Warning: This is going to be rough stuff. I have taken great liberties with the criminal justice system. Please remember this story is a work of fiction and not a legal brief. Although, there are several legal types I would like to see in their briefs.

Red Sox: Believe.

FEEDBACK: is welcome at p.phair@comcast.net

Lindsey and Beth sat in an empty courtroom waiting for Officer Charbonnier or ADA Kara O’Malley or somebody or anybody. Lindsey got a call, two days after the run in with Dylan, from the Victim/Witness Advocate regarding a plea agreement in Lindsey’s assault case. It appeared Jonah Cornway was prepared to cooperate with the District Attorney’s Office. However, Lindsey needed to be at the courthouse the next morning for everything to work out.

“Sorry, to keep you waiting,” a breathless ADA O’Malley said as she hustled into the room.

The echo of her heel clicks matched the beating of Lindsey’s heart. O’Malley dropped a pile of files on the table a few feet in front of where Beth and Lindsey sat. Her bag followed the downward motion off her shoulder to smash on the floor with a resounding thud.

“You’d think a body was in there,” the ADA muttered. “Okay, we only have a few minutes before they get here. This is what’s going to happen. Jonah has agreed to plead guilty to assault and turn State’s evidence against Jan Cornway aka Annette Lee Ash.”

“So, Lindsey won’t have to testify in open court?” Beth felt a rush of relief at the thought Lindsey might be spared one small hardship.

“Maybe but not exactly a guaranteed result. Annette could still want a full trial. It’s her right. Still, I’m hopeful she’ll agree to plead out when she hears what we have on her,” Kara said.

Lindsey asked, “What do we have other than Jonah and me saying she was involved?”

“Two witnesses saw them outside the café just hanging around for hours on end,” Kara itemized the list on her fingers, “we’ve got your blood on Jonah’s clothes and Annette’s skirt, your blood in their car, we’ve got a missing bat from the Cornway home which I’m going to make those little girls get on the stand and talk about…,”

“No,” Lindsey gasped in horror. “They’re way too small. You can’t put them on the stand against their mother.”

Kara’s brow gathered before she replied, “Lindsey, I was prepared to put you in jail for not cooperating. Don’t you think I’m going to be even more calculated with the defendants? I play very hardball. I get results; eighty two percent conviction rate. You should appreciate the balance of power more so than anybody else. Annette was merciless on you and now I’m going to be merciless on her.”

“Even if it means hurting two innocent little girls to do it,” Lindsey shot back the accusation.

Kara answered without reservation, “Most definitely. Look, my methods are not up for discussion. You are here only because Jonah agreed to plead to assault but he wants to talk to you first.”

“What if I don’t want to listen?” Lindsey asked still furious with the hard edged prosecutor.

Kara nearly growled, “Then the deal is off. Both Jonah and Annette will go to trial separately. You and those little girls will have to testify twice at the very least. If we get convictions then there will be appeals and, perhaps, new trials. The whole circus will start all over from the beginning. Is that how you want me to proceed? Before you answer, let me add that if Jonah takes this to trial then the charge is going to be assault with intent to murder. He’ll be looking at twenty years in state prison instead of the three to five in jail with the plea. You make the call, how do you want it to happen? What would you suggest I do?”

Lindsey turned to Beth. She could see the woman was just as troubled as she was. There seemed no good choices in the scenarios laid out.

“Ms. O’Malley, will you be able to keep Lindsey safe when he talks with her?” Beth finally asked. “I don’t want to risk her getting hurt again.”

Kara’s manner eased with the question, “I understand your concern. Jonah will be restrained. His lawyer will be with him as well as two spiritual advisers. I requested four bailiffs to escort him. And…,”

“I’ll be sitting right next to you,” a fully uniformed Officer Charbonnier said as he approached from the doorway.

“Sam, you have great timing,” Kara said with a huge grin.

“Hey, Lindsey,” the State Trooper waved to her. “Are you ready to start putting this crap behind you?”

Lindsey gave the man a half smile, “As long as you brought your big motherfuckin’ gun then, I guess, I’m ready.”

It was more like an hour or so than a few minutes before the bailiffs ushered Jonah into the courtroom through a door by the judge’s bench. He looked thinner and paler than Lindsey remembered him. His worn clothes were clean but baggy. They might even have been his father’s hand me downs. He shuffled along with his wrists cuffed to a chain around his waist and his ankles shackled.

“Without a bat in his hands, he looks kind of harmless,” Lindsey thought to herself.

Behind him was a dumpy bespectacled man with wind blown blond hair. He grunted with his efforts to walk to the defendant’s table. Following him was the grim faced Reverend Cornway. He did not look up to where Lindsey and Beth were sitting as he passed. It was the last man in the parade who stunned Beth and Lindsey.

“Mark? What the Hell?” Beth questioned.

The monk quickly made his way over to the two woman. He seemed embarrassed. His cheeks were slightly pink.

“I can explain. But, let’s do it after the court business, okay?”

Beth was so furious she could barely keep from shouting, “The Hell we will. Tell us what you’re doing on his side of the aisle.”

Mark stated, “There isn’t time now. We’ll talk after.”

“FUCK YOU, MARK!” Beth did shout as she stood.

Officer Charbonnier was by her side instantly. “There’s no problem here, right? Mrs. Pretty sit or you won’t be allowed to stay. Do it for Lindsey, ma’am. She needs you with her. Please, sit.” He spoke softly and got her back into her seat. “Sir, get over to the other side before I figure out something to charge you with.”

“Sam, you’re going to have to go to confession for a lie like that,” the monk said with a small smile.

“Don’t push me, Mark. I’m as unhappy about the way you came into this courtroom as Mrs. Pretty is. You better have a really good excuse. Now, go sit!” The Trooper pointed as he snarled out the words.

Lindsey said nothing. She kept a firm grip on Beth’s hand but did not try to ease the woman’s distress. Lindsey couldn’t ease Beth’s anger because her own was worse. She’d been let down before but she believed, Mark’s actions were the worst betrayal she had ever suffered.

“At least, Mom never pretended to like me,” Lindsey thought to herself.

The lawyers chatted briefly. Officer Charbonnier took a seat on the other side of Lindsey. The young woman was effectively sandwiched between Beth and himself.

“Shouldn’t you take your hat off?” Lindsey asked him thinking it must be against the rules to wear a hat in court.

The Officer smiled, “Nope. When a man wears a hat inside it means he’s armed. I don’t want anybody thinking I’m just window dressing.”

“Thanks, Officer.”

Lindsey was truly comforted by his words. She felt really protected. A bit of commotion at the defendant’s table drew her attention away from the big man. The huddle of lawyers and bailiffs had turned Jonah’s chair around to face in Lindsey’s direction. His lawyer then sat on one side and his father sat on the other. Mark sat on the bench facing Jonah but across the aisle from Lindsey and Beth.

ADA O’Malley began, “We have a stenographer present. Everything said from this moment forth will be recorded.”

“Agreed,” the defense lawyer wheezed.

“Mr. Jonah Cornway, you may start whenever you like but anything you say can and will be used against you and I will not allow any abusive remarks or foul language used toward the court or the victim. Basically, the deal is off if you get a smart mouth.”

“Understood. Right, Jonah?” the defense lawyer asked.

Jonah replied, “Yes, sir, ma’am. Can I talk now?”

“Yes, you may,” O’Malley allowed.

When the ADA took her seat, she edged it back slightly toward Lindsey before sitting. She basically blocked access to Lindsey from the front. If he had the mind to attack then Jonah would have to get by O’Malley first.

“I want to say, what I done was wrong. Nobody forced me. No gun to my head. I did wrong. Mama asked me to kill you. Said it needed doin’. Said you were a cancer growing. You got to kill cancer. So, I finally said I’d do it. I thought we was doing God’s will. I mean, you rejected Jesus. Papa offered to save you and you blasphemed. You shame Mama just being alive. She made it sound like a good thing, killing you,” Jonah’s voice cracked and he hung his head for a moment to catch is breath. “But, it was different in the alley. You were a person not a disease. You might be a sinner and damned and all but you were a person too. You was bleeding and crying and begging for help. First, asking me and Mama then beseeching God’s intervention. Why would you beg him for help if you were evil? It didn’t make no sense to me. But, she kept at me. Pushing me to hit you harder; harder and harder. My hands were aching from the punches. My knuckles were cut up and bruised and still you were trying t

o get up and crying for God to help you.” Jonah took a long sniffle.

“Son,” the Reverend took a handkerchief out and wiped his son’s face. “Be a man. Tell her all of it.”

“The last hit was suppose to be the head shot. You was struggling to get up then you looked up at me all afraid. You look just like my baby sisters. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill you. Oh, I still hit you alright. But, I only wanted you to stay down and give me a chance to get Mama home. You went down like a rock. I thought I killed you for sure. Mama checked and said you weren’t dead yet and I should do something but I was already heading for the car. She came with me and yelled at me all the way home.” Jonah looked up and met Lindsey’s gaze, “That’s when I figured out why she wanted you dead. It had nothin’ to do with nothin’ she told me before.”

“Why? Why did she want me dead?” Lindsey asked in a remarkably steady voice.

“I only know parts of it. Her own Ma died in January. Nursing home took all the money. No cash left for Mama. All she got were stacks of papers. She spent days going over them. Most of it was junk that didn’t matter no more; old bills, newspaper clippings, stuff like that. But, there was a life insurance policy on you. Her Ma took it out when you were born. It’s only good until you turn nineteenth. After her Ma, Mama’s the one who gets the money. She was so mad about the money. Said she really needed it or she’d be stuck with us forever. She just wanted to get away from us,” Jonah hung his head and sobbed.

“Apparently, my wife’s conversion was a fraud. I started ministering to her in prison. We grew close. My congregation and I worked to get her out of prison early. I thought we had made a life together. I thought…,” it was the Reverend’s turn to hang his head and cry.

“Anything else, Mr. Jonah Cornway,” an emotionless ADA asked.

Jonah looked away before speaking, “I want to say I’m sorry for the hurt I caused you, Ms. Ash. I was wrong and I accept my punishment.”

The court was silent. Nobody moved for several minutes.

“How much?” Lindsey’s voice was harsh when it broke the stillness. “How much was I worth to her dead?”

Jonah shrugged, “I don’t know for sure. She said something about seventy five hundred dollars.”

Lindsey stood as she shouted, “WHAT! She was trying to kill me for a couple of thousand bucks? You can’t be serious? Is she nuts? Are all of you that insane?”

“Lindsey,” Beth spoke as she tried in vain to capture Lindsey’s wildly flailing hands. “Please, stay calm.”

“Calm? Are you kidding? They nearly pounded me to death and it’s for less money than a new car costs. Shit, you can’t get a good motorcycle for seventy five hundred bucks.” Lindsey continued even when Officer Charbonnier placed his hands on her shoulders and shoved her back into her seat. “Do you have any idea what you did to me, you sniveling twerp? I was in the hospital for weeks. I’m still not strong enough to live on my own. I get dizzy spells which make me puke my guts up. I had to defer college until next year. Who knows if I’ll even be able to earn back the tuition money I had to use because I can’t work? You son of a bitch, I’ll hate you forever. I hope you rot in…,”

“Lindsey, stop.” The ADA said softly, “I want to remind you everything is being recorded. If you wish to continue, you may but there can’t be any threats or foul language. Okay?”

Lindsey snapped back, “I’m done.”

“If the defense has no objection, I’d like to give Lindsey and Mrs. Pretty the option to leave before we bring in the judge.”

“No objection,” the defense attorney stated.

“Ladies…,” the ADA started but Lindsey interrupted.

“I want to go home. Doesn’t matter what you do to him. Won’t make me feel better. Won’t make up for what he caused. Beth, can we just go home now.”

Beth stood and held out her hand. Lindsey accepted it and the pair walked out of the courtroom with the Trooper following them.

Lindsey lay staring at the ceiling. She was making a real effort to count the painted swirls above her. Somehow she kept losing her place in the ever darkening room and she would start over. Which was fine by her. The ridiculous task was keeping her mind from retracing the morning’s meeting with Jonah.

“Some apology. ‘Sorry, I didn’t kill you heathen,’” she gritted out and lost her place again. “Shit, one, two, three, four…,”

Raised voices in the living disturbed her count. She recognized Beth’s voice getting louder and closer to her room. However, she couldn’t hear the other voice until the bedroom door swung open.

Beth was nearly begging, “Please Mark, let’s not do this tonight. Lindsey’s exhausted and, frankly, so am I. Just go home and we’ll call you in a couple of days.”

“Beth, I’m going to talk to Lindsey. If she tells me to leave then I’ll go,” the friar barged into the room without knocking.

“Go,” Lindsey spoke listlessly from the bed.

Mark put his hands on his hips and replied, “You need to listen to me first. If you give me a minute to explain, everything will be all straightened out. Come on, Lindsey, try to keep an open mind.”

Lindsey looked away from the ceiling briefly to glare at the man. “Go away.”

“Lindsey, I came here to tell you my reasons for…,”

“Give it a rest, Mark,” Beth’s voice was barely a whisper. “We’re not interested in your excuses.”

Mark ignored his sister. “They’re not excuses. Lindsey, I’ve been counseling the Reverend since the arrests to help him understand you’re the real victim. Not his son and wife.”

“Four days in intensive care didn’t convince him I was a victim,” Lindsey said as she sat up on the side of the bed. “You needed to tell him. Does he want to see my x-rays? Maybe the doctor who took my spleen out still has it in a jar someplace so you two can inspect it for Jonah’s fist print.”

Mark tried again to explain, “Lindsey, be fair. The man’s family has been ripped away from him. Everything he cherished has been thrown into question. He’s doubting the paternity to his girls after seeing their resemblance to you and knowing the level of Jan’s deception.”

“Dear God!” Beth was at the end of her patience, “Mark, don’t you get it. We don’t care about him or her or their kids. Lindsey is the only victim. She should be the only one you’re worried about.”

“I am worried about her, Beth,” Mark was incredulous. “How could you question my intentions? I’m the one who got the Rev to get Jonah to cooperate. The deals are going to happen. Jan and Jonah are accepting the DA’s offer. Lindsey, the whole mess is going to be over in a couple of weeks.”

Lindsey laughed at him. “Boy, are you dumb. Don’t you get it? Nothing the courts do to them is ever gonna help me. I’m damaged. I’m broken. It wasn’t bad enough she gave me up but now, my own mother wants me dead for money. And, pretty small money at that. Leave me alone, Friar Tuck, you done enough today.”

Lindsey dropped back on the bed. She flung one arm across her face and gave a heavy sigh.

“Come on, Mark. Let her get some sleep,” Beth spoke quietly.

“No. Wait. Lindsey, are you telling me you want to lay back and hold on to the bitterness? Are you going to let anger eat away at your soul?”

Lindsey climbed off the bed. She took several menacing steps toward the monk. He edged back.

“If you were worried about my soul then why were you with him? Why not stay by me and Beth?”

“You should know I’m always here for both of you,” Mark said in disbelief. “But, my ministry is primary. You have to realize, I must tend to the poor in spirit, the imprisoned, God’s lost sheep…,”

“And, to Hell with your family. Like always, Mark,” Beth sneered.

“No, it’s not like…, wait, I’m here for you…,”

“You’re here now. I needed you this morning but you were sitting on the defendant’s side of the court,” Lindsey’s voice broke. “I could have used some tending to my poor spirit but…,”

Beth moved passed the monk to take a distraught Lindsey in her arms. The young woman was shivering in anger and despair. Mark tried to think of the right thing to say to sooth her but all his words were hollow compared to the raw pain before him.

“You’re nothing but a banging gong, boy,” Stu’s voice sounded from the doorway. “You got nothing to give to them that they need. Get along back to monastery and do something useful. Make some jam or something.”

“I…, I…,” Mark stuttered.

“He’s right,” Beth looked up briefly. “Leave us alone. Go do something somewhere else. We managed today without you; we’ll get through the rest on our own as well.”

Mark turned and walked toward the door. He stopped beside Stu and spoke, “I’m sorry. I really believed I was doing the right thing.”

Stu shook his head in disgust. “So did Jonah.”

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