I turned to go and someone tackled me. It was Dad. He literally lifted me off my feet, hugging me so hard my ribs creaked. He hugged me the way I remembered him hugging me when I was a little boy, when he’d spin me around and around in hilarious, vomitous games of airplane that ended with him tossing me in
283 · LITTLE BROTHER
shall we say, history, than the other people here. I am tempted to hold you over for trial, no matter how much bail your parents are prepared to post.” My lawyer started to say something, but the judge silenced her with a look. He scrubbed at his eyes. “Do you have anything to say?” “I had the chance to run,” I said. “Last week. Someone offered to take me away, get me out of town, help me build a new identity. Instead I stole her phone, escaped from our truck, and ran away. I turned over her phone — which had evidence about my friend, Darryl Glover, on it — to a journalist and hid out here, in town.” “You stole a phone?” “I decided that I couldn’t run. That I had to face justice — that my freedom wasn’t worth anything if I was a wanted man, or if the city was still under the DHS. If my friends were still locked up. That freedom for me wasn’t as important as a free country.” “But you did steal a phone.” I nodded. “I did. I plan on giving it back, if I ever find the young woman in question.” “Well, thank you for that speech, Mr Yallow. You are a very well spoken young man.” He glared at the prosecutor. “Some would say a very brave man, too. There was a certain video on the news this morning. It suggested that you had some legitimate reason to evade the authorities. In light of that, and of your little speech here, I will grant bail, but I will also ask the prosecutor to add a charge of Misdemeanor Petty Theft to the count, as regards the matter of the phone. For this, I expect another $50,000 in bail.” He banged his gavel again, and my lawyer gave my hand a squeeze. He looked down at me again and re-seated his glasses. He had dandruff, there on the shoulders of his robe. A little more rained down as his glasses touched his wiry, curly hair. “You can go now, young man. Stay out of trouble.”