Crimes and Misdemeanors

"Okay," Baranyk says. "Let's just go over what is --"

The kid clucks his tongue and cuts off Baranyk. "Listen, listen, listen, man," he says, wagging a finger. "Just listen."

Baranyk, ignoring the insubordination, nods.

"I didn't threaten nobody, man," the boy says. "I was just there."

Baranyk nods. "Okay, well, you were just there, and what happened?"

The kid shrugs. He yanks his head back and looks up at the ceiling. "I didn't threaten. I just said to this other dude I'd watch his back, that's all. I said I'd watch his back 'cause [he and the boy] were arguing." He lowers his head, looks at Baranyk. "I didn't do nothing they said I did."

Baranyk's eyes start blinking. It is a tic of sorts that sometimes comes over him during moments of intense concentration, when he is trying to piece together a puzzle. "So what was the argument about?"

The boy shrugs. "Just arguing, I don't know."

Baranyk says something else that the kid already knows: One of the witnesses was his ex-girlfriend.

"She'll say anything," the boy fumes.

Baranyk says that witnesses are accusing him of threatening her, too.

"Oh, man," the boy mumbles.