Memoirs Of a survivor

77. Trial

pic of dad good old robbert knepper, he plays the bad guy so well...

sorry, i couldn't be bothered to edit (not that the rest of the book is well edited, but still, i tried), its just past half 2 in the morning, and i have to be at work in around 6 hours, so your gonna have to deal with it, anyways enjoy ducklings!!

G xoxo

It was weeks later, when a George came back. Nate was still staying with me, I think he just enjoys my company, but I didn't mind, so I hadn't asked him to leave. "The trial date has been posted, it's in 3 days" I nodded my head at the comment. "We are trying to send him down for 25 to life, with his priors, and the fact that it went on for so long, also the injuries you have sustained, and the mental trauma. There is also the factor that he sold you, which takes away any chance of parole." I released a breath, happy that I wouldn't have to be scared any more. Then a thought occurred to me

"what about Freddy?" I asked, George thought for a moment, "ah, yes, well he has priors of rape as well as organised crime ties, so he will go down for a minimum of 10 years, but I happen to know he pissed some people off before he got caught, plus he's going down for rape, so I recon he will make it a month before he has an unfortunate accident." I nodded and grimaced at the comment, but was still happy that I wouldn't need to worry any more. "The only thing is, we need you to testify at the trial, because he is going down mostly for what he did to you." I nodded, mentally preparing myself for the trial. Then reaching for the house phone and phone book as George and Nate chatted to each other.

The dial tone sounded, and then a woman's voice answered "hello" I took a breath
"mom?" she exhaled noisily
"Scarlett," I bowed my head
"I know I wasn't very nice to you the last time we spoke, but I need you to do this one last thing for me, come to the court house Wednesday, at 3 o'clock, I promise, I will lose your number after that" she didn't miss a beat,
"what have you gotten yourself into now, I'm not bailing you out" I laughed at her
"just be there, okay" then put the phone down on her. When I looked up, I saw Nate walking towards me. I smiled and accepted the cuddle he offered.

WEDNESDAY

I was stood in the bathroom of the court house, dressed in a black pant suit. I smoothed down the pants and made sure that my hair was slicked back, and then walked out of the room. I was up next in the courtroom. My case had caught a lot of media attention, and there were lots of people in the room, to sum it up, I was nervous, Freddy and my father were in that room, as well as my mother, and the entirety of my high school. Holding my head up high, I stepped into the court room, and marched up to the front, pulling open the gate, I went and sat in the chair at the front of the room. The judge gavelled the court back to order and I was called to the stand and sworn in. they started by asking questions about my childhood, "why did your mother leave" I took a moment, to think over the question then said
"I think she just got tired of him, she went out to work, and came home to a drunk husband, there's only so much of that a person can take" I shrugged "I don't blame her," the lawyer nodded,
"why didn't you go with her" I looked over to her, sat with her new family, and said simply
"she didn't want me" I saw her shake her head out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored her, the layer was asking more questions. He went to collect some paper off the desk and came back to me
"you said your father sold you when you were 16" I tensed up, clenching and releasing my hands before nodding
"yes," was all I said, as I tried to calm my breathing, which could be heard over the PA system. The man waited a moment before continuing in a soft voice
"can you describe it" I looked up and around desperately, for help
"I already, did that" he nodded,
"I know, its hard sugar, but..." I cut him off
"don't call me that," I gritted out coldly, causing him to step away from me. I took another breath. "He, err, took me to the ring, to watch a fight so that I would know what to do when I was there." I clenched my jaw, sitting tensely "he err," I sniffed, refusing to cry, I lifted my head and squared my shoulders "they bargained for me, my dad said 'the number your thinking of, triple it, and ad a zero' it was weird, at first I didn't understand, but then when Freddy asked if I was a virgin, it clicked." I stopped and took a breath, looking up to see anger on everyone's face except two, my father, was sat expressionless, evidently he hadn't had a drink in a while, and was completely sober, hearing about what he had done to his only kid. The other face was my mother's; she had sorrow on her face as silent tears fell down her cheeks. I dragged my eyes away and over to the judge,
"do I need to go into detail?" the judge a kind looking man had an apologetic look on his face "if you can sweetheart" I nodded, and sat up,
"fine." I paused a moment, as the memories crashed over me, as though it happened yesterday "my dad gave him 4 condoms, and the instruction that if he got me pregnant, then he would have to take me and the kid. Freddy just agreed, and dragged me into the alley. He used all four, hitting me, and saying things. He had his hands round my neck, it left bruises I tried to run, but he just caught me, I tried to push him off. But he was just everywhere, I couldn't get out from under him." I stopped speaking, leaving the court room in silence. "The- the last time, he tried to be nice, he made me look at him as he did it he said 'sugar, I'm sorry, please look at me, I just want to see your beautiful eyes,'" I bit my lip, calming myself "any way he took me back to my dad, after he was done." I looked over to the lawyer, who was stood stunned before he recovered himself
"and was that the last time you saw Freddy" I shook my head "no, he came to my school, to sort out some trouble about tutoring, and he tried to take me on a date, once, but I made up an excuse." I took a breath "he came to my house, and err," I trailed off "in the spare bedroom, while my dad was downstairs" I looked away ashamed, for letting it happen to me.
"Scarlett, you have nothing to be ashamed of, you've been very brave" I nodded and looked back up.
"Is that it?" I asked trying to stand, only to sit back down when he shook his head.
"You don't really need to answer many more questions for this part though, we have your polygraph" he waved the paper in front of me. Then turned to the judge, "can we play the video" the images that I saw at my graduation flickered onto the screen. I sat breathing steadily trying to block out the noise, and the look of pity in everyone's eyes. Then there was footage of my fight with my father, it was shaky, but you could tell what was going on, you could hear me screaming at my father, and him shouting right back. "Scarlett, why did you never tell anyone about your abuse?" I looked up at him and heaved a sigh
"he's my dad, and he was all that I had. So I loved him unconditionally, I didn't want him to get into trouble because of me no way" he raised an eyebrow at me imploring me to answer more "I was scared, I didn't have anywhere to go, I couldn't force myself on my uncle, or on Nate, so I shut up and dealt with it, just like I did with everything else, I dealt with it on my own." the lawyer turned to me,
"Scarlett, before you go is there anything you would like to say to your father?" I nodded and looked at him, he swept his head up, and looked back with despair in his eyes
"you hurt me daddy" my voice was low as I spoke "you hurt me beyond repair, I spent my life wondering why, but I know now, I did nothing wrong," I took a breath, and closed my eyes "so I guess what I want you to know is, what you did was not okay, but I forgive you, because you are my dad, and I still love you, unconditionally" I got up and walked down off the stand as the first tears fell. Next came pictures of me, some from school with my bruised face, and others that the doctors had taken of my scars, there were x-rays that showed breaks and fractures over my body, and details of my trips to the emergency room. The doctor got up on the stand and explained her findings, followed by a psychologist, who talked about the mental trauma I had undergone. I sat for hours on end, listening to comments being made about me listening to observations. The truth was finally coming out. Eventually the court took recess while they came up with his sentence. I had never been so nervous in all my life. By the time we were called back in, an hour later, I was shaking; I couldn't even get a sentence out, for the nerves that were choking me.