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“You’ll probably get fired for this, Alicia,” he says. “I won’t stop you from running with it, but I won’t be able to protect you.”
I nod. I could probably be throwing away my chance at the most prestigious newspaper in the country, The New York Sun, as well with this piece. But that’s my grand gesture. “I know,” I tell him.
Then I walk out the door.
Derrick
“All rise,” the Bailiff announces as the entire courtroom gets to its feet and an elderly looking judge comes in from his office attached to the back. The Bailiff continues. “The Honorable Judge Walter E. Byrd is now presiding over the Federal Court for the 10th Circuit. Please be seated.”
I sit down.
Judge Byrd peers over his bench and looks at me. “Prince Blaine,” he says. “I thought we reached an understanding that we were never going to have to see each other in a professional capacity?”
I stand back up to address him. This whole experience is like some fucked up Deja vu. I was arrested two days ago. The papers had a field day yesterday. My arraignment is today. I don’t know what I’m going to say to the judge after this fucking whirlwind, but before I can address him, Larry stands up and speaks up next to me. “My client thought so as well, Your Honor, which is why we seek to dismiss all charges this morning.”
There’s a snort of derision from across the aisle. I look over and Samantha Scar, the District Attorney from Hell, is standing as well, dressed in a pinstripe black power skirt and suit.
In normal situations, Samantha would look hot. She’s got the tits and ass to make sex a fun experience with any man. But she’s also got some sort of crazy hateful rage that’s guiding her at this point as she looks at the judge and begins to speak, “Your Honor, Prince Derrick Blaine represents a clear and present danger to the well-being of all New Yorkers and it’s the job of the District Attorney to defend the population.”
I wish Judge Byrd would just say something because I see him roll his eyes a bit as he asks, “What are the charges, Counsel?”
Samantha takes a deep breath and dives in, “Conspiracy to commit lewd and lascivious acts, gross obscenity, public drunkenness, willful harassment of a threatening sexual nature, aggravated sexual assault, and willful vandalism of the public trust,” Samantha declares. There are literal gasps throughout the court and I can’
t believe how half of this is even going to stick.
“Specifically, Your Honor,” Samantha continues. “His Highness went to a CBC interview after a night of heavy drinking where he proceeded to sexually assault the interviewer who was supposed to be working with him. This was caught on live camera, at which point network executives attempted to intercede but were stopped by the Prince. He then proposed to expose himself in front of those live cameras and subject the entire nation to a shameful display of his own vanity before running out of the studios.”
Fuck me. I’m fucked, after listening to Samantha put it like that.
“So the Prince got caught screwing and then flashed around his junk to the country?” the Judge asks with a smirk. Samantha frowns at him and he straightens up, clearing his throat and addressing Larry. “Mr. Summers, how does your client plead?”
Larry clears his throat. There are titters of laughter throughout the court as people pull up the video of me on YouTube. “Your Honor, my client pleads not guilty and seeks to dismiss the charges. These events occurred four months ago and the District Attorney has had the chance to bring up charges, but she has not. Only with the statute of limitations arriving on these acts has she decided to take action.”
“That’s true,” the Judge says nodding his head and turning to Samantha. “Why did you wait so long, Counsel?” he asks.
Samantha goes through some spiel about seeing if I had changed my ways but I know the fucking truth now. She had set Alicia on me, seeing if more dirt could be dug up. To get the people in an uproar and demand my head.
Only, Alicia didn’t do that. Sure, she may have lied, but she actually came up with the shit that got me in the public eye as a do-gooder. She actually helped me in that respect.
She helped me as Daphne. But she was there looking for dirt as Alicia.
Fuck, this shit is starting to give me a headache.
“Your Honor, my client has done numerous good works and stayed out of trouble since these events occurred,” Larry persists. “If the DA has her way and he’s indicted today, immigration rules state that he would be deported back to his country.”
“Your Honor, Prince Blaine is a direct threat to the moral fiber of the United States and his original actions cannot be allowed to go unpunished,” Samantha replies, as if she’s been rehearsing for this moment.
Judge Byrd looks at me.
“Prince Blaine,” he begins, “Do you think you’ve learned your lesson? Or are you that same man whose actions have him teetering on the brink of deportation?”
The courtroom goes quiet and I can feel every eye turned towards me. For the first time in two days, I focus on what’s happening instead of wallowing in a feeling of betrayal.
Because it’s a pretty simple question. But one that cuts to the heart of the matter.
“Your Honor,” I say. “There is no way in all hell that I am the same man as to whom these charges are being applied.”
The Judge smiles and I continue, “I’m not going to go off and beat my own drum about how I’ve started the beginnings of a charitable organization or found a cause that I believe in philanthropically, or any of that.” People are beginning to whisper but I don’t fucking care. “All I can say is that I was rescued, Your Honor. Rescued by the love of a woman. That’s literally all it took. She made me want to be a better man. And her memory still makes me want to be a better man today.”
