PRESENT TENSE
Chapter Twenty-Six
Friday, June 20, 2003
San Diego, California
Rose arrived at the courthouse just after nine
o’clock, alone this time. Jack had accompanied her to the first two days of the
trial, but he had decided to return to work today. He had missed three weeks of
work while he was in the hospital, and had missed another week afterwards.
Despite the fact that his boss was open-minded and willing to let him take as
much time as he needed, Jack had thought it better not to push his luck, and
had returned to work this morning.
Rose made her way upstairs and into the
hallway outside the courtroom doors. It would be a while before the proceedings
would begin again, so she sat down on one of the benches that lined the hall to
wait.
A few other people were also arriving, some
talking in small groups, others reading newspapers or magazines. Rose looked through
her copy of Newsweek for a few minutes, searching for any mention of Cal
or the trial, but soon lost interest.
She looked up as one of Sun Titan Industries’
lawyers went into the courtroom. Cal and Mr. Lovejoy, she assumed, were already
there. Rose closed her magazine, glancing at her watch.
The trial had only been in progress for two
days, but already she was wishing it were over. One of the lawyers had informed
her that she would probably be called to the stand today, and she wasn’t
looking forward to it. She could stand sitting in the audience, listening to
other people testify, but she wasn’t looking forward to being in front of
everyone and telling them what had happened that night. She hoped that she
could stand the pressure, and, knowing Cal, he would probably try to stare her
down.
Rose got up and went to stand against the
wall. It didn’t matter what Cal did; she was still going to testify. She wanted
to see justice done, and she would do whatever she could to see to it that that
happened. There were no guarantees, of course, but she would do her best.
Rose half-smiled, thinking of something that
had happened two weeks earlier. She had received a jury duty notice late in
May, and had tried to get out of it, but for some reason it was decided that
the fact that she had classes wasn’t a good enough excuse for her not to be
there. So, on Tuesday, June tenth, Rose had shown up in San Diego for jury
duty. She had been called for the first case that a jury was being selected for
on that day, going upstairs with the other potential jurors.
They had been allowed inside the courtroom at
around 9:45, and, much to Rose’s surprise, she had known both the defendant and
his lawyer. Somehow, the computer had sent her as a potential juror for Cal’s
trial. When the judge asked if anyone knew the defendant or the lawyers, Rose
had told him that the defendant was her ex-fiancé, whom she was supposed to
testify against, and that she knew his lawyer and one of the Sun Titan
Industries lawyers. Not surprisingly, the judge had promptly excused her from
duty. Rose had returned to the jury room and had been allowed to leave.
Rose looked up as the deputy opened the
courtroom door and allowed people inside. She saw Cal sitting at the table at
the front, as he had for the past two days. He looked like the whole situation
was a strain for him, but Rose felt no sympathy. He had tried to kill her, and
she was glad to see him on trial. Even if he wasn’t convicted, she doubted that
he would ever forget this experience. She admitted that she wouldn’t want to be
in his place, but she still felt that he deserved what he was getting.
A lot of people felt that way. Rose had
overheard more than one conversation to that effect, and people had come up to
her and Jack and told them how sorry they were that Cal had tried to kill them.
Other people, who knew little about the trial, still were glad to see Cal in
trouble, especially former employees of Sunpeak, the majority of whom had hated
the management and the company itself, were gleeful over the company’s ill
fortune, and were even happier to see the CEO on trial.
After the preliminary speaking, Rose was
called to the stand. She had dreaded this moment, hoping that someone else
would be called first, but went up without complaint. She could feel Cal’s eyes
boring into her as she took her seat. She glanced at him, wincing inside at the
still-present anger in his eyes.
The Bible was placed beside her, and the
question "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?" was asked.
Rose replied. "Yes, I do."
One of the lawyers from Sun Titan Industries,
John Kimmel, spoke to Rose. "Miss DeWitt Bukater, what happened the night
of the alleged murder attempt?"
Rose took a deep breath. "I was eating
dinner in the El Pollo Loco restaurant in Masline with Jack Dawson. Cal came in
and got upset that I was there with him. I asked to speak to him alone for a
moment, so we stepped outside and sat on a bench outside the restaurant. I gave
him back his engagement ring."
"Why did you end the engagement?"
Rose glanced at Cal. He held her eyes for a
moment, reminding her of her promise to keep quiet.
"We weren’t getting along," she
told Kimmel.
"And then what happened?"
"I went back inside the restaurant.
About fifteen minutes later, Jack and I left. Cal was standing right outside
the door, and Jack ran into him. Cal followed us, and then accused Jack of
stealing my engagement ring. He also insulted me."
"What did he say?"
"He said I knew all about the
gutter." Rose grimaced. "And then Jack punched him, and knocked him
down, and a minute later Cal got up and hit him back, and they started
fighting. Two cops showed up and broke up the fight, and then Cal told them that
Jack had stolen the ring. They checked his jacket pockets, and there it was. He
hadn’t stolen it, though."
"How did the ring come to be in Mr.
Dawson’s pocket?"
"I’m not sure, but I know he didn’t
steal it." That much was true. She wasn’t quite sure how Cal had put the
ring in Jack’s pocket. "Cal has dropped the charges."
"Yes. What happened after that?"
"Jack was taken to the local jail. I was
upset and was going to drive home, but I got into an argument with Cal
first."
"What was the argument over?"
"He slapped me, pushed me against the
side of my car, and said he wanted to forgive me for breaking things off with
him. He said I was young and naive. I told him I hated him and never wanted to
see him again."
Some of the observers whispered at this. It
took a moment for the judge to restore order.
"What happened next?"
"I got into the car, but I was so upset
that my hands were shaking, so I couldn’t drive. I went to get out of the car,
and that was when the earthquake struck. The car fell into a crack in the
ground, but Cal pulled me out of the way before I could follow it. After the
earthquake was over, I wanted to help the people who were trapped in the
collapsed restaurant, but Cal pulled me away and said that it was too
dangerous. We got into another argument, because I knew that Titan Construction
had been responsible for that building, and I realized that they had cut
corners to make a profit. I saw Cal take some things from his car—a fallen
light pole had smashed it—and put them in his pockets. I think one of the items
might have been the gun."
"Did you know he had a gun?"
"No."
"What happened after he took the things
from his car?"
"He called my mother to see if she could
give us a ride. While we were waiting, we kept arguing. When Mom finally showed
up, we were going to go with her, but then I got mad at Cal again, and at Mom,
and tried to run off. Cal tried to stop me, so I kicked him."
"Where did you kick him?"
Rose hesitated. The lawyer repeated the
question. Finally, Rose answered.
"In the groin."
There were more whispers from the observers.
After a moment, things calmed down, and the questioning continued.
"Where did you run off to?"
"I headed downtown. I met up with Jack,
and we were walking back toward where we’d been before—"
"Where did you meet up with Mr.
Dawson?"
"Downtown…the old section of town,
around the jail."
"And how did he get out of jail?"
"Through a broken spot in the wall. The
fire later destroyed the jail. I saw it a few mornings later, when I went out
for a walk."
"All right. What happened after you met
up?"
"We were walking down the street, toward
where we’d been before, when we ran into Cal. He was upset to see us, and we
started arguing again. I got fed up and started to walk away. Jack went with
me, and then he turned around and saw Cal pulling the gun from his pocket. He
pushed me in front of him, and we ran toward a couple of buildings that were
leaning against each other. Jack fell, and I thought he’d just tripped because
he got up right away, but when we got to the buildings, I realized that he’d
been shot. Cal kept firing at us—I guess until he ran out of bullets—and that’s
the last I saw of him until after he’d been arrested."
"Thank you, Miss DeWitt Bukater."
Mr. Kimmel stepped down, and Spicer Lovejoy took his place.
Rose’s eyes met Cal’s for a moment. They
stared at each other challengingly until the judge ordered them to stop looking
at each other.
Lovejoy began his cross-examination.
"Miss DeWitt Bukater, how did this confrontation begin?"
"Cal confronted me in El Pollo Loco
because he was upset that I was there with Jack."
"And then what happened?"
"We went outside, and I gave him back
his ring."
"All right. And what was your reaction
to Mr. Dawson’s arrest?"
"Objection!" The judge stopped the
question.
"Where did you meet up with Mr.
Dawson?"
"Downtown, in the old section of town…around
the jail."
"And where did you meet up with Mr.
Hockley?"
"Near the ruins of the restaurant."
"And what happened when you met up with
him?"
"We got into an argument, and then Jack
and I walked away. He pulled a gun and shot at us. He shot Jack, but he missed
me."
"And how many times did he fire at
you?"
"I wasn’t keeping count. I was trying to
escape."
"Then why do you think he was out of
bullets?"
"Because he stopped shooting at us. He
yelled after us, too, so I don’t think he was still coming after us."
"What did he yell?"
"’I hope you enjoy your time
together!’"
There was a pause as Lovejoy looked over his
notes. Finally, he nodded. "Thank you, Miss DeWitt Bukater. You may be
excused."
Rose hurried down from the stand, relieved
that it was over. She sat quietly through the rest of the testimony that
morning until the judge excused them for lunch.
Rose caught Cal’s eyes one more time before
she left the room and was stunned at the rage she saw in them. He blamed her
for his position.
She hurried away, wanting to avoid him. Trying
to calm herself, she took a deep breath and started down the stairs. She
wondered at the wisdom of her continuing to observe the trial—if Cal was not
convicted, he might very well come after her.
She debated the issue throughout lunch, but
finally, by the time she returned to the courtroom, she had made up her mind.
She would see the trial through to its end. She had come this far, and whatever
happened, happened. She would at least get to see Cal sweat. And, perhaps, if
things went well, he would even be convicted.