January 3rd, 2005

Angel Grove, CA

"Miss Anderson, who is the father of your child?" Mr. Powers asked. I felt my heart drop right out from under me as he gave me an expectant look. Sweat formed in my palms and my heart thundered in my chest. This was his first question out of the gate? What was I going to do? If I lied on the stand, I could be arrested. If I told the truth, Tommy and the rest of the world will know that I've been lying. There was no way around the question that wouldn't result me in hurting someone. I placed my hands over my bump and took a deep breath. If this was going to happen, I wasn't going to head to jail. I needed to make the right decision here, even though I didn't want to make it yet. I had been hopeful that I could talk with Tommy once the trial was over, have him consider us finally getting back together once I told him the truth. Now, he would be blindsided in court. I moved to speak but was cut off by Miss Kirkland who stood up with a loud huff.

"Objection, your honor." Miss Kirkland said. "We are here to speak about the events that occurred to Mrs. Anderson, not to question who the father of her child is. She also made it clear that the defendant was the father of the child in her testimony. There is no need to keep beating a dead horse."

"Move on, Mr. Powers." The judge said. She looked over her glasses at the man, her red hair pulled back into a bun on the back of her head.

"Your honor, I was trying to establish a cause of the tension between the defendant and Mrs. Anderson. This could have provided an insight as to why my client felt the need to act in a manner that was against his character leading up to the alleged assault." He replied.

"The alleged assault? He left her there to die in a pool of her own blood and then attempted to harm her and the baby in the next moment that he could."

"Miss Kirkland, everyone is innocent until proven guilty here. That included Mr. Anderson. This line of questioning is to validate her credibility as a witness." Mr. Powers said.

"There is no evidence of any type of affair or infidelity of Mrs. Anderson in any of the provided court documentation of testimony. Your own client hasn't even made claims of this. It is a complete attempt to humiliate the witness and her testimony." Miss Kirkland said, turning her attention back to the judge.

"Attorneys, please approach the bench." The judge said. Both Miss Kirkland and Mr. Powers walked up to the front of the judge's box. I turned my face away but I could still hear them. "I'm not going to play this game between the two of you today. This is a very high emotional case and you will need to act in a manner that demonstrates that you are understanding of this. If you feel that you are unable to do this, let me know now and we can excuse either of you from the case."

"Your honor, I am just trying to establish who the father is in this case." Mr. Powers said in a hushed tone.

"It plays no role in this case." Miss Kirkland stressed. "Unless you are trying to indicate that infidelity is a reason for attemptive murder of a woman and her unborn child."

"Alright. Alright. Let's calm down here, shall we? Mr. Powers, Miss Kirkland is correct in that the paternity of the child does not play a role in this case. If your client doesn't feel he's the father, he needs to take that up the family court after the birth of the child. At this point, it will not play any type of purpose in my courtroom. I suggest you move in a different approach with your question or please let the poor woman get on with her life."

"Yes, your honor." Both lawyers said before heading back to their tables. I could see that Mr. Powers didn't look pleased but he squared his shoulders and approached me again. Relief flooded through me that I didn't have to answer the question. For a moment, I thought for sure the jig was up and that I was about to drop the bomb in the courtroom.

"Mrs. Anderson, would you agree there was tension in your marriage prior to the move here to Angel Grove?"

"Yes. We fought a lot following him losing his job and our issues with infertility." I replied, sitting up straight.

"Once you moved here, were those the same reasons behind your arguments?"

"No. We fought about other things like spending time with my friends or reasons why Nick would disappear all the time."

"What is your relationship like with Mr. Tommy Oliver?" Mr. Powers asked. I folded my hands in my lap.

"He's my friend. We've been friends for a long time, prior to me meeting Nick." I responded.

"Has your relationship with Mr. Oliver ever been romantic?"

"Not that it's any business of yours nor the courts, but yes." I stated. "Prior to Nick and I starting our relationship, I was in a relationship with Mr. Oliver."

"Are you in a relationship with Mr. Oliver now?"

"No, I am not. We are close friends and he rents a room in my home while the police determine who destroyed his home and his business."

"Did your friendship with Mr. Oliver cause tension between you and Mr. Anderson?" Mr. Powers asked.

"Yes but so did my friendship with all of my male friends. Nick believed I was having affairs every time I stepped out of the house. And before you ask, I can assure you I was not." I said. "Nick had an issue with trusting me even though I had never given him a reason not to trust me. Him, on the other hand, was hiding a drug problem from me and was pretending to work when he was actually a drug dealer. Tommy had nothing to do with what happened between Nick and I. It was Nick's delusions and his constant need to control everything and everyone around him."

"Mrs. Anderson, why did you stay with him if it was so horrible? After the first time you alleged that he hit you, you stated that you forgave him. Why? Why not leave him then to get out of the situation?"

"He promised me that he wouldn't do it again. For some reason, I believed him. I really thought it was just a mistake and that he loved me enough to change. I didn't want to chance throwing away all the years we had been together without a problem on something that we might have been able to fix. Clearly, I was wrong."

"With all of this abuse you claimed was going on, what was your plan when you discovered you were pregnant? Were you going to continue living with such an abusive man with your child, placing them in harm? You stated yourself that you did not plan on leaving him. Were you willing to place your unborn child at risk then?"

"I was going to ask him to leave Angel Grove with me so that we were away from my friends. Once we were gone, I was going to run away from him. I didn't have much time for planning, really. I had only just found out I was pregnant about an hour before he attacked me."

"Why did you even return home once you knew you were pregnant? Wouldn't have been a good time to run or ask for help?" He asked, crossing his arms as he looked at me.

"I still had Marci at home to think about. I was going home to tell Nick I was pregnant. I thought it would buy me time to find a safe way out." I wanted to choke this man out. How could he even be questioning me about this? Did he think I was trying to put the baby in harm's way? What about Marci? I couldn't just leave her behind too.

"At any time, you had the full support of your friends. Why not tell any of them? Why not call the police?" He walked over to his desk and opened a notebook. He looked down at it. "You actively went to work every day. Why not tell someone there? You had plenty of chances to get help but you chose not to."

"Objection." Miss Kirkland said, standing up. "He's badgering the witness and victim shaming a domestic violence survivor."

"Sustained." The judge said. "Get to the point, Mr. Powers."

"The point I am trying to make is that Mrs. Anderson is claiming to be the victim of such awful and violent crimes allegedly committed by my client but yet continued to stay in the home with him and subject a child in her care to this supposed abuse and put the safety of her own unborn child in jeopardy. I believe the court has the right to know why she did not leave and why she chose to continue her life in this manner without making an attempt to leave." Mr. Powers said. Behind him, I could see a smug look on Nick's face. He knew that his lawyer was making a good case against my credibility. He was spinning the story that if I was telling the truth, I was making the horrible decisions in how to protect the baby and Marci.

"Mr. Powers, are you married?" I asked, eyeing him straight in the eye.

"Yes I am." He replied.

"Do you love your wife?" He nodded.

"I do."

"How would you feel if one day, she just suddenly changed? That one day, she just completely became this different person? Wouldn't you try everything in your power to figure out how to fix her? Or would you just walk away at the first sign there was an issue?" He didn't say anything, sticking his hands into the pockets of his suit.

"Mrs. Anderson, please stay within the limits of the questions." The judge said. I nodded.

"I stayed with Nick because at first, I thought there were a million different reasons as to why it was happening. I kept telling myself that he was the same person who just needed time to adjust. Or that he was going through something and needed to find his place here. Well, I was wrong. It wasn't that he needed to adjust or that he needed time. He decided that drugs were a more important thing to spend our time and money on. Drugs changed who he was and how he treated me."

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Nick said, shaking his head. I shifted my body so I could face him. "Just shut your mouth and quit embarrassing yourself, Kimberly."

"Mr. Anderson, please control yourself." The judge said.

"No, it isn't. And no, I won't. You aren't the same person who you were in Miami. At least I don't think you are. What I do know is that I was terrified of you. I thought you were going to kill my friends. I thought you were going to kill me. I thought you were going to kill my baby. I spent all that time being afraid of you and what you might do if I did or said the wrong thing. Well, I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not afraid because you can't hurt me anymore. I spent five years of my life married to a person who didn't care anything about me and abuse me in every way a person can abuse someone. Not anymore."

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, please." Mr. Powers said. I shook my head.

"I'm not Mrs. Anderson. I may have made some mistakes in my life but the worst was marrying someone I didn't really know completely. I am my own person and I will never let you or anyone else treat me the way you treated me. Every single day, I wake up and I am thankful I am alive. I used to be the shell of this person I was before I met you. I am proud to say I am that person again. I never should have let you take that person away from me. That's why I am here today." Nick stood up and Mr. Powers walked towards him, hoping to calm him down.

"Oh, yeah? If you're such a strong bitch, why the hell did you let me do all that shit to you? You were too busy being a little whore to think about anything else. I took care of you. That's why you didn't leave. You needed me to provide for you when no one else would. Not even Tommy could give you what I did." Nick exclaimed. Mr. Powers tried to stop him but he kept going. "I should have killed you when I had the fucking chance. You're pathetic just like all those assholes you hang out with. I should have killed all of you when I had the chance."

"Order! Order in the court!" The judge said, slamming her gavel down. The bailiff stepped forward, heading towards Nick. Nick shoved his lawyer to the side and was able to dodge around the bailiff. Mr. Powers hit the fence with his face, his glasses flying behind him. Nick didn't even look behind him to see. He headed straight towards me, his rage filled eyes fixated right on me. I jumped up, my arms wrapping around my midsection on instinct. I saw Tommy and Jason jump to their feet in the gallery, heading towards the front of the room. Someone stopped them from hopping over the fence, Tommy trying to push through. Another bailiff appeared and I saw something shoot from him towards Nick. Nick stopped in his tracks and hit the floor, the barbs of a taser gun sticking into his back.

"Fucking bitch!" Nick yelled as his body twitched.

"Get the jury out of here!" The judge called out, standing. The jury was ushered out of the room by an official with a badge on his belt line. The other bailiff ran over to where Nick was, slapping handcuffs on his wrists. Both bailiffs pulled him to his feet, the strings of the taser tangling around Nick's body. He glared at me, drool dripping down his chin.

"If I ever get my hands on you again, I'll make sure to kill you and that bastard kid of yours." He said before the bailiffs pulled him from the middle of the courtroom. I clung to the back of the witness box, frozen to the spot I was standing in. I watched as they dragged him towards the door, someone giving aid to his lawyer. Miss Kirkland ran over to me, opening up the door of the stand.

"Kimberly! Are you alright?" She asked. I nodded, unable to speak. She took my arm and helped me down, leading me over to her table. She signaled to the guard who was holding Tommy back and he stepped aside, allowing Tommy to come forward. He wrapped his arms around me, causing Nick to start fighting against the bailiffs again. I locked eyes with him as he kicked and tried to punch one of them. The other wrapped his arm around Nick's midsection, pulling in out the door. He gave me one last look before disappearing.

"Are you hurt?" Tommy asked, cupping my face in his hands. I shook my head, finding my voice.

"No. He didn't get to me." I replied, regaining my composure. "I'm alright."

"Recess, your honor?" Miss Kirkland asked. Mr. Powers was back to his feet now, blood trickling down from a busted lip that a woman handed him a tissue for. There was blood on his tie and his shirt. The judge tossed her gavel down, nodding.

"I believe you're right about that one." She replied. "Court will recess for an hour. Mr. Powers, you might want to discuss with your client exactly what his little outburst just cost him. I will be adding several more charges to him including attempted assault, contempt of court, and resisting arrest. Let him know that there's plenty more where that came from if he has anything else to say."

"Yes, your honor." Mr. Powers said. The judge stood and left, heading to her chambers. Mr. Powers walked towards us, dabbing his lip. "Miss Kirkland, could we perhaps talk about a plea bargain?"

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me after what just occurred." She said, shaking her head. Packing up her papers into her briefcase, she picked it up and turned back to Mr. Powers. "How about I take you to get some first aid and we can discuss what options the man has. They'll be limited at this point but it's all I'm willing to offer. Kimberly, make sure you come back in an hour. I'm unsure if the judge will need to speak with you again or not." I nodded.

"Okay." Tommy took my hand and pulled me back into the gallery. Our group had filed out into the hallway when everything happened. He led me out the door and I was met with a tight hug from Marci who engulfed me.

"Jesus, I thought he was going to get you again." She said, holding on to me tightly. I returned the hug, wrapping my arms around her.

"I think I could have taken him that time." I said, pulling away. She smirked, letting me go. "You guys don't have to stick around. Miss Kirkland asked me to in case the judge needs to speak with me but I don't need to make you guys hang out for that. Why don't you head home?" I offered.

"We're not leaving." Trini said, shaking her head. "We said we would be here and we're going to be until this thing is over."

"Which it just might be after all that." Jason said, grinning at me. "It's like an episode of Law and Order in there."

"He did pretty much put the nail in his coffin. You rattled him, that's for sure." Adam said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You did such an awesome job up there. I don't think the jury is going to have any trouble finding him guilty after that."

"Me either." Aisha said. She winced, holding her sides. "You think I have time to find a pillow or something? That bench is killing my back side."

"Why don't you head home at least?" I asked. "You shouldn't be hanging out around here so much. Take the time to rest."

"No way. I'm here for the long run too, girl. We kick ass better as a time than apart." She squeezed my hands.

"Thank you all so much. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you." I took a look around at all of them. They were the reasons I had stayed. If I hadn't, he would have killed every single one of them. I had doubted before but I knew I made the best decision I could have made. I would do it again in a heartbeat. "How about something to eat?"

"Yes! Now you're speaking my language." Rocky said. "I'll bring the car around."