Point of View: Narrator
Brian, Howie and AJ were sitting around Brian's kitchen table. Leighanne had Baylee upstairs so the fellas could be alone. Brian had just finished telling them what the lawyer had said, and the two were shellshocked. Howie rubbed his palms together and AJ had his hands both behind his neck, his eyes closed, breathing deeply through his nose. They all sat in silence for a long time, the words of hopelessness hanging in the air in front of them, like a mass of energy hovering over the table.
"We've got no choice," Howie said finally. He leaned forward. "Finding a lawyer at this point would be next to impossible, and Nick can't represent himself. We've got to request a postponement to the trial."
"But if we postpone," Brian pointed out, "He could be stuck in there for months before he gets a new trial date."
AJ put his palms on the table. "Why can't he represent himself?"
Brian and Howie said the exact same thing at the exact same time, "Seriously? Nick?"
"Okay, okay, true, I didn't think it all the way through."
"We're just going to have to postpone it, whether it takes months or not. Taking longer to get him out is way better than losing the case and not getting him out at all."
"No," Brian argued. "I don't want him in that jail any longer than he needs to be"
"Me either," AJ spoke up. "He's dyin', D. You saw him. He's depressed, he's breaking down. He can't take it much longer."
Howie sighed, "I just don't see any other way to do it."
They fell into silence again.
After a long, long pause, AJ looked up. "What about Kevin?"
"What about Kevin?" Brian asked.
"Couldn't Kevin represent him?"
"Is that any better than Nick representing himself or one of us representing him?" Howie pointed out.
"Kevin's been a lawyer before," AJ stated.
"Being in Chicago and playing a lawyer doesn't count as being a lawyer," Brian said pointedly, "Even Richard Gere can do that."
AJ shook his head, "No, no, I mean remember when we had that court case back like seven or eight years ago against that label that illegally released some stuff of ours and Kevin whomped the fuck out of their asses in court?"
The memory was vague to all three of them - it'd been a small case, Kevin had taken care of literally everything there was to it, and they hadn't really had any part in it at all. Kevin had been impassioned so much in the situation that they had no reason to even really pay attention to what had happened in the first place. But Brian could remember Kevin retelling the stories from the case for years after the fact, saying that if he had it to do over again he would've gone to law school instead of trying to get into singing/acting. His heart just hadn't been into singing anymore, even at that point, and the realization had come shortly after being in his absolute element, fighting with people to prove he was right.
Kevin always reminded Brian of Bill O'Reily for that reason. He was always right, even when he was wrong.
Howie looked at Brian. "I don't know," Howie muttered. "Kevin?"
Brian swallowed. He was feeling mildly desperate at this point. He folded his hands together. "You know," he said quietly, "Maybe it's not such a bad idea. I mean... we're in this together. The five of us have always had to defend ourselves; it's always been us against the world..." Brian gnawed his lower lip. "We can do it again, can't we? Us versus them?"
Howie shook his head, "This is insane. Is it even legal to have Kevin represent Nick in this case since he isn't technically a lawyer? And what does Kevin know about the law? This is insanity. Nick will lose simply because the state lawyer's going to throw out some ridiculous law that Kevin's never heard of and trip him up and the next thing you know they've got Nick behind bars without a key."
"Well maybe Kevin will at least know what to do to help," AJ said, conceding that Howie was right.
Brian took a deep breath. "I think we need to find Leon, too."
"Leon?" AJ asked, "The guy that tried to rape Kayla?"
Brian nodded. "Who else would be behind this?"
Howie frowned. "Behind this?"
"Obviously someone stole the tapes, and scared the crap out of Lowell somehow. Who the hell else would do it?"
The Boys sat in silence for a long moment, contemplating this.
"Why would Leon?" Howie asked finally.
"Why wouldn't Leon?"
"Well doesn't Leon want Nick out of jail, so he can get to him to kill him?" Howie pointed out slowly. "Leon doesn't want Nick in jail where he's safe."
Brian thought about it. "Well he's crazy, so..."
"I don't think it's Leon," Howie answered, "We're pegging that guy with way too much. I honestly don't see what motive he would have."
"Does he need a fucking motive?" AJ questioned.
Brian felt torn.
"Look, rather than trying to solve that right now," Howie said, "Why don't we start calling lawyers and getting opinions on what the hell to do? One of us can look through the phone book and do that, another can call Kevin, and..." he paused. "Hey wait. Lowell made a tape of the voicemail, right? and that's what was stolen, the evidence for the case for Nick, correct?"
"Yes," Brian answered.
"Wouldn't the police still have the evidence from Desi's murder? Including anything that was left in the hotel room?" Howie asked, "Like his cell phone?"
"Shit," Brian gasped.
"So someone calls the police station, look into that, someone calls Kevin, and someone calls lawyers," Howie organized. He looked around the table. "You call Kevin, he's your cousin," he said to Brian, "And no offense AJ, but you're crap at legal terms, so I'll call the lawyers. You figure out what you can about the evidence from Desi's room."
And with a plan set in place, the three boys set to work to try and make a miracle happen.
