Chapter 36
Callie wanted to sigh a breath of relief that Olivia was done questioning her. The details of her horrific traumas were released, but now they were about to be twisted. Olivia had spent hours preparing Callie for the possible backlash she would receive during cross-examination. She had detailed the possible routes Liam and Vico's lawyer would take as a defense. And so Callie was grateful reliving the multiple nightmares of the past year was done, but now she knew the man approaching was about to paint an awful picture.
Jack cleared his throat before meeting Callie's eyes. "Miss Jacob, how come you did not remain in foster care with the Olmsteads?"
"Liam raped me." She admitted.
"Raped you? Isn't it true that Liam was found not guilty on those charges?"
"Yes, but…"
"I only need a yes or a no." He grinned smugly. "Document A is Miss Jacob's file from her time in foster care. A file that is quite extensive. Isn't it also true that in your file it says you were kicked out of the Olmstead's house due to sexual relationships with Liam Olmstead?"
Callie knew that was coming, but it didn't stop the frustration bubbling inside her. That file would always find a way to haunt her. "That's not what happened."
"Yes or no, Miss Jacobs?"
"Yes, but…"
Jack halted her explanation once again. "Miss Jacobs, is it true you went to juvenile detention? Multiple times?"
Callie looked down at her hands. "Yes."
"And why were you sent to juvenile detention the first time?"
"I smashed my foster father's car with a bat in order to stop him from beating the crap out of my baby brother."
"Miss Jacobs, are you aware that your file says nothing about your foster father beating your brother? In fact, it states that you were unprovoked, also documented in Document A."
"Yes, because nobody listened to my side of the story."
"Whenever you are involved in something, you seem to have a different side of the story, isn't that right?"
"Because the foster system is broken." Callie retorted bitterly.
"But you were happy with your placement with the Fosters, correct?"
"Yes." Callie nodded. "They are family. They were the first home to show us love and safety."
"Then why did you run away from that home?"
"I had trust issues. I figured something would mess it up so I tried to mess it up myself in an attempt to gain control."
"You stole a sandwich after running away- while still on probation- and got sent to juvenile detention again, correct?"
"Yes." Callie nodded again, wondering if this was leading somewhere or if he was just trying to create a bad image.
"And why is it that the Fosters sent you to a group home after that rather than taking you back in their home?"
Callie hesitated for a moment. "I kissed Brandon."
"You kissed Brandon, your foster brother at the time, correct?"
Callie shifted in her chair. "Yes."
"So that's twice that you had inappropriate relations with a foster brother, correct?"
"Not really, being that the first one was forced." Callie spat.
Jack pursed his lips. "But again, that's not what your file says right?"
"No." Callie sighed.
"You are currently in a relationship with Brandon, correct?"
"Yes."
"Are you two engaging in sexual intercourse?"
"Objection!" Olivia interjected. "Relevancy?"
"I'm showing a pattern." Jack explained, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Overruled."
"Are you engaging in intercourse with Brandon?" He repeated.
Callie once again wanted nothing more than to be invisible. "No."
"You're telling me, you've been dating for almost a year and have not had intercourse?"
The judgment in his voice was evident. Callie was nearly positive he would have made her feel shameful if she had sex with Brandon just as much as he was making her feel shameful for not. And now she wasn't sure of how much to say. Did she reveal to all of these people, including her family that she was struggling to be intimate with her boyfriend? She knew Olivia would tell her it would work in her favor as the struggle was due to the trauma Liam and Vico caused. But she wanted to keep some bit of humility. This was something private between her and her boyfriend. "Yes, that's what I'm telling you."
"What about Wyatt Casey? He was your boyfriend, correct?"
"Not really. We were both attracted to each other at one time and we're friends, but we were never dating." Callie explained.
"But he was the one you ran away with, shared a hotel room with, correct?"
"Yes."
"And didn't you admit to Brandon on the night of the winter ball that you had sex with Wyatt in regard to when you ran away with him?"
Callie's eyes widened slightly and her eyebrows rose. That was a conversation she had with Brandon and she wasn't sure how the man before her had found out about it. "Yes, but that wasn't true."
"So you lied?"
Callie knew that she was once again wrong no matter what the answer was. If she had slept with Wyatt, he would have painted her as promiscuous. But instead he was going to label her as a liar. "Yes. I was trying to make Brandon get over me."
"I'd like to turn the jury's attention to the screen. Miss Jacob, can you tell us what is projected?"
Callie turned her head to find her underwear lying in a plastic bag projected for everyone to see. Somehow the humiliation continued to worsen. Her stomach lurched as her mind replayed Liam tearing them off and tossing them to Vico. "My…my underwear."
"Those are what you were wearing on the night of the Winter Ball, correct?"
"Yes." Callie swallowed thickly.
"Miss Jacob, it appears as though we're looking at a black, lacy thong, correct?"
"Yes." Callie said quietly. She was pretty sure she had never been so mortified.
"That's something that a woman often wears to turn on a sexual partner, isn't it?"
"No…I…that's not what I was…" Callie stammered. Being inquired about her choice of underwear caught her off guard, especially when it was being discussed in front of a room full of strangers and her family. "I was wearing a dress."
"I'm sure it common for women to wear thongs under a dress, but if it was simply to be practical wouldn't it be a simple pair? Not one that is black and lacy, like the one you wore that night?"
"How are they allowed to ask this? It shouldn't matter what kind of underwear she was wearing." Brandon whispered to his mother through gritted teeth.
"No it shouldn't, but they're trying anything they can because they don't have an argument." Stef whispered, placing a hand on her son's knee in an attempt to calm him.
"No, I just…liked them. Nobody was supposed to see them." Callie replied sadly. When she slipped them on that night before the winter ball, she had assumed her eyes would be the only ones to see them. They were comfortable and it might be silly but wearing a sexy pair of underwear made her feel confident. Now she was pretty sure she would try to find the ugliest pair of underwear and avoid anything that would be construed as sexy.
"You said you were wearing a dress that night, correct?"
"Yes."
"How short was the dress?"
All of the self-blame Callie had worked through was being destroyed in the ten minutes she was being cross interviewed. "It ended like mid-thigh."
"Did you have any cleavage showing in this dress?"
Callie swallowed thickly. The sheer neckline allowed for a bit of cleavage. "A little bit."
"Were you expecting as a pretty girl dressed promiscuously to not attract male attention?"
"I…I wasn't…" Callie once again struggled to find her words. Olivia had spent time preparing her, but she was not expecting to be badgered about her dress and underwear. She was not expecting to be described as dressing promiscuously. In comparison to her peers, she was dressed modestly. "Every other girl there was wearing a dress."
"But not every other girl has a history of violent outbursts, spent time in juvenile detention, has been promiscuous with multiple boys, and is accusing two of her peers of sexual assault." He said. "Following your pattern, isn't it possible that you willingly went to the woods with Vico and Liam, consenting to engage in intercourse with both of them and then lied about not consenting?"
Frustration bubbled inside Callie. "That's not what happened."
Brandon shifted in his seat. The temptation to stand up and scream was growing with each word out of the defense attorney's mouth. The girl he was trying to illustrate was not the girl on the stand. That file was not Callie. It was a sliver of the truth; a sliver that created false assumptions. Brandon wanted everyone to see the real Callie. The one that puts everyone's wants and needs above her own. The one that held him when he cried about his hand when she was coping with her own sufferings. The one that sacrificed her well being and safety to protect her brother at all costs. The one who cared for Frankie in the middle of the night when she was plagued by nightmares to allow Stef and Lena to sleep despite grieving the loss of her own baby.
"As mentioned earlier, you were pregnant, correct?"
Callie paused for a moment, feeling her heartache. She didn't want to talk about this anymore, especially in front of this man who was going to use it against her. She didn't want her daughter used in such a way. "Yes."
"And you knew prior to today that the father of that baby was either Liam or Vico, correct?"
"Biologically yes." Callie answered through gritted teeth. She didn't want either of them to be thought of as her daughter's father.
"You were planning on raising the baby, correct?"
Callie felt a lump forming in her throat. "Yes."
"Did you consider abortion or adoption at all?"
"Not really. All of the options definitely crossed my mind but I didn't really think about going through with either of those options."
"Isn't unusual for someone who claims to have been raped to want to keep the child of their said rapist?"
"No, it isn't unusual." Callie spat bitterly. "She's my daughter. Frankly, you wouldn't understand that love and bond and you never will until you have a child growing inside of you for months."
He pursed his lips, slightly taken aback by Callie's backlash. "No further questions for this witness."
Brandon placed two mugs on the coffee table before taking a seat beside Callie. "How are you doing?"
Her lower lip trembled. Tears burst from her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, but tears continued to tumble down her cheeks. "I can't do this."
Brandon's heart shattered. Callie wasn't one to fall apart that easily and the fact that she did after a simple question made Brandon's concern spike. He reached into her lap to gently clasp her hand between his. "Hey, this was a hard day. I can't imagine how difficult it was to stand up there. But you're done now."
"I'm not going to win, Brandon. They're not going to believe me." She shook her head frantically.
"They are, Callie. The jury's faces were horrified when you told your story. There's so much evidence in your favor." Brandon gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
"How can you even look at me right now?" Callie wiped furiously at her dampened cheeks.
"What are you talking about?" Brandon asked softly.
"I'm disgusting, Brandon. I'm dirty and stupid and…"
"Hey, hey, hey." Brandon interjected, unable to listen to her self-deprecation. All of the progress she had made in the past ten months had been demolished. "None of that is true. You were hurt in a terrible way. They are the ones who should feel ashamed, not you."
"You heard him, Brandon. I encouraged them."
Brandon was pretty sure his hatred for that lawyer was almost as strong as his hatred for Vico and Liam. "That is not true at all. First of all, there was nothing promiscuous about what you were wearing that night. Second of all, even if you were dressed promiscuously that doesn't give them the right to do what they did. You should be able to wear whatever you want without worrying about what people are going to do. His questions had no argument to them. Because even if you were trying to get their attention or had planned to have sex, they needed to stop the second you said no."
"How are you not disgusted by me? How can you still be attracted to me?"
"I've been so insanely attracted to you since the moment I sat down at that kitchen table and saw you for the first time and that attraction has only gotten stronger." He began, but Callie shook her head.
"But you just heard everything. You heard what they did, what I did." Callie squeezed her eyes shut as silent tears continued to trickle down her face.
"I did, but it certainly didn't make me disgusted with you. I'm disgusted by them. They're the ones that did this. They're the ones who hurt you, who ignored your wants, who made you do awful things. They are the ones who are wrong, not you." Brandon wanted to shake her until she saw herself the way he did. "Suppose Mariana was assaulted? Would you blame her? Would you think anything she did would have prevented or led to the attack? Would you think she should feel guilty and shameful?"
"No, of course not." Callie shook her head.
"So why are you an exception?"
"I don't know." Callie whispered with a shrug. She met Brandon's eyes as her lower lip trembled. "I just need this trial to be over."
Brandon's features softened and he pulled her into her arms. She collapsed into him, letting her tears splash onto his chest as his fingers danced in her curls. "I know. I wish you didn't have to go through what you did today and I wish you didn't have to continue with it, but it's going to feel good when it's all over and they're put in jail for a long, long time. The hardest part is over. You don't have to talk anymore."
"What's wrong?" Stef asked as she entered the living room to find Callie crying in her son's arms.
"It was a rough day." Brandon answered although he was pretty sure his mother already knew the answer.
"Oh, my love." Stef frowned as she sat on the coffee table to face Callie. "You were so brave up there today and we are so proud of you."
Calle lifted her head from Brandon's chest and wiped at her dampened cheeks. "I couldn't hold myself together."
"Nobody expected you to. I would have been crying if I went through all you had too. In fact, I think I would have needed a break." Stef gently placed a hand on the brunette's knee. She had imagined the worst about Callie's assault based on her injuries and the few details the teenager had disclosed, but somehow it was so much worse than she could have ever imagined after hearing the full story. "You did amazing up there."
"You're not mad at me?" Callie's whisper resembled a small child as she failed to meet Stef's eyes.
"Mad at you?" Stef repeated incredulously, her eyes growing wide.
"Callie thinks she deserves some of the blame and shame." Brandon explained.
"Love, you have to let that shame and guilt go." Stef said softly with a frown. "There is absolutely nothing for you to feel shameful or guilty about. All of my anger is geared towards those two monsters and their lawyer for probably putting these thoughts in your head. They have no argument and so the only thing they can do is try to feed into this awful culture of victim-blaming."
"I know you know all of this deep down. But I also know no matter how much we try to remind you, you're not going to fully believe it right now." Brandon spoke up when Callie remained silent. The shame and guilt that Callie was encountering were nearly unavoidable after the trauma she suffered. She had made tremendous progress in healing from that trauma but revisiting the details of the two worst days of her life tore those wounds open. And the defense lawyer scrutinizing her foster file, dress, underwear, and sexual experiences- or lack of- only made those wounds bleed. It was all too fresh. Reliving those awful memories also brought back those awful feelings associated with them. And although Brandon would continue to try to drill it in her mind that she did not need to feel shame or guilt, he knew there would be no getting through to her. Not tonight. Not as long as the trial lasted. He knew she needed the trial to end. She needed Liam and Vico to be thrown into jail. She needed her justice and closure. And once that all happened, she could resume healing from all of this agonizing suffering. "And that's okay. Whatever you feel is normal. Just know that the rest of us don't share those thoughts."
A small smile found Stef's lips. The love and sincerity in her son's eyes could be recognized from miles away. If all of this tragedy in the past year proved anything it was that the two teenagers belonged together. It had been unfathomable to Stef why Callie would have thrown her one true dream away for a boyfriend back when Callie had run away and was threatening to pursue independent living. But the two had proven that this wasn't a fling. This wasn't a regular teenage relationship; which Stef should have realized. Nothing about the brunette could be described as a regular teenager. They had proven that they were truly meant for each other. And Stef wasn't sure where they would be without one another. Brandon was the one person Callie completely let her walls down around. He was the one person she confided in, the one person she could fully fall apart around.
Callie nodded and her eyes fluttered shut for a moment as Brandon pressed a kiss to her head. The safety he brought her was welcoming. She opened her eyes to look at the blonde before her. "How long is this going to last?"
"It's hard to say." Stef replied. Following Callie's testimony, Brandon and Mike had recounted their witness of that night. Brandon recalled his history with Vico and the fake IDs, the winter queen debacle, struggling to get in touch with Callie, and finding her on the sidewalk. He detailed the bloody and beaten state he found her in, her torn clothing, her inability to walk, and her coughing up blood before falling unconscious in his arms. He answered questions regarding Vico showing up at the hospital, Callie's long recuperation and trauma effects, his witness to Vico breaking his bail terms, and Callie's pregnancy ending in a tragedy. Jack once again tried to paint Callie as a liar and discredit Brandon's testimony because of his relationship with Callie. Mike testified as the arresting officer. "We should finish up with our witnesses tomorrow. Another day or two for the defense witnesses. And then it could take hours or days for the jury to reach a verdict."
Callie swallowed thickly. The thought of waiting days to find out if she won the case or not was suffocating.
I'm awful, I know. I apologize for not actually updating when I said I would. I got sidetracked wedding planning- my sister's wedding was supposed to be May 1st but was canceled from COVID-19 and she is moving to Rhode Island soon to start her medical residency. Anyway, here is the next chapter and I hope to get a new one out shortly. Not sure how many people are still reading anyway, but I will continue to update.
Stay safe and healthy!
