Black Tuesday by Susan Colebank Page B

Finally, Mrs. Deavers shook her head and raised the wadded tissue to her nose, sniffing into it.
    Jayne bit the inside of her lip. This was it. This was where the judge told her she’d be the first person to ever get the death penalty for a misdemeanor.
    It could happen. Val could’ve missed a loophole.
    â€œBased on the plea agreement reached between the state and the defendant, Jayne Lee Thompkins has been found delinquent on the charge of vehicular manslaughter. I hereby sentence her to community service not to exceed one thousand hours and to be completed within the next 365 days. I also hereby suspend Jayne Lee Thompkins’s license, not to be reinstated until her eighteenth birthday. On the successful completion of said community service, the record of this event will be sealed.” She heard him shuffling papers. “You are also mandated to fifty hours of counseling, to be completed within the time frame of your community service.”
    Jayne kept her eyes fixated on the cheap laminate desk she stood over. She waited to hear the words We’ve changed our mind, Jayne Lee Thompkins. You’ll be going to jail for the rest of your natural born life. Your roommate’s name is Bertha. You two will grow quite close, I assure you.
    She waited.
    â€œMiss Thompkins.”
    Her stomach lurched. Here it was. She raised her eyes to the judge.
    â€œI want you to take this opportunity to really reflect on where you want your life to go. This is a misdemeanor, meaning that you will not have to check the felony box on any college or job applications. I know that your life prior to this event had you on track for a bright, promising future. I do not want you to lose sight of that future, Miss Thompkins.”
    He shuffled his papers around. Jayne kept waiting for him to say that prison would be just the thing to keep her focused on her future.
    â€œBased on this, I want you to fulfill your community service at Outreach Arizona. This program focuses on helping teenagers who don’t have a wonderful future. They may have a mother or father in prison; they may be facing pregnancy while trying to finish school. I think this will be a good opportunity for you to see people who think all is lost. Maybe how you’re feeling right at this moment.”
    He looked around. Jayne knew this was it. This was when she was going to get her real punishment. She was getting off too easy after killing a child.
    Wasn’t she?
    Instead, he said, “I want you to check back with me in six months’ time, to see how you are.” He banged his gavel. “Court is dismissed.”
    Â 
    â€œIt could’ve gone a lot worse, Jayne.” Val, Jayne, and Jayne’s parents stood in the orange-carpeted foyer of the juvenile court building. Val’s voice was uncharacteristically low as she said, “All this may seem overwhelming right now, but it was a fair sentence. Do you have any questions about it?”
    Jayne shook her head, her blonde ponytail feeling like a million pounds. She took out the elastic band.
    â€œHow long is this community service lasting again?” her mom demanded, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear and smiling at a few passing lawyers who were trying to act cool at seeing a local celeb. There was always someone who recognized Gen Thompkins. Be it the restroom at the movie theater or the court at her daughter’s manslaughter hearing. “I want to make sure I program it into the BlackBerry.”
    Val put an arm around Jayne’s back. “A year. That’s about four hours a day, five days a week.” She turned and squeezed Jayne against her side. “For a girl like you, this will be a walk in the park. Just treat it like one of those extracurriculars you have.”
    Jayne remained silent. The extracurriculars she used to have. Before she quit them all—Key Club, the school paper, French Club—to stay in her room when she wasn’t at