A Christian Romance

Chapter 20 - The trial

The mood was set. The judge in the middle was a woman, dressed in a black robe. On a table below, the transcriber was a man. There was a court officer that reminded Debora of a teacher she had in Portugal when she was younger. Among many other people, there was Richard - the accused person - standing in a box, and a corrective service officer next to him. Debora looked at the jurors on her left and quickly realized that none of them were familiar. From the witness box, where she was seating, she could see Joel; cute and sweet as ever, smiling encouragingly at her. He was near to other members of the public, on the back of the courtroom.

Debora would be heard for the first time, and Adam would follow; he was also in court, seated in one of the last rows. She had been nervous since the moment they called her to the witness box. It was taking a while, until her interrogation so in time she managed to appease her nerves. When she was least expecting, an officer came to her with two religious books: the Koran and the Bible. She chose to take an oath on the Bible.

The evidence-in-chief introduced the first questions, and Debora replied to the best that she could remember. The attorneys didn't feel the need for cross-examination, but followed the protocol, to find a few inconsistencies. When the interrogation was done, she was commanded to leave the box and take her seat in the audience.

When Debora sat next to Joel, he whispered encouraging words in her ear and put his friendly arm around her in comfort.

Adam could see them from where he was sitting and started flaring up. When the police officer came to escort him to the witness box, he walked all the way, decided what he would say in that trial.

Debora didn't really know what to expect from Adam, as she saw him seating on the box, but she would never guess that he would blatantly lie, making her look like a gold digger and that Richard was her target.

She couldn't help but hide her face on Joel's shoulder and weep.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Arriving home that evening after court, Debora threw herself on the couch, exhausted by her emotions. Those last weeks anticipating the trial had taken a toll on her, and then that aftermath: Adam giving out a report that portrayed her as a pretentious gold digger. That lie extended a disrespect to all the other victims.

"I will prepare dinner for us." Joel offered.

"No." She sat up. "It's my turn."

"Debora, please, let me do this much." He talked to her comprehensibly.

She had no margin for discussion, so she smiled thankfully, followed him to the kitchen, and slouched on one of the tall chairs.

"I'm shocked."

When Joel cooked, he liked to be focused, and thus he couldn't give her too much attention.

"I know you are, but why aren't you as merciful as other times?" That was his reply.

Debora realized that Joel didn't know about the whole harassment story.

"Because he not only saved me, he also reported what happened to Florencia!" She sighed, looking back in time. "He even said he'd testify for me. I relied on him back then, and now I see that much of what he said was just an empty lie." She looked away. "I was so dumb, Joe."

Joel didn't comment. What could he say, throw a judgment? He knew he wasn't perfect either.

Joel was a bit clumsy in the kitchen and the place soon became a mess. Soon, Debora started to clean up a few of the things that he had left untidy, disturbing his cooking. He didn't like that.

"Debora, what are you doing?" He dared ask, trying to help her realize that she was disturbing him.

"This is messy!" She paused just to give him attention.

"Stop!" He commanded. "Please let me do things my way. If you don't like to see the mess, just leave me by myself." He said that as a recommendation.

Debora however took it as a reprimand and it hurt her. She walked out of the kitchen, only because she was afraid to walk on the road all by herself.
________________________________________________________________________________
Adam thought that he could die in peace once he was sure that the woman - he supposedly loved - hated him, but he quickly found out that revenge wasn't enough to quench the thirst for Debora's exclusive attention. He strongly considered going back to her begging for forgiveness. He would do anything, even change the statements he had made in Court, and judging by what he had seen so far there was a high chance of success in that humiliating plan. One of the things that made Debora marvelous was the kindness and mercy she bestowed upon him and others unconditionally. She was so quick to forgive that it was almost ridiculous and hard to believe.

But while he was lying on his bed, his hands behind his head, elbows jotting to each side, that humiliating plan easily proved to be disastrous. The last time he tried to beg for her forgiveness, she told him off with such a class that left him reeling.

Ah! His life was hard and he could remember exactly how, when, where, and why his life so drastically changed. It wasn't on the day he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he had done his peace with God, accepting that death would come sooner than expected. It was, however, when Debora entered the audition room. He instantaneously knew that he would fall for her, it felt like something he couldn't contain. The more he fought against it, the more it grew in him.

Adam finally got up from bed, tired of mopping around all morning. He had quickly adjusted to living a routine where God had no place, so he just moved to his laptop and started searching for private cancer clinics in New South Wales. Why wouldn't he follow his friend's recommendation, just out of spite? For some reason, Joel was his best mate, he was loyal, reliable, and always had words of wisdom, when no one else knew what to say.

He contacted a private practice in the outskirts of Sydney. Thanks to the internet, he found a place that seemed decent and highly recommended, judging by the comments. He didn't have much hope, but something would suffice: some news that sounded more positive in his ear, something like he could live longer, or that an operation would delay the disaster; just something less terminal than what his doctor had predicted.