An Emblematic Woman ● S. Reid | ✓

49~ Subdue

This was it, the moment I had been dreading, but also praying for. Every nervous fiber in my body was revved up and ready to go as Patricia stood up and approached the bench.

"Please state your name and profession for the jury," she said.

"Kennedy Russo, I'm an agent with the FBI," I said, clear and prominent for the entire room to hear.

"Agent Russo, first of all, I wanted to say how sorry I am for the damage you've faced upon this proceeding," she said. I shrugged.

"I'm a big girl, I can take it," I replied.

"Nevertheless, the matter for which we are here today is quite serious. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" she asked me.

"Yes," I replied.

"Good, now let's go back to six months ago when you were coming home from work. When you came to your apartment door, what was the first sound you heard?" she asked. I could remember it clear as day, I could never forget anything from that nightmare.

"An 'oof' when I elbowed him in the ribs. It happened while he injected me with a paralytic agent, because I was aiming for his nuts," I replied. 

"Did he say anything to you?" she asked.

"Not much, I couldn't see his face, but he was a smoker. The weed was coming off his breath," I could almost smell the scent of marijuana drifting through my nose now.

"What did he do to you?" she asked. I really didn't want to answer this.

"Is this really necessary?" I asked her.

"Please answer the question," the judge said. I looked at the rest of my team, they looked back at me. They had been preparing me for this moment for months, but now, I wasn't sure if I could be strong or not.

"He was grabbing at me, pulling off my clothes. I tried to ask him to slow down, but my mouth wouldn't move. He got rough. He bit me, slapped me, banged my head against the headboard," I replied.

"Anything else?" she asked. I felt a lump growing in my throat, thinking about what happened next.

"He ripped off my panties, and he told me that he knew I couldn't move but he hoped I was awake for it. He jabbed his fingers in me over and over until I started to bleed, and then he..." I gulped down whatever resolve was about to spew over, "he unzipped his pants," I said. Tears were starting to cloud my vision.

"Do you need a minute?" Patricia asked me.

"No, I can do this," I replied, "He pulled my jaw open as far as it would go, and I couldn't breathe. He told me that I had a velvet throat. When he was finished, he wrapped his hands around my neck and he started to strangle me. I couldn't move, all I could do was try and beg. And all I could remember thinking..." a few tears spilled over and slid down my cheeks, "All I could think about was how much I wanted to die. I just wanted him to kill me and get it over with. Then I blacked out. When I came to, he was gone," I was finally able to breathe again. Patricia nodded.

"Can you tell us about the night when you willingly got into the van with the defendant?" she asked me.

"Shortly after we discovered that Fiona Barnes was missing, he sent me a text, telling me that if I didn't comply, he was gonna kill Fiona," I replied.

"And when the defendant threatened to hurt Fiona, what did you do?" she asked.

"I convinced him to take me first. I couldn't let Fiona go through something so terrible," I replied. The sweet little red-head smiled from her seat and gave me a a little wave.