Law & Order

Today my daughter and I had to be at the courthouse downtown by 8:30am. Since I was 'going to court' that meant getting up early (6:00am) to make myself presentable (hey, it takes a while to pull this body together.) I woke my daughter at 7:00am. ( Since my kids technically don't need to be to school until 11:00am, we tend to be a pretty lazy lot in the morning.) Breakfast was downed, I skipped reading the morning paper and together my daughter and I braved the freezing 9 degree windchill to make our way to the courthouse.

Why were we summoned to the courthouse on a blustery cold morning in January? Because of the bike thief we encountered back in September. My daughter and I received a subpoena back in November to appear as witnesses. I won't say we've been obsessing about it ever since, but it's definitely weighed on our minds. Me, keeping the date on file so I didn't accidentally schedule any other appointments. My daughter, struggling with the notion that she might have to testify and possibly face the thief who lives in our very own neighborhood. I don't think the fear of retribution is outside the realm of possibility. Then there's the angst of dealing with questions like, where exactly do I need to be? where am I supposed to park? Going to court isn't exactly something we do often around here. In fact, the last time I was in a courtroom was when I was 10 yrs. old and my parents were fighting over custody rights. That was the day my dad nearly threw my step-father through a third story window, while I watched in horror. So yeah, maybe this going to court thing today, had me a little more freaked than I care to admit.

Anyway, with 21 cases on the docket, the states attorney's office was packed. Fortunate for us, we got there early and settled down in chairs to read, others who came later weren't as lucky. After roughly 20 min. or so we were called back by the Assistant State's Attorney and informed the defendant (Mr. Slippery Fingers Bike Thief Boy) hadn't shown.

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!!!!

The attorney told us she would move our case up to first on the docket and if he wasn't there at the time the case was called, she would ask the judge to dismiss us. She told us to go to Court Room #2 (which looked eerily like the room I remember back when I was 10.) My daughter and I settled in and began reading again (I know it helped calm MY nerves.) Eventually, the judge entered the room and we all rose. Our case was in fact the first one called. Bike Thief Boy's mom and his attorney stood before the judge and stated the boy was absent. His mother explained that he had run away and she hasn't seen him. There was talk of the boy removing an electronic monitoring device he'd been convicted to wear. This is when I began to understand this whole thing was a LOT bigger than a stolen bicycle.

I feel for this kids family, I really do... But dammit I'm mad and I'm getting madder the more I think about it. Time wasted, Emotions spent... This kid did more than walk into my garage and take something. He disrupted our lives. He compromised our trust. He made me get out of my warm bed 2 hours earlier this morning. This isn't the way things would work out if Clint Eastwood had HIS bike stolen.