Authors: Olivia Goldsmith
It amazed Michelle that people weren’t telling the truth. That Mrs. Jackson could lie like a rug, that the miserable adulteress on the stand was talking about how the children loved her. Tears rose in Michelle’s eyes, though the bruised one hurt when she cried. This wasn’t a trial, they’d said at the break. It was a
pendente lite
hearing, but that must have been Latin for crucifixion. Even when Jada won—and she
better
win—Michelle knew her friend would always carry the pain of this. Michelle tried to focus on what was going on next. Angie was up and cross-examining Tonya.
“So, Mrs. Green, you say you have been a child care provider for a long time.”
“Objection, Your Honor. Asked and answered. The witness has already testified she’s been doing this for more than ten years.”
“Oh yes,” the woman said.
Michelle thought that the judge didn’t like Angie. Was that possible? Did it matter?
“Do you have any training in child development or child care?” Angie asked.
“Objection, Your Honor. Let’s remember Mrs. Green is not on trial here. What’s the relevance?”
“The relevance,” Angie said, “is to judge her competence and comparative experience.”
“Overruled. She will be providing child care to Mrs. Jackson’s children.”
Michelle thought it was bad to have an objection overruled, but she wasn’t sure. “New York State requires child care providers to be licensed. Do you have a license?” Angie asked next.
“Oh yes,” Tonya Green smiled. “I got it right here in my bag. And I also got a insurance policy in case anything might happen to the children, Lord protect them.”
Angie seemed flustered. Tonya took out papers and waved them. “Bailiff, let me see those,” Sneed commanded, and they were brought to him.
“Your Honor, could I have a glass of water, please?” Tonya asked. The judge nodded and the bailiff brought it over. Angie waited while Tonya took a drink, then regained her composure.
“So how many children have you taken care of in the last ten years?”
“Oh, quite a few.”
“Please give me their names.”
There was a pause.
“Your Honor, in the interest of time, I think we could provide such a list later,” the creep lawyer said. Michelle bet Tonya had never baby-sat anyone.
“Fine. Continue, counselor,” the judge told Angie. Michelle hoped that she had something good set up to nail Tonya with.
Even Michelle, from rows backs, could see that Angie was surprised by the fact that the list wasn’t needed then and that Judge Sneed let questioning continue. So was Michelle.
“So would you not think that children snatched from their home in the middle of the night, missing their mother, might be silent for a few days? Could that not be homesickness? Or trauma, based on your experience?”
“Oh, homesick kids, they always cry for they mama. These kids never did that.”
Michelle watched as the gross woman in the witness box shifted in the chair and continued to fan herself with a folded piece of paper. It wasn’t hot in the courtroom, at least not to Michelle, sitting on a middle bench in her coat and sunglasses. Good, she thought, let her feel she’s on the hot seat. Michelle wanted Angie to burn Tonya at the stake. “Do you know the name of the children’s pediatrician?” Angie asked. Tonya shook her head. “Well, what would you do in case of illness?”
“Take them to the hospital,” Tonya said. “Or call 911.” She said it as if she was proud of the answer, but Michelle couldn’t believe how stupid it was. She used to call her pediatrician twice a week. She hoped the judge knew.
“What are their favorite television programs?”
“Oh, they watch television
all
the time,” Tonya said with a big smile of relief.
“You allow them to watch TV all the time?”
Tonya’s smile faded. “No. No, I don’t. Not at all.”
“So what programs do you allow? Which are their favorites?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mrs. Green, you are being paid for your services. Yet you don’t know the children’s doctor, or their TV preferences. Exactly what are your services, then?” Angie didn’t give the woman a chance to answer. “Isn’t it true that on the night of November fifth, November eighth, and other nights Clinton Jackson left your home at three
A.M
.?”
“I don’t remember that.”
“Mrs. Green that was only a short time ago. And you don’t remember? Just like you don’t know their doctor, or their favorite television. There seems to be a lot you don’t remember or know.”
The big woman shifted in her chair, drank more of her water, then moved forward to the railing. “Oh, now I remember about Mr. Jackson. He came over to talk about the children. One time I think it was because Kevon woke up cryin’. And the other time, maybe it was to get the book that one of them needed for school.”
“And he arrived at eleven-thirty and didn’t leave until three
A.M
.? Before you answer, I’d like to point out we can provide a witness for this, Mrs. Green,” Angie said in a warning voice.
Michelle felt her hands clench into fists.
Yes
! Now this was going the way trials in the movies went. Michelle hoped Jada was enjoying this.
“Well, one time I remember we talked about the children a real long time because he was so worried.” Tonya paused. “And I think one time he was so tired he might have fallen asleep on the sofa. He was right in the middle of a sentence and was just so tired he fell asleep.”
Bullshit
, Michelle thought, and gritted her teeth. From the back, Jada looked so strong, so upright. And Jada was such a good mother, such a good woman, and so good-looking. She had to listen to this nonsense? This woman on the bench, with her ridiculous outfit and her huge drooping breasts was…
Then it occurred to Michelle that the judge, or for that matter any man, wouldn’t take seriously the idea that Clinton would give up sleeping with lovely Jada for a cow like Tonya Green. That was why she dressed so badly and looked so unattractive.
This isn’t reality
, Michelle thought.
It’s theater. Just like when any punk maniac goes postal and takes out half a restaurant, but then shows up for his trial in a nice dark suit, his hair carefully parted to the left
.
“Mrs. Green, isn’t it true you’re having a sexual liaison with Clinton Jackson and have been for many months?”
Then everything seemed to happen at once. Tonya made a moaning noise as if she were having sex with Clinton at that moment. Her water glass fell and smashed. The greasy lawyer was yelling, and Angela either repeated her question or asked another, but Michelle didn’t hear it. Tonya didn’t answer, but instead drooped over the railing, dropped her fan, and slumped forward. Clinton’s lawyer stood up, then ran to the front of the courtroom.
“Your Honor, Mrs. Green suffers from high blood pressure and migraines. I’m afraid that—” Tonya Green slumped farther forward, and only the railing of the witness box kept her from falling to the ground. Angie and the other lawyer both ran forward to her. “I think she’s fainted, Your Honor,” Mr. Creskin said.
“Bailiff, get the nurse up here right away,” the judge directed.
“We’ll break for lunch until one-fifteen. If the witness has recovered, we’ll continue then.”
Michelle saw Tonya lift her head as the court clerk and bailiff helped her down from the stand. And then, as Tonya Green was helped out of the court, Michelle could swear she saw the greaseball lawyer wink at her.
“All rise,” the bailiff called, returning from the hall. They all did, except Michelle, who sat on her bench demonstrating both meanings of contempt.
Consisting of major performances
“It’s not going very well, is it?” Angie asked Michael Rice. He shrugged. Angie was only happy that Laura and her mother had left. “How the hell did Tonya have a license, when we checked on licenses?”
“Hey, Angie,” Michael said, “Creskin is using every trick in the book. You established that she didn’t know dick about the kids. And that that husband was making night visitations. So she faints, with a migraine. Most judges wouldn’t put up with that, but Judge Sneed here is always impatient, and apparently his flight leaves at six tonight. That isn’t going to help us. He doesn’t want it good, he wants it fast.”
He smiled at Angie. “Look, this isn’t the Supreme Court. He hears these Dom Rel problems all day long, every day. Unlike you, this isn’t his first case, and he doesn’t have an attachment to the plaintiff. Makes it harder, doesn’t it? When you’re so close to it?” He didn’t wait for an answer, just patted Angie on her arm. “We’re doing okay.”
But Angie knew she wasn’t. “You knew about Sneed’s alcoholism.” If only she hadn’t pushed that with Mrs. Jackson.
Michael sighed. “Yeah. My wife was in AA for a while. I used to drop her off at meetings and see him.”
Angie didn’t know if she was supposed to say she was sorry or not. She took a bite of her tasteless turkey on rye sandwich. Even if it had been good, from a restaurant instead of the canteen here in the courthouse (where the flavor had been hydraulically removed), she wouldn’t have been able to taste it. She could barely swallow.
“Look, Angie, we’re almost done with his witnesses. Then you can call up our child care expert; our social worker, the one who knows the other old bitch is biased; and maybe recall Jada herself. She did really well this morning.”
“I don’t know if I should call her. She’s melting and I don’t blame her.”
Mike looked up. “Here she comes,” he said. “She looks plenty strong to me.”
Michelle and Jada were coming down the hall to join them. First they’d gone to the ladies’ room again to patch up their makeup. Angie knew she should do that, too, as well as do something about her hair, but she’d wanted to review everything while Jada was gone. Now it was time to comfort and prepare her client.
Jada sat down and coolly crossed one of her long legs over the other. Angie noticed there was a run in her stocking, but said nothing. Michelle was the one who spoke up first.
“Can you nominate any of the witnesses for Academy Awards?” she asked. “I just saw performances that were incredible.” She sat down next to Jada, but leaned around her to peer at Angie. She looked frightened, but spoke anyway. “I’m sorry about my face, but if you want to call me, I will. Of course I might wind up fainting, too. But Jada is
so
dedicated, such a good mom. She could tell you every toy that Shavonne ever played with. She’s got the doctor’s phone number memorized, and could reel off Kevon’s allergies alphabetically. I can testify to all of that.”
Angie nodded and smiled. She thought of the horrors of George Creskin’s possible cross-examination of Michelle—
And exactly when was your husband indicted for drug dealing, Mrs. Russo?
—and merely nodded. “I think we’re in good shape,” she said. “Michael has a doctor from Yale, an expert in child development, who we have retained to testify. And we have an expensive drug expert from the city.”
“Is that legal?” Michelle asked. “I mean, if you pay him, doesn’t that mean he’s biased?”
Angie shook her head. She didn’t have time for this sort of conversation now. “No, it’s standard procedure. Everyone has expert witnesses if they can afford to. Expertise is expensive, but we can’t afford not to have big guns. And that social worker…” Angie thumbed through her file. “Mrs. Elroy. Well, we can neutralize her because one of her coworkers has volunteered to testify about how biased she is, as well as how many complaints have been registered against her.”
“Uh, Angie, could I talk to you for a minute?” Bill asked. He’d stayed when her mother and Laura had to leave. She nodded, then realized he wanted to speak to her alone.
Angie followed him across the crowded lunchroom. The path he was taking was as twisted as the way the hearing was going. “What is it?” Angie asked when Bill finally stopped in front of the water cooler. Typical drama prop, Angie thought.
“Mrs. Innico hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Call the office and—”
“I have. No word, and she doesn’t answer her phone at work, her cell phone, or at home.”
Angie didn’t want to show her panic so she took a cup and filled it with water. “There’s still time, Bill. I have the other witnesses to present first. Keep me updated on it.” Angie gulped down the water as if it were a shot of liquor, crumpled the cup, and threw it in the trash with the perfect arc of a professional basketball player.
Breathe
, she told herself and turned and went back to her client.
Angie tried not to show her fear to Jada and Michelle. “I think we’re in pretty good shape,” she said. She looked Jada in the eyes. “The only question is whether you testify or not. You did great this morning, but if I call you to the stand, then you’ll have to testify again and take his cross-examination.” Angie tried to smile at Jada, who looked exhausted. “There’s a shiny quarter in it for you if you do,” Angie tried to joke.
Michael reached over to both women. “There’s one turkey sandwich and one ham,” he said. “Actually, you can’t tell the difference by taste, only by color. The pink one is the ham. But the macaroni salad isn’t bad.”
“Oh please,” Michelle said, turning her head away.
“As my mother would say,” Angie told Jada with a forced smile, “you have to eat to keep up your strength.”
“You’re the one who’s got to be strong,” Jada said.
“We’re counting on you,” Michelle added.
Angie looked down at the disgusting food. “Two cannibal wives were having dinner together. So one says to the other, ‘I hate my husband.’ The other one looks down at their plates and says, ‘So just push him over and eat the noodles.’”
“I think I once saw an Alfred Hitchcock show like that,” Jada said. Michelle didn’t say anything. It was Michael who groaned and stood up.
“Okay. Let’s go in and let the Amazing Creskin pull his last trick. Then it’s our turn.”
Michelle was slumped in her seat when Anne Cherril, Jada’s bitch secretary and Michelle’s old coworker, walked into the courtroom. Michelle couldn’t believe it and slumped further down. Was Anne there to gloat, or to be supportive of Jada? Michelle knew she had nothing to be ashamed of, but somehow she didn’t feel like being seen by the old witch. She hadn’t expected this, but she
really
hadn’t expected what happened next: Creskin called Anne Cherril as his witness.