Chapter 3

“Miss d’Santos?” Howard Arden smiled. “Please drop by my office after lunch. I want to review a few things with you, concerning your spectacular resolution to the Magdalena case.”

“Yes sir,” Yzzy nodded. In the week since her return to Sacramento, word had spread about the case and how she had been instrumental in the win. A few people commented that they expected to see her start to take on more and more prominent cases in the near future. Her star was on the rise.

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Arden?” she asked as she knocked on his office door that afternoon.

“Yes! Please have a seat!” Smiling, he indicated a chair in front of his desk. Several folders sat in front of him. One had her name written across it. “It’s standard policy to review things after a case wraps up, no matter how it works out for us. We want to review what worked and went right, what didn’t work and went wrong, and focus on ways to improve future situations.”

“Yes sir, I’m happy to help in any way possible.”

“I’m not going to lie to you. Initially, I had little hope of us winning. This was a case where we were going up against a well funded company that had legal resources that had pretty much steamrollered previous litigation in their favor. When the Ryan firm contacted us, they knew it was going to be a close race to who would win this.”

“The Ryan firm?”

“They’re based in Chicago, where the Brice foundation is.”

“Mr. Arden, may I share something personal with you?” At his nod, she continued. “Magdalena school saved me. I arrived there as a frightened child of ten who narrowly missed being sold into the white slave trade because my mother was involved with some gang officer. He wanted to sell me and make a profit off a terrified child. Had he done so, I doubt that I would still be alive today.” Arden’s look of shock was hardly noticed as Yzzy reflected on what had happened many years ago. “I had pretty much the clothes on my back and a few personal items. That school gave me a proper home. Love. Support. Friends. A family. Within an hour of my getting there, I was welcomed and established friendships that endure to this day. On the day the trial wrapped up, the school headmistress was there and she told me how proud she was of me. I met a number of the current students attending the school and when the decision was read, we cried and celebrated together. Why? Because Magdalena is our home. Our community. We share something that can’t be defied under conventional means. The majority of the girls who show up there are from impoverished families, if there is a family to begin with. That school helps transformations happen. Kids from the ghettos of a city, or rural areas with no resources to support them go on and become people that make a difference. They have launched the careers of scientists, medical specialists, business leaders, and countless others who have gone on and contributed to society. I was proud and honored to represent the school and the people there. I wanted to show those young ladies what can be accomplished.”

“It’s my understanding that the list of graduates includes the occasional lawyer,” he chuckled. “I read the transcripts.”

“Yes. When you asked me to review those files several months ago, I simply knew with all my heart that I had to go and help. I would have offered my services for free to do so.”