She's Got the Rhythm

Chapter Thirty: Exits & Entrances

            “Just stay strong, okay?” he grabbed my hand and kissed it.

            “I will,”

            “Here we go,” Rebecca whispered to me as we took our seats and the judge called the court to order.

            “Here we are,” I muttered and did my best to keep my composure. I gave my side of the story when the judge asked and answered some hard questions from Ryan’s lawyer, who was quite the bitch. Her blonde hair bounced in a perfect motion as she took little, princess like steps, somehow thinking that this would help her prove a point.

            “What I don’t get is how you cannot prove that this young man raped you without having any evidence,” she continued, tapping on her chin thoughtfully.

            My lip quivered, I wanted to cry.

            “Uhh, well-“

            “I have evidence,” a voice from the back of the room spoke.

            Shocked, I rotated my body so I could see who it was. Was that-

            “Young man, what is your name?” the judge asked, peering into the crowd.

            “Paul,” he stood up, holding something in his hand.

            “What evidence do you have?” the judge questioned him.

            “This,” he held up the device in his hand. It was nothing but one of those little baby walkie-talkies.

            Oh god, I hoped he wasn’t joking.

            “And what have you got there?” the judge pushed his glasses up so they weren’t dangling on the edge of his nose.

            “Uh, I’m not really sure what they’re called-“ he started.

            “Alright, son, we need to move on. If you have nothing helpful to say, then please sit down,” the judge directed him back to his seat.

            “No, I’m serious. Listen,” he pressed a button on the walkie-talkie and all of a sudden you could hear my voice, unmistakably yelling in the background of the party music. The voices were fuzzy but you could hear a male suddenly say, “I know you want it, Mandy.” And then me screaming “Stop it, Ryan!” After his point had clearly been proven, he shut off the gadget and turned to the judge for a response.

            I glanced at Ryan who was desperately trying to keep a straight face-he was going to suffer-and back at John and dad who looked relieved.

            “Well, this is simple, Ryan is guilty,” the judge declared.

            “What-we can’t even present our case?” Ryan’s lawyer spat out.

            “I’m afraid there won’t be a need for it, sir. We have all the proof we need.”

            “But-but how do you even know that was them?” she stuttered.

            “Their voices are distinct, and plus, they said each other’s names on the tape, it’s not like they made it up.”

            Ryan’s lawyer was pissed; Ryan on the other hand, his expression was completely blank. I couldn’t tell what was going through his head at the moment, but I knew he had felt the least bit of guilt.