Point of View: Narrator
The phone rang in the Littrell house at 9:06 AM, while they were sitting around the table, laughing because Brian had sprayed whipped cream on Baylee's nose when he'd put some on his chocolate chip pancake as a treat.
Leighanne got up and answered the phone while Brian and Baylee giggled manically and Baylee grabbed some of the whip cream off his plate and pushed it into Brian's face.
"Hello?" Leighanne asked, her voice coming out more southern than usual. She looked at the two boys and rolled their eyes. Whip cream was falling off Brian onto the floor.
"Good morning, my name is Anna, I'm calling from Charles Lowell's office. Is Brian Littrell in per chance?"
Leighanne glanced at whip-cream faced Brian. "Uh... yes, he's - he's going to be just a second, though. Hold on." She covered the mouth piece. "Brian," she hissed. He looked up. "Anna from the lawyer's office is on the phone."
He processed this a moment, then stood up, just as Baylee lobbed more whip cream at him and it landed the crotch of his pants. Brian bit his lip and looked at Leighanne, smirking, and winked. She blushed. Brian grabbed a paper towel, "Okay that's enough, Bay," he said, laughing as he wiped the whip cream off his pants and his face.
Baylee returned to his pancakes, pouting, as Brian took the phone. "What's wrong?" Leighanne asked him.
"Now I don't have any whip cream."
"That's what you get for throwing it at people," she answered.
"Daddy started it," pointed out Baylee.
Leighanne sighed. That was true. She grabbed the aerosol can of cream off the counter where Brian had left it, and sprayed a meager replacement serving. Baylee didn't need as much sugar as Brian had provided him -- clearly, she thought, looking at the floor.
"Hallo," Brian greeted Anna in the living room, after having walked out of the kitchen with the phone so he could hear.
"Mr. Littrell, good morning," Anna greeted him, "I have Charles Lowell on hold for you, let me patch you through."
"Okay." Brian wondered why lawyers couldn't just dial phone numbers themselves.
A moment later and some clicking sounds came across the line, and Lowell was on the phone. "Brian," he said, "Good morning."
"Good morning, Mr. Lowell..." Brian said, "What's up?"
"Well," Mr. Lowell answered slowly, "It's... it's like this. I can't fight this case for you."
Brian's body went numb. "What do you mean you can't fight this case for us?" Brian demanded. His stomach was tight. "You can't back out on us now, we've got four days!"
He was aware he was shouting, but only in a far-away sense. Leighanne appeared at the door way to the kitchen, her face alight with concern and fear.
Lowell sucked in a deep breath, "I've been presented with evidence that makes me... obligated... to- to sit this out."
Brian blinked, trying to let these words sink in. "What?"
"I can't do it, Brian, okay? Please, just- just find another lawyer." His tone indicated he was about to hang up.
"Wait!" Brian cried, "Can you suggest someone? And I need our evidence! I need Desi's cell phone tape, I need the stuff you've got."
Lowell was silent.
"Mr. Lowell?" Brian begged.
"I don't have it."
Brian's heart nearly stopped. "What do you mean you don't have it?" he whispered.
Lowell's voice was heavy with resignation. "It was stolen. All of it."
"St- stolen?" Brian felt wobbly, and Leighanne raced to his side, and guided him to a chair before he could fall down. She knelt between his knees and held his free hand.
"Yes," Lowell's voice had finality to it.
"What about Nick? What about the case? Who would steal that stuff?" Brian's mind was reeling.
"I don't know," Lowell answered honestly, "But-- I can't do the case, with or without it."
"Why? Now we need a new lawyer and new evidence to defend Nick?" Brian asked, hysterical. Leighanne closed her eyes and shook her head, her mouth moving, muttering a prayer of surprise at these words. "How am I supposed to get my best friend out of that stinking, filthy jail without evidence and without a lawyer?"
Lowell's voice was low, "He may be better off where he is for now."
Brian blinked at this enigmatic statement. "What?"
"I'm sorry," Lowell said, "I need to go." He hung up the phone.
Brian stared at it as the dial tone hummed. "Nick's lawyer just quit," he said, numb. He looked up at Leighanne. "And he lost the tape from Desi's cell phone."
"Now what?" whispered Leighanne.
Brian shook his head, "I don't know. Good Lord. I have no idea." He cupped his hands around his face, burying his features into his palms. "What if I can't get Nick out of there?"
"He's a survivor," Leighanne answered, "He's going to be okay."
"You didn't see him," Brian whispered. "He's going to die in there." And at that, Brian's voice broke, and he began to cry.
Leighanne's heart ached. She wrapped her arms around him, half sitting half standing in an awkward position to reach him. She rubbed his back. "Brian... Brian, shh."
"He's my best friend," Brian said into his hands, "And I'm letting him down. I promised him I'd get him out, and I can't. How am I going to tell him? How can I keep living everyday without him around? I've barely made it through these last few weeks, Leighanne."
"I know..."
"I feel like a half a puzzle without him," Brian croaked. "I'm Frick without a Frack and it's killin' me."
"I know, Brian..."
"I just want my friend back," he cried, "Why can't they fucking just let him live?"
Neither of them had noticed that Baylee was standing in the door. "What's wrong with Daddy?" he asked.
Leighanne looked up, Brian continued crying, his shoulders shaking. "He's gonna be okay, Baylee," she answered, "Daddy's just really sad because he misses Uncle Nick."
Baylee came across the room and hugged Brian's leg. "I miss Uncle Nick, too," Baylee informed him. Leighanne reached down and ran a hand over Baylee's hair gently. "I love you Daddy. I'll play with you if you want, since Uncle Nick can't right now..."
"Thanks buddy," Brian choked out, but only barely.
Baylee rested his cheek on Brian's knee.
Brian tried to imagine life going on like it had since they'd taken Nick away. He tried to imagine life like that forever... tried to imagine Nick still in jail twenty years from now...
He couldn't.
