CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Exactly a month after TJ's death, Dean's trial begins. WWE turned over the tape PJ told everyone about. I hope it will be enough to help clear Dean's name. This is the first time we've been allowed to see Dean since he was arrested. He looks a little thinner and not happy, but I think he's alright considering. This is also the first time I've seen Nattie since everything went down.
She's sitting at the front of the courthouse with her uncle Brett. She looks lost. Her eyes are sad. I wish I knew what to say to her.
There's a lot of legal talk I can't quite understand. Basically, the prosecutor who is defending a dead douchebag tries to paint him as a beloved, kind man who is being wrongly put on trial when he can't defend himself to his murderer. He paints Dean as a sociopath who is the worst type of wrestler stereotype out there, a monster who must be stopped. I think I might scream.
Dean's lawyer paints the opposite picture. He claims he will show the jury that TJ was a monster and Dean is a hero who saved a poor, defenseless woman from an abusive maniac. Nattie's not defenseless by any means, but considering Dean's lie is to keep her actions a secret, no one will say that much.
Very early into things, the prosecution calls Nattie to the stand. She breaks down and starts to cry as he paints a pretty picture of her happiest memories of TJ. Only when Dean's lawyer starts to question her do things take a different path.
"Jonathan Good saved my life," Nattie tells him. "I wouldn't be here today if he hadn't shot TJ…" Her voice cracks from residual grief. As she describes the events, she's lying her ass off. She's very convincing as she tells the courtroom that Dean is the one who fired the gun. She then tells the absolute truth as she describes how TJ abused her for a very long time and no one helped her. My heart breaks for the woman I always believed could do anything. Her monster was also my monster, and I understand too well how hard it is to keep this kind of secret from everyone.
Shortly after that, PJ is called to the stand. He's charming as always while he describes what happened between TJ and Nattie that finally made him snap. They show the video as he talks. I watch PJ and TJ laughing and joking around. Nattie says something under her breath that angers TJ. He smacks her hard and PJ's face shows shock and rage at the same time. TJ starts yelling at Nattie, who apologizes over and over as he does. TJ smacks her again and actually throws himself on her, pushing her against a wall and cursing as he starts hitting her harder. That's when PJ grabs TJ and throws him against the opposite wall. TJ hits it hard and cries out in pain.
"Dude, dude, stop!" He shouts. "What the fuck?"
"What the fuck? You just hit a woman! Repeatedly! She's your wife! You're supposed to love and respect her, not beat her up!" As PJ tells him this, he's hitting him. The footage is insane. Finally, the crew of Total Divas gets involved. They pull the two apart, sending PJ on his way. Nattie can be seen sobbing in the arms of a crew member. The tape stops.
"See, I couldn't just let him do that to her," PJ says. "She's a good woman. She doesn't deserve that. No one does."
The jury is hooked. They're hanging on PJ's every word. The women in particular seem to believe he walks on water or something. I'm pretty sure this is going to really help Dean's case.
Next, Nikki Bella is called to the stand. That throws me off at first, but then I hear her testimony. She tells the jury that she witnessed TJ being abusive toward Nattie more than once. Brie follows this up with similar stories when she is questioned. Even John Cena and Bryan are called to the stand to testify about things they've seen while they've been around Nattie.
The trial goes on for three days before I'm actively involved. Finally, they call me to the stand. I'm nervous, but I've told my story enough times now that it sort of spills out easier. It helps that this is the last time I'll have to tell it. After I testify and admit I have no evidence of the rapes, Taylor and his brother each testify that they saw TJ assault me and had to chase him away and that I was visibly shaken up by the encounter. Colby testifies as my outcry witness, explaining how he came and picked me up the first time I was attacked and took me to Dean because I refused to get medical help. He talks about how Dean helped protect me. He paints an extremely good picture of who Dean is as a person. Joe is called as a character witness to do the same thing.
By the fourth day of the trial, Dean's lawyer even digs up Sam Johnston, known to NXT fans as Solomon Crowe, and known to Dean's old CZW fans as Sami Callihan. He talks about Dean's life before WWE, and how fucked up he was. He is an even better character witness than Colby and Joe because he's known Dean forever.
Toward the end of the fourth day, they bring in a last minute witness for the defense. It's Dean's mother. I see him cringe and turn pale. He obviously had no idea they were calling her in. He's shaking visibly. I want to run and give him a hug, but I obviously can't.
"My Jon's a good boy," she says. "He tried to protect me from men just like this one. It doesn't surprise me at all that he'd be arrested for doing something like this. He means well." It's obvious this woman has a lot of problems. She's thin and shaky, and her eyes are red. At least she doesn't look high. I know she has a history of drug usage. I hope this helps Dean's case and doesn't hurt it.
Dean can't even look at her. He stares at the table he's sitting at instead, refusing to meet her eyes. She isn't on the stand for long. The prosecution tries to badger her, but the defense lawyer is quick to argue that point. She's clearly frail. When she leaves, Dean still won't look up.
"He's freaking out," Colby whispers to me.
"I know," I whisper back. I'm more worried about him now than I've been this entire month.
"I have one final witness to call to the stand. She's been working with the police but has insisted her identity be kept a secret until now. She came forward two weeks ago with a vital piece of evidence which will prove without a doubt that everything I've told the court today is true," Dean's lawyer tells the jury. "The defense calls Pamela Martinez to the stand."
Everyone turns and stares in confusion as the wrestler known as Bayley walks into the courtroom. She's clearly nervous. She walks quickly to the stand and is sworn in. "Please tell the court what you told police two weeks ago," the lawyer says.
Pam takes a deep breath. "Ten months ago, when he was still down at NXT, TJ and I were alone. He was training with me, and everything was fine, and he offered to walk me back to my room so I wouldn't be alone. When we got there, he… I invited him in for a drink, to be nice. He leaned in and he kissed me, and I kind of freaked out because, you know, he had a wife, a beautiful, talented wife who I really respected and adored… And he got mad. He wouldn't listen when I… When I said… I told him not to. I begged him not to… But he wouldn't stop. He raped me."
"Objection!" The prosecution cries out. "This is another example of a woman accusing a dead man who cannot defend himself of rape! My client is not the one on trial here! There's no proof of any of this! This is heresay!"
"Actually, there is proof," Pam says quickly.
I'm stunned. Is it possible she somehow has a way to prove her case? She continues, "I reported it, the rape… I went to the hospital, I let them examine me… I let them do a rape kit. I just refused to tell them who did it. I pretended I didn't know. I couldn't tell anyone. I was too afraid of what it would do to Nattie, and to my career."
I feel for her so much. She sounds just like me, but she's younger, and she is in a worse position than me with the company because she hasn't made it to the main roster yet. She must have been so scared. Realization dawns on me. I'm not the only one he did this to. I'm not alone. We are not alone.
At the end of the day, they deliver closing arguments. In four days, this insane story has been told to a jury who will decide Dean's fate. I can barely breathe. The jury leaves and we wait, but there is no decision that day.
On the morning of the fifth day, the jury reaches a decision. We sit in the courtroom, each of us waiting with our breath held. The judge asks the jury if they've reached a verdict. The foreman stands and says they have. After a pause, he announces, "We, the jury, find the defendant, Jonathan Good, not guilty."
I exhale and hug Colby. Pam squeals like she's in full-on Bayley Mode. She's bouncing off the walls. Dean is taken back to do whatever it is that will get him discharged from custody. Colby and Joe intend to wait for him with Sami.
I step aside to grab Pam. "You did a great thing in here," I tell her. "You should be proud of yourself."
"I did it because of you," she tells me. "Your speech at that press conference gave me the courage to come forward, April."
I hug her, because we all know Pam likes to hug and I think she deserves it today. "I really hoped telling everyone what happened would help someone," I say. I'm feeling like I might cry, not because I'm sad or frightened, but because I'm happy.
"It did, April. Really. I was so afraid to tell anyone, and I thought I was alone… I thought I must have done something wrong."
"You didn't do anything wrong."
"Neither did you."
I nod. There aren't words to cover this. I hug her again. "Dean's free," I say.
She smiles. "Dean's free!" She echoes. Tenille taps her on the shoulder, and she walks off with her.
A little while later, Dean finally reappears. He's in normal clothes. His hair is a mess like always. He's standing tall and keeping up a strong act, but I can tell he was nervous this wouldn't go well for him. Colby and Joe stand on either side of him and he leans against them, finally allowing himself to drop some of the act.
"You okay?" Sami asks him.
"I'll be fine as soon as I'm out of this place," Dean says.
"Dean…" I hug him. "I'm so relieved! This could have gone differently…"
He shrugs. "I always get out of trouble."
"Okay, spill asshole. I know you didn't kill that guy. So why the hell did you confess, you stupid, dumb fuck?" Sami asks him.
"For me," Nattie says, surprising us all. I didn't realize she stayed behind. "He did it for me." She takes Dean's hands in her own and says, "Thank you. For everything."
Dean visibly softens when he sees her. "You don't have to thank me. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"Dean Ambrose, my hero."
"I'm no hero, Nattie."
"You clearly don't see yourself the way we all do." She hugs him and gives him a kiss on his cheek. "You may not have saved me by shooting my husband, but you saved me in every way that you could, and I'm grateful for that."
I swear Dean blushes a little bit. How did I not see this before? He really does have feelings for her. He watches as she walks away.
Sami shakes his head. "You're hot for her so you lied and covered up her crime. Man, that's crazy even for you," he says.
"I'm not hot for her," Dean says. "She's a friend."
"Liar. I know that look. That's not the look you give to random ring rats and girls you don't care about. This one's special to you."
"Shut up."
"You know, not long ago, you told me something very similar about how I feel about April," Colby tells him.
"You shut up, too."
"It's good to have you back," Joe says.
"Yeah, I missed you fuckers, too," Dean says.
Together, we leave the courthouse. In spite of everything, we've survived. This nightmare is finally over, and Dean is free again. Nothing else matters tonight.