February 15, 1993

February 15, 1993, is identified in the novel as a Monday when Rudy Baylor states the date for the record at Central Police Headquarters in downtown Memphis. It anchors a moment when the Black family’s long fight against Great Benefit reaches the courtroom’s decisive stage while Rudy also takes up Kelly Riker’s immediate legal crisis.

The Black Case in Court

The trial’s evidence turns insurance language and corporate procedure into a human story. Dot Black takes the stand, describes her unsuccessful efforts to find care for Donny Ray Black, and reads the company’s successive denial letters to the jury. The final letter leaves the courtroom silent; at Rudy’s request, Dot reads it again. Great Benefit’s representative later confirms that Section U was removed from an underwriting manual, before Rudy produces the complete manual and exposes what the omitted section contained.

The plaintiffs’ case also includes Donny Ray’s recorded deposition, edited to thirty-one minutes and shown to the jury on a screen. The jurors watch in silence, while Dot weeps beside Rudy. Afterward, she tells him that she has had her day in court and wants to go home, though the trial is not yet over.

In his closing argument, Rudy asks the jurors to consider Dot’s experience and Donny Ray’s need for treatment. He points to the testimony and records challenging Great Benefit’s position that a bone marrow transplant was experimental, then uses the company’s 1991 figures to explain the scale of its claim denials. The argument frames those denials as a deliberate year-long experiment in generating cash. Great Benefit’s lawyer offers a contrasting picture: the Black family’s monthly income of $746, a proposed $200,000 payment invested to provide monthly income, and the appeal of a seemingly fair compromise. Rudy’s rebuttal insists that the money alone cannot resolve the question of whether the company’s conduct deserves punishment. The jury then begins deliberating.

Rudy’s Intervention for Kelly

The courtroom proceedings are only one part of the day’s narrative. Rudy has spent the night preparing divorce papers for Kelly, who has left her husband and sought refuge in a shelter. After the closing arguments, Rudy files the divorce and obtains an emergency order requiring Cliff Riker to stay away from her.

Later, Kelly is arrested after returning to her apartment to collect clothes and finding Cliff dead. At the police station, Rudy identifies himself as her attorney and states the date and time of her call to him on the recorded interview. Kelly describes her history of abuse and explains that she went home for her belongings. When questioning turns to what happened after Cliff arrived, Rudy ends the interrogation so he can speak with her and investigate.

Significance of the Date

The date links two forms of legal urgency without making them equivalent. In the Black case, Rudy is asking a jury to judge an insurer’s decisions and their consequences; in Kelly’s situation, he is acting as counsel while police investigate a death. The recorded statement gives February 15, 1993, a precise place in the narrative, tying Rudy’s public work in court to his immediate responsibilities outside it.