The Wheels on the Bus

I did not attend court today. Instead, I took Sun and Raine on their very first ride on a city bus. For some reason, these two children absolutely love buses. They sing the song "The Wheels on the Bus" at least once a day and most days more than once. Their favorite DVD is "The Wheels on the Bus." They play with bus toys, read books about buses (well, we read them, but we've read them so many times I'm sure they know them by heart). So, we rode the bus from the university where I used to teach back to our hotel. Raine took it all in stride, but Sun was all grins and stares riding that bus. When we reached our destination and it was time to get off, he became one of those babies on the bus who go "Waa waa waa," all the way off the bus, into the hotel, and back to our room He stopped only when I warned him I would never take him on a bus again unless he stopped crying.

Meanwhile, the wheels of justice turned sloooowly. Yesterday, the lead detective on this case began testifying. He was on the stand all day today, and will likely be under cross examination most of tomorrow. And the defense attorneys went "Waa waa waa" all day long. They raised so many objections, the jury had to be sent out three times. The lunch break for the jury stretched out to about 3:30, and court did not end until 6:00. The prosecutor introduced what "our side" considers some very damaging testimony that, among other things, included a totally illogical story by one defendent who claims he just happened to be walking through this secured area after crawling under a fence at 2:00 a.m. on his way to see his mother. Problem is, his videotaped "reenactment" found this formidable steel fence unmolested, with no holes and no space for anyone to crawl under. Another defendent was recorded on a phone call he made from jail. He was intimidating a witness, who happened to be his own father. And a third defendent, the shooter, in a taped interrogation with the detective offered to confess to his part in the crime (still denying that he even had a gun) if, and only if, the police would buy him a Bojangles chicken lunch.

I'm sorry I missed all of that. But hubby and I have decided to save money and time by taking turns going to trial and staying with the children. I'm glad I did not miss seeing the wonder in Sun's eyes as the big blue Cobb County bus rolled up, the doors hissed open, and the driver said "move on back!" (Okay, the driver didn't say move on back, but he did let us ride for free!) When the wipers started going "swish, swish, swish," and the riders started going "bumpety bump," you could not have paid me to be anywhere else than with Sun and Raine, for whom art today became life.