The Corporate Raider part 6
by Denise Mayes
The next morning they were sitting in the kitchen listening to the morning news. They were talking in between the different reports, and then when one report came up, there was a picture of Gianavo on the screen.
"Wait!" The woman said, shushing the girl in midsentence when she saw the picture.
"Good morning, I’m Georgia Lasher coming to you with breaking news. This morning around 4am in the morning, the bodies of Organized Crime Boss Giavano Macellis was discovered with 20 other men, four of which were his sons, dead of multiple gunshots wounds. The police are saying Giavano and his men were meeting at this restaurant which happens to be one of Mr. Macellis’s restaurants, when a rival family surprised them and a rain of bullets sprayed the interior, leaving all inside dead. Mr. Giavano is survived by one son. Mr. Giovanii Macellis, who ironically enough is in jail, being held on rape charges. His trial date is set for the 25th of the month, and when it takes place we’ll be there covering it for you. We will bring you the updates to this and all the news throughout the day. For now, I am Georgia Lasher, have a good morning."
"Wow, can you believe that, his whole family wiped out in one fell swoop, wow." The girl said, completely astonished by the news.
"Hmm...well if one has evil in their hearts, then evil seems to find them." Alex said without emotion, as if it were just another day for her, the elimination of just another problem.
The next few days before the trial was to begin, Taylor was more anxious than usual, and she found it hard to be alone. So she accompanied Alex everywhere she went including those places that were not of business.
"Okay, today's the day you go to trial, I would be there if I could, but you know why I can’t, just in case I’m called to testified on your behalf. Don’t worry, I’ll be at the office when your done."
"I don’t want to go by myself."
"You won’t be by yourself, Yaseima will be there with you, although she won’t be able to be inside until after she has testified for you as one of your character witnesses."
"I know, but..." Taylor said, not sure of what she was trying to say, but she knew she wanted Alex with her in the courtroom.
"It’ll be fine, besides, I’m sure he’s still grieving the loss of his father and brothers. He’s in just as vulnerable state as you are, actually more." Alex pointed out to her.
"Yes, you're right, I have to do this, he can’t be allowed to rape anyone else." Taylor said, putting on a brave front, although her heart shook with fear at the thought of exposing herself to strangers.
"That’s right, now go with Yaseima. Ms. Sains, I expect for you to watch out for her." Alex warned in a protective tone.
"That is my plan Ma'am. She’s like a little sister to me, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, just like you don’t."
"Good, you better get going."
"Yes Ma'am." Yaseima turned and headed for the waiting car that would take them to the courthouse and bring them back.
Taylor turned to look at Alex for a moment and then with a timid smile she turned and headed for the car also.
The opening arguments took place. The first witness was a man that Taylor had never seen or met before."Mr. Carrey can you tell us why you're here?"
"Yes, I heard about what that woman was trying to do, making a claim that she was raped by Mr. Marcellis."
"Why is that a problem?"
"Because, she’s a slut!" The young man spat as he shook his head in feigned disgust.
"A slut? Okay, why do you say that?"
"Because she use to give many of us...well you know, BJ’s."
Taylor sat there listening to the man, but because she was not experienced she did not know what he meant by the term, so she leaned over and asked her attorney."What’s a B.J.?"
Her attorney looked at her and then whispered in her ear what it was.
"THAT"S A LIE!! She yelled to her attorney.
"I know, I know, but this is what I was telling you was going to happen." He whispered back to her to calm her. The defending attorney continued to call man after man to all defame the girl and all she could do was sit there and endure all of the lies. Her very soul felt as though it were being ripped apart. Luckily whenever her attorney cross-examine the men, he was able to show them for the liars they were. The day ended after the defending attorney had called twelve witnesses and all of them had been crossed.
When they finally left, Taylor was an emotional wreck. Yasmeia saw her home to Alex’s house. She was unable to get her key in the lock due to her shaking hands, so Yasmeia had to do it for her. Alex was told by the maid that Taylor was home and she immediately left her study to see how she was doing. When she came around the corner of the wall she saw her crying with her head on the armrest of the sofa. Alex’s eyes cut to Yasmeia in an accusing glare. Yasmeia whispered to the girl, then immediately went to go and talk to the fuming woman. Yasmeia started to speak, but Alex caught her by the arm and pulled her out of the den and into the hallway.
"What happened, why is she crying like that?!"
"Ma'am, it was a rough day in court."
"What happened?!"
"I heard a conversation in the bathroom by some women who were in the courtroom, that the guy’s attorney called a bunch of men to slander her reputation."
"And?"
"They were saying things about her that she didn’t even know what the terminology meant, much less the actual deed."
"She’s naive in that way."
"I know. I know just like those women in that bathroom knew, that the girl those men were talking about, was not sitting in that courtroom."
"But it still hurt her none the less."
"Yes, they said that every time she would ask the attorney what something meant, she would yell out that it was a lie and then sit back stunned by the accusation. It was a very emotional day for her."
"I can see that, well I’ll take care of her, I’ll expect you here tomorrow to go with her."
"Yes, Ma'am, I plan on being there through this whole thing. Tomorrow, I think his attorney will be calling him to the stand."
"Hmm...it’s moving fast. How did the Attorney General handle all of the men? He showed them for the liars they were right?"
"Yes, the jury just shook their heads at the very nerve of them to come to court and lie the way they did."
"Good, I look forward to hearing what he has to say."
"Ma'am you know you can’t go to the courthouse?"
"Of course I know that! I’m just hoping this all will be over soon. Taylor’s been through so much with this jerk, he’s lucky I can’t get to him myself." Alex said through her teeth, as she turned to go back to where the girl was. Just before she left Yasmeia to see herself out, she looked over her shoulder and said in a sincere tone of voice. "Sains, thanks for being there with her, I know it means a lot to her, and me. I won’t forget this."
Yasmeia gave a bewildered smile, and then a nod of her head and turned to leave. When she was outside, she stood by the car that had brought her to the house, for a moment. She thought about the woman’s comments and the statement of her caring for the girl, who meant a lot to her and how she wouldn’t forget it. Yasmeia’s eyes narrowed at the thought that came to her mind, but now was not the time to make waves. She would talk with Alex when all of this was over with. In the meantime, Yasmeia saw how much Taylor, her friend, depended on the woman.
"Alex you better not be taking advantage of my friend, especially during all of this." She said to herself as she finally got inside of the car and was taken away from the property. She was disturbed by what she thought might be happening.
Meanwhile, Alex went into the den where Taylor still sat crying into her arms over top of the armrest of the sofa. She walked over and poured some water from a pitcher into a glass, then walked over to where the girl was. She sat down beside her and after taking a few deep breaths to maintain her own control, she spoke to the hurting girl."I heard it was rough in the courtroom today." Taylor cried more, and Alex inhaled and let it out slowly, determined to help the girl. "I know it was hard to sit through people purposefully lying about you, but you know that that’s all they were doing. You shouldn’t let things you know to not be true, get to you like this, otherwise you will always be vulnerable to being hurt. Here, sit up and drink this. Come on, sit up." Alex said, noticing the girl was listening, but not knowing how to respond, or what to do.
Taylor sat up and looking like a punished child, she took the glass in her shaking hands and drank deeply. She coughed when some of the water went down the wrong pipe. She handed the glass back to Alex and dried her mouth of the water that had sprinkled her lips as a result of her coughing."I...I don’t see how people can just lie so blatantly. I didn’t even know what they were talking about until I asked what a lot of things meant. I felt like such a child in there, I mean I consider myself to be intelligent, but I didn’t even know...’ Her words choked off as she dissolved into tears.
"Come here." Alex said, as she pulled Taylor into her arms and held the shaking and distraught girl.
After a while Alex told the girl to go to her room and she would bring her something to eat. Taylor reluctantly did as she was told, and the woman watched her go, and then watched her go up the stairs. Despite putting on a brave front, she could see the heaviness on the girl's narrow shoulders. The woman swore under her breath and then turned sharply on her heels, and headed for the kitchen to get some much needed food. When the woman brought the food, she found the girl crying once again. She set the tray of food down on the table next to the bed and sat down next to the crying girl. She caressed the girl's hair with her hand and the girl quieted once again. Then after a moment, she rolled over onto her back to look up at the woman."I’m sorry, I’m acting like such a baby." Taylor said forlornly.
"You're acting like a young girl who is naive about some things, and like a woman who has been deeply hurt. Sit up, I brought you some soup to start with."
"You didn’t have to do this." Taylor said, with some distress in her voice at having this woman wait on her, just because of her behaving like a child.
"Open up." Alex ordered and began feeding the girl, despite the fact that she was perfectly able to feed herself. Alex found herself enjoying the role of taking care of the young girl, and deep within herself she admitted she could probably get used to it.
Taylor didn’t think to tell the woman that she could feed herself. She just found herself comparing the compassion Alex was bestowing on her, with that of her grandmother’s, and she found it comforting. She was reminisced when her grandmother used to sit with her at night, and feed her soup. Alex fed the girl her whole meal. Afterwards Taylor laid down and once again Alex pulled up a chair to sit next to the bed until the girl fell asleep. Then she leaned over and placed a soft kiss to the girl's forehead. She let her lips linger on the girl's forehead, just enjoying the smoothness of the skin against her lips. She leaned back and stood up to her full height. Looking down at the sleeping girl she thought to herself."This will be all over soon little one."
The next day the two ate breakfast and listened to the news together about the trial. This became a daily routine. The trial was wearing on Taylor, especially seeing how the defending attorney had called more people to lie about her. Finally, it was the prosecuting attorney’s turn. He called a few character witnesses to testify about the girl, and then because of a phone call Alex had made to him to speed things up, he called Taylor to the stand.
"Now, I just want you to tell the people of the jury what happened."
"All right." She said to the attorney, and then looking over at the jury, she lowered her eyes at first, trying to find the courage to just tell her side of things.
She raised her eyes and looked over at the table the boy sat behind, glaring at her, then her eyes went to her own attorney who was nodding his head for her to go ahead. Finally her eyes fell on her friend, who now was allowed in since she had testified. Yasmeia flashed her a smile and she gave a sad smile back to her, then returned her attention to the jury."It started when I broke up with Dominic....I mean Giovanii."
"Is Dominic the name Mr. Marcellis told you when you two first met?"
"Yes, he told me that, and the fact that he worked for his father in his restaurant business."
"Is that the only business he is involved in?"
"I object, Mr. Marcellis’s line of work has nothing to do with this case."
"I’ll withdraw the question Your Honor. Okay, jump to the days before the rape happened."
"I object, Mr. Marcellis has not been convicted of rape."
"Objection sustained, rephrase your question."
"Certainly your honor. Tell us what happened between the two of you before the incident in the elevator."
"Four days before I was RAPED..." Taylor said emphasizing the term. "Mr. Marcellis had showed up at my job unexpectedly, to take me to lunch. I was with my boss and some clients when I saw him. I was happy to see him and I wanted him to meet my boss. I told my boss that he was the man I had told her about and she told me she would be right over to meet him after she sent the clients to her office to wait for her. Meanwhile, I went over to greet him and I kissed him on the cheek. Although he tried to kiss me on the lips, I’m not much for public displays. Anyway, I told him I wanted him to meet my boss. When she came over, I introduced the two and the first words out of his mouth were disrespectful to me, my boss and my career."
"What were they?"
"He called my boss a Bitch."
"In what context?"
"His exact words were, 'So you're the bitch that demoted my girl.' I was shocked, humiliated and embarrassed, that someone whom I cared about could ever do such a thing. Even if it had been true, it was not his place to say anything like that to her."
"Do you consider her to be a bitch?"
"NO. She’s a very focused woman, who knows what she wants and how to get it. She’s hard on people, but she only wants the best working for her, she has no patience for liars or slackers."
"Were you one of those liars when you were demoted?"
"It was really a matter of my timidness. Like I said before, I am not one who likes to be in the spotlight. This trial is so overwhelming to me, but I know I have to do this, so that he doesn’t do to others what he did to me. Anyway, my boss asked me if I had written some reports that she had been given by one of her vice presidents, who also is a friend of mine. I had done the research and written them. Then I gave them to him and let him take the credit for the work."
"Wasn’t he able to do the work himself?"
"Yes, but he had so many things to get done, that I offered and he accepted the offer."
"Okay, continue."
"Okay, anyway, she...my boss had asked me if I had done the reports. I told her that I had, but I played down my role. I didn’t know she knew I had done them, and therefore she considered me to be a liar. That’s when she demoted me to the mailroom. I was only responsible for her mail, it was her way of bringing me into her full view considering she overheard me on the phone shouting how happy I was that I was still anonymous to her."The jury chuckled at the girl's inadvertent joke, and she gave a small smile with knitted brows at the jury. Then she continued."Anyway, I only worked in the mailroom for a short time before she promoted me to be her Personal Assistant."
"Aha, so she obviously didn’t think of you as a liar anymore once she found out why you said what you did?"
"Right, and I’ve been her assistant ever since. Anyway, I told Mr. Marcellis that I didn’t want to see him anymore. Four days later he showed up at the building and when I had went and gotten the mail and had gotten in the elevator to go up, that’s when he jumped into it just before the doors closed. He startled me at first, but then he started talking and telling me what he was not about to let happen..."
"What was it that he was not going to let happen?"
"His exact words were, 'If you think I am going to let someone else pop that cherry then you are more of a fool than I thought.'"
"Did you know what that meant?"
"Not exactly, but because of the way he said it and the look in his eyes, I guessed what he meant, and I was right."
"What did it mean?"
"Do I have to say it?"
"No, but it would help the jury understand more about you."
"Okay, He meant that he was going to take my virginity, that way I would always remember him, because I would never forget who took it." The girl’s eyes watered at the memory, and she dropped her head for a moment and looked at her hands. Her attorney let her have a moment to compose herself, and after asking her if she was ready to continue, she nodded her head.
"Okay. Was he successful?"
"No, thank God! The elevator had started moving again and it distracted him long enough for me to hit him. He staggered backwards, and then just as he was about to come back after me, I can only assume he was going to beat me, anyway, the elevator doors open and he turned and was taken down by a punch thrown by my boss...She broke his nose and a few bones in his jaw." The girl smiled slightly at the jury when they chuckled again.
"So what happened from there?"
"I don’t remember all of it, because I must have gone into shock once he was down. I just remember waking up at the company clinic with my boss asking me if I was okay. I’m sorry, I don’t remember anything else before that."
"Thank you that’ll be all."
"Counsel you may cross examine the witness if you like?"
"Thank you your honor. Okay Ms. Young, you said that he wasn’t successful in this attempted rape?"
"No I said he wasn’t successful in taking my virginity, he was successful in raping me."
"You called it rape, but was it really rape?"
"Yes!"
"I beg to differ with you, did my client ever try to put his penis inside of you?"
"N..no, but..."
"But what? Either he tried to rape you or he didn’t?"
"He did."
"But you just said he never tried to put his penis in you. How is it considered rape if he never put his penis inside of you?"
"Well..." The girl didn’t have the answer to the man’s distracting question, and her attorney decided he would not object but let the girl answer as best she could. He would call Alex to answer the questions that Taylor was unable to answer
"Did he ever pull his pants down?"
"No." The stress on the girl’s face was evident.
"Did he pull his penis out of the front of his pants?"
"No." The girl said as she noticed the man grinning at her. He was gaining confidence from her lack of answers.
"So in other words, it wasn’t rape."
"It was!" The girl argued, but she felt as though the case maybe lost as a result of her testimony.
"No further questions of this witness Your Honor."
Taylor looked at her attorney to see what she should do, but the Judge's words to her to step down cut through the tears. She stepped down and walked back over to her table and put her head in her hand and quietly sobbed. The girl’s attorney tried to comfort her. The Judge called a break, and when court resumed she still had no idea what her attorney was going to do next, considering how her testimony had ended. She didn’t know who he had went to call during the break, but she would soon find out.
"Mr. Henassey are you ready to call your next witness?"
"Yes your honor."
"Who are you going to call?" The girl asked, surprised that there was anyone else to call.
"We Call...Alexandra Madison, "THE RAIDER."
Taylor's eyes went wide, although she thought Alex would possibly be a witness, she hadn’t heard anything about her being called since the day she and the woman had talked about why she couldn’t come to court. Now here she was, striding into the courtroom. She was wearing a luminescent white, tailored, double breasted, coat length, silk pantsuit, carrying a leather briefcase. Taylor's mouth dropped open and there were whispers all around the courtroom. Even the Judge himself didn’t seem to notice how loud the mass of people in the courtroom were whispering. Alex didn’t look left or right, not even at the girl, she just headed straight for the witness stand, and people’s eyes followed her. No onenoticed the other women who had come in behind her, and taken seats at the back of the courtroom. Alex sat in the chair and was sworn in and stated her name for the court. The man then went into his examination.
"Ms Madison, you're here on behalf of the young woman?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell us how you came to meet her?"
"Yes. I met Ms. Young as a result of an attempt on my life."
"Someone tried to kill you?!" The attorney asked surprised by the information, and even more surprised that she did not tell him about it.
"Yes." She answer nonchalant. "Anyway, she came to the top floor where my office is located, in an attempt to warn me of the man’s intentions. By the time she arrived he was already there threatening me, but I overheard her talking to one of the police officers about what she was doing on the top floor. She told him she had come to warn me."
"What did you think about that?"
"I thought it was suspicious."
"Why?"
"Because as the nickname "THE RAIDER" implies, I am not a very likable person, mainly because of the very nature of what I do."
"And what is it that you do?"
"I acquire other companies, in other words I’m a Corporate Raider, thus the nickname."
"Aha, all right, let me ask you this, was there ever a time that you considered the young woman to be a liar?"
"Yes."
"And what made you think of her as such?"
"She tried to lead me to believe that she did not write some reports, that I knew she had."
"Were the reports any good?"
"They were excellent, and I wanted to tell her that I was very pleased with them, but I wanted to see what type of person she was first. Because I was going to keep my eye on her and possibly give her a promotion that befitted her talents."
"But what happened?"
"She lied, or at least that’s how I saw it at the time."
"As a result of the supposed lie, what did you do?"
"I told her to get out of my office, and I demoted her to work in the mailroom, where her only duty was to handle my mail, and hand deliver it to me."
"Why did you feel it was important to have her deliver it to you in person, why not let her give it to your admin?"
"Because I was suspicious of her, but I also thought maybe she just made a mistake and I would give her a chance to get back in my good graces."
"So did she?"
"Eventually. There was a conversation she had with her immediate supervisor, about her quitting because she couldn’t handle the idea that I didn’t trust her and I thought of her as a liar."
"How did you hear about this conversation?"
"Ms. Sains called my office to plead her case. She told me she did not want to lose the young girl because of all of her potential, as well as her being a sweet and loving person. She also brought up the fact that she was the onlyone who tried to warn me about Mr. Evans, the man who attempted to kill me."
"So you felt like you owed the girl?"
"No. At the time all I saw and heard was that she was not only a liar but a quitter, so I told Ms. Sains I would talk with her."
"You went to find her?"
"No, there is no need for me to GO and find anyone, I was just going to have her come to my office when she returned. In the meantime I went to a meeting in the dining hall with some of my upper management personnel, and when we came out of the private area of that same dining area, I saw her sitting at a table."
"What was she doing?"
"She was just sitting looking out into the distance, as if in thought."
"What did you do?"
"I dismissed the management people I was with and went to go and talk with her."
"What happened?"
"She went wide eyed at seeing me standing in front of her."
"Is that a common reaction you get from people?"
"Yes. Anyway, I sat down and I told her that I had heard she planned on quitting."
"What did she say to that?"
"She said she didn’t have any other choice, she could not handle the idea that I thought of her as a liar. I asked her if she thought I would think any better of her if she quit? She said she hadn't thought about that. Eventually she saw it was worse for her to quit, rather than just go workin the mailroom and earn my trust again."
"Okay, so eventually you made her your Personal Assistant?"
"Yes."
"Is she any good at it?"
"The best, she learns quickly, she doesn’t make the same mistakes twice, and she listens."
"Have you ever had to reprimand her since she became your Personal Assistant?"
"Yes, and I still do when she messes up. I haven’t had to for a while, and then when all of this happened I didn’t want to overwhelm her anymore than she already was."
"Overwhelm her more? How?"
"Well, she’s very intimidated by me, as are a lot of people."
"Does your opinion hold any weight with her?"
"Yes, she seems to value it, and seeks it when she is having a problem."
"Do you consider her to be just another employee?"
"I used to."
"But you don’t now?"
The woman finally looked over at Taylor, who sat there teary eyed, and a slightly sympathetic smile came to the woman’s mouth."No, I don’t."
"What do you consider her to be?"
"I’m not sure, but if I had to put a word to it, I would say...a friend."
"Hmm...a friend? That’s unusual for you isn’t it?"
"What, having friends, or her being a friend?"
"Her becoming your friend."
"Yes, it is, I usually don’t mix business with my personal life."
"So why do it now?"
"At first I did it because I saw a young girl who was trying to do what was right, and was trying to please me all at the same time. I thought it was only right that I didn’t make it too hard on her. Now, it’s different, I began to see a young girl who needed to be protected, not that she asked for it, but I saw it. I saw that with her naivete`, and sweet innocence, she was being used by people, I began to feel very protective of her."
"So your here as a protector and friend?"
"No, I’m here because a woman was violently assaulted and the person who did it must be punished for it. I would do it for any of my employee’s if I were a witness to a crime committed against them, as well as any stranger."
"Okay, so tell us how you meant Mr. Marcellis."
"I had heard about him, but I had not met him until months after Taylor became my Personal Assistant. He came to the company to take her to lunch, a surprise lunch date. We had just come into the building and were heading to my office for a meeting with some clients. When she saw him, she told me she wanted to step over to him and say hello and see what he wanted and that she wanted me to meet him. I told her I would meet him, but I needed to send the clients to the office."
"And?"
"And that’s what I did, I had one of the guards show the clients to my office and I went over to meet the young man."
"How did she introduce him to you?"
"She introduced him as Dominic."
"Was that his name?"
"No, I knew him the moment I saw him, so when she said Dominic, I repeated the name to him in a questioning matter, but he didn’t pick up on it."
"What name did you know him as?"
"Giovanii Marcellis."
"Where did you know him from?"
"He’s the son of the late Giavano Marcellis, the head of a crime family."
"Did Ms. Young know this?"
"No. I was the one who told her who he was."
"How did that come about?"
"After she had introduced us, he proceeded to try to insult me by referring to me as a bitch."
"Were you angry by that?"
"No, I was just irritated by his presence, I was angry at Ms. Young."
"Why?"
"Because I couldn’t believe she was with such a person. I figured he may have lied about his name, but she had to have seen what type of life he led."
"And did she?"
"No, she was completely in the dark about him and his real identity. Anyway, after I told her we had a meeting, I told her I would wait for her at the elevators. She went back to talking to the man, completely mortified by his actions towards me."
"Why?"
"Because she was afraid that I thought she had used the term to speak of me. Anyway, while she was talking to him there was a point where he had grabbed her by her arm and was manhandling her."
"What did you do?"
"I kept myself from going back over and laying him out for it. I wanted to see how she was going to handle herself with him. I wanted to see if she was in an abusive relationship with this man. Eventually she talked him into letting go of her and they spoke for a few more moments before she came to the elevators. She had a hard time looking me in the eyes, but I made her. That’s when she blurted out that she was sorry for what he had said, and that she would have never said anything like that, and things to that effect."
"What did you say?"
"I told her first of all not to apologize for someone else's actions or behavior, that was not her place, and then I told her I didn’t want to see her with him anymore."
"You inserted yourself into her personal life?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she worked for me, and I didn’t want that type of element anywhere near any of my companies."
"What did she say?"
"Pretty much the same thing you just did, that her personal life was her business, and that only upset me more. I decided the only way she would understand why I felt so strongly about it, was to tell her who he was. That’s what I did. She stood there with her mouth agape, staring at me as if I had four heads or something."
"Did she believe you?"
"For a brief moment, no, she didn’t want to believe me, but she knew me to be a no nonsense person, and an honest one, so she eventually accepted it, despite the bitterness of the pill."
"What happened then?"
"We went to our meeting, and then I made some phone calls. In the meantime, Taylor sat down and was talking about how she couldn’t believe she didn’t know him, and that maybe she could talk to him."
"What did you think about that?"
"I thought she was being foolish, and I told her so. I also told her she had to get moved out of her place that day, and of course she balked at that at first, but she did it."
"Why?"
"Because I told her to."
"Aha, okay so you made her move out of her place, why?"
"Because I knew he would show up there to try to smooth talk her into going back with him, and then if she refused he would hurt her."
"This is because of your knowing his father?"
"Yes. Anyway, I had a detective watch the empty place and sure enough that night he and some of his associates showed up at her place. When he found her gone, along with all of her stuff except for some tacky suit with dog fur on the cuff and collar, hanging on a rack, he was outraged. He began cursing and he told his hitmen that he wanted her found, and whoever was helping her, he wanted them dead."
"Do you have proof of all of these threats?"
"Of course I do, I told you I had a detective staking out her place to see if HE in particular would show up."
"Where is this proof?"
The woman placed her briefcase on the counter of the witness stand, opened it and handed a disc to the attorney. He took it and presented it as evidence to the Judge. The Judge asked if there were any objections and none wererendered, mainly because the young man didn’t believe she really had anything. The disc was then played for the entire courtroom. The young man saw that he had indeed been caught on disc making the threats. After the tape was finished playing, the attorney went back to his examination.
"So you showed this to Ms. Young?"
"Yes, but only when she brought up the idea of going to talk to him again. After she saw it, she was once again stunned by it."
"Did she give up the idea about going to talk to him?"
"No, in fact it made her want to go and talk to him more."
"Why, I mean you had just shown her this disc, she saw for herself that he meant to do her harm. Why would she want to risk herself to go and talk to him?"
"She was scared for me."
"You? Why?"
"Because I was the one helping her, and with the threat she thought that if she could just talk to him he would back off and not come after me."
"Were you worried about your own safety."
"Worried, no, he is just a pesky fly of a nuisance to me, I had no worries about him, my concern was for Taylor."
The man sat up with a huff at the description that was just made about him.
"So Ms. Young was willing to risk herself to protect you once again?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"Why would an employee even think to do such a thing? I mean you said she was a friend and things, but as a friend she should have realized that there was no way you would allow her to do such a thing?"
"True, but that was her intention."
"Is she in love with you?"
The woman was caught off guard by the question, but when she spoke her voice gave no indication.
"I don’t believe that is what I would call it."
"What would you call it?"
Alex looked over at Taylor and saw she had a bright smile on her face, that too caught her off guard, but again she didn’t falter."I would probably call it hero worship."
"Hmm...okay, that makes sense, I mean after all, you've done so much to help her, but that wouldn’t be the end of your helping her, right?"
"Right, a few days later he showed up at the company again, only this time he stole his way inside and he waited for her in the basement. He waited for her to get the mail and get on the elevator, then he jumped on just after she had pushed the express button and the doors were about to close."
"Express?"
"Yes, it is used to come directly to the top floor without stopping on any of the floors between."
"Oh, all right, continue."
"Anyhow, when it had gotten 3/4s of the way up he pushed the stop button, and that’s when he began to really make his intentions known to her. She tried to fight him off, but he was bigger and stronger and was able to pin her in the corner with her arms behind her back. He lifted her skirt and proceeded to slip his fingers inside of her with the intention of raping her."
"I object your honor!" The opposing counsel's voice chimed in.
"On what grounds?"
"There is nothing proven yet to the claim of rape your honor."
"Sustained."
"Can you rephrase your statement?" The girl’s attorney asked of Alex.
"Certainly, the man has a pattern of repeatedly violating his ex-women for the sole purpose of despoiling them so that he will be remembered. So you can call it whatever you like, Rape, pattern, repeat offender, it doesn’t matter, a flower is a flower and a DOG, is a Dog and there is no changing that, so there’s your rephrasing." The woman said impatiently. There was no objection to the rephrased statement, although she was still able to slip the word rape in.
"Okay, how do you know that’s what happened, or is that what she told you?"
"No. When the stop button is depressed, it automatically activates a camera that records everything that is going on." Alex was resolved not to give away any information that was not absolutely necessary.
"All right, anyway, what happened then?"
"The elevator restarted. It’s an automatic thing, anytime the express button is hit, if for some reason the stop button is hit in the meantime, the elevator restarts after one minute and proceeds on to the top floor without being able to stop it again. Although he tried, and was angry that it did not stop, eventually it arrived and I was there to greet him."
"What did you do?"
"I knocked him out."
"Were you angry?"
"Of course."
"Why?"
"Because he would dare to do that to anyone who worked for me, yet alone a friend."
"What happened then?"
"Well that’s when the police, medical personnel and the other investigators all showed up."
"What of Ms. Young?"
"She was cowering in the corner going into shock over everything that had happened. I got her to come out, and I began asking her if he entered her and things like that. She told me, and eventually she was needed by the MD, who was also a rape specialist, working at the company clinic that day. She took her to the clinic to take samples and specimens and do an examination on her."
"Why not take her to the hospital, it was only five minutes away?"
"Because she was too shaken up and scared to go anywhere without me being close by."
"Why?"
"Because she obviously felt safe around me."
"Okay. Was there anything special that you needed to infer to the MD?"
"Yes, I told her that the girl was a virgin prior to the attack and that I thought she still was, considering I did not see any gross amount of blood on his fingers or hand from the breaking of her hymen. I told her to be careful, that way if he was not able to succeed in completely violating her, I didn’t want her to mess up and end up doing it with her examination. I thought it was important that Ms. Young be spared as much as possible, in the way of remembering that day."
"So you believed that if he was not successful then she would have a better chance of getting past all of this?"
"Yes. Her deflowering should not be remembered as a violent act, but as a gentle and loving one." Alex did not look at the girl, she knew that if she did, she would not be able to maintain her regal persona. She knew the girl would probably be teary eyed and even crying, she heard the soft sobbing, but she kept her eyes and attention focused on the Attorney General.
"No more questions. Thank you Ms. Madison."
"Your witness."
"Thank you your honor. Ma'am, you said that my client raped the young girl?" The defending attorney asked trying to use the same technique to trip up the woman.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, all of the tests confirmed that."
"Yes...the tests, well I’ll get back to that, right now I want to know what you consider rape to be?"
"It’s a violent sex act committed usually against women, but men are also susceptible to it, as well as children. "
"Okay, yes that is one of the definitions of it, but what makes it rape? What act particularly."
"Ask your client, he would know, he did it." Alex said, with some irritation in her tone at the man’s attempt to blur the issue.
The jury chuckled at the statement, and the defending attorney smirked at her, then pinched his lips to prevent himself from chuckling.
"Well, we’ve already had our conversation. I would like to have you answer it for me."
"Very well, there are two ways that I know of that are considered ways of raping."
"Two?"
"Yes."
"Oh, please tell us what these two ways are, I’m sure we all would love to hear your wisdom and insight on what rape two ways there are to rape a person."
Alex raised a studying brow at the man, and sat back in the chair, and casually crossed her arms, studying him for long silent moments. The man was uncomfortable with the steady gaze; so much so that he dropped a pen he had in his hands. She had made her point with the man, and he blushed a deep red and stood waiting for her with more respect."That’s better." She said outloud to him, to let him know she recognized his contriteness, although the jury and the rest of the people in the courtroom didn’t understand the silent communication between the two. At least everyone else except for Yasmeia, and Taylor, they both had seen that look and even though it was not leveled on them, they felt it none the less.
"If you wouldn’t mind continuing Ms. Madison?" The attorney asked, with more respect.
"Certainly. One of the ways of rape is that of what all of us know, the act of penetration of the vagina with the penis. The other way has come about due to the society we live in today, therefore the use of digital penetration is also considered a way of rape."
"Digital?"
"Yes, it is a new law you know."
"How is fingering someone considered rape?"
"The law says it is, but even outside of that, how do you think two women have sex?"
"Um...well...um." The attorney said, at a loss for words at the moment. With Alex looking at him through those piercing sapphires, he was unsteadied. "Well, okay, I guess that is a matter of interpretation for the jury."
"What’s to interpret?" She asked, looking over at the jury, who now was receiving a once over by "The Raider." They all look like intelligent people who recognize that the law says it is rape. Therefore, what is there to interpret, the law has already done that, they only need to determine how many years or lifetimes without parole he should get?" Alex said, and again looked over at the jury.
"Well, it’s not that simple, first it must be proven that a rape occurred."
"I thought that’s what I just said, he crossed the line between assault and rape, when he violently entered her vagina. If he had rubbed against her clit without entering her, then I would agree with you that it was not rape. But he PENETRATED HER VAGINA with his fingers to deflower her so that he would be remembered forever as the man who took her virginity. He’s a serial rapist who needs to be castrated and imprisoned for the rest of his natural life."
"I object your honor! This woman..." The man started to say. But seeing her eyes narrow at him, he changed his tone. "Ms. Madison is defaming my client in front of the jury, biasing them based on no evidence to support such an outrageous claim. I demand that she be made to prove these claims or I ask for a mistrial."
"Ma'am, do you have any proof to back up your claim?"
"Well if he will stop whining maybe I’ll present some, but if I don’t then what will you do?"
"Hahaha, I will declare a mistrial." The judge chuckled despite himself, at the fact that he agreed with the woman.
"Hmm..."
The defending attorney now had a smug look on his face, and Taylor’s eyes were filled with fear, yet her attorney sat calmly waiting for the woman.
"Well?"
"Well Your Honor, I have to say...it’s a good thing I do, wouldn’t you say?" Alex said, with a smirk at the judge, who smiled and then turned his attention back to the stunned attorney.
"You do?"
"Yes, He has not only raped my employee, for the purpose of being the first to have a virgin, but he has done it to at least ten others and their cases are still pending due to the back log of cases."
"Have those cases brought to me." The Judge ordered of his bailiff, but the Attorney General interjected at that moment.
"Your Honor if we may approach the bench?" The Judge motioned for them to approach.
"Your Honor I have all of those cases with me. I was told about them, but I didn’t think I would need them due to the open and shut nature of this case. If you would like, I can either give you all of those and we continue on with this trial and spend more money, or I can offer the defending attorney a final deal of 50 years without possibility of parole. I can always present all of the women and go for life imprisonment?"
"Your Honor, I knew nothing of these possible witnesses."
"Sure you did, I told you that I had some women who claimed they had been raped by him, but you refused to believe it and said "Bring them on." Well...Alex has brought them, and I WILL bring them on if you like?"
"I need to talk to my client, may I ask for a continuation?"
"What do you say?"
"No Your Honor, this girl and all of these women have been through enough without having to wait for him. It’s time he be made to take responsibility for his actions. I want a decision now, today."
"Fine." The attorney left to go and speak with his client. Giovanii was heard cursing and bitterly refusing, but eventually his attorney got him to see the wisdom in the decision. The young man sat down heavily, with rage in his eyes as well as defeat.
His lawyer walked back over to the bench where the Attorney General and the Judge had continued to wait. "We'll take the deal your Honor."
The Prosecuting attorney smiled, then said with a satisfied tone. "Accepted."
"Step back Gentlemen." The two attorney’s stepped back and the girl was trying to find out what was happening, but her attorney shushed her. She sat looking between the Judge, the defending attorney, the Attorney General, and her boss.
"Mr. Marcellis please stand."
The man came to his feet along with his attorney.
"A deal has been made by your attorney, do you accept it?"
"Yes."
"Do you understand that you are now giving up your right to a trial, and your civil rights, and will be considered from this day forth as a Rapist? Do you still wish to accept the agreement?"
The man looked at his attorney, and then over at the jury, then at Alex and finally at Taylor. He then looked back at the judge."Yes." He decided the odds were more against him than would be for him.
"So be it. People of the jury, seeing that Mr. Marcellis has agreed to waive his right to a trial, I will now thank you for serving and performing your civic duty, and I will dismiss you all."
The jury then thanked the Judge and they were led out of the jury box and out of the courtroom via the jury exit. The Judge then turned back to the man."Mr. Marcellis, you will be returned here in one week to be sentenced. Court dismissed."
Taylor was both happy and dismayed at the thought of having to return to the court in a week for the sentencing, but she was happy that it was going to happen. After court was dismissed Alex stood up and stepped out of the witness box. She watched as Taylor hugged her attorney, then her friend Yasmeia, and then with tears rolling down her face, she turned and saw Alex with tears balancing to fall from her own eyes. She lost it, and rapidly walked over to the woman where she wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist and sobbed with gratitude. Alex wrapped her arms around Taylor and buried her head in the girl's mass of ebony hair, so that her own tears were not seen by anyone else. Yasmeia saw the encounter and her initial thoughts about talking to Alex about the girl, were now a far memory, as she saw how tender the woman was with her. She actually felt own tears fall from the scene she was witnessing.
"Okay Alex, you have shown me you really do care about her." She said to herself as she watched them.
"Let’s go home okay?" Alex finally managed in a composed voice.
"Okay!" Taylor said, breathless from the adrenaline that was racing through her, as she gazed up into the woman’s moisture filled eyes.
They headed for the door and Yasmeia stepped in line with them and the girl wrapped one arm around her and continued to hold Alex with the other arm around her waist. Alex had her arm over the girl's shoulder and the three of them went out of the courtroom. After the woman had thanked her friend for his fine work, he then thanked Alex for hers.