Hey guys, and so we come to the hearing. Wonder how it'll go?
Just quickly wanted to thank you again for all of your wonderful reviews.
Supco7, I'm glad you enjoyed seeing Edward back. I agree it was good seeing them mend their issues. SurolTj, Yes Jay does seem to be fitting in quite well in New Haven, doesn't he?
Ok guys, thanks again and now on to the hearing….
Cold in the Rain.
Chapter Eleven – The Thompson Hearing.
Though it had seemed like hours away, it wasn't long at all until Andy and Mel had reached the court house. Andy barely had time to get out of the car and shut the door before he was thrown into a hug from his Dad.
"Son! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Ben said.
"I'm sorry Dad," Andy replied, really not having any idea what he was even apologizing for.
"Hey loosen up daddy-o," Mel mocked. "We got a date to get to."
Ben released Andy from the hug, but wasn't about to let him go that easily. He slipped his hand into Andy's and the comfort that it offered allowed him to squeeze his dad's hand lightly as the two of them strode towards the ominous looking building.
Though Andy had done a lot of research when it came to the law, the building that stood before him seemed to wipe all said research from his mind. It gave him a sense of foreboding and he nearly told Ben he didn't even want to go inside. Contingency after contingency floated through his head as once again the urge to fight withered away to nothing and the need to flee became more and more.
What if Mel just handled this? He wondered. What if she just went in, said whatever she needed to say and Ben went in as a character witness, all the while with Andy staying outside and having a smoke? He wouldn't even have to enter the building that way.
Whether an educated guess or she just knew, Andy had no idea, but Mel stopped him right before they entered.
"I know, it was scary to me too the first time I came here." She said.
"Don't tell me, you were caught smoking a doobie along-side the great Pittsburg Hippy Movement of the 60's?" Andy cheeked earning a light slap from Mel to his rib.
"No!" she replied shocked, but then lowered her voice "I was never caught; I was too smart for the authorities… even then." She smiled and Andy returned it in turn.
Ben gave Mel a slight 'why would you even?' stare, but Mel just ignored him and Andy didn't even notice.
"Ok, listen," she spoke now in a business like tone. "Don't worry; I'm going to take you step by step through this. We're going to go through those doors and then through the metal detectors and-…"
But Andy quickly cut her off.
"Just tell me when it's time to walk into the room," he said. "The rest is all admin and a lot of sitting right?"
Andy was certainly not wrong. For the next hour, the only close to exciting thing that happened was being frisked by the hot security guard at the metal detector. Otherwise exactly as predicted, it was a lot of sitting around and waiting.
"Urgh! Where's my book when I need it?" Andy asked, clearly bored.
Mel laughed.
"What you reading these days anyway?" she asked.
"Insurgent. It's the second book of the divergent series."
"I love that film!" Mel replied. "I'm so Candor!"
Ben and Andy just laughed.
"What? What's so funny? Isn't candor the justice faction?"
"Yeah it is," Ben replied through that laughter. "But that's pretty much identical to what Andy here said, the moment the film ended."
Mel smiled and gave Andy a very approving nod.
"And you would be…?" she asked Ben.
"Probably faction-less," he laughed. "But if I had to choose I'd go Amity."
"Figures," Mel replied rolling her eyes.
Just as Ben was about to protest an announcement came over a speaker, that Andy had only just realized was sitting above them attached to the wall.
"Could I have your attention please?" the announcer was asking. "Could the following please convene in court room 1; The state V Perkins, Thomson and Williams V McNight. Thank-you."
"That's us," Mel said slowly standing.
"Yep, boy do I love my new name," Andy said.
"New name?" Mel asked. Now was not the time for Andy to change his name. But Andy just looked at her and smiled.
"Yeah McNight," he laughed as Mel rolled her eyes.
Moments later Mel, Ben and Andy were seated in chairs in the gallery of Court Room 1. A busy bailiff was running around like a head-less chook doing everything to keep things in order. Then Andy held his breath as the bailiff asked everyone to rise. Ben clenched Andy's hand in support as the bailiff continued.
"The honorable Judge Jamieson Granger presiding."
Andy noticed that the judge didn't look at all like your typical judge. Certainly he appeared much younger looking the Andy expected and rather than frown he actually smiled as he took his seat at the bench.
"Morning everyone, you may sit." He said as though politely offering them a brandy. He banged the gavel and as instructed everyone took their seats.
"Could the parties for The State v Perkins step forward please?"
Andy watched as a man dressed in a smart policeman's uniform stepped forward and placed a wad of files onto the table in front of him. He then saw a boy, who looked about 21 step forward quite nervously and behind him a large man with beady eyes and a tweed suit which Andy assumed were Perkins and his lawyer.
From start to the end of that hearing Andy was actually enjoying himself. He listened eagerly to the state's charge, which in this case was driving without a licence and then heard Perkin's lawyer's shabby defense. Despite the fact that Perkins should have clearly been let off with a warning according to Andy, the shabby defense the lawyer provided saw Perkins receive a $5,000 fine.
Andy knew if he was Perkins lawyer he would have objected to the obscene amount. But the portly man in the tweed suit simply smiled and informed the judge that he accepted the offer on his client's behalf. With that case over, Perkins and his lawyer left the room and not too much later the policeman also left.
Andy looked around, there were only 2 other people in the room now aside from himself Mel and Ben. Straight away he assumed one of them was Williams and the other McNight as they couldn't have been further apart. One was in the back row on the far right hand side and the other was in the front row on the far left hand side. Figuring they'd be too distracted with their own upcoming hearing, Andy was surprisingly calm when the judge next spoke.
"Ah…yes." He smiled looking up. "Good morning Ms Marcus, I assume you're the representing attorney for the ah…" he looked back down at this notes, "Thompson case?"
"Yes you're honor, I am." Mel responded having now stood.
"Which one of you is Thompson?" the judge asked looking from Ben to Andy. Andy rose to address the judge.
"I am your honor," he said.
"And Mr. Thompson, who is the man to your left? What is his relation to you?"
"This is Ben, he is my cousin's husband."
The judge looked a little suspicious but Mel chimed in.
"You're honor; Mr. Bruckner here has been an acting guardian for Mr. Thompson from an early age when he lost both his parents. However for the purposes of this hearing, he is here for moral support only."
"Very well Ms Marcus," the judge replied accepting her statement. "You and Mr. Thompson may step forward. Mr. Bruckner will remain in the gallery unless he is to be called upon is this understood Mr. Bruckner?"
"Yes your honor." Ben formally replied, not bothering to stand.
"Excellent," the judge smiled waiting for Mel and Andy to approach one of the lecterns.
"Which one?" Andy whispered.
"Either," Mel whispered back. "We're seeking a restraining order, so there's no defense."
"Ms Marcus, when you are ready," the judge chimed in noticing Mel talking to Andy.
Andy hastily moved to left of the two tables and Mel positioned herself behind the lectern of the same.
"Your Honor," Mel began quite confidently. "Mr. Thompson and I are here to seek an intervention order against Mr. B Kinney. Last night at approximately 10 o'clock pm my client was sexually assaulted by a customer at his place of business."
"Which is?" the judge interjected.
"The liberty diner your honor, located on Liberty Avenue here in Pittsburg."
"Oh, the gay diner?" the judge questioned.
"That would be the one," Mel replied, sounding slightly crestfallen at the way the judge had used the word 'gay'.
"As I was saying your honor, my client was working there at 10pm last night when this customer approached him from behind and sexually assaulted him. As my client is due to continue working there we seek an order of protection by requesting an intervention order be expedited immediately so that my client can go back to work this evening."
Mel finished her statement and took a breath. She fully expected the judge to respond to her request, but instead he just sat there, looking elsewhere behind her. Mel turned and surprisingly saw B standing a few feet behind her.
"Morning your honor," B said equally as professionally as Mel. "Apologies for the delay, but you see plaintiff's counsel never did advise of this hearing and I only just found out moments ago."
As he was talking B was making his way to the other lectern and without even pausing when he got to the stand he just continued.
"With that in mind and seeing that this case has already started I will continue. Your honor I believe that before an intervention order can be granted the defendant has the right to defend himself am I correct?"
Mel was glaring B down by now and as for Andy he was standing there his mouth wide-open in shock.
Wasn't this meant to be simple? He thought to himself. Didn't Mel say we'd be out of here within half an hour?
But the judge wiped that thought away immediately.
"You are correct sir," he said. "May I ask your relation to the accused?"
"Yes your honor. I am him. That is to say, he…is me. I am B Kinney!"
"Mr. Thompson?" the judge asked now looking at Andy.
"Yes your honor?" Andy asked.
"Is this the man accused of the charges?"
"Yes your honor. That's him." Andy confirmed, not at all liking the sound of where this was heading.
"Well then Ms Marcus, if the accused is correct when he says that you gave him no notice of this trial and seeing that I have no record of him even attending today I have no choice but to postpone this case until a proper formal hearing can be arranged. I suggest you confer with your client over whether he would like to do this or not."
Mel was so angry with B that she wanted to just walk over to him and strangle all that was left of his life out of him. Instead being in a court room in front of a judge and having way too much respect for the judicial process she just smiled back at him.
"Of course your honor, one moment please."
Mel sat down and instructed Andy to do the same. She then started whispering to him.
"Ok so this was not the plan," she whispered.
"Clearly," Andy whispered back. "Does the judge want us to go to trial?!"
"Yes, because B showed up, he actually has a right to defend himself so we have two choices, we can either drop the case or postpone it until trial. The choice is yours."
"But depending on the date I may not be able to get back to work tonight."
"Andy," Mel breathed. "It's your call. I'm with you 100% either way. You can go through with this and I'll represent you or you can drop it. But, ah, by the look on Granger's face…we better hurry."
Turning his head back towards the judge Andy could see exactly what Mel meant. He did have an air of impatience around him and was tapping his fingers more and more loudly as he waited.
"Not very professional of him," Andy couldn't help but comment. "Ok let's do it. Soonest date we can please?"
"No problem, stay seated I'll be back" Mel smiled before rising and going back to the lectern.
"Your honor I have discussed the matter with my client and we accept your offer to go to trial…"
Andy glanced over to B, whose jaw had dropped; clearly he wasn't expecting to hear that.
"…We only ask in return that it be expedited, as I mentioned earlier my client would like to be back at work as soon as possible and without the order carries a safety risk."
"I understand completely Ms Marcus," Judge Granger replied. "We'll schedule the formal hearing for tomorrow 9am!"
The judge was just about to bang his gavel when B interjected.
"Your honor I'm sorry I can't be there at 9," he started, before Mel cut him off.
"Your honor Mr. Kinney is simply trying to delay the expedited hearing you, yourself just granted. Furthermore he is one of the highest ranked people in his business and I am sure he wouldn't have any trouble rescheduling whatever he has planned."
"Mr. Kinney?" the judge simply enquired.
"Your honor I cannot make 9, but I can make 10am if it suits Ms Marcus."
"It does," Mel replied before the judge even asked.
"Wonderful," the judge said rolling his eyes. "I'm sure going to enjoy this one. I'm scheduling a formal hearing for the case of Thompson V Kinney for 10am tomorrow we're adjourned." The judge banged his gavel and Mel sharp as a needle turned towards B.
She was just about to say something when Andy stopped her.
"Mel, let's move. Chinese wall remember?" he'd said recalling that information regarding both sides needed to be kept confidential.
Suddenly Mel's glare turned into a smile, a wicked smile as taking Andy's advice she simply turned and left the court room closely followed by Ben and Andy.
"*"
Jay whirled around searching for the source of the person who had just called out to him. It didn't take long. Standing about 3 feet behind him and now marching quite quickly towards him was Rein.
"Oh, ah, hey Rein." Jay replied, hoping to push past her and head back to Andy's house.
But no such luck.
"What are you doing coming out of…" Rein started, but then stopped putting two and two together.
"Oh Andy… you didn't?!" she questioned, though it came out more like a demand.
"Rein!" another voice called in the distance.
Before Jay could even respond, Lauren came bolting around the corner.
"Sweetie," she started in a low voice. "Some people sleep in; remember I taught you this when you were younger. It may not work on you, but we have to respect the right of others to…" she stopped suddenly noticing Jay.
"Jay!" she smiled beaming and somehow forgetting to lower her voice. "What are you doing here so early and why do you look like that?" she asked squinting her eyes as she looked him up and down.
"He just came out of 203," Rein said.
Wow, Jay thought to himself. Never suspected her to be a snitch.
"Oh? Oooooooooh! OH!" Lauren exclaimed finally coming to the same conclusion Rein had.
"So who's in there? John or Rick?" she asked Jay, though it felt more like she spat it at him. He had never seen her this pissed off.
"Rick," Jay simply replied.
He wasn't going to lie, he had been caught red-handed.
"So I guess all that stuff about Andy meant absolutely nothing." Lauren mused; highly surprised that Jay would have done this.
Jay was just about to respond, when he felt his cell phone vibrate. Trying to look away from the evil-like glances coming from Lauren and Rein, Jay reached into his pocket and pulled it out.
"Great," he said out loud as he saw the name Andy flash on the screen.
"*"
Oh-oh! Wonder what Andy will have to say about all this? Speaking of Andy what bad luck it must have been to have B show up to the hearing. I wonder how he will deal with it actually going to trial, will he tell Jay? Will Jay tell Andy about Rick?
So what did you think of the hearing? What about Rick and Jay? Or even Lauren and Rein's reactions, were they fair? Let me know I can't wait to hear!
Until next week, here's something to whet your appetite: Will Jay tell Andy about Rick? What's going to happen at the trial? But most importantly, what will Jay say to Andy that surprises everyone? You will not want to miss the first part of Chapter 12 next week, when Cold in the Rain continues….