Chapter Nine

Mr. Berta thanked Cindy for her testimony and sat down in his seat. The girl looked around the courtroom to understand what was supposed to happen next.

"Defense, cross examination?" The judge questioned if the defense attorney was ready to begin. The attorney stood up from his chair and made a request. "Your Honor, the defense requests time to confer with my client."

"Very well," The judge responded to the request. "The Court will recess and reconvene in thirty minutes. Young lady, you may step down." The judge directed the witness then dismissed the jury before James and his attorney retired to the conference room in the back of the courtroom.

I sat frozen in my seat as a gamut of emotions ran through my mind. I was elated to hear Cindy's testimony as she claimed to be the girlfriend. At the same time, I was in shock to learn that James had thought ahead about attacking me the way he did. As the commotion in the courtroom began to settle I looked up at my brother. I asked quietly, "What just happened?"

"I think that girl just won us the case." Darry said calmly.

I stared at Darry whose expression was stern, and his eyes were cold like ice. It was the way Pony would have described my brother a year ago. I noticed how his posture was straight and the reforming muscles in his arms and chest seemed rigid as if he was ready to rumble with someone.

"Darry, you okay?" I asked softly.

Darry sat quiet a moment. His stare was straight ahead and intense as he quietly told me, "Let's get outta here before I follow that hood into that room and kill him myself."

With wide eyes I looked ahead to the prosecuting attorneys to see if they had heard what Darry had said. They paid no attention to anything except the casefiles in front of them. I was relieved. I quickly stood up. Darry followed me out of the courtroom, and into the hallway where Cindy was in an argument with her mother about being able to love whomever she pleased.

I didn't make eye contact as we passed her, but, as always, that didn't stop the girl from noticing me.

"He's not your boyfriend, and he never was!" She stepped away from her mother and harped at me.

I looked back at her. "I'm not the one saying that he is."

"Why can't you just leave him be?" She barked at me as her mother told her to shush.

Sensing trouble, Darry tightly grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hallway away from the girl.

"What?" I asked with irritation.

"Nothing. I just thought you needed to get away from that girl."

"Darry, she's crazy!"

"Yeah, we both know that." Darry said as he eyed a few reporters who were finishing up making notes in their notepads about the case. "Why don't we get away from this zoo, and go wait outside."

"You won't hear an argument outta me. Let's go!"

We took the stairs and exited the courthouse without being noticed. As we rounded the outside corner of the building we noticed Ponyboy and Owen walking our way.

"What's going on?" Ponyboy questioned us as he approached.

Darry told them, "The defense attorney requested a break so he could confer with his low life, hoodlum client!"

"Whoa!" Pony said in response to Darry's description of James. "Was the day that bad? Did he testify?"

"No," Darry crossed his arms across his chest. "The prosecution called Cindy Kowalski instead."

"Cindy Kowalski? Who's that?" Owen asked.

Ponyboy smiled with pride and pointed at me. "That's the girl Scout knocked silly with one punch when they were fighting over James?"

"No! I wasn't fighting for James!" I defended my behavior. "I only knocked her out because it was a lucky punch. And to remind you, Ponyboy Curtis, she threw a rock at me and pushed me down before I ever fought back!"

"Knock it off you two!" Darry warned us to behave in public. "And yes, it was 'that' girl."

Owen asked, "Why would the prosecution call her? Wouldn't she be on James' side of all this?"

"She is on his side!" I told him. "She just doesn't realize that a lot of what she was testifying too was helping us more than it was helping him. You should have heard her testimony. It still sends chills up my spine just thinking about it."

Darry looked at me in agreement. "Never in my worst nightmares would I have ever thought he did what he did. It's a good thing no one told me about that before today!"

"What did she say?" Owen asked.

Darry looked at Owen a moment as he searched for the kindest way to paraphrase what had transpired. "She testified that before James went to the laundry mat, he went to her house, and she let him practice on her how he was going to attack Scout."

"What?" Ponyboy's eyes widened in shock. "What kind of a girl let's that happen?"

Owen was quiet, but the tenseness of his body showed that he was visibly upset to hear the news.

Ponyboy spoke his thoughts, "So, he planned to do it the whole time!"

"That's what she is testifying to." I told him. "But, the good news is she insists James is her boyfriend and not mine. Kinda blows his defense a little."

"Wait," Pony asked, "How did the prosecution get her to testify to this in court?"

I answered, "Apparently, she reported all of this in an interview with the detectives on the case."

Darry said, "They made her read her past testimony from a deposition out loud. She said she didn't want to, but the Judge told her it was that or be thrown into the juvie. Her mom was yelling at her to tell them the truth, and she was so disruptive the judge removed her from the courtroom."

"So, what happens next?" Owen asked quietly as he grabbed my hand.

Darry sighed and shifted his weight. "I don't know. The defense can cross examine her if they want to. I guess we go back in and wait and see."

Owen frowned at my brother's suggestion. "I don't know if I can handle seeing that weasel sitting there and not working him over for everything he has done!"

"I know what you mean," Darry agreed. "I almost popped off on him myself, but that aint gonna do no good. We all need to stay level headed and let the evidence speak for itself."

_

Court reconvened with the defense attorney cross examining Cindy. He walked to the podium as the judge reminded the girl that she was still under oath.

"How long ago did you receive the ring from Mr. James Young?"

"I'd say, about a year ago."

"At that time did Mr. Young formally ask you to be his girlfriend?"

Cindy beamed with joy. "Yes, he did!"

"Tell the court, between last year when you were asked to be his girlfriend and present day, did Mr. Young ever formally announce to you that he no longer wanted to be your boyfriend, and that he was in love with someone else?"

Cindy was annoyed by the question. "Yeah, he might have said that, but he didn't mean nothin' by it."

"How many times has my client told you he is not your boyfriend?"

"A couple times, but he doesn't mean nothing by it. He is still coming around. He still wants to be with me!"

The defense attorney grinned. "So your characterization of James Young being your boyfriend is really just past history, a figment of your imagination?"

Cindy blurted out, "If that's true why's he always coming around to get him some?"

The defense attorney ignored her question. "So, what I am hearing you say is that Mr. Young is in fact, not currently your boyfriend. Is that correct?"

Cindy sulked and replied, "I thought he was."

"Please answer the question with a yes or a no. Is Mr. Young currently your boyfriend?"

Cindy glared at the man. "No."

"At any time did James Young tell you he that he planned to attack Scout Curtis later that evening?"

"No, sir."

"Did James Young tell you he planned to rape Miss Curtis?"

"No, sir!" Cindy said confidently.

"So the only thing that happened at your house that involved conversation about Miss Scout Curtis was the mention of her name at the conclusion of sexual intercourse?"

"Yes, Sir." Cindy said with a sneer.

"Is it your experience that James Young usually says your name at the end of sexual intercourse with you?"

"Yeah! My name! Not some other floozy's name!" Cindy curled her lip in disgust.

"No further questions, Your Honor!" The defense attorney said with a grin then took his seat.

My heart sank in hearing the defense attorney undue Cindy's claim to be James' girlfriend, and his implication that I may have been intimate with James in the past.

The judge asked if the prosecution had any further witnesses.

"The prosecution rests, your honor." Mr. Berta replied.

The judge looked towards James and his attorney. "The defense will now call their first witness."

I grabbed Owen and Darry's hands in mine. I dropped my gaze to the wooden railing in front of me to avoid any eye contact with James when he walked up to take the witness stand. I waited a moment and heard nothing. I peeked over to see James and his attorney quietly discussing an issue amongst themselves. I looked up at the Judge who was patiently waiting.

James' attorney rose to his feet to speak. "The defense rests your honor!"

The courtroom murmured in surprise. My mouth silently dropped open in shock. He wasn't going to testify? What does that mean? Does he think he's going to win? He has to think he has the upper hand. He and his attorney must believe they have enough evidence to win on reasonable doubt. How could they possibly think that?

"Counselors, prepare closing arguments. Court will dismiss and reconvene tomorrow at zero eight hundred. Court adjourned!" The judge announced. The bailiff instructed everyone to stand as the judge left the bench.

I looked up and watched the jury file out of the courtroom. A few of the members looked my way. I wished I knew what they were thinking. I wished I could know if they believed my side of the story. I stood between my oldest brother and my boyfriend as two reporters approached us.

"Do you think you have won the case?"

Darry spoke up, "We have no comment!"

The other reporter asked, "Do you think his actions at the laundry mat were premeditated?"

"No comment!" Darry announced quickly so no one in the group would speak their mind.

"Why do you think the defense didn't call any witnesses?"

"No comment!" Darry said again.

The first reporter looked at me and asked, "Miss Curtis, are you secretly James Young's girlfriend?"

My eyes widened in shock and I sternly told him 'no' before Darry could tell him we had no comment on this issue. Darry then pulled me in the opposite direction of the reporters so our group could exit the courtroom and avoid any further press.

When we were outside of the courthouse I asked, "That's it? They're not calling any witnesses? Not even one?"

"Who are they gonna call?" Darry asked as we walked towards the parking lot. "Other people he beat up? His mother who ratted him out to you, so she'll probably rat him out on the stand?"

Pony added, "Past girls he's dated and hurt? His gang friends with criminal records and sketchy pasts?"

My brothers were right, but it still seemed odd that not one person could come to his defense.

Owen told us, "A man without witnesses to testify for him is a guilty man!"

"Do u think so?" I asked with apprehension.

"You don't?" Owen asked me.

"I don't know what to think. I'm afraid to. I think am as scared now as I was in the parking lot at Rusty's when he first threatened me."

Owen immediately wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Don't be. You're gonna win and we're all gonna look after you!"

"Sissy, you're staying at the house with us tonight?" Darry said to everyone's surprise.

"What?" Owen questioned and showed his true fear about me being back in my neighborhood.

"What gives?" Pony asked before I could.

"Art and Dorothy told me about your sleep walking last night and falling down the stairs."

"You fell down the stairs?" Owen asked in surprise.

"Just the last few... I think. It's no big deal. I'm fine."

"Still, you gave them quite the scare. If you are under this much stress you'd probably fall out a window tonight! I'll talk to Art. I'm sure he'll agree that you can be home tonight where you may sleep better, and we can look out for you." Darry said.

"You know Soda's gonna have a fit for you letting me be home."

"I'll deal with our little buddy. Besides you'll be safe. We'll all be there. Hell, Two-Bit and Steve may even come over to keep an eye on you."

"I wanna be there!" Owen unexpectedly announced. "I'll just sleep on the floor outside her room or something."

I smiled at the thought of Owen being there to protect me while I slept.

Darry grinned as he thought about the oddness of my boyfriend spending the night. "Well... if there's any trouble it'd be nice having another man around, so you can stay if your parents are okay with it."

"Thanks Darry. My dad left today on business, and my mom won't care." Owen said and smiled excitedly at me. "Why don't I pick up pizza for dinner then afterwards I'll take Scout to get her things then we'll go by my house and get mine."

"Free pizza! Sounds good to me!" Ponyboy said.

Everyone was getting into the spirited fun of a sleepover, but my nerves didn't let up. Inside it felt like my intestines were being twisted and my mind began to wander. If James is found 'not guilty', I don't just have to move across town, I'll have to move out of town. Which means back to Ashford or worse, adoption! I was sure I wouldn't be adopted by some nice local family. Judge Carlson would probably put me up for adoption a thousand miles away like in Wyoming or Maine. Now everything I wanted in my life was contingent on the decision of twelve people who didn't know me. People who hadn't heard about James' past juvenile record. People who didn't know his jealous streak. People who would never have to think of him or me again after they made their decision. I wondered if James friends from a few weeks ago still cared about shutting me up. Would they be back again tonight? It wouldn't do them any good. Whether I was dead or alive the judge and jury had already heard all the facts. I knew that, but would they? I wished Dallas was alive. He might have gone to their neighborhood and flat out asked them if they still cared about their boy then threatened them to leave me alone.

"You!" A girl's shrill voice broke into my obsessive, fearful thoughts. "You have been nothing but trouble for him since the day you stole him from me!"

I turned around to find Cindy charging towards me in a huff.

Immediately, Owen walked towards her to hold her back, and keep her from being able to get to me.

"Let me go! You dumb frickin' Soc!" Cindy harped and tried to push past the star football player. "She needs to drop these charges and set him free."

I stepped closer to the girl but still kept my distance. "You don't even know what you are talking about. These aren't charges I brought upon him, the State of Oklahoma did. I couldn't stop this if I wanted. Which I don't!"

Cindy looked at me like I was a liar. "Why couldn't you just leave him alone from the start?"

From afar, Cindy's mom called for her to leave us alone and quit causing more trouble for herself.

"Believe me, I wished I would have!"

"You never loved him!"

"I never said I did. Just like I told the judge and the jury."

Cindy backed away from Owen and began to cry. "It's all your fault! They're going to find him guilty and I'll never see him again."

"That would probably be the best thing that ever happened to you." I turned and walked away. I grabbed Ponyboy's hand and told him we needed to go. Without a word he walked me to the car while Darry and Owen made sure the crying girl returned to her mother and left me alone.

I stopped by the side of our sedan and nervously asked, "Pony, do you think she's going to tell the Northside Boys to come after me tonight?"

"No, if they cared one lick about her or what she wanted they'd be dating her themselves, and she wouldn't care about James anymore. Besides, if they come for you they better bring an army this time cause they're gonna have to go through the whole gang and one Soc to get to you."

Pony's intention was to make me feel secure, but the twisted thoughts running in my head wouldn't allow me to feel anything but insecurities.