"Chris Russo came to New York City hoping to be the next Fred Astaire. He was accepted to Juilliard, moved out here on his own-"
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Carisi paused mid-closing argument, and turned to the judge. "Hey, what gives? I'm talkin' here!"
BANG. BANGBANGBANGBANG-
"Yeah, all right, you know what? Hand it over." Carisi walked up to the judge and held out a hand. "Come on, give it up."
Jesse Rollins giggled, waving the gavel. "Kid, you're gonna get us in so much trouble," Carisi warned her, snagging the gavel from her. Her mouth dropped open in an o of surprise, and then she stood up on the chair. "You're enjoyin' this a little too much, Your Honor," Carisi teased. "Get down, huh? Mommy doesn't let you stand on the chairs at home, you can't do it here." He waved her down, and Jesse hopped down and walked around the stand. She stood in the middle of the floor. "Wow."
Carisi squeezed her shoulder as he moved to stand next to her. "Yeah. It's pretty cool, huh?"
She nodded, spinning in a slow circle as she gazed at the big windows and the New York State seal emblazoned on one of the walls. "Will there be a lot of people in here when you talk?"
"Twelve, there," Carisi nodded, pointing to the juror's box. "And ah, your Uncle Sonny gets to sit here with his client," he added, motioning to the prosecution's side of the room.
"Where does the bad guy go?"
He pointed to the defense table. "Right there." He shook his head. "Where, ah, where your sister is sitting."
Billie was on her knees, leaning intently over a coloring book and scribbling on the page with a blue marker. "Are you gonna talk more?" she questioned her de facto uncle.
"Yeah, are you gonna talk to the chairs more?" Jesse echoed. Her eyes went wide as she scrambled over to the juror's box and sat down in one of the chairs. Her sister climbed down from her spot and ran over too, sitting at the far end. "We're ready!" Jesse announced. "You can keep practicin' Uncle Sonny!"
"Yeah, keep practicing," Amanda said. Sonny turned to see her and Fin coming down the center aisle. Amanda had been working on witness prep with the ADA and Sonny had volunteered to watch the girls until they were finished.
Fin nodded to the two tiny blondes. "That's a biased jury. I'd call for an immediate dismissal of Jurors six and eleven."
"What's a dismissal?" Jesse wondered.
"That's when they have to pick a new person to sit there because they might not listen to the lawyers or the judge or the witness," Amanda explained.
"I'm listening!" Billie said.
"That's a guilty verdict if I ever heard one," Amanda said under her breath. "All right you two, time to get going. Tell Uncle Sonny and Uncle Fin goodbye."
"Can we come listen to you talk to the chairs again Uncle Sonny?" Jesse asked as she and her sister raced over to their mother.
Fin snorted and Carisi coughed out a laugh. "Yeah, maybe," he said. "Go on, get outta here." Amanda threw a smile over her shoulder as she escorted the girls out.
"McNamara would murder you if he knew they were in his chair," Fin noted.
Carisi blinked. "How did you-"
Barba nodded at the gavel still in his hand. "What, you forget how to take care of evidence, Counselor?" he asked Carisi as Carisi handed it to him sheepishly. "Detective skills went out the door when you left, I guess." Fin placed it back where it belonged, and then turned to Carisi, who was looking at the legal pad Billie had been working on. He held it up to Fin—a picture of her Uncle Sonny, talking to chairs.
"Looks just like you," Fin noted.
"Yeah. Trying to explain what I actually do to them someday is gonna be a hell of a conversation."
