WHITE-CHAPTER 1
The brown-eyed beauty sitting with her ankles crossed and her left arm handcuffed to her chair stared at him coolly as she drew a cigarette up to her mouth with her free hand. Her fingernails were long and unpainted, though I could easily imagine them stained a deep and bloody red –much the color of her husband's face when the man had run stumbling up to a police car three nights ago. I cleared my throat.
"He had it coming." The woman said. The casual tone of her voice suggested a callousness with which I had become well acquainted over the years as a defense attorney, but a tug of her lower lip hinted that she really was no so. She took another long pull at her cigarette, and her mouth puckered out like a plump cherry as she blew out the smoke.
"I would not venture to say I don't believe you." I replied carefully, shuffling through my notes. "On the bright side, your husband did not require hospitalization, and with the testimony of your mutual acquaintances, I am pretty sure I can get you off rather light."
The woman shrugged and looked down at the dirty floor where she rubbed out a scuff mark with the toe of her shoe. Presently, she glanced back up at my face. "Guess I should expect no less of a pirate. Of course you are confident in my trial; it's your way. I was the one who did the crime, but my victim is the one who is going to look like a terrible person when this whole thing plays out."
"You think I will have such an easy time getting you off the hook?" I leaned back in my chair, scrutinizing her torn expression.
She may have grimaced, but on her face it seemed more like a mild albeit humorless smirk. "Look at your work, Mr. Hawkins. When John Silver, the most dreaded pirate in the land, came to trial, you made him look like snuggly teddy bear –more of a wandering homeless puppy than a thieving murderous scoundrel."
I shrugged, wincing at the memory and with it the pain surrounding my old companion who, fearing prison, off-ed himself with a stolen laser cannon before he could hear the outcome of the month-long trial. "Well, in his heart, that's who he really was."
The woman in front of me rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I'm just an innocent girl with the mindset of an easily influenced fourteen year old, overwhelmed and encumbered by unrealistic titles such as 'fairest of them all' and 'true love.'"
"It's true." I said before I could stop myself. Who was I to be declaring what I thought I saw in the heart of this person? I knew I had struck a sour chord as soon as the words were out of my mouth.
The impatience on her face was evident now. "What do you know of 'true' anything, Jim Hawkins? You, who are known to have gone gallivanting with pirates on the petty hunt for gold and treasure, next to me, a freaking princess who, by everyone who speaks to her, seems to hold the very key to love and a remotely happy ever after?" she crammed the butt of her cigarette into an ash tray, ruthlessly grinding its remnants into ashes. "Let me tell you something really special, okay? The only truth in this realm is that there IS no 'true' anything! No true love, no true adventure, no true friends… None! Nada! Never was, never is, never will be!"
I waited with what patience I had for her to catch her breath, but I felt my fingers twitching against my leg. I was eager to leave this place. Ruffians and thugs I could handle with a calm dignity, but a scorned woman was un-tread and dangerous territory. I slid my written notes into a folder to be typed up later. Grabbing my briefcase, I nodded cordially to her. "I will see you in the courtroom tomorrow, Mrs. Charming."
Anger or unshed tears flashed into her eyes, and she closed them tightly. "The name is White. Snow WHITE."
"Very well, Miss White." I amended quickly, and I walked out the door, leaving the princess to her demons.