Judge Tanner leaned forward, his voice calm. “Do you have something you’d like to share with the court?”
“Yes, sir,” she said. “It’s important.”
“Does it relate to who you feel safe living with?”
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Hensley stood immediately. “Your Honor, I would object to any unsworn—”
Judge Tanner lifted a hand without even looking at him. “Counselor, sit down.”
Hensley sat.
The judge looked back at Lily. “All right. What would you like to show us?”
Lily bent down, unzipped her backpack, and pulled out the purple tablet.
I felt dizzy.
It was the same cheap tablet I had bought her for cartoons and drawing games. The rubber case was chewed a little at one corner where she used to gnaw when she concentrated. She held it with both hands as if it were fragile and heavy.
She walked it to the clerk, who took it carefully. The clerk looked to the judge; the judge nodded. A cable appeared. Buttons were pressed. The monitor at the front of the courtroom flickered blue, then black, then came alive.
I remember every second of what followed with the unnatural clarity of shock.