Jones
VS. Meyer Trial Day 2
Jack sat in her seat that day as Meyer’s lawyer rambled on questions to every witness that Donald put on the stand, but her mind kept wandering to the previous night when she and Darren were alone in his room talking in bed. It felt more like they were arguing instead of talking. He kept asking her questions that she didn’t want to answer, especially ones about her life in San Francisco before he and Dan showed up. She wasn’t ready to share any of her secrets yet, at least not the ones that were still hard to forget.
As Jack daydreamed, Meyer’s lawyer made a total mockery of her in front of the entire courtroom. He made it a point to expose every flaw, especially the violent ones that she had blocked out of her mind. Donald, on the other hand, was doing a good job with damage control. He managed to clean up Jack’s messes neatly. But the one thing that always seemed to come up with every witness was Jack’s fight with Seth. Even Nadia wasn’t prone from that attack from that little pint sized lawyer Meyer hired to represent him.
“Jack is not the horrible person that you’re making her out to be,” Nadia was nearly yelling at him. “She would never intentionally hurt someone.”
“But she hurt Mr. Meyer for no reason,” the lawyer retorted.
“Were you even there?” Nadia snapped. He shook his head. “Then don’t go assuming things happened exactly the way the video shows. I know for a fact that the camera angle you showed wasn’t the same one that I had from where I was sitting. And that thing about Jack and Seth getting into a fight, he hit her first. I was there; I saw the whole thing happen. That little son of a bitch was abusing Jack. I know she’s been telling everyone that Seth only hit her once, but that’s not true. There were several times that he hurt her. The fight was the first time he ever hit her in public. That’s when she had finally had enough, defended herself, and they broke up. Jack was nothing but a victim. She had been for nearly the last year. She’s been through more in these last few months than any of you will ever go through in a lifetime. Jack is not the bad guy, that little weasel of a reporter is.”
“No further questions,” the lawyer mumbled, knowing his case had gone downhill after Nadia’s testimony. She left the witness box and took her seat behind Jack.
“I’m sorry, I had to,” Nadia whispered.
Jack put her head down on the table and nearly began to cry. The small, painful details of her life were finally being exposed for all to see. That was the last thing she wanted.
Dan gently patted her back and said, “It’s okay. Get up. Don’t let them see you’re hurt. That’s what they want.”
Jack sat up again and wiped her eyes. She began to focus more on what the lawyer was saying and realized that the trial was close to being over. The final statements were being made, and soon the jury would be making its final decision. Jack’s nerves were more than ransacked now. She could feel her body crumble as her fears rose.
“Court is adjourned until the jury makes a decision,” the judge announced.
Jack and the others fled the courtroom fearing the on slot of reporters would get to them before they could escape. After heading out of a back door, they found their limo and headed for an early dinner. All were quiet inside as the driver took his time getting to the restaurant.
“Why did you lie to us?” Dan finally asked, breaking the uneasy silence.
Jack’s head hung low as she answered, “I don’t know. I was in denial.”
“And you’re still in that phase after how long?” he almost shouted.
“Don’t yell at me!” she shot back.
“Dan, leave her alone,” Nadia growled as she put her arm around her friend.
“You stay out of this,” he angrily answered.
“How dare you speak to me like that?” she shouted.
“Guys!” Donald mediated before a fight broke out. “Simmer down. I know you’re all angry about what happened, but don’t tear each other apart over it.” Dan and Nadia exchanged angry glances then turned away from each other. Donald turned to Jack and asked, “Care to explain things now?”
“If everyone’s gonna rip my head of because I don’t, then yeah, I guess I can try to explain,” she said. “It’s been over two years since Seth and I broke up, but things he’s done are still fresh in my mind. The first time he hit me was across the face. I didn’t think much of it because he immediately apologized. As our relationship progressed, so did his abuse. It finally got to the point where I was being beaten on a daily basis.” Jack was now on the verge of tears, her eyes turning deep red as she held them back. Her mind switched gears as she realized what she was about to tell everyone. “Darren,” she said, looking over at him with deep sorrow. “I lied to you when I told you I was a virgin.” She buried her face into her hands, unable to continue the rest of her story.
“Do you want me to tell them what happened?” Nadia asked. Jack nodded, unable to pick her head up. “Okay.” She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. “Well, what she means is that the night before the fight, Jack and Seth were in a heated argument about I don’t even know what in our apartment when all of a sudden I heard this thud in her room. I tired blocking everything after that point out by blaring me headphones, and it worked, but I didn’t realize the mistake that I made until the next morning. I got out of bed to get breakfast started, and I looked into Jack’s room as I usually did to check on her, but I didn’t see her anywhere. I walked into the dark room and opened the blinds to find blood all over the floor and the bed sheets. It wasn’t until I walked over to the other side of the bed that I found Jack lying on the floor in a pool of blood with only a sheet covering her body. I knew instinctively what had happened the night before. Seth had raped her.”
Dan, Darren, Leonie, and Donald looked at them, eyes wide and jaws almost dropping down to the floor. Jack’s tears were flowing free as Nadia finished the story. Her body trembled as she curled up closer to her friend so that she could be left alone. Even Nadia was ready to start crying after telling a story that she and Jack managed to keep from everyone for so long.
Darren could feel his heart crack with the information he had just received. “Jack, baby,” he whispered as he scooted closer and tried to comfort her. She pushed him away, finding retreat in Nadia’s tight grasp.
“It’s okay, honey,” Nadia soothed. “It’s over. You’re far away from her. He’ll never hurt you again.”
“I… I don’t know what to say,” Dan choked. “I’m so sorry I had to bring this up.”
“Shh…” Nadia replied as she put her finger to her lips. She kept hugging Jack until she managed to pull herself together.
The car was silent again, only the sound of the rumbling engine could be heard. The ringing of a cell phone quickly broke the uneasy silence. Donald reached into his pocked and pulled out the pesky device to answer it. “Hello… Yeah… They’re done…? They want us back now? Okay, we’ll be right there.” He hung up and looked at them. “The jury has reached a verdict,” Donald said. “We need to get back to the courthouse right now.”
~~~~~~~~~~
All were quiet in the courtroom as the judge took his seat. The bailiff handed him a slip of paper with the verdict written on it and read it over.
One of the jurors stood up and began to read off the votes of the others. Jack, Dan, and Donald listened to her ramble on through the votes. Jack could feel the pain returning to her body just as the juror was saying, “The court finds Jacquelina Jones not guilty…” The juror’s voice trailed off as Jack’s legs gave way to pain and relief. She could feel herself falling in slow motion as Dan and Donald tried to grab her. She hit the floor with a thud and everything went black.