Barely Legal

9

“The hell I will!”

“You don’t want the deal?”

“Damn right I don’t!”

“I was told this was all set up. James Glick, your lawyer, said you had a deal.”

“James Glick, my lawyer, never told me anything. This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“You don’t want a plea bargain?”

“Who asked for a plea bargain? I don’t know where he got that idea.” The young man made a face. “I do know where he got that idea. It’s my father, isn’t it?”

“I can’t say.”

“What do you mean, you can’t say? You’re my lawyer, aren’t you? Are you representing me or not?”

“I’m filling in until your real lawyer returns. I’m attempting to carry out what he started.”

“And did he say I asked for a plea bargain?”

“He just told me there was one, and all I had to do was accept it. It’s a good deal, David.”

“It’s a good deal for you. You don’t have to do any work. The trial’s over, and you can collect a hefty paycheck from my father.”

“And you walk, no jail time. You know what the minimums are for drug convictions?”

“Yes, I do, and I’m counting on you to save me from them. Woodman & Weld, big-time lawyers, billing out at I don’t even want to know. I was in trouble, and I wanted the best. I didn’t expect you to sell me out the moment my dad said boo.”

“No one’s selling you out.”

“You’re making a deal behind my back.”

“No one’s doing anything behind your back. The prosecutor just asked me if we had a deal. Your lawyer told me we did, but I didn’t tell the prosecutor that. I said I have to ask my client, he’s the only one who can accept a deal. Which is why I’m out here talking to you and taking abuse from the guy I’m trying to help. Do you want to stop impugning my motives so we can both get up to speed?”

Herbie took a breath, blew it out again. “Now, I have not been specifically told, but I am assuming that your father, horrified that you are on trial and facing jail time, called in a political favor. Which is why you’ve been offered the best deal a drug defendant ever got since they instituted mandatory minimums. No one’s forcing you to take it, but if you’re rejecting it just to spite your father, there are a lot easier ways to thumb your nose at your parents than doing five to ten in the state penitentiary.”

“I’m not trying to spite my father. I just want to be found not guilty. I’m prelaw. You’re a lawyer. You know how tough the competition is for a graduate who just passed the bar. You think I want a drug charge on my record?”

“I’ll get the record sealed.”

“I don’t want the record sealed!”

“You don’t want the record sealed?”

“I don’t want a record.”

“Come on, kid, we live in the real world. Why won’t you take a deal?”

David looked him straight in the eye. “Because I didn’t do it.”