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Show 158 "I wish fervently," the judge said, "for your words to be true." Parker had sat through the hearing thus far with what he thought must be an extremely elevated blood pressure. His own hands perspired. His breathing, so shallow it hardly disturbed the top of his lungs, nearly stopped at times. And the trembling begun outside in the parking lot became violent at Dyna's mention of his name. Parker was finally beginning to see what was happening here. Dyna's crimes were real, her self-disgust even more so. It was as if the whole impossible tangle of her past-the rejection, the frustrations of poverty, the resulting crimes-lay there on the altar between Dyna and the judge, high priest for society. Parker began to see her hearing as a cleansing ritual, a necessary step in the healing process. What he'd secretly proposed to do was a charade against the backdrop of Dyna's truth. She'd been grappling with an enormous monster-Criminality-and winning. Fighting for her self-respect, for her grandmother's regard, for her very survival as a decent human being, she didn't need him to "rescue" her. How absurd, to think he knew what was best for Dyna! His face burned now with his own culpability. "Mrs. Simpson," the judge was saying, "I presume you would like to add something to this hearing." Parker turned to see her rise at the end of his row. "Yes, I would, your Honor. Thank you for letting me speak." Dyna didn't look around, but all other eyes were on his teacher. "Dyna has contributed to this class in so many ways I couldn't enumerate them. She's an intelligent, warm-hearted girl, with a sense of fair play that really impresses me. Her sensitivity to the needs of other people . . . well . . . " she paused and her eyes swept the class, "it's something I rarely see in teenagers from more privileged backgrounds." Judge Kranes, everyone, listened intently. "I know she has come to this day with deep remorse . . . and I must apologize, Dyna, for the embarrassment. We didn't mean to embarrass you, coming here this way . . ." Dyna nodded, her eyes still on her hands. "But we want you to know nothing is changed between us, between all of us and you. We'll always admire that crazy, funny Dyna who gave the old folks at the center the time of their lives. And when we think of Oscar up there |