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MONDAY

How great a matter a little fire kindleth!

--THE NEW TESTAMENT, James 3:5

CAMPBELL

WE SLEEP IN THE TINY CABIN, ht quarters, but that hardly see, she fits herself around me She snores, just a little Her front tooth is crooked Her eyelashes are as long as the nail of my thumb

These are theelse, the difference between us now that fifteen years have passed When you're seventeen, you don't think about whose apartment you want to sleep in When you're seventeen, you don't even see the pearl-pink of her bra, the lace that arrows between her legs When you're seventeen it's all about the now, not the after

What I had loved about Julia--there, I've said it noas that she didn't need anyone At Wheeler, even when she stood out with her pink hair and quilted army-surplus jacket and coreat irony that the very fact of a relationship with her would diminish her appeal, that the moment she came to love me back and depend on er be a truly independent spirit

No way in hell was I going to be the one to take that quality away from her

After Julia, there weren't all that many women None whose names I took the time to remember, anyway It was far too complicated to maintain the facade; instead, I chose the coward's rocky route of one-night stands Out of necessity-- an escape artist

But there are a half-dozen tiht when I had the opportunity to leave While Julia was sleeping, I even considered how to do it: a note pinned to the pillow, a e scrawled on the deck with her cherry lipstick And yet the urge to do this was nowhere near as strong as the need to wait just one more minute, one more hour

Froht as a cinnae raises his head He whines a little, and I co myself from Julia's rich forest of hair, I slip out of the bed She inches into the warm spot I've left behind

I swear, it ain

But instead of doing what co in sick with so the clerk of the court reschedule the hearing so that I can spend the day getting laid--I pull on o above-deck I want to make sure I'e I leave Julia the keys to e and I are on our way ho that I have left a wo sy to lessen the blow of abandon

I wonder if this was an oversight Or if I have been waiting all this tirow up

When Judge and I arrive at the Garrahy building for the hearing, we have to fight our way through the reporters who have lined up for the Main Event They thrust e's paws Anna will take one look at walking this gauntlet, and bolt

Inside the front door, I flag down Vern "Get us so to eat the witnesses alive"

Then I see Sara Fitzgerald, already waiting She is wearing a suit that most likely hasn't seen the outside of the plastic dry cleaner's bag for a decade, and her hair is pulled back severely into a barrette She doesn't carry a briefcase, but a knapsack instead "Good ," I say evenly

The door blows open and Brian enters, looking from Sara to me "Where's Anna?"

Sara takes a step forward "Didn't she come here with you?"

"She was already gone when I got back from a call at five AM She left a note and said she'd lances at the door, at the jackals on the other side "I bet she took off"

Again, there is the sound of a seal being breached, and then Julia surfs into the courthouse on a crest of shouts and questions She ss, then looks at ain

"I'll find her," I say

Sara bristles "No, I will"

Julia looks at each of us "Find who?"

"Anna is temporarily absent," I explain

"Absent?" Julia says "As in disappeared?"

"Not at all" This isn't a lie, either For Anna to have disappeared, she would have had to appear in the first place

I realize that I even knohere I am headed--at the same moment that Sara understands it, too In that rabstoward the door She shoves my car keys intoto work?"

I turn to her "Julia, listen I want to talk about what's going on between us, too But this isn't the right time"

"I was talking about Anna Ca She couldn't even show up for her own court date What does that say to you?"

"That everyone gets scared," I answer finally, fair warning for all of us

The shades to the hospital rooel pallor of Kate Fitzgerald's face, the web of blue veinsunder her skin Curled up on the foot of the bed is Anna

At e waits by the door I crouch down "Anna, it's tio"

When the door to the hospital rooerald or a doctor with a crash cart Instead, to my shock, Jesse stands on the threshold "Hey," he says, as if we are old friends

How did you get here? I almost ask, but realize I don't want to hear the answer "We're on our way to the courthouse Need a lift?" I ask dryly

"No thanks I thought since everyone was going to be there, I'd stay here" His eyes do not waver from Kate "She looks like shit"

"What do you expect," Anna answers, awake now "She's dying"

Again, I findat my client I should know better than most that motivations are never what they seeo"

In the car, Anna rides shotgun while Judge takes a seat in the back She starts telling me about souy in Montana in 1876 was legally prohibited froinated on his brother's land, even though it ?" she asks, when I deliberately miss the turn to the courthouse

Instead I pull over next to a park A girl with a great ass jogs by, holding on to the leash of one of those froufrou dogs that looks onna be late," Anna says after a moment

"We already are Look, Anna What's going on here?"

She gives e looks, as if to say that there's no way she and I descended fro to court"

"That's not what I' to court"

"Well, Cauess you cut the first day of law school, but that's pretty much what happens when someone files a lawsuit"

I levelto court?"

She doesn't blink "Why do you have a service dog?"

I rapwheel and look out over the park A mother pushes a stroller now, across the saer was, oblivious to the kid who's trying his best to crawl out A titter of birds explodes from a tree "I don't talk about this with anyone," I say

"I'm not just anyone"

I take a deep breath "A long tiot sick and wound up with an ear infection But for whatever reason, the e I' deal, in the long run, but there are certain lifestyle issues I couldn't handle Like hearing a car approach, you know, but not being able to tell what direction it's corocery store ants to pass by ot trained with Judge so that in those circumstances, he could besorry forsecret"

Anna stares at me carefully "I came to your office because just for once, I wanted it to be about me instead of Kate"

But this selfish confession saws out of her sideways; it just doesn't fit This lawsuit has never been about Anna wanting her sister to die, but si"

Anna crosses her arms "Well, you lied first You hear perfectly fine"

"And you're a brat" I start to laugh "You remind me of me"

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?" Anna says, but she's s

The park is starting to get roup walks the path, toddlers tethered together like sled-dog huskies, pulling two teachers in their wake So the colors of the US Postal Service "C'mon I'll treat you to breakfast"

"But we're late"

I shrug "Who's counting?"

Judge DeSalvo is not a happyhas cost us an hour and a half He glares at e and I hurry into his chaize We had a veterinary eency"

I feel, rather than see, Sara'scounsel indicated," the judge says

I look DeSalvo right in the eye "Well, it's what happened Anna was kind enough to help lass was removed from his paw"

The judge is dubious But there are laws against handicapped discri I want is for hi this petition without a hearing?" he asks

"I' to share her secrets, which I can only respect, but she knows that she wants to go through with this

The judge accepts erald, I take it you're still representing yourself?"

"Yes, Your Honor," she says