Chapter 21: The Sentence

Margo's POV

I walked to the lectern on my own leg, with nothing in my hands.

The judge nodded for me to begin.

I had written a page the night before and left it on Nell's couch.

"Your Honor," I said. "My name is Margo Tennant. Three years ago, on June ninth, I was nineteen."

My voice was steadier than I expected.

"I'm going to tell you what it cost, because the record should have it in numbers."

I held up my left leg, the one that ended where it ended.

"This leg cost eleven thousand dollars."

"It will have to be replaced every few years for the rest of my life."

I let it stand for a moment.

"I lost a year of school. I lost the person I was before the road. Those aren't numbers, but they're real."

Reid sat at the table with his head bowed.

"I'm not going to ask you for a particular sentence," I said.

"I'm asking for what the law gives and nothing more, because that is what I was never given."

"For three years I got a favor instead of a judgment, and the favor was meant to keep me quiet."

I turned, and looked at him.

"Reid, you told the truth in a room full of people, and I'll say that once."

"I don't forgive you. It isn't mine to give today, and I may never have it to give."

He lifted his head.

"I'm saying this so you hear it from me and not from a lawyer."

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