17

Michael

"We have one final witness, your honor," the prosecutor said.

"Very well."

I didn't bother to look back when the doors opened; it was just another pathetic witness they would use to try to throw me behind bars. It was pointless, and I wasn't going to jail. I chuckled to myself.

Please state your name for the jury.

"Victoria Watson."

My head snapped up. Victoria was testifying against me?

How dare she?

"Victoria, what is your relationship with the defendant?"

"He's my ex-boyfriend and the one who beat, raped, and drugged me," Victoria said while looking at me.

How dare Victoria to say such things about me? I gave her a deathly glare, but she didn't cower in fear like she usually did.

"Victoria, how often did Michael hit you?"

"Every day. More times than I can count."

"Was hitting you the only thing Michael did to you?"

"No. Michael was very controlling."

"In what way?"

"I couldn't step outside the house if Michael wasn't with me. I wasn't allowed anywhere near our son without his permission, and I was supposed to pleasure him whenever he asked."

"Did you ever break any of those rules?"

"I went outside to sit on the front porch twice."

"What was the punishment?"

"The first time, he punched me, which resulted in a hairline fracture in my cheekbone. The second time, he put me in a chokehold, shoved me against the wall, and held a knife to my neck, breaking the skin."

"Is that where you got that scar?"

"Yes."

"How else did Michael abuse you?"

"Michael hit me with his belt, all over my body, he strangled me, slammed my head against the wall, slapped me, punched me, kicked me while I was on the floor, dragged me by my hair, held a gun up to my head, and stabbed me."

"How many times did Michael rape you?"

Victoria looked down and shook her head.

"I don't know off the top of my head. I lost count, but I wrote it down in my diary every time he did."

"Did he say why he was raping you?"

"The first time was to teach me a lesson. After that, Michael said we were catching up on all the sex he missed because we were apart for over a year."

"Did you tell him to stop at any moment?"

"Yes, I repeatedly told him 'stop,' 'no,' and I also tried shoving him off me."

"Did Michael ever stop?"

"No."

"No further questions, your honor."

"Does the defense have any questions for the witness?" The judge asked.

My attorney stood up and said, "yes, your honor."

"Rip her apart," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

My attorney stepped out and began to approach Victoria.

"Victoria, besides your ex-boyfriend, do you have any other relation to Michael."

"Yes, as I had mentioned, we have a son."

"How old is your son?"

"Seventeen months."

"You said that when Michael supposedly raped you, he said you were catching up on the time you were apart; is that correct?"

"Yes."

"How long were you two apart?"

"Over a year."

"How long ago did you two break up?"

"A little over two years ago."

"When did you two get back together?"

"Michael dragged me back into his life roughly six months ago."

"Six months ago?"

"Yes."

"How old is your son, again?"

"Seventeen months."

"If I'm doing the math correct, that means Michael missed out on eleven months of your son's life. Is that true?"

I could tell Victoria felt nervous.

"Yes."

"You deliberately kept your son away from Michael?"

"No!"

"Ms. Watson, you're under oath, and it is a severe crime if you lie while under oath."

"I didn't know I was pregnant when I left Michael."

"Surely you had a way to contact him once you found out you were pregnant. Didn't you?"

Victoria took a deep breath, "yes. There was a way I could contact him."

"You knew you were pregnant, yet you never reached out to him. You intentionally deprived Michael of the joy of seeing you pregnant, seeing his son come into the world, cutting the umbilical cord. If Michael had not reached out to you, your son would have lived without his father."

"That wasn't my intention."

"Is that so? How else would you explain your actions? Why didn't you reach out to Michael?"

"He was abusing me! I didn't want to risk him hurting my son!"

"Has Michael harmed your son since you've stepped back into his life?"

"No."

"How is Michael with your son?"

"He's good."

"You robbed Michael of the chance to change who he is for the wellbeing of his child. No wonder he loses his temper; Michael is genuinely suffering from the stress of your selfish actions. The stress of not having the opportunity to enjoy your son's first days of life.

Victoria's eyes filled with tears; she was nervous, which made me smirk.

"Victoria, is it true that the hospital staff had to convince you to press charges against Michael?"

"Yeah."

"What did they say?"

"They said he would never hurt me again."

My attorney scoffed.

"Well, you would rather send Michael, the father of your child, to prison instead of helping him seek counseling to recover from the grief of missing out on time with his son during the crucial time of development. You would deprive him of time with his son instead of giving him a chance to be a better person. Is that not true?"

"He's not going through grief. He hit me before I was pregnant!"

"Is that not true?"

"I guess," Victoria said, sounding defeated.

"You're not pressing charges to protect yourself but to punish Michael for his redeemable actions."

"Michael drugged me!"

"No further questions, your honor."

"The witness may step off the stand."

I smirked as Victoria glanced at me and walked out of the room. There was no way I was going to prison; we would be together again soon.

Victoria

I was allowed inside the courtroom to hear the jury's verdict. My pounding heart was accompanied by a sick feeling in my stomach, and I kept taking deep breaths in and out.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asked.

"We have, your honor."

"How does the jury find the defendant?"

"Guilty on all accounts."

I let out the breath I was holding as tears of joy threatened to fall from my eyes.

"The defendant is sentenced to twenty years in prison, and he has no legal rights to his son, nor is he to see him while he is a minor. Parole will be optional once the defendant has served fifteen years with good behavior."

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?" Michael's voice boomed, causing me to flinch.

I could hear Michael's attorney say, "Michael, calm down!"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME!"

I had heard enough and wanted to get back to my son. I stood up and began to walk out of the courtroom.

"Victoria!" I could hear Michael calling me, but I didn't turn around.

"VICTORIA!"

I walked down the hall to the daycare center and showed the worker my I.D. Once Antonio was brought out to me, I smiled as I took him in my arms, and I gently kissed him on the cheek and walked out with him.

Before going home, I wanted to take Antonio for some ice cream to celebrate. I decided to stop by Baskin Robbins. I ordered a cup of vanilla ice cream for Antonio and an oreo milkshake for me. Antonio and I sat in a booth where we could look out the window at the busy street. I fed Antonio his ice cream while occasionally taking a sip of my milkshake.

Words couldn't express how happy I was. Antonio and I would be safe at last. I wouldn't have to constantly look over my shoulder or worry about Michael coming after us. Sure, Michael would be let out of prison in twenty years, but I'm sure Antonio and I would be living somewhere else by then. My only concern would be explaining to Antonio why Michael wasn't part of his life.

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.