Chapter Eight

I stared at my image in the dressing mirror. I wondered what Mr. and Mrs. Ottavi actually thought of me and my problems. I was still ashamed for the scenes I had made at Darry's new home, and during the night. Even though the Ottavis had been very gracious, I wasn't looking forward to facing my temporary parents for breakfast. I stood up from the vanity table and walked over to the window. I pulled the curtains back and was surprised to see Darry pulling the sedan into the driveway. Seeing my chance to escape, I quickly left my bedroom, raced down the stairs and yelled good bye before shutting the front door behind me on my way to the car.

I was halfway down the sidewalk when I noticed Darry walking around the car to open the door for his wife.

I slowed my steps and cursed myself a little for not realizing that Darry had to bring Kathryn home before he could go to court with me for the day.

I walked up and leaned against the side of the car. "Good morning you two," I greeted them. I glanced at the front door to see if Kathryn's parents had decided to meet her on the front lawn. I was happy to see they hadn't.

"Good morning, Scout." Darry said, "Do me a favor and fetch Kathryn's suitcase from the backseat for me please."

On the outside, I smiled and agreed, on the inside, I furrowed my brow and grumbled about having to go back into the house after I had already escaped. I grabbed the bag and carried it up the walkway to the front door. I looked back at the newlyweds and made up an excuse to stay outside. "You two probably want some privacy. Darry, I'll wait for you in the car."

"Alright," Darry agreed to my idea. I quickly walked back to the car and was seated before the front door of the house swung open to reveal Kathryn's parents. I pretended to be interested in something other than the conversation taking place between the two couples, but I could still tell I was the topic of conversation due to the frequent glances in my direction.

A few minutes later the Ottavi's called out to me and waved goodbye from the porch while Darry returned to the car with a lunch sack in his hand. I tried to distract him with a question. "Did you pack sandwiches for lunch? I didn't see the cooler in the backseat."

"No," Darry reminded me as he put the car into gear and pulled out of the driveway. "I was on my honeymoon. We can get some lunch at the diner across the street."

"Do you think that's a good idea? It's kind of expensive."

Darry looked over at me. "I meant what I said yesterday about perseverance, but that doesn't mean I want you to use the same skills to avoid ever speaking to Art and Dorothy again."

I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. I grumbled, "What did they say?"

"That you skipped breakfast this morning to avoid them."

I moaned, "I'm just not ready to face them after yesterday."

Darry tossed me the paper sack with a banana and warm blueberry muffin inside. "You're lucky they like you, or you may have starved until lunch."

"Thanks." I said quietly. I was genuinely thankful that Mrs. Ottavi took good care of me despite my attitude.

"Scout, they're not mad. They are just worried about you." Darry told me. "They don't expect you to be perfect. They know that's not gonna happen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means they are willing to help you with your nightmares, and the sleepwalking."

"They told you?"

"Scout, I told them all about you having troubles before they agreed to let you live with them. Plus, they both know all about what you've been through and what you're going to have to go through to eventually get better. They are okay with it. They want you living with them because they want to help you!"

I looked at my brother. I could tell he was waiting for me to confirm for him that I was going to let go of my disappointment in myself and be friendlier with his new parents. "Fine. I'll talk to them tonight."

"Good. You shouldn't let everything build up like you have been. You need to talk about it more so it doesn't bother you so much."

I grinned at Darry's unlikely response to me. "Kathryn sure is rubbing off on you. Isn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but she says it's a good thing."

"It's odd to hear, but it's a good thing."

"So, what did you do yesterday after all of us left?" Darry asked as he pulled onto the highway.

"I hung out with Soda and Pony and the gang at the Dingo, then in the lot. Casey worked the dinner shift, so the gang went over there to harass her a little, and eat. Stuff like that to keep us busy since we couldn't be at the house without you. We all just hung out and talked about life and stuff. With the weekend being so busy I didn't get a chance to ask you if you were nervous about the cross examination today?"

"Nervous? No. Probably just annoyed. This defense attorney is pretty good at making stuff up."

"Or making you say things that you don't want no one to know about." I said absent mindedly.

"Yeah." Darry quietly replied then paused awhile in thought. "Sissy, I've been thinking about whether this is something I want to know or not… I … maybe just forget about it."

I knew what my brother was asking. I think I even understood why he wanted to know. I think the fact that I had given up my virginity made him question if he was a responsible guardian or not. I exhaled a breath and kept my focus straight out the windshield to avoid eye contact with him when I told him. "At the rodeo last summer. I told you I was staying the night at Casey's house, but we stayed in the tents with a couple of cowboys instead. I promise, it was just the one time."

Darry spoke cautiously in his questioning, "Did you want to … or were you made to?"

I looked over at my brother. "Darry, he was a nice enough boy. I think I just got confused with life. I thought it would make me feel more grown up or something."

"Maybe pushing you to be more grown up was my fault. I should be letting you and Ponyboy be kids more than I do. It's just, sometimes I forget what it was like to be fourteen or fifteen."

"Its okay, Darry. No one, but you, expects you to be perfect."

Darry laughed, "Well, aint that just the pot calling the kettle black!"

I laughed with him, "It makes sense! I can't recall a moment of my life when I wasn't looking up to you and admiring you and wanting to be like you!"

"You know, I admire you too!" Darry grinned back at me. He gave me a little punch in the arm to let me know I was his 'little buddy' too.

Just as before, Darry and I sat in the front row of the gallery. The courtroom filled with people, and James was escorted to his seat. I watched him walk in through the back door of the courtroom from a hallway that led to the jail. He seemed to scan the crowd in the gallery, and a smile of delight appeared on his face when he noticed I had returned. The bailiff escorted him to his chair and sat him down. Immediately, James turned his head my direction. I looked away to avoid any contact with the young man as the Judge and jury entered the courtroom.

Once the Judge had recalled the case number, he directed the defense attorney to begin with the cross examination. Darry stood tall as he walked to the witness stand. The Judge reminded him that he was still under oath.

I peeked over at James to find him completely fixated on me. I quickly looked away.

The defense attorney rose to his feet and began his line of questioning. "Please explain to the court why you made the statement that you did not favor James Young."

"He didn't respect or follow the rules I set for him to be dating my sister."

"Had you ever told him these rules?"

"Yes, each time he came by the house to pick her up. I asked him to be respectful towards her and have her back home by curfew."

"Did he ever break those rules?"

"Yes, Sir. On more than one occasion."

"Can you give an example of a time he broke one of your rules?"

Darry rubbed his hands on his knees and thought hard about his answer to the question. I was expecting to hear him say, when he took her to a bar instead of the diner, or when he wouldn't bring her home on time when she asked. Instead my brother responded by saying, "When he attempted to strangle her to death!"

The defense attorney smiled a little at Darry's ability to have that fact exposed again to the jury. To recover he asked, "Is that a common rule you share with your sister's suitors?"

"I would hope when your fifteen year old sister goes on a date you wouldn't have to specifically ask the young man not to kill her."

The defense attorney paused again, and knew he needed to move on to another topic. He asked, "Following rules is important to you. Does your sister, Scout, follow all of your rules?"

"Almost better than any other teenager would follow their parent's rules."

The attorney again smiled at Darry's coyness in answering his question, so he began to be more specific. "Do you have a rule against your sister drinking alcohol?"

"Yes, sir. I prefer she not do it."

"Yet, as she has already testified to, she does."

"I wouldn't consider that drinking alcohol as much as it was trying alcohol and deciding she doesn't like it."

"How about fighting? Do you have a rule against her engaging in physical fights?"

Darry shifted in his seat as he thought about the best way to answer. "We live in a rough neighborhood, so I allow it if the other person hits her first and Scout needs to defend herself."

Throughout the morning I admired how Darry answered the defense attorney's questions without directly answering the questions. I knew I had to pay attention and use the same tactic if I was called to the stand to refute any of James' testimony.

"You testified that Scout was receiving threatening letters from Mr. Young. Did you ever ask her if the two were still dating at the time the letters were sent?"

"I knew the letters frightened her, so I had no reason to ask if she was dating James."

"Could she have been secretly dating Mr. Young?"

"No, Sir."

"Mr. Curtis, children deceive their parent's every day. How can you be certain that the two of them were not still dating and in love?"

"Scout made the decision to end her relationship with James on her on. It was not a requirement from me. If she had decided to date him again she would have told me."

For the first time, it seemed as if the defense attorney was being beaten at his own game. The man flipped through his notes then asked. "You testified that as Scout's guardian you did not direct her to file charges against James after the incident at Rusty's Diner. Why?"

"It's not that I didn't. It's that I didn't realize the weight of the problem at the time. I know the law. I knew we had time to talk about what happened and file charges against him the next day. We just didn't have time to fully discuss the issue before he came to the laundry mat to attempt to rape my sister and attempt to kill me."

The defense attorney corrected my brother. "Mr. Curtis, you are not the judge and jury, they will decided if a rape took place, or if two teenagers in love conspired to kill their nemesis so they could be free from his tyranny."

"Objection, Your Honor!" Mr. Berta called out from his seat.

"Sustained." The Judge replied. "Juror's will disregard the defense attorney's statement to the witness."

The defense attorney looked to the Judge. "Your Honor, I have no further questions for this witness."

"Very well," The Judge said, "We will recess for lunch and reconvene at thirteen hundred hours."

I stood up and met Darry in the aisle of the gallery. He grabbed my hand and told me, "Let's get out of here, I'm starving."

With that the two of us avoided talking to the press or running into anyone who was there to support James. I shared with Darry how great he was at answering every question the defense attorney asked him. I only hoped, if called to the stand again, that I could be as confident and crafty as he was.

After lunch, Darry and I rode in the elevator to the second floor of the court house, and he coached me. "If they actually call him to the stand this afternoon, try not to react to anything he says. Remember, the jury will be watching you." I agreed with my brother and when the elevator doors opened we found Mr. Berta waiting in the hallway for us. He motioned for us to huddle together with him across the hall. "There's been a change of plans for the day. In reviewing the testimonies we have decided to call an additional witness to the stand. I believe you are familiar with her, Cynthia Kowalski?"

Darry shook his head, "No Sir, I don't think we do."

"I do." I said then I looked up at my brother, "You do too. Remember the girl I fought in the lot after a football game last summer?"

"Oh … Yeah, I do."

"I need you to know we don't plan on introducing the fight during questioning, but the defense may if they recall her as a witness later in the trial. If they do, they will be able to introduce that."

Darry spoke up in my defense, "Fair enough, but you need to be sure the jury knows Scout didn't start that fight. The other girl did."

"Rest assured, we will." Mr. Berta said with confidence before escorting us into the courtroom.

Darry and I walked down the aisle of the gallery. Ahead of us, I noticed Cindy sitting with her mother and Delores in the front row behind the defense table. From her seat the girl gave me a long cold stare. I ignored her, and took my seat. James was lead back into the room, and his face seemed to lose all of its color when he noticed Cindy at the trial.

The Bailiff announced, "All rise." Everybody stood up as the Judge took his seat, ordered the jury to be brought in and directed the prosecution to call their next witness.

Mr. Berta stood up and announced, "Your Honor, the prosecution calls Cynthia Kowalski."

I looked over at the girl as she rose to her feet on the defense side of the courtroom and confidently strolled to the witness stand. James could be seen in what appeared to be a small and heated conversation with his attorney. I grew excited at the assumption that the prosecution calling Cindy to the stand had thrown a wrench into the defense attorney's strategy.

"Mr. Berta began his line of questioning with simplistic questions such as her name, where she attended school and how she knew the defendant, James Young.

Cindy smiled and confidently answered, "He's my boyfriend!"

James threw his head back in disbelief. The courtroom began to murmur, and the jury looked at each other, at James and at me as I smiled at the girl's response.

The defense attorney argued, "Objection, hearsay."

"Overruled." The judge decided.

Mr. Berta struggled to suppress his joy in hearing her answer. "Miss Kowalski, why do you believe James Young is your boyfriend?"

"How does any girl know a boy is her boyfriend?" Immediately, she answered her own question, "He gave me this ring, asked me to be his girl!"

She raised her hand to show the ring to the jury. It was too small for me to see, but I wondered if it was the same ring he had attempted to give to me.

"Prior to his arrest, when was the last time you had seen Mr. Young?"

Cindy told the court that she had seen him for a few hours around dinnertime on the same day he had threatened me at Rusty's Diner, and stabbed my brother at the laundry mat. Mr. Berta asked the girl to describe in detail their time together.

Cindy sat up straight in her chair. "He came to my house about five o'clock. He was sweaty from running there to see me. My momma had already left for work, so I let him in."

"How was his demeanor when he came into the house?" Mr. Berta asked.

"What do you mean by de-mean-her?" Cindy asked because she didn't understand the word.

"I'll rephrase the question. What was his mood like when he got there?"

"He was fixen' to get him some."

I looked over at James as he fidgeted in his seat. His anxious response to Cindy's testimony made me more intrigued to hear what she had to say.

"Please explain what the phrase 'fixen to get him some' means to you."

Cindy blushed and looked at the members of the jury. "Ya'll know, get some, ya know."

"Miss Kowalski, please describe what you are meaning to tell this court when you say, 'get some'."

Cindy seemed to huff a little in her seat then she blurted out, "To have sex! He was wantin' to have sex with me."

"And did you have sex with Mr. Young on this evening in question?" Mr. Berta quickly asked.

"Yes I did have sex with MY boyfriend! I'm seventeen years old! I'm old enough to do that!"

I could barely hide the smile her words brought to my face. For the first time ever, I liked this girl.

"Objection, Your Honor!" The defense attorney called out and stood up. "We would ask that Miss Kowalski refer to the defendant by name and not by her unproven relationship of 'boyfriend' with James Young."

The Judge waved his hand to let the attorney know he will take care of the issue. "Miss Kowalski, I am hereby directing you to refer to James Young, as James, James Young or Mr. Young and not as 'your boyfriend'. Is that understood?"

Cindy rolled her eyes at the direction. "Fine!"

The prosecution attorney asked. "Miss Kowalski, can you please describe for the court the details of this sexual encounter?"

"Objection! Relevance?" The defense attorney called out.

The judge looked to the prosecution, "Mr. Berta?"

"Your Honor, you will find the details of this specific encounter to establish a level of premeditation of the attack on the victim, Scout Marie Curtis."

The judge paused a moment in thought then declared, "I'll allow some leeway. Mr. Berta, you may continue with your line of questioning."

I looked over at the defense attorney and saw him begin to dig through the piles of testimony on the table in front of him. James lowered his head and rubbed his brow in worry.

Mr. Berta addressed Cindy and read from his notepad, "In your testimony to the detectives you stated that James entered your house in an agitated state, is this correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What did he say to you when you let him into your home?"

"He told me, he wanted me. He wanted to play like he was to forcin' me to be with him."

"Had he ever asked this of you before?"

"No, Sir, but I didn't care. I love him."

Mr. Berta handed a few pieces of paper to the witness. "Please read for the Court the statement you had given to the detectives. I have it underlined right here."

Cindy reviewed the testimony she had given then asked, "What if I don't want to?"

"Your Honor?" Mr. Berta asked the judge to address the witness' question.

The judge turned towards Cindy. "Failure to answer the question could mean I could hold you in Contempt of Court and you could receive a fine or time in juvenile detention."

Suddenly, Cindy's mother blurted out. "Cindy, just answer the question! Don't get yourself in no more trouble!"

The judge banged his gavel, and called for order in the court then he addressed the lady. "Ma'am, there will be no further outbursts from you in this courtroom! Do you understand?"

The woman nodded her head, and nervously wrung her hands together.

Mr. Berta attempted to restart the proceedings. "Miss Kowalski, please read the underlined portion of your statement to the detectives."

"Your Honor," Cindy addressed the judge, "I just don't wanna get James in any more trouble."

Her response triggered whispering amongst the crowd in the gallery. Darry grabbed my hand, and we waited in silence hoping to hear the incriminating evidence.

The judge leaned over to speak to Cindy. "Miss Kowalski, if you do not answer I will hold you in Contempt of Court and have you reprimanded to juvenile detention."

Cindy's mother cried out, "You tell them the truth! That boy ain't been nothing but trouble! He ain't worth it!"

The judge immediately ordered the woman to leave the courtroom. The woman could be heard crying as she was escorted to the hallway.

I looked over at James as he watched the lady being escorted out of the room with a wide grin on his face. I turned my attention back to Cindy to find her wiping tears from her eyes. Once the courtroom was quiet the judge instructed the witness one last time to read the statement.

Everyone watched Cindy as her eyes darted between James grinning face and the papers in her hand. The girl steadied the papers and began to read aloud in a monotone voice, "he told me to lay down on the living room floor and I was to pretend I didn't want him inside me. With all my clothes on I laid down and laughed. I told him, 'please don't hurt me you strong, handsome man'. Then he reached up with his hand and ruined my blouse by ripping it open and pulling the buttons off. I got kinda mad at him and he said 'yeah, get mad! Kick around a little and fight back, so I did, but not a lot cause I was wanting him too…"

As I listened to the girls words I tightened my grip on Darry's hand for emotional strength. I didn't want to cry as the vivid memories of being held to the laundry mat floor came flooding back in to my head.

"…He reached down under my skirt and pulled at my underwear I wiggled enough to make them slide off easy and he got mad. He yelled that I wasn't supposed to be that easy. He said 'there's no way she's gonna be that easy'. At the time I didn't know what he meant, but I also didn't care cause I was gettin' what I wanted. Then he held my arms to the floor and had sex with me. I didn't fight him cause I didn't want to..."

Cindy stopped reading, but Mr. Berta knew there was more. "Please continue with the last part of the statement. Begin with 'I didn't fight him..."

Cindy curled her lip up in disgust then read, "I didn't fight him cause I didn't want to, until he finished and called me, Scout."

The quiet murmur began again.

I couldn't help my eyes from widening in surprise. My stomach turned sour. I looked over at the defendant to find him relaying details to his attorney.

Darry whispered in my ear, "stay cool."

Mr. Berta questioned the witness. "Miss Kowalski, how many times have you had sexual intercourse with James Young in the past?"

"Too many times to count." Cindy said with pride.

"Approximately, how many times? More than fifty?"

"Yeah, I'd say about that many times."

"And during your many sexual encounters how many times has James Young called you 'Scout'?"

Cindy frantically answered. "Just that one time! He loves me! It just slipped out. It don't mean anything."

The attorney asked, "Miss Kowalski, what did you do after he called you by the name, 'Scout'?"

"I pushed him off me, and told him he needs to buy me a new a new blouse!"