Ticket to Ride, Part Two

Okay. Part two. Our original court date was two weeks ago, but I wanted to go into Ohio to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday with her, so I called and got a continuance for two weeks. That put the court date at Wednesday, June 25.

Once I discovered that this ticket required a court appearance, I informed Bella that she would be accompanying me. I didn't lay it on too thick, I figured she'd be nervous enough. I had no idea just how nervous she would be.

The morning of, Bella was on a video chat with my mom.

Bella: "Sorry, Grandma, I have to go. My mom and I are going to pick out a cute outfit so they don't send me to jail."

I really had no idea that Bella thought that this violation could lead to jail time. And, my mom only passed on the above quote AFTER we returned from the courthouse.

We did take what we know about costuming and apply it to our choice of clothing. Bella wore a white linen dress with a ruffled collar and little lavender accents. She wore matching white sandals. I wore a white top, a black pencil skirt and black kitten heels. Doesn't white just scream innocence?

It took quite some time to figure out where to go and what to do at the courthouse. After walking back and forth from both courtrooms, checking the lists and writing my name on a little slip of paper, we finally settled into the seats in the courtroom. We sat. And sat. And sat. We watched prisoners in jumpsuits shuffle out, shackled to each other. We watched them stand, one by one, entering their plea, putting their heads down. Then we watched them shuffle back, dejected. It was incredibly demoralizing.

Bella went through quite a series of emotions. When we first sat down, she said, "I'm nervous." I said, "Me, too. I'm glad you're here with me." She smiled at that, proud that she could make a difference. Later, she got squirmy and bored. She drew in my notepad for a while. We started whispering back and forth. Eventually, the bailiff came over and told us to be quiet. Bella looked shocked. She put her head down, claiming to be tired, and tried to fall asleep. We had been there just over an hour.

Somewhere in this time, I saw a friend of ours who is an attorney. We had carpooled together the previous year. She saw us after a little bit, looked shocked and came over to ask what we were doing there. We gave her the Reader's Digest version. She said she'd be right back and went up to look at the stack of files by the judge. She came back over and said we were still way down at the bottom of the pile. She would see what she could do.

After the next "defendant" was done, they called us up. I stood at the podium and instructed Bella to stand next to me, far enough away from the podium for the judge to take in the gratuitous cuteness of Bella. Our attorney friend whispered to the judge for 30 seconds, which felt like 30 minutes as we stood up there in silence. Finally, our friend said, "Just look at Bella. Isn't she the cutest?"

The judge turned to us.

Judge: "Are you Kathleen Hickey."
Kat: "Yes, sir. I am."
Judge: "And, besides your attorney, who do you have with you today?"
Kat: "This is Isabella."
Judge: "Are you Isabella?"
Bella nods.
Judge: "Is this your mother?"
Bella: "Yes."
Judge: "Your attorney says that you made a mistake and you're sorry. If you can promise me that this will never happen again, I can dismiss all charges and let you go home."
Bella smiles and nods gleefully.

Stunned, I turn around to leave and our attorney friend walks us out. She had told the judge the situation. She added that "Kat is one of the best moms I know." She asked him to take the opportunity to lay it on a little thick for Bella so that she would take more responsibility for her car seat and buckle. He did, all right.

So, we went home with vows to do better next time, at least $200 that we thought we'd have to give to the government and gratitude for the generosity and kindness of good friends. All in all, best case scenario for a trip to the County Courthouse.