xp_logs | Sooraya and Angelo: translation services

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Sooraya assists Angelo with the defense of a young mutant in court.

"So tell me again... what are the highlights of this case you're dealing with again? You told me, but that had so many bits and pieces that I'm still trying to piece it together in my mind." Sooraya asked as they parked the car.

"A mutant kid's been charged with assault", Angelo told her. "I'm almost certain it was either self-defense or an accident, but I need to get witness statements. Trouble is, not all of the witnesses speak good English."

"Ugh, it kinda sounds like the usual story. I am guessing since they are a mutant, they are charged with assault or something?" Sooraya frowned. "And you need me to translate. That I can do. Do you know what language we are looking at? Dari or Pashto?"

"I think it's Dari. I can speak it a bit, but not much more than greetings and a couple other phrases. Which, yeah, is where you come in."

"I see what you mean." Sooraya paused as she exited the car. "Any details you can give me about the witness you want to talk to? Male, female, age?" Each one meant a bit of a separate approach to follow for her.

He nodded, closing the car door and locking it. "Female, older - I don't know how long she's been in America. She's not related to the kid but they're neighbors."

"One last question before we get there, is kid Afghani or something like that as well? If she's not too fond of the courts, that might just help convince her if he is part of her community." Sooraya figured as they approached the apartment building.

"Actually, yes." He grinned. "Think it'd be enough to get her to testify?"

"Well, it can't hurt in any case."

+++

The way the small sitting room looked like, immediately reminded Sooraya of Afghanistan and she settled easily on to one of the low couches. "Thank you for speaking with us, Mrs. Fazal. I am Sooraya Qadir and this is Angelo Espinoza."

Angelo followed suit, with a reassuring smile. "Thank you for allowing us into your home. Sooraya is here to help us talk today."

Sooraya waited for Mrs. Fazal to finish pouring them tea and to take a seat before continuing in Dari: "We were hoping you would be able to tell us a little bit about what happened last week with young Jamil."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Is he in trouble?"

"He is", Angelo said seriously. "He could end up going to jail, but I've been assigned as his lawyer and I want to help him. I don't think he did what they're saying, or not on purpose."

Sooraya translated and a smile played around her lips when Mrs. Fazal shook her head and muttered something about young men getting in trouble too often. "This time though, Mrs. Fazal, I don't think it's just young men getting in trouble, but other people who are trying to get him into trouble."

"We think he might have been defending himself", Angelo continued, "and used his powers. But we need to know if you saw anything."

Again Sooraya relayed the message in Dari and listened to reply before explaining to Angelo: "She wants to know what kind of sentence Jamil is looking at."

"It really depends what exactly they charge him with, and what the judge decides on for the penalty if he's convicted. Worst case, it could be a very long one."

Sooraya frowned at that as she translated and finally added: "We both know they won't look at him kindly. For being a mutant, but I bet they'll paint him as a future terrorist if we're unlucky." She gestured at the head scarfs they were both wearing.

Mrs. Fazal frowned as well at that, looking thoughtful. Finally she answered: "What do you need to know?"

"Just the truth", Angelo said calmly. "Whatever you saw, even if you think it wouldn't look good for Jamil, I need to know if I'm going to do a good job for him."

"I don't know at all how it started, because I came from around the corner after going for groceries." Sooraya literally translated. "But there were four men yelling at Jamil. He was standing with arms crossed over his chest and when one went to punch him, he just... he just bounced off."

"So he's got some kind of shield", he guessed. "The man who bounced off... did he get back up?"

"He did." Sooraya confirmed after listening for a minute, adding in Dari: "Did he seem okay?" After listening for a few more moments, she continued: "Mrs Fazal says that he seemed okay, but that there was blood on his knuckles. That can be significant, right?"

"It could be. I'm not sure how that would've happened if he didn't land a hit on Jamil, but maybe something about the shield... or he could just have scraped them when he fell."

+++

"So what do you make of the whole story so far?" Sooraya tapped the steering wheel, waiting for the moment she could pull onto the road. "It sounded like pure self-defense to me, but I also know that the law isn't always so kind."

"It does. And if we get a sympathetic judge and jury, we're in with a shot... but that's kind of a big if."

"Thing is... there is almost nothing offensive about his powers, just defensive." Sooraya paused there for a moment. "Well, he probably could've used them like a kind of battering ram as Cece did, but there seems to be no indication of that."

Angelo smiled bitterly. "You think that matters? We'll have the prosecution painting him as black as they can, probably the four guys who attacked him claiming things that didn't happen... we'll just have to counter with medical evidence, Mrs Fazal, and whatever else we can find."

"You know me better than that." She tossed her big brother a quick glare before focussing back on the road. "Were their injuries properly documented though? I'm curious if the other ones also had scuffed knuckles. We've both been in too many fights to know that is not an injury you just get by tripping on the street."

"They should've been, if they wanted to press assault charges." He nodded. "I wonder about that... Mrs Fazal didn't really say if it was fresh or old blood, but fresh would've been easier to see from a distance unless there was a lot of it. Which, maybe, if he wasn't the first one they went after that day..."

"Huh, there is a thought. But... she said she came from around the corner..." Sooraya thought out loud. "But I've no idea how far away the corner was from where the fight happened. You've any idea?"

"No - but it's easy enough to find out, I'll just go and look. Once I've talked to Jamil again."

Sooraya nodded. "I know you recorded the conversation, but do you need a transcript or a translation? Or do you need to get that done by someone certified?"

"Probably best if it's someone certified", he agreed. "Just to make sure it can't be challenged."

"Makes sense. So... Do you need to go to talk with Jamil right now or do you have time to get a bite to eat?" She threw him a knowing grin. "I know how you get with a case and Jean-Philiipe isn't her to make sure you eat."

He glanced at her sideways and laughed. "All right, fine, I guess there's time for something to eat. Jamil's trial isn't going to be for a while yet."

"Good." She commented, though Sooraya just took a tad miffed, but with twinkling eyes. "You missed my newest spiel though."

Angelo grinned. "You can give it to me anyway if you want. I'd hate to let a spiel go to waste."

"Hmm, I might just save it. I mean... with your habits the question isn't if, but when I am going to need it." She needled him just a little. "So how about Thai?"