Done in Fifteen Years novel · Chapter 26 of 32
Chapter 26: The Hearing
Doreen stood frozen on the stage with the microphone in both hands.
"Sit down," she said into it. "You're confused. Sit down."
The notary didn't sit down.
"You brought it to my kitchen on a Monday," she said. "It was already signed. You said Raylene was too busy to come by. You said date it the day before, two o'clock, it's family business."
"I said sit down."
"I've sat down for you for thirty-one years, Doreen."
The small woman in the church hat picked up her purse.
She walked out of the front row, past the empty Lone Pine chairs, and through the crowd.
Darrell took the microphone out of his mother's hands.
He just stood there holding it, looking at the frozen screen.
Me at the pit.
His mother behind me in her visor.
Tuesday morning, at eight, the courtroom in Leakey was full before the doors were supposed to open.
The river people took the left side.
Cypress Flat took the right.
The tube man was in a tie.
The two ladies from 1971 sat in the front row with Vernie's longhorn trophy between them, because Vernie had told them to bring it.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Done in Fifteen Years are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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