Sugar & Spice

21|bulls eye

The shock of Brody Jensen's 'not guilty' plea had yet to settle when more shocking news were added to the pile by Peter, Aria's lawyer, calling her and announcing that tomorrow both Aria Willows and Brody Jensen would both be testifying. Suddenly the plan that Jane had doubted so much had become their primary focus and how to execute it perfectly. All they were looking for was one perfect moment of his true self, where the animal inside him would be triggered by the sudden remembrance of insecurity. If the jury managed to see a glimpse of that they would never be able to let him go and the young women he'd hurt would finally feel a sense of safety in their lives. Aria had completely forgotten about her own nerves about being interrogated on the stand and the tricks Brody's lawyer might have up his sleeve because she knew that there was no time for her to be nervous now. It was like someone had said once; people who tell the truth don't have to remember anything. Aria knew that the memory of that night still lived freshly in her head and she trusted them deeply, that was more than any lie Brody and his team could come up with. 

Jane, Rebecca and Aria had met up discreetly at Rebecca's house to unwind from today's trial but there hadn't been much unwinding since the phone call from Peter. Now they were drinking strawberry milkshakes in Rebecca's bed and trying their best to pick apart Brody's defense.

"I'm assuming Peter has already prepared you for this but you are going to have to deal with a lot of sexism tomorrow," Jane warned, "they are going to ask you about what you were wearing, if you were drunk and if you weren't just 'asking for it' - which I'm guessing is a huge part of their defense." 

"Blaming women for the way their dressed is such a has-been defense in this day and age, they'd be stupid to use that." Rebecca interjected and added an eye roll to that.

"It might be dated but the justice system seem to still find it effective, but let's not forget that we have made wrongly assumptions of men too. Jane; when we first met Leo and Michael you were certain that they were only in Laura's class for a sexual reason, which wasn't at all true. The assumptions we make are also part of why Laura Patterson has been able to hide from the law for however long." Aria lectured. 

Jane hung her head in shame but nodded in agreement. It felt like a lifetime ago since they had felt protective over Laura and couldn't believe the actions she had taken, but nevertheless it had happened. They had since corrected themselves after their mistake but that didn't mean that other's wouldn't make the same one and especially the moment the story about Laura came out. Could they really blame anyone on that jury if they made the wrong assumption, just like they had once? 

"What you're saying might be true but that's not going to help you much on the stand," Jane debated after a few minutes of silence, "for each wrongful assumption made by any of those jury members we're risking seeing Brody Jensen acquitted. Even if we made up for the ones that we made, these ones could set a guilty man free." 

"Jane is right you know, it doesn't matter how good we are when we need to show what a bad person he is. A part of me wishes that wasn't the case but that's the justice system in a nutshell and I'd rather take him down than them take you down, Aria." Rebecca said and placed her now empty milkshake glass on her nightstand. 

"I just don't want this trial to be downgraded to a 'he said, she said' situation. I need them to take the evidence that we have collected, seriously. We've worked so hard...it can't be for nothing." Aria stressed her concern.

Although as she looked at her two friends she knew that this journey hadn't been completely wasteful if the trial didn't go their way. In the most traumatic experience of her life she had gained friends for life and in some ways found out how strong she truly was and that was something worth noting. She smiled at them and knew that they had thought the same thing and perhaps that's why they didn't look all too sad when they discussed possible bad outcomes.