That surprises me, the former more than the latter. Taylor didn’t use the most powerful weapon in her arsenal. She didn’t manufacture tears for sympathy. I disagree with Glover, but I hold it in. I think Taylor didn’t cry because she didn’t have the right audience. She’s probably stockpiling her tears for the judge and jury.

“Embarrassed,” I repeat, shaking my head. Even with her entire future sucked down into a vortex, Taylor clung to her pride.

“Maybe it hasn’t hit her yet.” Glover sips her coffee and shrugs.

“Or maybe she thinks she can still get out of this.”

“Trust me, it’ll hit her by the time she’s standing under a lukewarm shower with sanitary napkins stuck to the bottoms of her feet. I mean, can you imagine that girl sandwiched between one woman using the shower as a toilet and another in the corner watching her?”

A laugh slips from me. “What about Bierman? Was he shocked?”

“When he finished listening to the recording from Izzy’s wire, I think he tinkled a little.”

I chuckle and picture the look that must have hijacked his face. His implicit biases couldn’t allow him to see what Glover saw, and even though I made it through, it hits me that I’m one of the lucky ones. I had a Glover on my side. So many other black girls didn’t, won’t.

Suddenly, the moment feels laden with a guilt I didn’t anticipate. To lighten things up, I ask, “How much is her bail?”

Taylor’s hearing was this morning.

“The judge flat-out denied her request,” Glover tells me, just a tinge of pride modulating her tone as she sips what looks like black coffee. “With that new cash flow, she’s a flight risk.”

I hold back a grin and squirm in anticipation of calling Nate as soon as I leave. He was convinced she would get something soft, like three years in jail and early release after a year, and maybe a half-million dollars of her inheritance because of her pretty white privilege.

It looks like Glover is stifling a victorious quirk of her lips, too, as she sits back in her chair. This is as big a deal for her as it is for me. She handled a first-degree murder case and got a confession. A promotion is definitely on the horizon for her, and we chew over where she can shop for some new flattering suits while she finishes off her coffee.

When I ask her about Izzy, she tells me she was able to work out a deal with the assistant DA. In exchange for her cooperation in getting the confession from Taylor, Izzy’s sentence will be reduced, though she’ll still spend a significant chunk of her youth behind bars.