After three hours of debate, the jury voted. Four for expulsion. Three for probation. The brigadier looked at Maya. “You’re the tiebreaker.”
“But they have a voice,” Maya said. “Reggie humiliated him in front of 200 people. That’s not ‘bringing the club into disrepute.’ That’s being a bully with a membership card.” scc jury duty
“Pardon?” said the brigadier.
Reggie, white-faced, agreed under threat of full expulsion. Three weeks later, Maya received a handwritten note from Hassan. It said: Thank you. No one ever asked before. After three hours of debate, the jury voted
The accused was one Reginald “Reggie” St. Clair. Offence: bringing the club into disrepute. The evidence: a video of Reggie, drunk at the annual Black & White Ball, shouting that the club’s crab curry was “a disgrace to Peranakan cuisine” and then attempting to return half-eaten chili crab to the kitchen via a waiter’s tray. The brigadier looked at Maya