My Sister’s Keeper

While on the phone, Campbell thinks about how everyone is beholden to their parents, but the question is how much. His mother vents to him about his father’s latest affair, and he wishes he had siblings so that he would not have to deal with her calls as often. He lies to her about having to go to court and takes Judge to Rosie’s, a coffee shop full of eccentric patrons. A server comes to his table and tells him that animals aren’t allowed; when Campbell says that Judge is a service dog, the server attempts to give him a Braille menu. Campbell declines it, and when the server asks what Judge is for, Campbell says he has SARS and Judge tallies the people he infects. The server, unsure if he’s serious, slowly backs away.

Campbell can see the street through the window, so he people-watches while waiting for his order. As he watches, a black-haired woman drops coffee on her skirt. Campbell freezes. He thinks he knows who this woman is, but he can’t see her face to confirm it. He watches her, but a bus passes by and his cell phone rings—his mother again. When he looks back up, the woman is gone.

Campbell arrives at the office, immediately barking orders to Kerri. Anna is already there, polishing his doorknob—when Campbell asks what she’s doing, she tells him she’s doing what he told her to. One of Campbell’s phone line rings: it’s Sara, calling to tell him that she’s spoken to Anna and they’re going to drop the case. Campbell responds that he’ll have to hear this directly from his client and asks Sara if she knows where Anna is; she thinks Anna is out running. After hanging up, Campbell asks Anna if she’s really committed to the lawsuit or if she’s wasting his time. Anna answers that as long as he’s willing to represent her, she’s committed.

Campbell recalls the first time he sailed in a yacht club race with his father. His father didn’t want to sail with him since, for him, “if you weren’t perfect, you simply weren’t,” and Campbell wasn’t a talented enough sailor. When the two finally sail together, a storm comes in and makes Campbell seasick, making him essentially useless throughout the race. His father wins the race singlehandedly and goes ahead to drink at the yacht club to celebrate. When Campbell catches up, his father toasts to the victory and slams down the victory cup he won, breaking it. One of the sailors says it’s a shame; Campbell’s father, looking at Campbell, agrees.

Campbell describes the bumper stickers around town that memorialize the victims of drunk drivers, which he believes people put on their cars out of “secret joy that this tragedy did not happen to you.” One of these victims is Dena DeSalvo, someone Campbell knew: she was the 12-year-old daughter of Judge DeSalvo, who has now been assigned to Anna’s case. Campbell worries that a judge who has suffered such a loss will not be able to objectively judge a case involving a girl causing her sister’s death.

Campbell arrives at the courthouse and—after deflecting a bailiff’s curiosity about Judge—finds Sara, Brian, and Anna. Sara is arguing with a clerk, who refuses to let her into the chambers since she is not an attorney. However, it turns out that Sara is an attorney who is representing herself. Campbell irritably asks Anna why she didn’t mention this; Anna says that he never asked. Sara is given an Entry of Appearance form and meets with Sheriff Vern. Campbell is dismayed to see that the two are on good terms, feeling that Sara “has all the public servants in the palm of her hand.”

Campbell enters Judge DeSalvo’s chambers. The judge briefly asks about Judge, but Campbell quickly moves past it after stating that he’s a service dog. Judge DeSalvo is surprised to see Sara practicing law again, and she explains it’s because the complainant is her daughter. Campbell briefly explains the nature of the case, but Sara interrupts and reassures the judge that Anna doesn’t actually want to go through with her case. She tells the judge that she just had a bad day and says, “you know how thirteen-year-olds can be.” The room goes very quiet—Judge DeSalvo’s daughter died when she was 12. Sara, mortified, quickly apologizes, but the judge rebuffs her.

Judge DeSalvo asks Campbell when he last spoke with his client. When Campbell answers that she was in his office when Sara called to claim the case was a misunderstanding, Sara is shocked. Campbell attempts to use this as evidence that Sara is negligent, but Judge DeSalvo isn’t buying it; instead, he wishes to speak directly to Anna to clear the air. The three of them go out to the hall where Anna is sitting with Brian. Campbell wants to coach Anna before she speaks privately with Judge DeSalvo, since, as his client, she is supposed to follow his counsel. But when he calls her name at the same time as Sara, she turns to look at Sara, not him.