Free The Fight for Kidsboro by Marshal Younger Page B

said.
    â€œI know, but I just remembered something I have to do.” James spun out of his seat and practically ran away from us, stumbling over a tree root as he went.
    â€œSo, what do you think?” Scott said.
    I hated to admit this. “I think Max is paying him to do his homework.”
    â€œPretty obvious.”
    â€œBut that doesn’t mean Max is paying everybody . Max doesn’t have that much homework—and he’s smarter than most of those kids. There’s no way he’d let them do his homework.”
    â€œThat’s what investigations are for,” Scott said, scratching his chin and raising his eyebrows.
    At least someone was enjoying his job.

    I felt obligated to go to Jill’s trial, though I didn’t really want to witness it. Jill didn’t have much of a chance, in my opinion. Pete was the opposing lawyer, and I hoped that he would panic again like he had before. But he wasn’t up against Valerie this time; Jill was defending herself. I had no idea what to expect from Pete.
    Corey was suing for 30 starbills, which was a lot. Nobody in Kidsboro had 30 starbills lying around, except maybe Max, who probably had 30 starbills under his sofa cushion at home. Rumor had it that if Pete won the case, he’d get a third of the winnings. Ten starbills would be enough for him to live off of for a pretty long time.
    And Jill was right when she said that Marcy may have bankrupted her. Jill didn’t have 30 starbills to pay. Obviously, she’d used her father’s computer and paper to create the newspaper, so she didn’t actually have to cease production. But this would mean that all future profits she made at the newspaper would go to Corey for a long, long time. Jill wouldn’t have anything for general expenses. She would be no better off than James the quack doctor. Plus, the newspaper was a business, and businesses were required to pay special business taxes. She would end up owing the city a lot of taxes after a while.
    The jury would not be thinking about that, though. They would probably be thinking about doing something cool. Like nailing the press.
    Court was called into session, and Pete made his opening statement. He basically just stated the facts—that the Kidsboro Chronicle had been irresponsible for printing something that was not true, and that Corey was going through public humiliation because of it.
    Jill made her own opening remarks, admitting that she’d made a mistake, but that we all make mistakes. She offered to print a retraction stating that Corey did not, in fact, decorate his room with garbage.
    She also questioned the amount Pete was asking for. “Thirty starbills? The paper doesn’t make that in a whole year!” I noticed a couple of the people in the jury nodding their heads when she said this. Thirty starbills was too much. Jill had a good chance of getting the amount reduced to 15 or even five. Five she could handle.
    Pete called his first witness. “I’d like to call Corey Hawkins to the stand.” Pete and Corey had obviously rehearsed this. Corey pretended to be very upset with the way people were treating him. He was practically in tears as he told a story about how somebody glued soda cans together to form a swan and put it in his front yard. It wasn’t a pretty story, but the performance was so fake that I think it turned some of the jurors off. It was looking as if Jill might have a chance.
    That is, until Pete called his second witness.
    â€œI’d like to call Marcy Watson to the stand.” Marcy stepped up, ready to tell her story. The bailiff swore her in. “Marcy,” Pete began, “How would you describe your relationship with Corey?”
    Marcy looked surprised by the question. “My relationship?”
    â€œYes. Are you friends?”
    â€œWell …”
    â€œDo you like him?”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”
    â€œHave