Whew this is long! The trial is in this chapter...i hope i did alright it was my first detailed trial...even though it could have been a little more detailed...but oh well...

Now enjoy!

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Chapter 12

Joanne woke up early the next morning, expecting to feel the weight of Maureen on top of her, but was surprised when her girlfriend wasn't smothering her in a snuggle. She slowly sat up and let another wave of surprise hit her when Maureen wasn't lying in bed next to her. She took a glance at the clock before getting out of bed to search for Maureen.

Out in the kitchen Maureen sat at the kitchen table staring blankly at the wall in front of her. She was so into her thoughts she didn't even hear Joanne enter the room.

"Honeybear?" Joanne called out while placing a hand on her shoulder, causing Maureen to jump with fright. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. What are you doing up so early? It's six in the morning."

Maureen shrugged, her eyes following Joanne as the lawyer took a seat next to her. "I couldn't sleep."

"Are you ready for today?" Joanne asked as she reached out and held one of Maureen's hands.

"As ready as I'll ever be…" Maureen replied with a yawn.

"Why don't you go back to bed and get some sleep…the trial is in seven hours. You need some rest so you can focus." Joanne explained.

"I'm not sleepy." Maureen whined, and stood up heading for the kitchen. "I'll just drink some coffee…I'll be fine."

Joanne sighed and didn't argue with Maureen, she just hoped they would be able to put Mr. Johnson behind bars, and then maybe Maureen would start acting like her old self…and get a good night sleep.

Later that day the two headed over to the courthouse, Maureen was silent the entire ride there, holding onto Joanne's hand for dear life. As they walked up to the building they could see the rest of the boho's standing outside waiting for them.

"There they are." Joanne could hear Mark say, and everyone soon turned their attention towards the couple.

"Hey." Joanne said greeting everyone with a smile. "Thanks for coming."

"We wouldn't miss it." Collins said as he gave Joanne a hug, and noticed Maureen didn't let go of Joanne's hand.

"Hey…" Collins quietly said to Maureen who kept her eyes on the ground. "How are you holding up?"

Maureen just shrugged.

"She's just tired…she's been up since six." Joanne explained causing Maureen to huff.

"I'm not tired!" Maureen replied grumpily and turned her attention away from her friends.

"Is she going to be okay for trial?" Mark quietly asked Joanne.

Joanne nodded. "Yeah, we went over everything before we got here."

"She's seems a little out of it…" Mimi declared, as she watched Maureen stare into space.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" Angel kindly asked, as she softly stroked Maureen's cheek.

Maureen turned her head shrugging Angel's hand away as she nodded. "I'm fine…I just want to get this over with…" her attention then turned towards Joanne. "Can we go in now?"

"We just have to wait for Benny." Joanne replied. "Then we can go in-"

"He's here." Maureen said in a shaky voice, her eyes watching as her father walked towards the building, meeting with his lawyer, her hand tightening around Joanne's hand.

"Where?!" Roger and Collins both asked at the same time, their hands balled into fists.

Maureen hid her eyes on Joanne's shoulder. "I can't do this!"

"Yes you can." Joanne assured her while wrapping her arms around Maureen, her eyes then fell on an angry looking Roger and Collins. "You guys can't do anything to him…it wont look good for our case."

"We can't even yell at him?" Roger asked.

"No." Joanne replied her eyes watching as Benny approached them.

"Hi…" Benny said.

"Thanks for coming." Joanne said, and then pulled away from Maureen. "Okay sweetie, we're going to go inside now…are you ready…do you need anything?"

"I need to go home." Maureen sobbed.

"You can't, now come on we're here, everyone is here to support you, and we're going to get that asshole behind bars." Joanne said.

Maureen's face fell, her eyes landing on everyone. "They are all going to hear my story aren't they…of what…of what happened to me back then…strangers are going to hear it too aren't they Joanne…I can't …I wont tell that story anymore…I don't want to!"

"Shhh…it's okay Maureen, it's good to let it out, and once you do, everyone will realize what kind of a sick pervert your dad is, and then he wont be able to get you anymore." Joanne soothingly told Maureen, her fingers running through her girlfriend's hair trying to calm her down.

"Grandma?" Maureen suddenly sniffled, her eyes landing on an elderly lady in her early seventies, her long grey hair blowing in the wind. Next to her was a man in his late forties, his brown hair nicely combed over. "Uncle Bob?"

Before Joanne knew it, Maureen detached from her and ran over to her two family members, wrapping them each in a giant hug. They were probably the only family Maureen liked, even though she hardly ever talked to them anymore. Her Aunt, Bob's wife popped up next to them, her and Maureen sharing a friendly hug. Joanne then walked over and introduced herself, and then suggested it was probably a good time for them to go inside so they could start the trial. So Maureen latched onto Joanne's hand again, and everyone proceeded to head inside the building.

After the trial started and everyone knew what it was about, and the jury settled in, they started right away. Joanne calling up Maureen's grandma first.

"Mrs. Stuart." Joanne formally used her name. "You and Maureen are close right?"

"Very." Mrs. Stuart replied and gave Maureen a warm smile. "The child would tell me everything. Plus she is my grandchild I love her with all my heart. "

"So you had no troubling believing her when she had confessed what her father had done to her."

"No trouble at all, Maureen wouldn't lie about such a thing."

"Could you please tell everyone what you had seen on Maureen's body, the night she came out and told you what he had done?"

Mrs. Stuart nodded, her face falling as the memory flooded her mind. "There were welt marks on her back, cuts all over her body, I asked the poor girl who did it to her, and she broke down crying, telling me it was her father."

Joanne asked her a few more questions before she turned it over to Mr. Johnson's lawyer. A thirty year old, cocky blonde man properly called Mr. James.

"Mrs. Stuart, did you see Mr. Johnson hit Maureen?" He asked.

"Uh no…" She stuttered.

"Then how do you know he really did it?" Mr. James asked his eyebrow cocking. "She was a little girl yes? A little girl who liked to play outside, where she could have easily fallen off her bike, therefore receiving those cuts and bruises that she clamed came from her father?"

"But she cried out to me…and a grandmother knows when her own granddaughter is telling the truth, she was crying out for help!" Mrs. Stuart said.

"Still doesn't prove anything." Mr. Johnson said, and then eyed the judge. "No further question your honor.

Mrs. Stuart sighed as she walked back to her seat, mouthing the words sorry to Joanne before sitting down.

Maureen's Uncle was the next to be called up, Joanne asked him kindly to tell everyone word by word of what he had seen happen to Maureen on the front lawn back when she was innocently playing as a child.

He took a breath and began telling the story. "We were in the house watching Maureen through the window. I remember I took my eyes off of her for a second and when I looked back, I seen him…Michael Johnson hovered over Maureen hitting her, and trying to drag her away. So I ran out of the house and tackled him to the ground."

Joanne asked a few other questions before it was Mr. James turn again.

"Is it true you put Mr. Johnson in the hospital?" Mr. James asked.

Bob nodded. "Yes."

"You broke his nose, gave him a black eye, smashed his head off the ground, and then you were sent away to jail for almost killing him correct?"

"Yes, but that sick prev deserved it! I was protecting my niece from that…that monster! He had no right touching a little girl like that, no right!" Bob yelled.

"No further questions." Mr. James said and then eyed Joanne giving her a cocky smirk.

Joanne called Benny up next. She had him explain how he knew her, and how they were good friends. She then had him share the story of when he found her in the alley.

"I stepped out of my car and heard a noise coming from the alley, so I went to check it out. When I peered down into the alley I seen a man hunched over Maureen, trying to…take off her clothes, so I ran over to help her, and that's when he ran away." Benny said.

Mr. James came up a small smile on his face. "Isn't it true your friendship with Maureen had ended a long time ago? You even had police break up a riot she had held down in the East Village?"

"Yes that is true…" Benny said. "But I still care for my friends. Just because I hardly talk to them anymore doesn't mean I want to see them get hurt. Maureen is still considered a friend to me, even if she doesn't like me back; I'm still going to protect her from sick dirty rapist like her father!"

"How do you know it was her father?" Mr. James asked. "You said you couldn't see his face…it could have been somebody else. After all this is New York City, there are a lot of crazy people out there."

"She told us it was him." Benny said.

"Is it true that Maureen is a performance artist, she could have made it up, after all she is an actress, and she could have fooled you all?" Mr. James said.

"I've known Maureen for a long time; she would never lie about something as big as this." Benny said. "She's an outgoing, wild girl who is now torn apart because her father came back into her life. Trust me if you knew Maureen in real life, and seen her now…you could tell there is a change…someone doesn't change that drastically over night for nothing…something provokes it…and that something is her father."

"Still…" Mr. James said as he walked away and eyed the jury. "There is no proof!"

The judge knocked the thing. "Okay there will be a small recess then everyone will report back here, and we will call Maureen Johnson and Mr. Michael Johnson to the stand." A police officer came over and whispered in the judges hear, her head nodding intently, her eyes then looked over the courtroom and she added one last person. "We will also be hearing from a Mrs. Nancy Johnson."

Maureen and Joanne both gasped looking at each other.

"I thought she wasn't coming?" Maureen said.

"I didn't think she was." Joanne said, and then looked over towards Mr. Johnson who seemed as surprised as they were.

Everyone left the courtroom and into the hall, Maureen was once again clutching onto Joanne's hand, while her friends gathered around them.

Collins frowned towards Joanne. "So…Mr. James is good huh?"

Joanne held her head in her hands. "So good!"

"Maureen?" a voice from behind them called out.

Maureen's ears perked up, she knew that voice, so slowly she turned around, her eyes filling with tears. "Mom…mommy?"

"I came sweetie…" Nancy said with a smile, as held out her arms and let Maureen melt into them.

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Next chapter will be the second half of the trial...and can somebody tell me what those things are called...the thing the judge bangs on his desk to get everyones attention?...I'm drawing a huge blank!