Something Like Romeo and Juliet

Chapter 27

"Try to stay quiet, okay? I'll be out in about half an hour to check on you." My mother glanced at Caleb. "Is there anything you need?"

All Caleb did was mutter no while staring at his feet, but Robbie jumped out of his chair all excitedly. "No thank you, Mrs. Strasburg," he said in a formal voice, his chest puffed out with pride. "We'll be fine here. I'll look after Zara for you."

I glared silently at him while my mom patted him fondly on the head. "Excellent, Robbie. See you in a bit."

As soon as she disappeared through the big wood doors, I hit Robbie with the tattered Connect 4 game Mrs. Koestler had given us to play with. "I'm twenty three days older than you!"

Robbie lifted his chin in importance. "Age doesn't matter. I make up for it in maturity."

I hit the box against his shoulder again. "You're not mature. You can't even get all the way across the monkey bars without falling!"

"Ms. Lester said I'm a delight to have in class!"

"Ms. Lester looks like William Taft."

"I'm going to tell your dad you said th--"

Caleb jolted to his feet. "Shut up!"

Me and Robbie both froze and stared at him.

"Neither of you are mature. You're both like six."

Robbie started to form an indignant response, but I clapped a hand over his mouth. Caleb didn't even notice, already slumped over in his chair again.

Luckily, Robbie kept his mouth shut even after I took my hand off it, and we all sat in silence. I carefully observed our surroundings, admiring the ornate interior of the courthouse. The floor was covered with green crushed carpet, while the walls were entirely marble, with the white and silver rock meeting a domed ceiling at a row of intricate carvings. There were a lot of flags all over the place too, hanging off gold rods and rimmed with sunlight coming in from the sky lights.

I got up and walked to a window, standing on my toes to see outside. Robbie joined me after a few seconds, trying not to let me see that he had to stand on his toes too.

"Why are they still out there?" Robbie whispered, referring to the three reporters that were sitting on the courthouse stairs.

"They're waiting for the trial to end," I whispered back. "Do you think the jury'll decide if they're going to send the bad guys to jail today?"

"My dad says he'll send them to jail for sure," Robbie responded confidently. "They could get life in prison. That means they go to jail for the rest of their lives."

"I know what it means. I'm not stupid," I complained.

Robbie lost interest in the reporters and stepped away from the window. "How come Caleb's not talking today?"

I left my place the window too. "My mom says all this trial stuff is hard for him." I looked quickly over at Caleb, then back at Robbie. "She wouldn't let them make him talk."

Robbie went back to his seat. "I can't wait until I can be a lawyer like my dad."

I sat down next to him, tipping my head to think better. "John Quincy Adams was a lawyer. And William McKinley. And Franklin--"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Robbie interrupted. I stuck out my tongue at him.

Just then, the wooden doors opened, followed by a stream of serious faced people. A man led a group of grown ups across the hallway, holding open a door for them then shutting it with a kind of foreboding.