Nothing Better To Do - a novel in stories - Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Harry's decision to refuse the breathalizer was no rash judgment. If he had blown into it, it probably would have shown a blood-alcohol level somewhere close to a .20, well above the state minimum. The consequence of refusal would be the loss of his driving privileges, subject to a hearing, that is, and a presumption at trial, that he had refused the test, because he had known he was intoxicated. If he had taken the test, there would have been witnesses and corroborating evidence, other than Orel Paige. The test, no doubt, would have been administered by someone else, someone with training on the equipment. As it stood, with the refusal, it was Paige's word that he had seen him driving erratically and there had been the smell of alcohol on his breath against his. Harry was banking on the fact that Paige's word was soon to be shown to be questionable.

At his arraignment the next morning, Harry asked to speak to the Public Defender. His request was denied pending proof of his indigence. Harry then elected to represent himself. The judge set bail at one thousand dollars because of Harry's refusal to submit to the breathalizer and the fact that he had lived within the state for less than a year. The judge also took his driver's license.

Harry had been planning on conducting his own defense all along. The reason why he had wanted to speak to the Public Defender was to provide him with the salient details of Officer Paige's lack of credibility in so far as it applied to the Adderholdts' case. Now that would have to wait until Jenny bailed him out.

Jenny was hot when he called. "Stay there! A taste of jail will do you good." Her diatribe covered all the ground from his skipping off to Ohio without her, to his long slide from criminal lawyer to "just plain criminal."

"Listen, I've got to get out. This goes beyond just my dilemma."

"You bet it does! What are the neighbors and the people at work going to think of me, when they find out you've been arrested for drunken driving? Bail you out? Hah!"

This wasn't working out as Harry had hoped. He told himself he should have known better. She never argues the central point, the logical issues. She always sidetracks into the emotional. It always comes down to respect. And she would never let him fight the current skirmish without having to re-fight the entire war.

"Don't you understand that this was a set up? This guy Paige has been laying for me ever since he was taken off that stupid kiddie-porn patrol. You know what he called me? He called me a tassel-loafered shyster! For Christ's sake, I was wearing sneakers when he made me get out of the car and take the position! He's the same one who gave you..."

She cut him off. "Don't try to defend yourself!"

This was always her strongest tactic. Once she said that, there was no use in going on. If he did, she would simply say, "I told you, don't try to defend yourself." So he shut up, didn't offer another word in his defense. There was nothing but the din of prison from his end of the line, inmates yelling, guards shouting, cell doors slamming shut.

She continued, raising all the old complaints, re-fighting all the old battles, getting madder. "Oh, I know your game," she said, after awhile. "You're just going to sit there and say nothing!"

He decided to go for sympathy. "I miss you and the kids."

"Oh right, the kids. I forgot about the kids. Imagine the disgrace when they have to face their classmates in school, tomorrow."

"Are you kidding? Half their fathers have been busted for D.U.I."

"That's it. I told you, don't try to defend yourself." She hung up.

Although he was technically entitled to only one, Harry managed to beg a second phone call. He called the Blue Moon to ask Freddie Edwards to pass the word to Phil and House that he was in the lock-up and wouldn't be able to meet with them at the offices of the Banner that afternoon.

At six o'clock, a guard opened his cell and told him he had been bailed. As he was being released through the visiting area, he braced himself for a furious attack by a very angry Jenny. He decided to act contrite. But when he walked into the reception lobby, the woman who was waiting for him was Audrey Adderholdt.

This is just great, Harry thought, how am I going to explain this?