Forgiveness

One of Joel's predictions came true. Their divorce was finalized before the trials were over. Todd's trial was first. Despite the evidence, he pled 'Not Guilty.' It seemed his main mission was to humiliate Ray Ann. She testified first. Between bouts of crying she related the events of the evening up until she left the bar and after she woke up the next morning. She said she had been raped. Forensic evidence was presented to prove the semen in her was from Todd.

Todd's lawyer was brutal in cross examination.

"Mrs. Miller, on the night in question, was this the first time you had gone out with your co-workers to a bar?"

"Yes."

"Was the reason you hadn't gone before that your husband was out of town and you hope he wouldn't find out?"

"Well, yes. You see . . . "

"Your honor, would you instruct the witness to answer only what I ask."

"Ms. Miller, please refrain from going beyond what is asked."

"Now, for you to defy your husband, you must really have wanted to go out drinking and dancing. Tell me, did you know that Todd Hargrove was going to be one of the co-workers going out with you?"

"Well, I didn't know for sure, but I supposed he was."

"Mrs. Miller, did your husband physically threaten Mr. Hargrove at last year's Christmas Party because you and Mr. Hargrove was, in your husband's words 'having sex on the dance floor?"

"That was a gross exaggeration of . . . "

"Your honor, please."

"Ms. Miller, I am reminding you to keep your testimony to the questions asked. Your lawyer will have the opportunity to let you say anything you wish."

"I'm sorry, your honor. Yes, my husband threatened Todd because Todd kept trying to pull me close to him and put his hands on my behind while we were dancing. I was doing my best to prevent Todd from taking liberties."

"So, your 'best' attempts at thwarting Mr. Hargrove's inappropriate dancing techniques were so weak that your husband had to intervene and threaten Mr. Hargrove. What you're telling us is that you didn't want Mr. Hargrove to stop what he was doing as bad as your husband did and that you were looking forward to inappropriate dancing without your husband being around."

"Objection, your honor. Counsel is putting words in Ms. Miller's mouth."

"Never mind, withdrawn." Taking a brief pause, Todd's attorney continued. "Mrs. Miller, there are several witnesses to your behavior at the bar who are ready to testify to what happened. I am going to ask you what transpired, so be careful. Is it true or not that you had several alcoholic drinks that night?"

"Yes."

"Why do people drink, Mrs. Miller? You specifically."

"Well, to relax and feel good, I guess."

"Have you ever heard that alcohol helps a person lose their inhibitions?"

"Yes."

"So, you drank with the knowledge that your inhibitions were going to be lowered. That must mean that you wanted to lower your inhibitions."

"I wanted to have a good time."

"Apparently you did."

"Objection."

"Withdrawn."

"Mrs. Miller, isn't it true that you are the one who asked Mr. Hargrove to dance first?"

"Well, he was dancing with the others and hadn't asked me. I felt left out."

"So, you admit asking a man to dance who had previously been threatened by your husband for taking undue liberties. It appears to me you must have wanted the supposedly inappropriate attention if you wanted to dance with Mr. Hargrove without your husband there to stop your participation in the inappropriate behavior. Isn't that true?"

"No, that's not true. I just wanted to dance. Todd is a good dancer. I figured I could keep him under control. There were a lot of people watching us."

"So, you 'innocently' danced with Mr. Hargrove. Tell us, Mrs. Miller, at any point in your dancing with him did your breasts press against his chest?"

"That happens when you slow dance." Todd's lawyer looked like he was going to ask the judge for help again. Ray Ann quickly said, "Yes."

"At any point in your dancing did the front part of your lower body rubbing against the front part of the lower body of Mr. Hargrove."

Ray Ann sighed before saying, "Yes."

"Did this happen for more than a few seconds?"

"Yes."

"Since you didn't stop the rubbing, you must not have considered it inappropriate. Was that because you liked it?"

Ray Ann gave up trying to appear like she had not done anything wrong. "Yes, I liked it, but it didn't mean I wanted to have sex with him. I didn't want it to go any further."

"You mean on the dance floor."

"Anywhere! What happened later was not what I wanted."

"That remains to be seen. Let's go forward in time. Your co-workers came to an agreement that it was time to leave. The women all went to the restroom for the last time. You, however, did not go with them."

"I didn't know they were going to leave so soon. I stayed because Todd said he needed to talk to me."

"Like I said, you didn't go with them to the restroom."

Ray Ann was getting frustrated. She told the judge, "Your honor, if he gets to ask and answer the questions, why am I needed?"

There was considerable laughter in the gallery. The judge even smiled. "Remember, your lawyer gets his turn too."

Todd's lawyer softened up, "I'm sure this is stressful on you Ms. Miller. I only have a couple of more questions. Now, we left off where you and Mr. Hargrove were sitting together at the table while the others in your group were in the restroom. You stated in earlier testimony that Mr. Hargrove wanted to talk about some business issues. Did anyone else hear what you two were talking about?"

"No. Not that I'm aware of."

"So, as far as anyone other than you and Mr. Hargrove knows, you two could have been talking about anything, like what you would like to do with Mr. Hargrove if you could get rid of the others."

"That's not true."

"So you say, but let's see what your actions say. The others came out, you went to the restroom and you came back and had another drink with the man you say you were on your guard against. Before long, you became groggy and horny. The lab results show that you took some sexual heightening drugs. Later you had sex with Mr. Hargrove at your house. The thing we don't know is: how did the drugs get in your system? What we do know is that you willingly drank alcohol to reduce your inhibitions, you rubbed your private parts against Mr. Hargrove's private parts because it felt good, and you stayed with Mr. Hargrove when the others left. Tell me, isn't it the truth that you, Mrs. Miller, gave yourself the drugs in order to increase the pleasure of the sexual encounter you had planned all along?"

"That's ridiculous. I don't even know where to get such drugs."

Todd's lawyer grinned. "Mrs. Miller, have you lived in this area long?"

"All my life."

"Have you ever heard of a section of town called Irishtown?"

"Yes."

"What do you know about Irishtown?"

"It's a crime-ridden area."

"What type of crimes?"

"Theft, burglary, gambling, drugs, prostitution and probably more."

"So, you know that illegal drugs are sold there. Date rape drugs are illegal drugs. Do you still contend you don't know where to buy those drugs?"

"I guess you could buy them there, but I never bought any drugs there or anywhere."

"Again, you say one thing and with just a few questions we find out you change it to something else."

Before the DA could object, Todd's lawyer said, "Withdrawn. I am completely through with this witness."

The Prosecutor did his best to restore Ray Ann and her story's creditability, but she could see the way the jury looked at her. For the first time she was afraid Todd might not be convicted. For the first time she began to see how anyone, especially her husband, could at least partially blame her for getting into this mess. She had originally wished Joel could have been in court to support her. Now she was glad he wasn't there.

Todd's testimony was the crux of the Defense. Everything was based on his acting skills. He pled innocence in the event of the evening in question. He was not aware of Ray Ann's plans to trap him that night. Todd said he deliberately avoided dancing with Ray Ann at first because of the Christmas party altercation, but as the night went on and he had a few drinks, he finally agreed to dance with her, but only because she asked him.

Although he tried to keep her from pressing against him, he finally gave in. No man could have refrained from getting a boner, he declared. Everything was still fine until she waited to use the ladies' room after all the other women had. He waited and waited. The others said they had to leave. He finally said he would take her home. When she came back, she found out that the others had left. She said she was glad because she was sure Todd would give her a ride home. They left almost immediately and Ray Ann started exhibiting signs of being drunk. Once in the car, Ray Ann scooted next to him and started rubbing his crotch despite his protests. She begged him to stop at her place for a nightcap. He admitted that his small head took over and he agreed. A night of wild, but mutually consensual, sex followed. Ray Ann was in charge of what positions and how many times they tried each. He assumed that she might had taken drugs while she was in the restroom.

In the morning, she turned mean when he said he wouldn't agree to keep their affair going even after her husband returned. She became furious and threatened to accuse him of rape. He took her threat seriously and that's why he ran. Todd said he feared Joel would attack him if he believed Ray Ann's story about being raped. He said that, unfortunately, he was correct. He contended that he had not really been worried about the police because he had not done anything illegal.

The Prosecution debunked Todd's testimony with the testimony of the other office workers at Barnie's and the letters of reprimand in his personnel file for inappropriate comments and contact with female co-workers. Todd picked a couple of the female jurors to concentrate his 'poor me' charms. He only needed to convince one.

After three days deliberation, there was a hung jury. Todd was released. He almost immediately sued Joel in a civil suit.

Joel's trial for his actions against Todd was fairly short. The Prosecution presented many large photos of the physical damage done by Joel to Todd. It proved to be overkill. After the first few photos, the jury tended to ignore the rest. Not much emphasis was placed on the unlawful detention because Todd couldn't have gone anywhere than where he was given his injuries. There was a surprise on the terroristic threatening charge. A couple of the police testified that they did not feel threatened and made the phone call to his hometown police because his plea to call sounded reasonable. The Prosecution did not seem upset they only got an eight year sentence less time served. Joel could be out in three years with good behavior.

The lawsuit was finalized soon after. Joel's assets were almost nil. They had mostly gone to Ray Ann in the divorce. The judge was not moved on Todd's lawyer's plea to take the money from Ray Ann. Todd had just enough money to leave town and get started elsewhere. This time he went much further away and did a better job of hiding. Oh yeah, he always turned the TV off when a Publisher's Clearing house ad was airing.

The next three years went slowly for Joel. He had no contact with Ray Ann except she sent birthday and Christmas cards. No inscriptions or letters enclosed. It was as if Joel was left on a list of people to send cards to and never taken off. He hated them. Joel wanted to be prepared to move on with his life after prison. Those cards took him back in time and required him to fight the mental battle once again.

The day he walked out of prison he was wondering if anyone would be there to pick him up. His last choice would have been the person who came - Angela.

"Why are you here? You plan on running me over?"

"Don't think I don't want to. I'm here because my bleeding-heart sister wants to make sure that you have a chance at a new life without her. She's doing well now, by the way. Don't you dare fuck it up."

"Are you taking me to the half-way house?"

"No, Ray Ann has paid six months rent for an apartment. That should give you a chance to get it together, find a job, and be self-supporting."

"What makes you think I will want the apartment?"

"You may be an asshole, but I don't think you're that dumb. If you don't like it, I'll take you to the luxurious halfway house."

"Okay. But this better not be a trick."

"I would love to yank your chain and hang you with it. Make up your mind."

"I said I would go." Then he whispered, "Bitch."

"I heard that." She smiled. "Bastard."

Angela pulled up to a nice-looking apartment complex. Joel commented, "These look too expensive for me."

"They're cheaper than you think. At least come inside and then we can talk about expenses."

Joel was shown into the two-bedroom apartment. It was very nice. In spite of being sure he could not afford it any time soon, he wanted to see every room. He began to notice that some of the furnishings were ones from his old house. Angela noticed his staring. "Ray Ann did some of the decorating. She used some of the stuff she replaced at your old house."

After the tour, Joel had to say, "It's really nice compared, of course, to where I've been living. But I still don't see it being affordable. I would have to make close to what I was making before to pay the rent. There's no way I can get that good of a job now that I'm a convicted felon."

"Why not?" Angela broke out in a big grin. "Your old boss has a job waiting for you. It pays just under what you were making before."

"You better not be pranking me."

"Swear on your grave."

"I'm not dead yet, bitch."

"Give me time. Give me time."

"Isn't there a one-bedroom place that's cheaper?"

"I forgot to tell you, one of those bedrooms is for your roommate."

"Roommate?"

"Yeah, we figured you would need help affording this place so . . . "

Ray Ann walked into the apartment. "Look here, roomie. Let's get some things straight from the beginning. We are no longer married. That means everything is 50/50. Utilities and chores. That is your bedroom, and this is mine. Under no circumstances do you come into my bedroom unless both of us want to. And there will be no other women in your bedroom unless that is me. We clear?"

Joel had been sandbagged. It was a nice sandbagging, but it was sandbagging. "Didn't I make it clear enough to you before that . . . "

Ray Ann went up to him and put her arms around him. "You made it clear you wanted me to do well no matter what. I knew what you were doing was to help me because you thought you would be gone too long to be a factor. I let you think I was doing what you asked so you wouldn't worry."

"You don't really think that we're going to get married again, do you?"

"No. We are really divorced." Ray Ann sighed. "Joel, there's been a lot of water under the bridge. A lot of brackish black water. There's still a significant amount of talking and forgiving that needs to go on between us, both ways. That's why we'll start with separate bedrooms. So that's the deal unless the halfway house appeals to you more."

After a few minutes of contemplation, Joel's face turned sad all of a sudden. "Joel, what's the matter?"

"I'm afraid that there is something you're not aware of that could make all the difference in the world."

Ray Ann's face soured. "What is it, Joel?"

"Well, I've been in prison almost four years. I know you realize that in prison there are no women and that men still like to have sex . . . "

"Oh, no. Were you raped by other men?"

"No, but given the circumstances, it appears that I prefer men to women now. I'm gay."

Ray Ann and Angela both slumped down on to the sofa. Both were speechless. "We went to so much trouble to make this happen." Tears came down both faces.

"I have one more revelation."

Angela quipped, "What? You like little boys now?"

"No. Actually, I was lying about being gay. Gotcha!"

Both women attacked him physically as he laughed as hard as he had ever laughed. Soon they joined in the laughter.

Angela spoke, "You asshole. You just added one more thing to the list of things that my sister needs to forgive you for."

Ray Ann added, "Keep this in mind when you are deciding how soon you might want to becoming intimate again. I am now willing to provide you something in bed that Evie told me you liked."

"Your sister is going to join us in a threesome?" A pillow from the couch sailed directly at this head.