“Obviously.”
Her attorney paused.
“And do not threaten lawsuits publicly.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“Vanessa?”
“Fine.”
“We need to deal with the actual charges first.”
“They were wrong.”
“That is a legal question we will address.”
“I want body-camera footage.”
“We can request it.”
“I want the hotel security footage.”
“We can request that too.”
“I want every employee’s name.”
“Slow down.”
Vanessa hated those words.
Slow down.
They sounded too much like calm down.
And calm down had always sounded to Vanessa like surrender.
Her attorney continued.
“You need to understand something.”
“What?”
“The strongest defense is not always proving that everyone else behaved perfectly.”
Vanessa frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we examine whether the law was followed. We examine what commands were given. We examine whether you were properly trespassed. We examine the arrest. But if you expect me to argue that paying for a hotel room gave you the right to refuse to leave the pool area, I’m not going to make that argument.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
But she did not.
Not emotionally.
Emotionally, the money still mattered.
She had paid.
Paying meant something.
Didn’t it?
A week later, Vanessa sat in her attorney’s office watching the body-camera footage.
For the first time, she saw herself from the outside.
That was different.
Memory had protected her.
Memory had softened certain parts and sharpened others.
In her memory, Daniel had approached aggressively.
On the video, he stood several feet away.
In her memory, Mercer had refused to explain what was happening.
On the video, he explained it again and again.
In her memory, she had calmly requested a supervisor.
On the video, she was pointing and stepping forward.
In her memory, the deputies had suddenly grabbed her.
On the video, Mercer told her to back up three times.
Her attorney sat beside her.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“He still didn’t need to touch me.”
Her attorney did not answer.
The video continued.
Vanessa watched herself call 911.
She heard her own voice telling the dispatcher that police were needed.
Then Mercer’s voice:
“You have police standing in front of you.”
Her attorney paused the video.
Vanessa looked away.
“You don’t have to say it.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You think it was stupid.”
Her attorney leaned back.
“What do you think?”
Vanessa stared at the frozen screen.
Her own face looked furious.
“I was angry.”