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Clark sat beside Lex in the gallery of the Courtroom. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit with MJSC printed on the back, her shaved head gleaming in the fluorescent overhead lights, PJ sat beside her defense attorney at the table in front of them.
Clark leaned closer to Lex, lowering his voice. "Why can't she be more like Sam?"
Lex checked his watch and readjusted his cuff. "The same Sam who is twenty-two years old, blew off the back wall of the house, destroyed the rear fence, and irradiated the neighbor's pool last week?"
Clark cringed. They'd had a hard time fixing that mess. He was still crossing his fingers that the radiation report would come back negative in a month. "Okay. Then why not more like you?"
"At her age, I was always high on coke and spent more time in lockup than at home."
"Never mind," Clark said quickly. He looked at PJ. She sat straight and tall, as if proud, in spite of her situation. Clark opened his mouth to say more, but Lex beat him to it.
"You had a two-year-old at her age."
"PJ!" Clark got PJ's attention. She looked back at him. Clark gave her two thumbs up. "Don't ever change."
PJ's expression was one of bewilderment. Then she rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her attorney.
Lex patted Clark's knee. "Good Dad."