Page 100 of Proof
While Chris was waiting for the jet in Flagstaff, he sent Carter a text, letting him know he’d be back in time to pick him up from camp. He sent a similar one to Lucinda but with much less affection. Her response was: See you in court Tuesday.
That answered the question he’d been going to ask Evan about the hearing. Now he had to find out the time and place. After receiving Chris’s text, Evan wrote back:
2:00PM – Courthouse – Room 203 – We’re ready!
This was only a preliminary hearing for the judge to listen to the complaints and then decide when the final hearing would take place with witnesses. Carter still had to see the psychiatrist for the evaluation, and Chris was expecting letters from Carter’s school outlining his academic achievements and intramural activities. He had no doubt Carter would come out looking like a well-adjusted and responsible kid. If things lined up the way he anticipated, it would be Lucinda trying to prove Carter would be better off in Chicago. He also hoped the judge would ask Carter what he wanted. The rest would be a matter of scheduling. If Lucinda wanted to see her son often, there would be nothing stopping her from visiting him. It didn’t have to be a one-way situation with Carter being juggled from city to city. The less disruption for him, the better.
Chris opened his duffel to find a book he wanted to read on the way back. At the bottom of the bag was Luna’s crushed phone. He still hadn’t decided how to get rid of it. Theoretically, it could be used as evidence to support Luna’s statement, but then it would incriminate him with interfering with an investigation. Never in his life had he been faced with this kind of ethical dilemma. He pulled the microSD card and the SIM cards from the back of the crushed phone and put the fingernail-size chips in his pocket. He then made a decision. He’d wait. He’d wait until the entire case was officially closed and the witness was ensconced in his new safehold. He felt better about that idea. Once the witness was reassigned, all previous information was removed from the mainframe and stored in a highly classified facility, where there was no access from the outside via the Internet. In order to find the information, one had to physically visit the facility. It rarely happened. It was imperative that protected witnesses remain just that. Protected.
* * *
Luna and Gail browsed through all the latest phones and gadgets.
“This is just too much.” Luna sighed. “I want to go back to the days when people used flip phones.”
A young man with big round discs in his earlobes approached them. “Yep. We have flip phones. Lots of people are going ‘old school.’ Follow me.”
Luna and Gail gave each other a look. Neither of them appreciated that expression. It was borderline insulting. Just because something was new didn’t necessarily mean it was better. And just because something might be older, that didn’t necessarily make it inferior. They followed the tattoo-covered Gen Z salesperson to a section where there were over a dozen flip phones on display. He explained the difference between a regular flip and a smartphone. Luna looked at the Samsung Galaxy Flip. It had all the bells and whistles of other Androids, but it folded in half. It was the best compromise. The salesman asked if she wanted him to transfer her data from her old phone to the new one. Her answer: “I don’t have it. It fell in the river.”
“Bummer,” he said. “Well, you can still have the same phone number. I’ll call your service provider so we can activate your new phone. But you won’t have your contact list or your photos.”
The word photo gave Luna a shiver. That photo was the singular reason she no longer had her phone. She sighed. “I guess I have my work cut out for me.”
“Did you upload anything to the cloud?” he asked.
“No. I don’t like the idea of my personal stuff floating in cyberspace,” Luna answered.
“You’d be surprised how much is out there that we don’t realize.”
Again, Luna shuddered. “I guess I’ll have to reset all my passwords.” She was getting nervous. She had no idea what Chris had done with her old phone. She guessed she would find out eventually. That is, if they were still on speaking terms.
The clerk took down all of Luna’s information and told them it would take about an hour to get her up and running. So Luna and Gail decided to grab some lunch at a local vegan restaurant.
“Do you come here often?” Luna asked Gail as she perused the menu.
“Occasionally. I like their avocado smash on millet. Their fake grilled cheese with fake bacon is pretty good, but you gotta eat it hot; otherwise, the consistency gets weird.”
“There have been articles lately noting that if the world went vegan, it would reduce gas emissions by eighty percent.”
“Well, you know that ain’t gonna happen.” Gail placed her menu back on the table. She tapped her finger on it. “Plastic. There’s no getting away from it unless you live in the wilderness and eat mushrooms and leaves. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that people are being conscious about lots of things, but to expect a complete overhaul in our lifetime is not only unreasonable, it’s unrealistic.”
“True. There are parts of the world where people have no access to water and very little food. Too many people live in an ideological bubble and have no idea what is happening in other places. Don’t get me started.” Luna smirked.
“I shan’t. I know better,” Gail teased. They placed their order and drank lemon water while they waited. “What do you suppose Chris is up to today?” Gail mused.
“I have no idea.” Luna shook her head, then let out a big huff of air. “I wish he had called me.”
“On what phone?” Gail eyed her.
“That’s three times today I overlooked that important detail.” Luna snickered.
The waitress brought their pretend grilled cheese and a side salad of kale.
“I’ll tell you—the kale lobby has been out in full force. It’s everywhere, and I don’t know one person who buys it. I mean, I’ll eat it, but for greens, I prefer broccoli rabe and escarole,” Luna said, and then stabbed into the leafy salad.
“Your diet has become very Mediterranean,” Gail noted.
“It’s healthy. And delicious.” Luna smiled. “Give me a plate of pasta any day.”