“Erm, excuse me,” Stel a said, her sexy, rough voice was soft.
Stel a’s voice, by the way, was something I’d always loved about her and not only when she was singing. Her voice was, quite simply, the shit.
“You never give up,” Shirleen said to Lee, not having heard Stel a.
“Too much at stake,” Lee replied.
“Excuse me,” Stel a repeated and Al y’s eyes moved to her.
“I don’t f**kin’ believe this shit!” Shirleen exploded. “You boys were close to takin’ that jackass down!”
“Erm –” Stel a started again.
“Yo!” Al y shouted and everyone turned to her. “Stel a has something to say,” Al y finished.
Al eyes moved to Stel a.
“I just…” She stopped and looked back at Mace. She stil looked pale but not angry anymore. She turned around and I saw her back go straight again. Then she tossed her dark, glossy hair and said, her throaty voice a lot louder, “I was on a jury once.”
Stel a quit talking and we al kept watching her.
“Is she goin’ anywhere with this?” Smithie, sitting beside me on the opposite couch to Stel a, muttered to me.
“Sh,” I shushed Smithie.
“Yeah?” Luke prompted Stel a.
“A murder trial,” Stel a went on. “They had pictures of the victim. They showed them to us. It was awful, shot in the chest and the head. Blood everywhere. Effing hel , but it was awful.”
Everyone was quiet.
Stel a went on, “The prosecution had one witness, this old black lady. She’d seen the whole thing. She came in and she looked at the guy on trial and I knew she was terrified. Her fear fil ed the room. Everyone could feel it. You could almost… I swear to God, you could almost taste it.
She lived in this guy’s neighborhood. She knew him. She knew he was a bad guy. She knew he could hurt her even if he was in jail. She knew it and we knew it.” Everyone kept staring at Stel a. Everyone knew now where she was going with this. Everyone kept quiet.
Stel a kept talking.
“The defendant was leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed, staring at her. It was creepy. They asked her what she saw. She kept clutching at her hands, jumpy as a cat, but she answered. They asked her if she saw who did it.
She stil kept clutching at her hands but she answered. They asked if that person was in the room. She said yes. They asked her to point him out. Her hands were shaking, effing hel , I’l never forget it, they were total y shaking. But she looked him right in the eye and pointed at him.”
“Good God,” Jet whispered.
Stel a continued, “We found him guilty. They pol ed the jury. We al had to share our vote out loud, right in front of him as he looked at each one of us. I knew a little of her fear then but not the half of it. When we left the trial, the victim’s family descended on us, crying and carrying on, they made us do a prayer circle. They were so happy it was over. They were happy the man that kil ed their son or brother or whatever was going to be put away.”
“Stel a,” Lee said softly.
“I want a vote,” Stel a said.
Mace’s arm wrapped around her waist and his head dipped so his mouth was at her ear.
“Kitten,” he murmured but we al heard it.
Um… wow.
I’d heard it yesterday, Mace cal ing Stel a “Kitten”. Stil , it shocked me. I mean, how sweet was that?
“I want a vote.” Stel a’s voice was louder. “This man killed my friend. He shot me. He shot at a bunch of my other friends.” She stood and Mace stood with her, his arm moving up to lock across her chest. I didn’t know what he was trying to do, stop her from talking, give her moral support but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to succeed at the first and she didn’t need any of the second.