Chim - Traffic

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Nicola, Nadine, Sarah and I enter the courtroom, taking our seats in the front row of the public gallery. John and the defense attorney, Tyler Scott, enter next, each sitting at the assigned tables near the front of court. I drag my eyes over to the defendants dock as Patrick McGregor is brought in by two police officers, handcuffed, his head shaven. The bailiff asks us to stand as the Honourable Judge Wilkins enters the courtroom. Once we're sat, the prosecutor brings forward his case, followed by the defense, trying to create doubt in the jury's mind by picking holes at everything John says. Eventually, the witnesses are brought to testify and be examined one by one and when Cheryl's name is called, I grip the gold bar in front of me, my knuckles whitening. She enters the witness box slowly, and I can see her shaking from where I'm sat.

       "Please state your affirmation for the court and be seated." The bailiff says, standing in front of her.

       "I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Her voice echoes around me and she sits, resting her eyes on me. John stands, approaching her.

       "Is your full and legal name Cheryl Ann Tweedy?"

       She clears her throat before replying. "Aye, it is."

       "Miss Tweedy, how long have you lived in London?"

       "Six years. I moved here when I was eighteen to attend university."

       "I see. Miss Tweedy, do you recognise the defendant?" He gestures to McGregor, and Cheryl tears her eyes from me to glance at him, and then looks down at the ground.

       "I do."

       "Where do you recognise him from?"

       She takes a sip of water from the glass in front of her, briefly closing her eyes before looking at me again. "He's the ringleader of the international sex trafficking gang who abducted us."

       "You're sure this is the same person?"

       "I'm sure."

       "Miss Tweedy, while you were missing, what did this man do to you?" I think my breath leaves my body as she describes the things done to her, things that she had not told me. Nicola begins to cry the more Cheryl talks, and out of the corner of my eye I see Nadine pass her a tissue. Cheryl finishes her testimony by describing the day she was found, and a few tears escape her eyes, which she quickly brushes away. John concludes his questioning and takes his seat as Tyler Scott stands, straightening his tie.

       "Miss Tweedy, are you in a relationship?"

       "Aye."

       "How long have you been in this relationship?"

       "Almost five years."

       "I see, and you are in a relationship with another woman, correct?"

       "Aye, that's right."

       "And Miss Tweedy, when did your obsession with my client, Mr McGregor, begin?"

       "I'm not obsessed with him."

       "Is it true that you have been stalking Mr McGregor for the past two years, desperate to start a romantic relationship with him?"

       "No, it's not." More tears run down her face and she's presented with a box of tissues by the bailiff, pulling one from the box.

       "Miss Tweedy, I think that you are lying. I think that you became bored by your same-sex relationship and sought the love of a man you cannot have. You have been trying to become Mr McGregor's lover and when he turned you down, you falsified your own disappearance and are now using this court to showboat your heartbreak and get revenge on my client for not wanting to date you." She cries harder, and I desperately want to run to her, to comfort her.