as bored as an old hound ordered to 'fetch!', a cigarette hanging on his lips. There was an open book with a pen in the middle of the desk in which visitors signed. She placed her hands on the edge of the desk as he nodded absently at her.

"I'm here to see Mr. Regan Walberg."

His round eyes popped in excitement, his boredom evaporating as quick as a wink. "So you're the one? They're waiting for you in the Chief's office." He pointed with his cigarette, down the hall, at a large wooden door which was partially open, then gave her a lazy smirk. "Good luck lass, ye are gonna need chunks of it."

Jody gave him a stiff smile, holding her breath so as not to inhale the god-awful stuff, and turned away from him, walking purposefully towards the door. She didn't care what he meant, all she knew was that she was offended. Was it because she was a woman? Or because she was a person of color? She let out a depressed sigh. Being offended was something that came to her very often and she was sick of getting used to it, but she was not going to let it get to her; she had a job to do and that was what she was going to focus on.

As she neared the door which had nailed on it a pale yellow plaque that bore CHIEF OF POLICE in large letters, she could make out the muffled sound of female voices, which became audible enough for her to hear as soon as she got to the door.

"Of all the attorneys to get for Reg, its a woman you could find? And a negro, to worsen it?"

Ouch. That hurt. Jody shut her eyes. This was not new to her. Her skin color had been used to discriminate her from the moment she was old enough to notice. But it wasn't going to stop her from doing what she was here for. She could only hope that someday, the future generation would learn to love all skin color and all race impartially, but in the generation in which she was born, it was like wishing for the moon itself.

"She was the only one who volunteered to take up your brother's case," another female voice spoke. "We had no choice, or don't you want him out of this situation, Reggie?"

Jody could imagine 'Reggie' rolling her eyes. "Of course I do mom, and I'm sure with this attorney, she would strike up a good deal and get him a jail sentence of about ten thousand years."

That was it. Jody had had it up to her neck and couldn't just pretend that the sarcasm in the woman's voice hadn't hurt. She also hated the way she was talking about her like she was some animal – fudge it, even animals should not be treated this way. She needed to do something.

Just as she was about to push the door open in anger – and she had every right to – the door opened and her client walked out of the office, escorted by two policemen. His hands, which was the first thing she looked at were cuffed. Since she was standing by the door, she moved back to give them allowance because it was evident that they had not seen her. One of the policemen even nudged her with his elbows, almost sending her spiraling but she held the wall for dear life; today was not the day to hug the wind and kiss the floor.

The door opened again and two women escorted by Major Walberg walked out. Jody studied them. The younger of the two, which should be Reggie – Regina Walberg was a fake-blonde who looked twenty-something-ish. She had a stunning physique that put that of Jenny Howarth to shame and had a nice skin tone but her heavy makeup surely made the skin cry out in agony.