Chapter Twenty-Nine: Jury Duty

Tony followed the directions printed on his jury summons, setting his keys in a plastic dish and going through the metal detector in the lobby of the courthouse. He bypassed a waiting area filled by the actual Maricopa County jury pool and proceeded to the third floor. Agent Miller opened a door in the empty hallway and beckoned him over.

"Nice to see you again," the agent said. "How are things going?"

"Fine," Tony answered cautiously. "Why am I here?"

"We're going to record your deposition. The video will be admissible in case you're unable to attend the trial for any reason."

"Any reason like me and my family being rubbed out?" he asked.

"Relax, Tony. This is standard. We have no reason to believe your location has been compromised."

"Why am I the only one being depositioned? Mona saw as much as I did."

"Deposed," he corrected. "Your testimony is going to be more in depth due to the nature of your relationship with the victim. We plan to depose her in a few weeks. It wouldn't make much sense for both of you to be called in for jury duty at the same time, would it?"

"Alright. Hey, do you have any more of an idea about when we might get out of here?" Selfishly, Tony was interested in getting Angela away from Nate. As a father, he worried about how hiding out would affect his children. He figured they would reintegrate fairly easily if they got home before school started again in the fall. Of course, he still had no idea what would happen between Angela and himself.

"It's going to be a while," Agent Miller responded unhelpfully, earning a glare from Tony. He leaned onto the table and lowered his voice. "We've had eyes on you, and it seems like you've been very satisfied with your life here. Just enjoy it."

The door opened, preventing Tony from asking what exactly the federal government had seen. Attorneys, investigators, a videographer, and a stenographer filed in. He was sworn in and asked all of the same questions he had answered in the immediate aftermath of the crime. The process took several hours, and then he was dismissed with a note proving his jury service had been fulfilled.

Having taken the day off work, Tony went back to the empty house. He picked up the new photo album and began filling it with snapshots from the two rolls that had been developed. There were some duplicates and a couple of pictures that were so blurry or poorly framed that he discarded them, but the majority of prints went into the album. He jotted descriptions next to each one, labeling the family members with their assumed names and ages. When they went back, if they went back, the album was coming with them. There was no way of disentangling the two families now. It would be as painful as any divorce, even if they had never gone through a courtship, engagement, and wedding ceremony. Even if their honeymoon hadn't been a sexless night in a shitty motel room.

Mona came in wearing her hostess uniform: a pencil skirt and vest over a white button-down shirt. Her bowtie was undone, and so were several buttons. "How was jury duty?" she asked.

"It was fine. I was dismissed. You should be prepared to be called in," he spat out.

"Well, then. I see you're starting our family photo album," she observed.

"Yep," he answered.

"What's your problem, Bobby?" she snapped. "Chris gets out of school in half an hour. You'd better vent now."

"I don't know, Cassie. Things are good. I came here wishing we could go back as soon as possible and now I just don't know if I ever want to leave," Tony rambled. "And what's up with Jess and Nate? Do you think she likes him?" he asked in a troubled whisper.

"You're not the only one confused, buddy," she said, sitting down next to him. "My daughter may be in love with you, but she hasn't completely shut down her old reflexes."

Tony grimaced, imagining himself coming home from work late at night to find Angela and Nate making out in the kitchen. He pushed the scene from his mind, pivoting the conversation. "What are you going to do about Ricky? Does he know you can't leave the state?"

"I haven't figured it out," she admitted. "Let me go change, and we can pick up the kids together and surprise their mom at work."

x

Jonathan was thrilled to see his dad and grandma walk up to his classroom together. They chatted briefly with Mrs. Templeton before making their way back to the Volvo. At the junior high, Sam threw open the back door and huffed into the back seat, tossing her backpack into the way back. "Ice cream?" Tony asked, knowing no normal child would object.

Sam was in a better mood after a waffle cone with a scoop of chocolate fudge and a scoop of peanut butter. Jonathan opted for a sugar cone with bubblegum ice cream, spitting his found treasures into a cup to chew later. "You're so gross!" she told her brother. He just shrugged and kept at it, pouring the little spheres into his mouth all at once after the cone was consumed. Mona splurged with a root beer float. Her hostessing gig involved a surprising amount of activity, and she figured she had earned it. Tony watched the three of them while drinking a Pepsi Light. He needed to resume his fitness routine before he developed a paunch, he decided.

They lingered at the ice cream parlor, the kids playing Pong together at the two-person console table before moving on to Frogger and Ms. Pac-Man. Mona and Tony leaned against adjacent sides of a pillar, keeping an eye on them. Electronic beeps and buzzes sounded against the strains of "Bette Davis Eyes" playing on the radio.

"How would it work, if we went back?" Tony asked. "I wouldn't be able to get a job that would allow me to support the family."

"Why would you have to support the family, though? She'll be working, too," Mona argued.

"Yeah, long hours. Are we supposed to outsource childcare? Who's going to take care of the house?" he wondered. Continuing to work as the housekeeper would be out of the question.

"Maybe she won't want to work so much, now that things have changed. It's not like her lifelong dream of living in Arizona has finally come true. She's happy because she has a loving husband who is also a great father to her two children." Mona elbowed Tony in the side to underline the statement.

"Are you sure? Or did she just decide to make the most of a bad situation?" He couldn't shake the guilt of knowing how much Angela had sacrificed, while he ended up better off.

"She chose this situation, remember? I think you're still insecure about whether she loves the real you enough to fight society's expectations."

"No, I don't doubt her. It's me. I know I don't deserve her."

"Then change. Become someone who deserves her. Whatever that looks like to you."

"I can't just wave a wand and change myself," he whined.

"No, you have to work at it. I did, and I was much older than you when I started," she pointed out.

"College?" he asked, pushing off the pilar and turning toward her.

"If that's what you want to do," she allowed.

"I wish," he said sadly.

"Don't wish. Take action," she said, looking him straight in the eye. He nodded thoughtfully and chewed on his lower lip.

"OK. I'll do it," he promised.

Mona looked at the wall clock and called to her grandchildren. "Last game. Then we'll go visit your mom."

x

It was 4:45pm when Tony pulled into the district office parking lot. He led the family inside and saw a vaguely familiar face.

"Hi Bobby," she said. "Melissa," she reminded him, pointing to herself with a half smile. "This must be Jen and Chris and…."

"Cassie," Mona filled in. "Nice to meet you."

"Come on in, guys. Kimber already took off, but there's still cake from her party," she offered, leading the way to the breakroom.

"No cake," Tony told the kids sternly. "They just had ice cream," he explained when Melissa glanced over her shoulder with a questioning look.

Various staff members populated the room, but Tony zeroed in on two. Angela was standing close to Nate, absently licking frosting off a plastic fork while he spoke directly to her. She laughed and touched his arm, holding the fork out of the way in the same hand. Jonathan ran straight over and yelled "Mom!" causing her to glance at him, then up to the rest of the family.

"What a nice surprise," she said. "Nate, this is my son Chris, my daughter Jen, and my mother, Cassie," she announced as they came closer.

"And I remember your husband. Bobby, isn't it?" he asked, extending his hand to Tony.

"That's right. Good to see you, Nate. I just wanted to surprise Jess and let the kids see where their associate director mom works," he said proudly.

"You're Mom's boss?" Jonathan asked. "You're tall."

"Yeah," Nate laughed. "Hey, I'll see you Monday, Jessica," he said, pointing a finger at Angela.

Sam turned to watch as he left the room. "Your boss is hot, Mom, and he has a cute butt!" she cried. Mona shook her head and scowled, trying to stop her from speaking. It took a second for Sam to notice. "Sorry, Dad," she said, looking down at the floor.

"Would you like to see my new cubicle?" Angela asked nervously. She stepped into the hallway without waiting for a response. "I'll have more space now." She slid her nameplate out of its holder and lifted a box off her old desk. "Here we are," she said, showing off the dreary double-sized cubicle.

Tony took the nameplate from her and slid it into its new spot. "It's going to be great, Jess," he told her. "Maybe you can bring in pictures of the kids," he suggested. "I'm really proud of you," he said, kissing her on the cheek. Jonathan and Sam shifted and fidgeted, underwhelmed and unsure what to say.

"Why don't I take them home?" Mona asked, putting an arm around each of them.

"Thank you," Tony said, handing her the keys. "We'll see you soon," he assured the kids. They both hugged Angela and followed their grandma out the door.

"It's not that exciting, I guess," Angela told Tony, looking down at his feet.

"I know how hard you worked for this, honey. It's just the beginning," he told her, caressing down her sleeves and sliding his hands into hers.

"That means a lot to me. How was jury duty?" she asked in a whisper.

"I was dismissed," he responded. "Do you want to go somewhere and talk?" he asked quietly.

Angela nodded, then pressed a slow kiss to the corner of his mouth. The office was quiet, nearly cleared out for the weekend. She looked out and closed the door to her new cubicle. A slow smile grew across Tony's face, and he pulled her in by the waist and touched his forehead to hers. They nuzzled and rubbed their noses together more than they kissed, but it was still too much for the office. "Let's go," she said, pulling the door open.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Nate said from a few feet away. "I just wanted to leave this agenda on your desk for Monday morning," he explained. In truth, he had been watching, trying to discern shapes through the translucent door while he listened to their contented sighs.

"Thank you. Have a good weekend," Angela called, dragging Tony out the door. They both went to the driver's side of the Mustang automatically. "I've got the keys," she taunted, holding up her keychain. He pulled her in and kissed her neck, snatching the keys out of her hand when she squirmed.

"You know you're driving him crazy, don't you?" he asked. "Nate," he clarified. "He's probably watching right now."

"Tough. He needs to know that I'm all yours," she said brazenly. "Let's go to the park."

"Great idea," he told her. In the car, he got straight to the point. "They deposed me, and they're going to depose your mother soon. No news on when we'll get to go home."

"OK, that's good," she said, relieved.

"You don't want to go home," he guessed, squeezing her knee.

"I just got promoted, and everything is going so well here. Aren't you happy?" she asked.

"I am. But there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Just an idea," he clarified, parking and pulling the key out of the ignition. He went around and took Angela's hand as she exited the vehicle. "Since you're getting a raise, maybe I can ask for my hours to be reduced. I'd still work full time, but not the early mornings or the late nights."

"Yeah, that sounds fair," she told him as they began to stroll down the shaded path. "Can I ask why?"

"I'd like to start working out again, give you some relief with things at home, spend more time with the kids," he started before cutting himself off.

"Anything else?" she asked lightly, sensing there was something bigger.

"What would you think about me trying to go back to school?" he asked nervously.

"That's a wonderful idea, honey," she said, holding back a flood of expectations.

"I could sign up for some summer classes at the community college to start, then look at my options," he continued.

"Maybe become an English teacher after all?" she blurted out.

"Would you be happy with an English teacher?" he asked. "I'd probably earn a lot less and have to take a summer job."

"You could teach summer school. Or tutor. It doesn't matter to me. I want you to have a career you enjoy."

"I know it wasn't much of a career, but I really enjoyed what I was doing before," he admitted.

"I miss what I was doing before, too, but you know what? It had its downsides," she said.

"Right," he replied, thoughts still swirling too much to pick one and express it.

"If we do go home, it might be good for you to have a different career," she said uneasily. "Not because I care what you do for a living," she backpedaled.

"I agree. And I do want things to work out, no matter where we are," he assured her.