AN: To avoid confusion, I want to emphasize that Jerry is lying! And the "flashback" is the version of events he's been practicing.

Part 84

Wednesday morning, at 9am, the entire troupe and their families, Marcus' family, Linda (representing the troupe as their publicist), Nana, even Jerry were there to support the mountain gorilla. The only one not there was Tyler but someone had to help Miss. Crawly babysit the large number of children in the group and both Norman and Gunter wanted to be there for Marcus.

When Mr. Grisham walked in with Marcus, glowering at the weasel prosecutor, who was sneering arrogantly at him, Marcus was moved that they were all there. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised after all they'd been through together but he was still grateful. Regardless of how this ended, he was still the victor.

Nooshy and Porsha held a banner that they'd made in the art class after school the night before. "Go Big Daddy!"

He laughed despite the seriousness of the situation and gave them a thumbs up. He took his seat and waited.

The bailiff, a tall pit bull, stood stock still. "All rise! The Court of Santa Francesca, Calatonia, criminal division is now in session. Judge Emerson Mulholland presiding!"

The large giant forest hog in his black robe strode up to the judge's stand. "You may be seated."

The bailiff held a parchment. "Now hearing the case of the state versus Marcus Elijah Green." Everyone looked at Marcus and mouthed "Elijah?" "All parties come forward and you will be heard."

The judge clapped his gavel on his desk. "I want to start by reminding everyone that this is not a trial. We are not here to determine guilt or innocence but rather to even determine if there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial. I will be the one to decide. If it goes to trial, you will answer to a jury of your peers." He looked at Marcus, studying his calm expression. "Prosecutor, please proceed with your opening statement."

The weasel approached the bench. "Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the court. My name is Preston Whitmore and I represent the state of Calatonia. I intend to prove that not only did Mr. Green violate the terms of his parole, but that he also murdered Mr. James Crystal while doing so. I ask the judge to see the evidence and allow us to proceed with a jury trial."

The judge nodded while the counselor sat down. "Defense, please begin."

Mr. Grisham stepped forward. "I am Floyd Grisham, and it is my intention that Mr. Green did not harm Mr. Crystal and that while he admits to leaving the city, he was justified in doing so l. I request that the judge realize that the prosecution has absolutely zero evidence and release Mr. Green. I then intend to fire charges on the Calatonia Detention Center - Santa Francesca for both poisoning Mr. Green and attempting to do him harm."

"What?" Johnny shouted, standing up and glaring at the guards. "What did you do to my dad?!" The rest of the courtroom burst into a furor.

Ryan took his husband's hand and pulled him down while the judge banged his gavel. "Order! Order in the court! That's a heavy accusation, Counselor."

"Oh, I have proof. But one dumpster fire at a time, shall we?" He looked back at Mr. Green's son, who was being comforted by the tiger.

Mulholland nodded. "Prosecution, call your first witness."

The weasel chuckled. "I call Mr. Jeremiah Winters to the stand."

The tortoiseshell cat took a deep breath. It had taken a couple of nights of deliberation but he knew what he had to do. He took the stand and the bailiff swore him in. "Do you, Jeremiah Winters, solemnly swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?"

He nodded, mentally crossing his fingers and praying he could do this. "I swear." He remembered his dream. He wasn't technically lying. Now, he just had to sell it.

Mr. Whitmore approached Jerry. "Mr. Winters, please tell us what happened on the night of May 21st, 2021."

He looked at the gallery. "It was late, getting closer to May 22 as opposed to May 21. I was asleep at my desk when I got a call from the concierge to check on the authorization of a free showing of Out of this World. I went to Mr. Crystal and told him immediately and he was furious. He didn't know that Porsha had authorized the showing as a surprise, though we later found out… Mr. Crystal was angry with Mr. Buster Moon over another issue or two and he was practically bloodthirsty over this."

"And Mr. Green took part in this hostile takeover?" He asked.

Jerry shook his head. "He was only trying to protect Mr. Moon and his family but… Mr. Crystal managed to reach him as the show neared its climax. Suki, Porsha and I tried to call him down, to make him stop."

The weasel nodded. "What did Mr. Crystal do to Mr. Moon?"

Jerry saw the troupe clutching each other, their own thoughts going to that horrible night. "He… he… threw Mr. Moon from the highest catwalk, 1000 feet above the stage. Mrs. Suarez did try to catch him but… it was bad." Saying what his boss had done out loud, it sounded even worse.

"So Mr. Green's good friend, Mr. Moon was killed by Mr. James Crystal in a fit of rage?" Mr. Whitmore asked. "And how did he react?"

"He was angry. They all were. Angry and sad," Jerry explained.

"And what happened after?" The questioning continued.

"Crystal escaped while they were mourning and he went to headquarters. Suki and I found him… he was rambling…" he explained, doing his best to act normally,

———————————

James Crystal was pacing up and down his office, clawing his head in agony. "What… what have I done? Oh my gosh! What… what did I do? What have I done?"

Suki approached. "Sir…?" She tried to touch his shoulder.

He yanked back. "No! Stay back! I… I… don't want… to… I killed Mr. Moon… I don't want to hurt you too…." He backed up. "What have I done?"

"Sir, it's okay," Jerry said worriedly. "We're going to help you. You were the victim here. Mr. Moon hijacked the theater, he imprisoned you."

Crystal shook his head. "No… no… I took a life. I killed a man. I tried to kill him once before. What's wrong with me…"

Suki had tears in her eyes. "I know it looks bad now. You've done something horrible but it's going to be okay. We're going to get you help," she promised. "I'll call Floyd. It's going to be alright." She tried to comfort him.

"Don't you get it!" He roared, shoving her away from him. She fell back and into the desk, hitting her head against the corner. He looked at the Saluki in horror. "I'm a monster…" He shook his head and pulled out a piece of paper. Grabbing his fountain pen, he began writing.

'Bang!' The doors burst open with the force of Marcus Green's fury. Earlier, James thought he had been angry. The mountain gorilla seemed far angrier. And he knew it was for good reason. "Here you are! You piece of shit coward! You bastard!"

Crystal looked at him with fear and guilt in his eyes. But he had a note to write. "No… no… a note isn't good enough. I need to talk to her."

Marcus growled. "Oh you're going to talk to her alright! And the police! You're not getting out of this that easily!"

Suki got between them. "Please, mercy! He's Porsha's father. Please. She's only 17, she needs her father."

"He didn't show Mr. Moon any such mercy! He deserves to rot in jail for this!" He advanced. "You deserve to experience the other inmates. You think you're hot shit out here. You're not shit in there! But maybe you'll get lucky, you're a really pretty wolf. Some bear or gorilla might make you his boyfriend."

Crystal pulled out his phone. "No, please! I beg of you! If you involve the law, Porsha will lose everything. She'll be put into the system." The gorilla stopped his advance while he dialed a number.

After a few rings, the line clicked. "Daddy?" Her voice asked tentatively.

Crystal sighed. "Yes, baby girl…" His heart broke to hear how scared she was.

"Daddy….. why? Why did you…" she sobbed. "He was my friend. And he's gone. How could you?"

"I know, baby… I did something horrible. I know. I'm so sorry. I know it doesn't change anything. I can't fix what I did." His chest felt so heavy. "All I can do now is make sure that you are taken care of, that you are not made to suffer for what I did. Not more than necessary. I just wanted to say I love you and I have never been more proud of you than I was tonight. I'm sorry I couldn't appreciate it then. If I could… maybe… but that's beside the point now. The gorilla…" He realized he didn't even know his name.

"Marcus Green," the silverback said. "Johnny's dad."

"Yes, Mr. Green is your father now and he'll take good care of you. I love you, baby. I know you might find it hard to believe after all of the evil things I did today and the things I said, but it's true."

He heard her voice break. "I love you too, Daddy. I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I made you look bad and humiliated you. I'm sorry I made you hurt Mr. Moon."

"No, baby. No, no. You are not to blame for any of this. This was all down to me and my choices and my actions. You did nothing wrong," he reassured her. "But… I expect you to respect and behave for Mr. Green, like you would me. And Aunt Suki too. I entrust you to their care now. I have to go now, baby girl. I love you." He didn't wait for her to respond before hanging up.

Marcus gave Crystal a curious expression. "What are you planning?" He drew nearer but Crystal simply fled out onto the balcony.

They chased after him as he was climbing up onto the barrier. "Sir! Wait!" Jerry shouted.

———————————

Back in the courtroom. "Stop!" Mr. Whitmore held up his hand. "Mr. Winters, may I remind you are under oath and you were summoned as a witness for the prosecution."

"Well, that sounds like a 'you problem'. You asked for the truth and I'm telling it to you. If it doesn't support your accusations, that's not my fault," Jerry explained.

"Except what you're saying now doesn't match with what you told Mrs. Noodleman," the weasel challenged him.

He shrugged. "I told Mrs. Noodleman nothing except she needed to leave me alone. She was harassing me while I was trying to prune the rose bushes. I just wanted her to leave me alone. And I wanted her to leave my friend Eddie alone."

"So you're telling me that you didn't imply that Mr. Green murdered Crystal out of revenge for Moon?" He asked. The very first witness was ruining his case.

"He asked Mr. Green to take custody of his daughter. I don't think he would have done that if Mr. Green was about to kill him," Jerry said.

Whitmore groaned. "You said he wrote a letter but he also called his daughter directly. Why would he do both?"

"Because we live in a world where people need to put their final wishes into writing," he deadpanned. It was true. If a man didn't have a written will then he didn't have a will. "I know it's stupid but I don't make the rules."

"No further questions, Your Honor," Whitmore gave up.

The judge sighed. "I think this is going to be the shortest case I've ever had. Mr. Grisham, your witness."

The zebra nodded. "Mr. Winters, so to sum up, what happened to Crystal."

"He jumped. We all tried to talk him down but his mind was made up. He was scared that not only might Porsha go into the system but that he might hurt her. And he couldn't handle that. His daughter was his only reason for even existing," Jerry said. The more he talked about it, the more he realized that what happened to Crystal was the best thing.

Mr. Grisham nodded. "No further questions, Your Honor."

While Jerry returned to the gallery, sticking out his tongue at the weasel, Judge Mulholland looked at Mr. Whitmore. "Do you have anything solid against Mr. Green in the case of Mr. Crystal?"

Whitmore looked back at Vaughn who shook his head. "Not at this time, Your Honor."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, I know this is unorthodox but no more unorthodox then this whole case so I'm dropping the murder charge. Ridiculous." He looked at the gorilla. "Now, as for the parole violation… Mr. Green, please approach the bench. You too, prosecutor." When the three men were before him, he sighed. "Mr. Green, you don't deny that you left the city?"

Marcus shook his head. "My son needed me and I needed to help my son. You just heard how unhinged Mr. Crystal was. My son and his friends were in danger." He sighed. "My only regret is that I ultimately failed in my mission. I was supposed to protect Mr. Moon and I let Mr. Crystal get a hold of him."

Grisham shook his head. "It's not your fault. You did your best to protect him." He looked at the judge. "I would like Your Honor to grant him grace in this violation. He acted only out of love for his child." He looked at Mr. Green. "I'd even be willing to forego my own charges against the prison if he was just released immediately."

The judge looked at the prosecutor who was growling. "I think any parent could understand. Mr. Green, I think we can safely say you served your time. I hereby decree that you are a free man. And Mr. Whitmore, I suggest you find a new job. You suck at this. Case dismissed!"

The courtroom erupted with cheers and Marcus' family rushed him with triumphant hugs.

Porsha cried and hugged him then hugged Jerry. "Thank you, Jerry," she said.

He shrugged. "Your father would have wanted me to do that. I'm sorry I told anyone anything, Mr. Green. If I'm the reason you got in trouble, I'm sorry."

Marcus nodded. "Water under the bridge. It's all turned out well. No harm, no foul."

"Mr. Green," Vaughn approached him. Grisham got between them. "I want to express my own apologies for letting my personal vendetta against Crystal affect you. If you did kill him, I can understand why. If not, then oh well. The bastard is dead. He deserves to rot in hell for what he did to my brother."

Porsha flinched and Marcus sighed. "Please, don't talk about him that way in front of my daughter. She still misses him very much and was traumatized by that night as much as we all were. She actually had it worse. We lost one person that we all loved very much. She lost two. In the space of just a few hours. So please, don't be cruel now." He hugged her close.

"Yeah!" Nooshy said. "None of us like him but we love Porsha." The wolf gave her a grateful smile.

Vaughn nodded. "Well, Grisham, looks like you've won again. I'm out of here. At least I can focus on other bastards now." The cheetah waved and left the courtroom.

The lawyer regarded his client as he celebrated his victory. "Well, Mr. Green, I told you that I would get you out of this. Congratulations to you and your lovely family. Your incredibly large family. Miss Crystal-Green, my job here is done. You know where to find me if you need my services again."

Porsha hugged Grisham. "Thank you for helping my dad. Both of them."

"It was my pleasure. I am only sorry about your father. I wish I'd seen the signs years ago," he tipped his hat and left the courtroom.

Johnny laughed. "We did it! We won! Now, can this is be done with now? Can last May stop haunting us now?"

Suki nodded. "I'm sure it will now. That was the last loose end from that incident. Johnny, I know you blame me and I'm sorry for Mr. Moon and I'm sorry you almost lost your father over it."

The silverback shook his head. "I was just being stupid. It wasn't fair to blame you. I'm sorry. I was just so frustrated with everything."

Rosita smiled. "Okay, everyone. How about we get out of here and go celebrate? Let's call Tyler and have him meet us all at Pizza Planet." Together the entire gang cheered at the suggestion and they left.

AN: This story is starting to come into port. There are still a few plot points to go over (the charity gig, Porsha's birthday, Easter with Ryan's family and Mary Poppins, and the final arc). Please stick with me. Even after, I plan to do sequels focusing on each member of the Core Five and their families. Please review.