Life, Love, & Lies

Twenty-One

⚠️TW//HIGH!!!⚠️

A day off had been all LoLo could think about for four days, playing Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh back to back nights had kept her busy, but emotionally she was feeling far too exhausted to even enjoy the work she was doing with her camera. And yet, even with sleeping until noon and leaving her phone on do not disturb after arriving in Toronto the evening before, she can't seem to find a way to distract her overflowing mind. No novel, biography, or even trusted comfort story could hold her attention or numb the shit she was worried about.

New York was only three shows away, only the show the next night in Toronto and a show in Boston in three days lay between current time and arriving back in New York City for the band to play their sold out show at Madison Square Garden. The rest of the team, along with the band, are ecstatic, and why shouldn't they be? But to LoLo the idea that in five nights she will have to have made a decision that could haunt her for the rest of her life is terrifying.

Taking a deep breath she reaches across the bed, grabbing her tablet from the nightstand resolved to let herself do what she had been debating since Anja told her she should go see her dad before he's gone. Everything had happened when she was a minor, at least initially, and due to that fact things had been withheld from her that she didn't need to know. And in the time since her dads arrest she had stayed away from the news stories and coverage of his trial and sentencing, she hadn't wanted to be a part of it. She'd been hurt, she'd been damaged, she had been so incredibly lost at the time, and everyone shielding her from it had seem like a blessing, but now, with her world in chaos and so many choices sitting on her shoulders, she'd wished she knew the full story, she wished she'd been a more active participant, or at least an active observer years before...

Taking a deep breath to steady herself she pulls up the internet, typing her dad's name into the search bar, holding her breath as the results page loads with thousands of hits, surprised when there is a documentary she didn't know was made, following the entirety of his trial. Paying the five dollar download fee for the documentary she slips her headphones into her ears as it loads, reading the opening statement on a black screen with a knot in her stomach.

"This documentary was made with permission from the New York State District One Courts, in collaboration with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and with the participation of the United States Department of State when pertaining to victims and incidents investigated outside United States Jurisdiction."

LoLo pauses the video as the statement starts to fade into what she can see is a courtroom. She had not been aware there were victims outside New York, outside the US. Realistically she also knows she is looking this up to find out the things she didn't know about her dad, and she needs to be prepared for anything, she knows that much from the parts of the story she does know.

Settling herself deeper into the blankets she presses play again, her eyes sweeping the courtroom and recognizing both her dad and Mark instantly, Spencer sat in the first row of viewer pews behind the defendants table. No one else on the screen is immediately recognizable to her, many of the people appearing to be there as media sources to cover the trial.

"All rise." LoLo moves her eyes to the top of the screen, watching as the judge enters the room, glancing over the jury sat to the side and seeing the unfortunate group of innocent people chosen for jury duty at the wrong moment, people who would have to deal with all the details and knowledge of her dad's issues for the rest of their lives.

"Thank you, you may be seated." The judge comments, "I am Judge Samuels and this court is now in session." He bangs the gavel and takes his seat. "Opening statements, from the Defendant first." He motions towards Mark and her dad's team.