Journal
- Steve is not a happy camper. The trial is going poorly, and he's got some questions gnawing at his brain (ouch): Can the prosecutor see through Osvaldo? Can she see through Steve? Or is she just doing a job?
- An inmate named Acie is about to get a verdict. Everyone knows he did the deed, and sure enough he's convicted. Acie starts crying, though, saying God will forgive him for it—he planning on paying the money back someday.
- Steve wants to cry, too. If he's convicted, he's looking at 25 years to life, which makes him want to have a puke party.
- Then he starts thinking:
- He wonders what his mama thinks of him.
- He thinks about Mr. Nesbitt and the nasty pictures of his dead body.
- He thinks about O'Brien, how she looked at him while he checked out the photos. He wishes he could "open my shirt and tell her to look into my heart to see who I really [am]" (7.9).
- He thinks about himself—he knows he isn't a bad person in there.
- He remembers asking O'Brien about her life at their last meeting. It sounded like a good life.
- The prison guards talk about kids and braces and the Yankees; they make fun of a young juror who shows up late.
- While he waits for trial to begin, the guards bring in King and sit him next to Steve. Steve prays that King will keep his trap shut.
- No such luck, though. King asks Steve if he's going to cut a deal, and then he gives him the Look of Death.
- Steve starts laughing, though, because compared to the nightmare he's living every day, King's Look of Death feels like a threat from a baby bunny. He wonders what possessed him to ever look up to James King, Thug Extraordinaire; he thinks King is ridiculous now.
- There are a bunch of school kids in the courtroom to watch the trial, and they look away when Steve looks at them.
- Steve imagines himself in their shoes.