Jury Read online

  Mike looked at Taylor’s hand and smiled sadly. The last time he had turned down the handshake, Taylor had beat him silly. He took Taylor’s hand in his and shook it. “May the best man win.”

  “And no matter what happens, we are going out for lunch later in the afternoon. We have a lot of catching up to do.” Taylor said and went back to his seat.

  Before Mike could say anything, Professor Wishbourne walked in and the ever ready Maris called for everyone to rise.

  “Please have your seats.” Professor Wishbourne motioned for everyone to sit. “It is a wonderful Wednesday morning and I would love if we could all leave it as it is.” He looked at Mike and Taylor. “Mr. Rhodes, I will not allow you to pull the stunt you did the last time today. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal, your honour.” Taylor said.

  “Good.” Professor Wishbourne searched through the folders on his table and pulled one out. He opened it and scanned through it. “Chloe Smith versus Mike Marlon. Mr Marlon, you are being tried for causing emotional distress to Miss. Smith. How do you plead?”

  Mike stared at Professor Wishbourne, weighing his options. He glanced at Taylor and sighed. “Not guilty, your honour.” He noticed Taylor shaking his head. Taylor probably expected him to go with Nolo Contendere or a no contest, that way, he does not plead guilty and he would not argue if they eventually found him guilty. “Game on.” He whispered.

  “Before we begin, where is your client Mr. Rhodes?” Professor Wishbourne asked.

  “She is at the back.” Taylor said.

  “Miss. Smith, please come and join your lawyer in front. Thank you.” Professor Wishbourne addressed the courtroom.

  Taylor looked towards the back of the room and waited. At first, no one moved an inch but then Chloe stood up and walked down the aisle. Taylor had to admit, she was gorgeous. 5’9” with a smoking hot body, light brown eyes, dark hair and caramel skin; she was a catch, but then she had a bad attitude and that was a turn off for Taylor who would take good attitude over beauty any time, any day. He looked back at the notes on his table and waited for Chloe to seat down beside him.

  “Hi Taylor.” Chloe said as she sat.

  “We do not have to talk if you do not want to. Just sit down there quietly and let me do my job.” Taylor said without looking up from his notes.

  Chloe shrugged. “I don’t know why you dislike me so much to be honest.”

  Taylor looked at Chloe. “Your attitude is what I dislike, not you.”

  “Like you’re the best behaved guy in class.” Chloe looked at him and smiled.

  Taylor chuckled. “We will discuss this another time. Just do not talk and do as I say. Got it?” Chloe nodded. “Good.” He looked back at his notes.

  “Are the both of you done bickering?” Professor Wishbourne was holding his glasses in his hand and glaring at Taylor and Chloe. “We don’t have time for you to be engaging in side talks.”

  “Why so mad?” Chloe muttered and Taylor nudged her.

  “We apologize your honour.” Taylor said.

  “I’m sick and tired of hearing your apologies.” Professor Wishbourne put his glasses back on and opened his notepad. “Are you ready to give your opening statement, Mr. Rhodes?”

  “Yes your honour.”

  “The floor is yours.”

  “Thank you.” Taylor got up and walked to the centre, facing the crowd. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Taylor Rhodes and I am representing the plaintiff, Chloe Smith. We are here today to decide if the defendant, Mike Marlon, is liable for the emotional distress of Miss. Smith as a result of his actions on the seventh of October, 2017.

  “On this particular day, Mr. Marlon and Miss. Maya Davies went to have a fun night out but it seems they had one too many drinks and their activities the rest of the night are what we are trying to look into with this case. We will provide video evidence that shows that Mr. Marlon does not want Miss. Smith to know about what transpired that night. In addition to this, we will also provide testimonies of close friends of Mr. Marlon who he shared his activities with.

  “Your honour, Miss. Smith is a hardworking, honest, and a very well respected student of this school who has never had cause to visit the guidance and counselling office, but is now battling depression because of the careless actions of her boyfriend. At the conclusion of this trial, it is my hope that in the interests of justice, you find the defendant is responsible for causing Miss. Smith emotional distress and find in her favour. Thank you very much.” Taylor walked back to his seat and sat.

  “Don’t you think that was a bit of a stretch?” Chloe whispered to him.

  “I wonder what you will say when you hear Mike’s opening statement.” Taylor flipped his notepad opened and grabbed his pen.

  Professor Wishbourne finished writing in his notepad and set his pen down. “Mr. Marlon, your turn.”

  “Yes your honour.” Mike stood and walked forward. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I’m Mike Marlon and I will be representing myself for this trial. I stand here falsely accused of causing Miss. Smith a great deal of emotional distress which is a serious crime.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this case is about emotional distress and the prosecution hopes their witnesses will say I had something to do with Miss. Davies, thereby cheating on Miss. Smith. However, the testimony will only show that the only reason I went out to drink that night is the fact that I found out that Miss. Smith was cheating on me.” Mike smiled at the sound of those in the courtroom gasping. “I will be calling two witnesses to the stand, the first witness is Mr Reid, Miss. Smith’s secret lover who will testify to the cheating and the second witness will testify that nothing went on between Miss. Davies and myself.

  “At the conclusion of this case, I will ask you to find me guilty. You look surprised but I know what I said. Yes, find me guilty of being in love with someone who would cheat on me, guilty of wanting to drown my pain in a bottle, guilty of wanting to be in the company of the one person that understands me and won’t judge me, but not guilty of what it is I am being accused of here today. Thank you.” Mike walked over to Taylor’s table and patted him on the chest. “Your move, boy.” He walked over to his table and sat.

  Taylor loosened his tie a little and relaxed into his chair. FUCK!!! Mike’s opening statement had hit him hard. What do I do? He felt someone tapping him.

  “Hey Taylor, you okay?” Chloe asked.

  “Yes of course. Why would you ask that?”

  “Because the judge and I have been shouting your name for quite some time now.”

  Taylor glanced at Professor Wishbourne and looked back at Chloe. “It is probably my meds acting up. They make me drowsy but I am fine.”

  “Are you ok, Mr. Rhodes or would you like a ten minutes recess?” Professor Wishbourne asked.

  “I will take the ten minutes recess. I need to talk to my client.”

  “Ok. Court will resume in ten minutes.”

  “Thank you very much.” Taylor stood and started gathering his things. Chloe had already left the room and he noticed Emily going out too but everyone else seemed to remain in their seats. Mike walked over to where he was. “What do you want now?”

  “Just wanted to know how you are feeling. Flustered? Tense? Like you’re about to lose?” Mike chuckled.

  “I do not know what bullshit you are trying to pull, but there is still no way I am losing to you.”

  “Here we go again with that big ego of yours. You should really learn to admit when you’ve lost.”

  Taylor scoffed. “Your opening statement was great, I admit it. It had all the elements to give you the lead. I actually liked the play on finding you guilty and all, but all you have done is set the foundation for a very interesting feud. I am glad to know you were also preparing even after your underhanded plan of action was kind of successful.”

  “I hate when you talk so calmly at times like this. Annoys me to the bones.”

  Taylor shrugged. “Well, unless you have someth
ing meaningful left to say to me, excuse me. I have to find out why a pretty girl like Chloe will cheat on a punk like you.”

  “Funny. See you when we resume court.”

  “Yeah yeah, whatever.” Taylor walked out.

  Mike watched as Taylor walked out of the room. “How does he do that? Bloody bastard is just trying to get me angry so I can make a mistake. I just have to keep my cool.” He walked back to his seat and sat. “Arrrgh, I hate that guy.”

  ***

  Taylor saw Chloe in the hallway and walked past her. He could hear her calling after him but he just kept on walking till he entered Lecture theatre 405.

  “Calm down now.” Emily said as soon as he walked in. “Do not do anything stupid.”

  Taylor waived her off and sat on a table, burying his head in his hands.

  Chloe walked in and stood two tables away from where Taylor was. “Taylor, I’m sorry.”

  Emily winced as Taylor rose his head and stared at Chloe. “Wrong move.”

  FIFTEEN

  “I would advise you not to say anything right now.” Chloe looked like she was about to say something so Emily interrupted her before she said something that made matters worse. She did not know much about the law but from what she had learnt from Taylor, a client should always tell their lawyer everything, no matter how minute it may seem.

  “No. Let her keep talking. Maybe now she will explain why she cheated on Mike or maybe she will not because apparently, it is fine to lie to people who are trying to help you.” Taylor said, not taking his eyes of Chloe.

  “Remember what I said about not doing anything stupid? You’re walking a thin line right now.” Emily said.

  “Oh Please.”

  “I didn’t think he would bring this up.” Chloe said.

  Taylor chuckled. “You didn’t think?” He scoffed and stood from the table he was seating on. “That excuse would have been valid if you actually knew how to think. I mean how naïve are you to think that Mike wouldn’t bring something like this up. It’s Mike we’re fucking talking about for crying out loud. He’ll do anything to win.”

  “Chloe, go wait outside. Now!” Emily said and Chloe left the room. Taylor had just used contractions and that usually meant he was about to lose it. She had to step in to prevent him from making a big mistake. “Taylor, I don’t know if it’s the hit to your head or the pills you took, but you are being a total ass. There was absolutely no reason for you to treat Chloe like that.”

  “I know.” Taylor sighed and rested his head on the wall. “I am just really angry at the fact that Mike was able to shock me.”

  Emily smiled once she noticed he had gone back to speaking formally. She walked up to him and put a hand on his back. “I get it. Your ego is hurt and I’m sure the world weeps for you, but you also hurt Chloe’s feelings and I know how much you hate saying “sorry”, but you’re going out there now to apologize to Chloe so we can come up with a working plan.”

  Taylor looked puzzled. “I am?”

  Emily cocked her head to the left, mocking Taylor and he smiled.

  “Fine. I am on it.”

  ***

  Taylor walked out the room and found Chloe resting on the railing. He sighed and walked up to her. “Hey there.”

  “Hey.” Chloe wiped a tear from her face.

  “Oh come on.” Taylor sagged. “Look, I am sorry for the things I said. I really am. I am just really caught up in this fight with Mike that I keep forgetting that I am hurting others.”

  “I can see that.” Chloe smiled. “It’s fine tho.”

  “Thank you. Let us go inside. We only have five minutes before the court resumes.”

  “Ok.”

  They both walk back into the room.

  “You okay now?” Emily asked.

  Taylor put a hand on his chest. “Yes I am. Thanks for asking.” He smirked.

  “Wasn’t talking to you, fool.” Emily chuckled. “Chloe, please forgive my best friend. He is a dick.”

  Chloe chuckled. “I think he’s sweet.”

  Taylor smiled. “Thank you, but that is enough chit-chat for now. We need a strategy to get back in the game.”

  “Call May to the stand.” Emily said.

  Taylor shook his head. “There has to be another way E.”

  “There’s no other way and don’t even try to get out of doing it.” Emily crossed her arms. “I know how much you still care for your dear Maya, but she came here to try to get you to miss the court opening. She has chosen her side and it definitely isn’t yours.”

  Taylor looked at Emily for a while and grunted. He knew she was right. “Fine. Chloe, I am going to try my best to get Maya to confess but, it will not be easy with Mike behind her so get ready to get on the stand and please, do not say you did it no matter what.”

  “That won’t be a problem because I didn’t do it.” Chloe said.

  Taylor frowned. “Then what exactly the fuck is going on?” He asked, bewildered.

  “Mike is just being the dirty bastard that he is. The so called Mr. Reid that Mike claims I had a secret affair with is my cousin. Mike got paranoid when he saw us laughing together and he thought I was cheating on him. That’s it.”

  “Stupid fool.” Taylor muttered. Mike’s insecurities had acted up again and he was trying to twist things now to get ahead. “Let us just leave that out for now.”

  “Fine with me.” Chloe shrugged.

  “You know he is going to call me to the stand right after you go for May.” Emily said.

  Taylor grinned. “If I do my part right, his calling you will be a wrong move.”

  “Ok fine. Good luck.” Emily clapped. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

  “That is the spirit.” Taylor said as they all left the room.

  ***

  Everyone was now seated in lecture theatre 404. Professor Wishbourne walked in and sat at his table. “Shall we begin?”

  “Yes your honour.” Mike and Taylor said in unison

  Professor Wishbourne flipped to a new page on his notepad. “Are you ready to call your first witness, Mr. Rhodes?”

  “Yes your honour.”

  “Please proceed.”

  Taylor stood. “I will like to call Miss. Maya Davies to the stand.” Taylor waited for May to sit at the front of the class before continuing. “Miss. Davies, I want you to remember that although you are not taking the oath, you are still under oath to say the truth and nothing but the truth.”

  “Ok.”

  “Good. First question. Please can you tell us what you were doing on the night of the seventh of October, 2017?”

  “I plead the fifth.”

  Taylor stared at May for a while and then burst out laughing. “You plead the fifth.” He adjusted his blazer and sat on the table. “That is a good one. Well, let us start this off again. Please can you tell the court your full name?”

  “Maya Jade Davies.”

  “Jade. Beautiful gem.” Taylor smiled. “Now please tell us your age.”

  “I plead the fifth.”

  Taylor laughed again. “I am so sorry. I forgot that you should not ask a girl her age. It is just one of those things you do not ask. Along with her weight, bra size and body count.”

  The whole room burst into laughter and Professor Wishbourne sounded his gavel. “Order. Mr. Rhodes, can you just get on with it?”

  “Alright your honour.” Taylor stood from the table and walked over to where May was seating. “Let us try this again. Where were you on the evening of the seventh of October, 2017.”

  “I plead the fifth.”

  Taylor faced Professor Wishbourne. “Can I treat the witness as hostile?”

  “Objection your honour.” Mike stood. “What reason does he have?”

  “Sit down Mr. Marlon and let me do my job.” Professor Wishbourne turned his attention to Taylor. “Now Mr Rhodes, please tell us why you want to treat the witness as hostile.”

  “The facts of this case are dependent on her testimony amongst other
s and if she keeps pleading the fifth, we will not be able to proceed.”

  “Request granted.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Mike sighed and dropped into his seat.

  “Thank you, your honour.” Taylor looked back at May. “Who is the defendant, Mike Marlon, to you?”

  “He is my best friend.”

  “And do you have a boyfriend?”

  “Objection your honour.” Mike said.

  “Overruled.” Professor Wishbourne said. “Please answer the question Ms. Davies.”

  “No I don’t.” May said.

  “Did you have a boyfriend?”

  “Objection your honour. Irrelevant.” Mike said again.

  “Overruled.” Professor Wishbourne said and motioned for May to answer the question.

  “I did.”

  “What happened between the both of you?”

  “Objection.” Mike was almost shouting.

  “Mr. Marlon, stop objecting. I’m going to overrule them all because the witness is hostile.” Professor Wishbourne said calmly. “Now, Ms. Davis, answer the question.”

  “We broke up.”

  “And why is that?”

  “I felt like he wasn’t paying much attention to me.”

  “And who might he have been paying attention to?”

  “His best friend.” May shrugged. “I felt like they loved each other more than they would admit and I was jealous. I also didn’t want to be the one to get in the way of them figuring it out.”

  “So you do not think you have any fault in your relationship not working? Like maybe your boyfriend felt the same about you and your best friend?”

  “There is a possibility that I might have been at fault too.”

  “Just a possibility?”

  “Yes.”

  “I see.” Taylor nodded. “In your opinion, do you think your best friend likes you?”

  May stared at Taylor for a while. “I don’t think I can answer that question for him.”

  “Ok. I will ask him when I can.” Taylor smiled and put his hands in his pockets. “Now Miss. Davies, would you call yourself a fun loving person? One who does things even when she knows she cannot handle it?”