Communication and Trust

This is a flash story: no character development, nothing in-depth, nothing serious, written just for fun. I have a sense of humor, twisted maybe, and this is gallows humor.

*****

In a small meeting room outside a courtroom in a county seat in rural Iowa.

Scott Jones and his three friends were talking with their court appointed lawyer before their hearing. Scott was excited and angry. "She was going to make me look like a fool. She was having 3-ways behind my back. I overheard her on the phone, that bitch. She was talking about it over 10 minutes three times. I heard her do it. Bitch kept saying that they knew how to do it and that they'd be completely satisfied. She put on her little girl voice, so submissive. BITCH. No way she could deny it. We aren't even married and she is cheating on me. I'm not going to be a fool in front of everybody. No way sir. Everybody is going to know not to fuck with me."

With only 5 minutes before this initial hearing, their lawyer attempted to reason with the 4 of them. "It is all in your best interest to be quiet, to look penitent and settle if we can. If you are quiet in this hearing, you can give me an answer on how to go forward when this hearing is over. If you say anything, it will not go well. You all need to make that decision." The bell rang and they all filed into court.

After everyone was seated, the Judge asked the clerk to read the charges. "Mr. Scott Jones is charged with damaging the personal property of Ms. Emma Riley. He vandalized her car, took all her personal property out if their common apartment and sprayed water over everything, including her extensive electronics.

"In a related manner, Mr. Bill Mayer, Mr. Bob Hinckley and Mr. George Bradley are charged with the criminal damage to the property of Max Contractors. They broke windows of his service truck, scratched and defaced the exterior of the truck and sprayed water into the dashboard and engine. Ms. Riley is the office manager at Max Contractors"

The judge looked down at the four men, then at their court appointed attorney. "Counselor, how do these men plead?" "Not Guilty your honor" was the response. Scott was about to speak, but two of his friends pulled him back and put a hand over his mouth. When he finished struggling, the judge asked Scott if he had something to say. With great restraint, Scott shook his head no. He was not happy.

At this point a lawyer asked to approach the bench. Genevieve Hansen, 75, with her walker and an oxygen tank walked to the bench. The judge looked down and warmly greeted her. "Gene, how are you doing? And what brings you out of retirement?"

"Larry, I'm doing fine, as fine as can be with all these medical devices. I tell you, the years of smoking when I was younger, well, I'm just paying for it now. You remember, both Curt and I had bypasses, and that was 10 years after we quit smoking. And it's been 10 years since that. Well anyway, that's water under the bridge. We're still attempting to keep active.

"Back to the matter of this case, I was getting some work done at the house to make it easier for Curt and me to remain in the home. Looking out the window, I saw the contractor's truck being vandalized. I called the police and then started recorded it on my phone. What did we ever do before smart phones?

"Let me get to my formal role here. I am here to represent my clients, Max Contracting and his receptionist, Emma Riley. We are asking for restitution for the damage that these men caused. Emma was a fiancée to Mr. Scott Jones when Mr. Jones and his friends, with no provocation or warning began to viciously verbally attack Ms. Riley and then physically attack the property of Max Contracting and Ms. Riley.

"We are asking the court to award Max Contracting $23,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages.

"We are asking the court to award Emma Riley $8,000 in compensatory damages and $15,000 in punitive damages.

"In addition, we are asking for an order of protection is placed against these 4 men to not have any contact with any of the litigants or their families."

The four men were now in shock. Getting arrested in a small town is nothing new. Everybody knows everybody's business. But this kind of money? Order of protection? They were all caught red handed, all recorded with smart phones. This was not looking good.

The judge looked at the four men. "I will grant your request for an order of protection and will set bail at $10,000 each. That should be enough to keep you all out of trouble. Any questions? If you violate this order, you will go to jail and remain there until your trial." All four men shook their heads no. "Court is now dismissed."

Looking over at Gene, he waved her over to the bench. They started talking about old times while the defendants were speaking quietly to their lawyer. Just as the defendants were getting up to leave, the judge asked Gene what kind of work she was getting done at the house, and if she liked the contractors. He needed some work done and work of mouth means everything. "Well, Max Contracting is quiet and professional. The new windows are great. However, they did have some problems with retrofitting the family and kitchen room with a couple of 3-way light switches. They had to call me back three times before they got it right."

Scott turned white as a sheet, fainted and fell to the floor.