3 weeks later
"I don't like him, Jen. He keeps telling me that it would be a lot easier if I just plead guilty; I might only serve twenty years instead of life in prison," Jisoo Kim said to her sister. "I've told him at least thirty times that I will *not* take the rap for this. It was self-defence."
"I understand where you're coming from. But Kenneth is your lawyer, and he's doing his job," Jennie tried to reason.
Jisoo ran her hands through her shoulder-length brown hair, sighing loudly. "So, you, too. Do you think I should give in and spend the better part of my life behind bars with a cellmate named Big Bertha who wants to make me her cuddle monkey? No way. Not on your life, Jen."
"That's not what I want at all. It's just that Kenneth is looking out for your best interests."
"Do you have any idea how wrong this is? I should be out doing anything besides sitting here right now. Jacob got what he deserved, and I'd do it again if I had to. He was going to kill me, and I get thrown in jail for defending myself! Is that fair?"
Jennie shook her head. "No, it isn't. I never said it was. But you also have to work with your lawyer to help him convince a jury that you're innocent. And I am not telling you to give up. You're a fighter, unnie. You'll get through this just fine."
"You're right, I will get through this." She shook her head, preparing to tell her sister what she wanted her to do. "Without Kenneth. I want a lawyer who's looking out for my best interests, not because he wants this case over and done with. He's a public defender. He couldn't care less whether I did it or not or why I did. I need a lawyer who does."
"We can't afford a criminal lawyer," Jennie said. 'Maybe before we could have, but not now.' "I'm sorry."
Grasping her sister's hand in hers, Jisoo stared into her catlike eyes. "This is my life we're talking about, Jen. Contrary to popular belief, I want to get married and have children, if only to prove I'm *not* like them. And I can't do that if I'm spending my best years in jail for offing a guy who deserves what I did to him. Please, Jennie," she pleaded.
The twenty-year-old sighed, feeling guilty for not being able to help Jisoo; it made her feel like she was being a bad sister. Given all Jisoo had lived through the first eleven years of her life, didn't she deserve a second chance? 'She only did what she had to do. Fate dealt her a crappy card, I have to do what I can,' Jennie thought. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. I'm not going to guarantee anything, but I will do my best."
"Thanks. I know you'll do it. You can do anything when you set your mind to it."
Jennie smiled, hiding what she was really thinking. It was going to be hard, if not impossible, to get an attorney to represent Jisoo with little or no pay. But she was determined to find a way to keep her family together no matter what the cost.