Thicker Than Water - 55. Chapter 55

“Objection, Your Honor,” Mr. Clarke practically shouted. Diego's heart beat so hard, he thought he was going to have a heart attack. Mr. Clarke snarled, “Lack of foundation, argumentative and irrelevant.”

“Your Honor,” Billy said, calmly, “My client had informed me that he had been sexually abused at the hands of Mr. Johnson but had no physical evidence at the time to notify the authorities.”

“As disturbing and regretful as that may be, Mr. Parker,” Judge Arthur said, measuredly, “this is not a criminal proceeding.”

“Very true, Your Honor,” Billy replied, “but Mr. Clarke did open the door to character assassination and to moving outside of the scope of his original filing, which I objected to, and you overruled. Since Mr. Clarke was permitted those things, I am also permitted; otherwise, you'd be showing favor towards the Petitioner, which I've also objected to multiple times and you've overruled.”

Diego was pleased that Judge Arthur was seething. All the previous times Billy had pissed the judge off paled by the look on the judge's face at that moment. Judge Arthur's grip on his gavel was so tight it turned the old man's knuckles white. He slammed his gavel down so hard it sent the block flying across the courtroom. As a deputy retrieved the battered piece of wood, Judge Arthur practically shouted, “Objection overruled, Mr. Clarke. And you, Mr. Parker, are getting awfully close to a jail cell, so you better watch your step.”

Billy smiled, looked at a rather unnerved Mrs. Knutson and said, “My apologies, Mrs. Knutson. Now, would you mind telling the Court just how that conversation came about?”

Cynthia Knutson shifted in her chair, regained her composure and said, “Calvin and I were at a New Year's Eve party, as I had already explained. Prior to that, I had looked through his phone and emails, things he gave me access to when he wanted us to have a joint bank account. I refused to get one until he could trust me with his phone, laptop and access to his accounts to be sure he wasn't into anything criminal.

“As I went through his devices, I found various texts, social media messages, website chats and emails that alarmed me. I downloaded everything I could find, made copies, and decided to confront Calvin before I threw him out of my house and life. I didn't want to do this alone, nor did I want to do it somewhere private. He has a way of playing dumb and trying to convince you that you got everything wrong.

“I asked my friend, Sheila, to record the conversation, so Calvin couldn't deny anything later. I wore a microphone and Sheila stood nearby with her phone aimed at us.

“At first, Calvin denied everything, then he said he wanted to discuss things by ourselves. I refused and told him that the party was too loud and nobody nearby would be paying attention. I also added that if he and I did go somewhere private, there'd be nothing stopping me from yelling at him.

“I asked him about the correspondence with all of his ex-girlfriends, and why he lied to them about his kids. He said he was in a bad place and didn't know how to talk about them. I called him out on it with several of the emails from the women he dated before me, where he happily discussed his kids and his desire to get them back once he had a place to live.

“I brought up the custody of his kids and why he lied about that. I saw copies of the letters his court appointed lawyer here in Washington had sent him, trying to reach out, to arrange phone or video calls, all the court filings that described the government's attempts to contact him. None of them were replied to.

“Then I asked about his mother. At first he tried giving me some sob story about how controlling she was and how she ruined his life growing up. I told him to shut the fuck up and tell me about her getting custody of his kids and demanded the real story. That's when he told me about this gay guy named Diego, who used to be his best friend. Calvin left his kids with Diego and took off.

“I saw the messages from Diego, demanding to know why Calvin left, demanding to know when Calvin was going to return, demanding child support, and then telling Calvin that he had no choice but to turn him in for abandonment. Calvin never responded to those messages, either.”

Billy asked, “So, how did the conversation turn to Calvin sexually assaulting Diego?”

“It was in one of the much older texts from Diego; from a few years prior. According to what I read, Diego was upset that Calvin had pulled a blanket off of Diego, ran his hand up and down Diego's body, and then groped Diego's genitals, notably Diego's penis.”

“And what did Mr. Johnson say when you confronted him with this?”

“He dropped his head and admitted that he had done it...and more than one time. Calvin said that they had shared a bed due to their cramped living situation at the time, which only left one bed for them to share. They had separate blankets, which Diego insisted on. Calvin claimed to have been asleep the entire time and would 'wake up' as he was molesting Diego.”

“Did you believe him?”

“Not at all.”

“Why not?”

“Because, for someone who claims to be a straight man, he never once did it to me, and we shared not only a bed but bedding, while also sleeping naked every night.”

“And did you bring this up to him?”

“Absolutely.”

“And what did he say?”

“Nothing at first. Then he started crying...without tears. He said that he was curious about being with a guy, and that Diego had turned him down already when Diego offered to share the bed, even though Calvin hadn't even asked or offered to have sex with Diego. Anyway, Calvin said that it happened multiple times and couldn't remember exactly how many. Eventually, Diego ended up giving Calvin permission to do it, and according to Calvin, it 'ruined the mood' of the whole thing, so he stopped.”

“Do you know if Calvin had done similar acts with any of his other ex-girlfriends?”

“No, he didn't.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because, I messaged every single one of them and asked them. I never explained why I was asking, and just a let it be assumed that he was doing it to me.”

“When did you end your relationship with Mr. Johnson?”

“That night. Once he told me what he had done, I was beyond over it and him. I had already packed his belongings and removed him from my bank account, canceling any cards he was connected to. He hadn't had a job at the time, so none of the money was his, anyway.”

“Your Honor, I'd like to admit Respondent's Exhibit R-36, the messages Mrs. Knutson had collected from the Petitioner's electronic devices as mentioned in her testimony, and Respondent's Exhibit R-37, which are messages between Mrs. Knutson and the various former partners of Mr. Johnson that confirm Mrs. Knutson's questions regarding potential sexual contact.”

“Any objection, Mr. Clarke?” Judge Arthur said bitterly.

“No, Your Honor,” Mr. Clarke said.

“Very well, both exhibits have been admitted into the record. Continue, Mr. Parker.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. I'd now like to play the video in question for the Court.”

“How long is the video, Mr. Parker? It's almost the end of the day.”

“Approximately 30 minutes.”

“Do you have anymore questions for the witness?”

“I don't Your Honor.”

“Very well. This is what we'll do: Mr. Clarke and I will watch our respective copies of the video, and we'll reconvene tomorrow at 10am, and Mr. Clarke, you'll have your cross examination then.”

“That sound fair, Your Honor,” Mr. Clarke said.

“We're fine with that, as well, Your Honor,” Billy said.

“Then Court is adjourned until 10am tomorrow morning, and Mrs. Knutson, you will need to return then and finish your testimony. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

With that, Judge Arthur banged his gavel and people stood as he walked away. Diego glared at Calvin who avoided eye contact. Diego watched as Ashley put her arm around Calvin, as if shielding him.

“Well, that was exciting,” Billy said, closing his brief case.

“I don't know what to say.” Diego was on the verge of crying.

“There's no need to say anything. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about what Calvin did to you, since it happened long outside of the statute of limitations. I already contacted the District Attorney's office about it.”

“This is more than enough, Billy. Even if the judge fucks us, we can have CPS on Calvin like white on rice.”

“Again, it isn't that simple, but it is a net positive for our case.”

“Would you and Trevor be willing to come by my place to night for dinner? It's really the least I can do after all of this.”

“I'll ask, but since it's my turn to cook, I'm almost certain the husband and kid would be up to it.”

“How has Kenny been doing living with you guys?”

“He's adjusted well, I think. We haven't had any issues with him, and we pay him handsomely for the work he does around the house.” Billy gave a small, sad smile. “I've always wanted kids, so it'll be a sad day when he finally moves out.”

“How's his mother doing?”

“Not good, I'm afraid. She hadn't been responding to medications or therapy. The doctors are still hopeful, but to be honest, I think Trevor and I will have to adopt Kenny for good. If his mother is ever released, it might not be until after he becomes an adult.”

“Have you talked to him about it?”

“We haven't yet. Trevor wants to, but I think Kenny might react badly. I want to wait until we know for certain. If we try to adopt him, and his mother gets better, that'll create a lot of legal issues.”

“Not to mention, you would be getting your hopes up.”

“There is that, but I'm used to disappointments and sad endings. I don't want that for Kenny. He deserves more.”

“Well, for what its worth, I think you and Trevor would make great parents for him. He seems happy again, and he's a smart kid. He might have already come to this conclusion already.”

“That's fair.” Billy looked at his watch and said, “I need to get going. I'll text with Trevor's decision.”

“Sounds good,” Diego said, as he and Billy went their separate ways.