I quickly regained my composure, picked up the box and placed it in the backseat, smelling his perfume in the car, and gosh, I felt like choking - don't mind me, it smelled so nice, but I wouldn't agree to that.
" Galinda said I'll be driving you to court?" I asked, holding my head high.
" Did she?" He asked, amusement clearly written on his face.
" Let's make this clear sir, you employed me, yes, as a lawyer, and not as your driver, and permit me to say that this will be the last time that this kind of thing will ever happen", I would've added ' have I made myself clear?'
" Okay", he said, sounding unoffended, much to my surprise.
He got into the car and I zoomed off, still feeling angry but not knowing exactly why. I watched him from the rear mirror as he absorbed himself into his iPad, and I felt the rising sensation to jump to the back of the car and strangle him to death.
" Unless you want to get us both killed, I recommend that you turn your gaze and pay attention to the road", he said, scrolling on his laptop, startling me for a moment and making me wonder if he had invisible eyes on his forehead.
" I might as well run into a car and get us both killed", I said to myself, knowing fully well that I didn't hate him that much to get myself killed. There should be other ways to kill him without me getting hurt.
As we all got settled in court, Hakim straightened his toe and his suit, making sure that he was looking good.
" He literally cares more about his looks than the case".
His client, Mr Brown, sat beside him. From the way he sat - hunched back, with his head probing outward - and from how tedious breathing was for him, it was obvious that he was tensed, fidgeting even. Mr Brown was a well known congressman, a Democrat representing New York's 8th congregational district. He has been serving in the house of representatives since 2013, and was a member of the Democratic Leadership, currently serving as the House Minority Leader. He has been involved in various committees, including the House Committee on the Judiciary. A fine man, who not only got public opinion with his charming warm looks, but also with his appealing, fluent and eloquent speeches, which he has never lived by.
He was being charged with embezzling funds meant for the district healthcare and laundering the money, and even though it came as a surprised, we in the legal world knew much about it - he was guilty as charged, but Hakim was there to defend him and at least make sure that his ass didn't end up in jail.
The judge walked in, a wriggle old man who should be considering retirement as his next aim in life. Everyone stood, and only sat when he was seated. I sat on the third row to the front, where I could be able to see everything that was going on, amidst journalists and reporters who were prepping their phones and laptops and recorders, even their cameras and iPhones, waiting to prey on every single information that will be spilled out of anybody's mouth. Not only will they relay what happened to the public, but they will make sure to make it more juicy, adding more spice and sugar if needed, just to get their work to sell. It was their job, to prey on information.
" Please proceed with the case. Prosecution, please state your course for this trial", the old man said, his voice sounding more young and vibrant than his age.
" Your honor, Mr Brown is hereby charged by the demands of the fifth amendment, for the crimes of embezzlement of healthcare funds and public fraud", the prosecuting lawyer started, his voice filling the entire room as he stood, dressed in a suit that made it seem as if he was frugal while he was actually poor - don't ask me how I knew.
" Here are records of the fundings for healthcare sent in by the government and the expenditures which he claimed the budget had met", he continued as a few papers were handed to the judge, " as we can see your honor, the fundings do not tally with the expenditures which he presented, so unless there is proof of how the subsequent, ridiculous amount of the funding was spent, Mr Brown is nothing short of guilty of the already presented charges", he ended with a tone of finality, like one who had cast the dye and was sure of that which he had cast, enjoying the spotlight as hands typed on laptops and wrote with pen, eyes flickering all around.
The old man peered into the pieces of papers before him. He adjusted his glasses, staring as if he was one of those Chinese mothers who went berserk on their children whenever they saw a B instead of an A in their report sheet.
" Defendant, state your course", he said, dropping the papers.
" Your honor", Hakim began, " prosecution was indeed right when they stated the fact that my client received fundings from the government for the development of healthcare services for citizens in his district, and they were also kind of right by pointing out the fact that all the fundings did not necessarily go into the healthcare budget", the whole room erupted.
" Where the hell is he going with this?" I asked no one in particular. Even his client was staring at him with shock and disbelief, and the lawyer on the prosecuting side already had a smirk on his face, the kind that said " I've won this case".
Hakim allowed the noise to calm, taking his time like the public speaker that he wasn't, and continued effortlessly, swinging his hands here and there, showing everyone his golden wrist watch which glittered in the incoming rays of sunshine.
" But your honor, what they have failed to see is the fact that my client is not a computerized being who followed instructions as they were laid out to him by the central government, but a human being with feelings, a leader who actually knows what the citizens need", he was talking more with emotions, and that felt weird, " yes, all the funding was not carelessly spent on purchasing medical facilities that citizens couldn't afford, they were not all spent on building more hospitals and equipping them with more more C.T scan machines than were accurately needed, they were also used to secure the health insurance of many citizens, especially the senior citizens", more voices erupted, the murmur turning into noise. The reporters typed and wrote, typing fast and writing fast, and as I took a glance at the prosecution, mehn, that smirk on his face had already turned into a frown.
" Your honor, here is a documentation of how the fundings which were supposed to be only used for healthcare facilities, were used to provide not only the healthcare facilities, but also provide health insurance for many citizens in district 8", he continued as the old man received more pieces of papers which he also scanned thoroughly.
" Your honor, that right there is proof that my client did not embezzle the funds which he received from the government, but used it effectively".
" Objection your honor, the fact still remains that the fundings were not used exactly as it were budgeted for, and Mr Brown .....".
" Used the funding to meet the basic need of the citizens!" Hakim said, cutting the prosecution off.
" Objection overruled. Prosecution, take your seat", the judge said as the poor guy slumped back on his chair, having full knowledge of the fact that he had lost the case - the rotten ones always find their way out of trouble.
" I was great, wasn't I?" Hakim asked as I drove him back to the firm, giggling like a ten year old who had won a hundred meter race.