STONEY'S UNUSUAL STORY
NOTE ABOUT THIS STORY. IN 19 STATES IN THE US., INDENTURED SERVITUDE IS STILL LEGAL AS A PAYMENT FOR CRIMES. CALIFORNIA IS ONE OF THOSE STATES. THEY ARE PRESENTLY WORKING ON A BILL TO END THIS PRACTICE. THIS IS A STORY OF HOW SOMEONE COULD GET CAUGHT IN IT. IT IS UNLIKELY, BUT JUST FOR THE THOUGHT OF IT.
He was born Thomas Jonathan Jackson. His father was a fan of the Confederate General of the same name. Therefore, he almost had no choice but to be nicknamed "Stoney", as in Stonewall Jackson. He was born and raised in the shadow of Mt. Shasta in the city of the same name in northern California.
He grew into a man of 6'2" and 225 pounds by the age of twenty. He was average in schooling. His teachers considered him not bright, a code word for "slow". He was very quiet, and normally didn't speak to anyone unless they spoke to him. Mt. Shasta was a resort town playing off the mountain that was only nine miles away. He worked at a resort in the maintenance department and was well-liked by the other employees.
The only exception to the people that liked him was during high school. For some reason, the "it" girls, mostly the cheerleaders, didn't like him and made fun of him through-out his school years. He mostly ignored them, but the taunting was continuous and unrelenting. The entire town saw it, but no-one stopped it.
This story begins because of one of these girls. As his twenty-first birthday approached, she decided it was time to have one final humiliation for him. She had someone else announce a birthday party at the resort where he worked. Her friends set up a "Carrie" type of humiliation for him at the resort where he worked.
On the day of the party, everyone was in the resort's ball room. It was most of the young people from this town of 3,200 people. They had speeches and he was having a very good time. It finally came time to bring out the cake, and this former cheerleader stood up to give a toast. As she was giving it, a slide show of everything done to him during high school played in the background. The crowd went from stunned silence to a few laughing to everyone laughing.
Stoney Jackson had enough. He charged the stage, grabbed her, and threw her off the stage. As everyone ran in terror, he jumped down on top of her, grabbed her by the throat, and began ripping her clothes off. He stripped her nearly naked as she screamed. By the time the police arrived, she was laying on the floor, naked, crying uncontrollably.
They led Stoney away, and the ambulance took the girl to the hospital. When the trial came, there was no-one to defend him, and he didn't have a chance.
That is when the unusual began to happen. The girl's mother was Martha Washington, the largest name in Mt. Shasta. She owned half the town and did about whatever she wanted. The only reason the town didn't really complain much about it was because she wasn't in town much. She enjoyed traveling with her entourage and had left her daughter home with a maid and an old nanny. The people of the town didn't really blame Stoney much. The girl was a bitch. No-one in that town liked her much. The judge in the case didn't want to send Stoney to prison. The girl did recover but moved away because she couldn't face the townspeople who had seen her naked, in her eyes.
Martha had come home for the trial, and asked to meet with the judge, sheriff, and Stoney's public defender. She knew her daughter was a bitch, and didn't want to send the man to prison, either. Her attorney had approached her with an unusual solution.
Martha began the meeting. "Thank you all for this meeting. This is a terrible thing for this town, and everyone involved. None of us want to send this man to prison. I know my daughter provoked him with years of abuse. However, I must have justice, if for nothing else, my namesake." Everyone looked down and shook their heads.
She continued, "My attorney has found a loophole to sending him to prison. Your honor, you could use the indentured servitude clause in the amendment to the constitution that banned slavery. There is a provision for indentured servitude for convicted felons in place of prison. It is almost never used, but it is still there. I propose you sentence him to servitude to me for the number of years you think is appropriate. I will hold no grudge for him, and he would be free to move around the community as a free man. He could see his parents and live in my house."
Everyone was surprised by her solution, and her attitude. His Honor spoke up, "I will have to research this, but I don't much like this idea. Let's all meet here again one week from today." They all agreed and adjourned.
One week later they were back together. The judge spoke. "I am surprised to learn from Sacramento, that this is still on our books. I do have the authority to sentence him to working for you for free for the length of time I designate." He looked at the public defender. "Would you be willing to talk to your client about this?" He nodded. "Then we will adjourn and meet again in two days."
The public defender went to meet with Stoney and his parents. He explained this offer, and what it would entail. Stoney and his parents talked about the pros and cons. He would be able to stay here and live in this community. However, he would have to obey Martha Washington, and do as he's told for the designated time from the judge. After discussing with his parents, he decided to accept the offer.
On sentencing day, everyone, except the girl, gathered in the courtroom to hear the final sentence.
The judge spoke first. "Thomas Jonathan Jackson, I have found you guilty of aggravated assault with special circumstances. It is the opinion of this court that sending you to prison would serve no purpose, and not be in the interest of justice. Mrs. Washington has offered indentured servitude in place of prison. After consulting with Sacramento, I have decided to accept her offer. I hereby sentence you to no less than five years and no more than ten years of servitude to Martha Washington. I will meet with Martha Washington periodically to evaluate your progress. At the five-year anniversary, I will consider reducing your sentence. Do you understand this sentence?" Stoney nodded. "I need a verbal answer."
"Understood, your honor."
"Mrs. Washington, do you have a list of rules how this will work?" She did and gave the judge and Stoney a copy.
The judge slammed his gavel, and the first indentured servitude case not involving working inmates in California in many years was done.
Stoney was released from the jail and allowed to go to his parent's home. Mrs. Washington gave him one week to prepare to come to her home and begin his sentence.
Stoney arrived at the Washington mansion at 8 a.m. on the appointed day. The butler let him in and took him to the living room for him to wait.
After a few minutes, Martha Washington walked into the room. "Mr. Jackson, I want you to know I am aware now of how my daughter and her friends treated you during high school. I am sorry I didn't pay much attention to her high school years. I left that up to her father. Now that he and I have divorced, he is no longer in the picture. You will be my chauffer and handy man for this home. I have never needed one because I was never here much. There are several things here that need to be fixed, and you can work on those things while you are here. You can live in the rooms above the garage. Manston, my butler will show you where that is. Other than driving me around, you will get most of your instructions from him. Are there any questions?"
"No ma-am." Stoney didn't believe she held no anger toward what he had done to her daughter. He would just have to wait and find out what she does to him. He just knew it was going to be a long five years.
Manston introduced him to Molly, the maid, and Gerta, the cook. He then showed Stoney where he would live and told him to go and get some of his personal belongs to put in his rooms. Stoney went and packed a couple of bags and moved in that afternoon.
The next morning, Manston gave him a list of repairs the mansion needed. For the next several weeks, he worked on most of these fixes. Most were simple, leaking faucets, light switches out, etc. She had told him he could go and spend one day a week with his parents, and he choose Mondays.
He almost never saw her, except when he had to drive her around. Her most frequent trip was to Redding, California. It was only forty miles to the south, and it was large enough to have some of the amenities of a larger city. At first, she never spoke a word during these trips. However, as time went by, she began talking to him. He didn't talk much but answered questions when asked. She finally broached the subject of her daughter. He had been dreading this, but knew it was coming.
"Stoney, would you mind terribly, telling me how my daughter grew to hate you so much? I never heard your name until this awful event happened. What in the world was your relationship before like?"
He didn't want to talk about this, but he still had four and a half years left. He knew he couldn't ignore it for five or ten years with her. "Mrs. Washington, I honestly never knew why she hated me, or turned the other girls against me. I only had one decent conversation with her, and that was in our freshman year. I thought we had a good conversation. We talked, and laughed, but the next day, she was cold and angry. All I could get from one of her friends was that I had insulted her. For the life of me, I have no idea what I said or did that angered her so much. She has hated me ever since."
They both stopped talking for the rest of the trip. The topic didn't come up until the daughter came home for a visit.
Her name was Elizabeth, and Martha sent Stoney to his parent's home during her visit. When she left, Martha sent for Stoney.
"I talked to her, and she doesn't want to talk about it. She did have a funny look in her eyes, but she wouldn't talk about. Maybe later she will."
Stoney became friends with Gerta and Molly. Gerta was much older than everyone except Mantson. Molly was a young woman Stoney had known for most of his life. She was a little slender thing, about twenty-five, and was quiet like him. Molly and Stoney began spending time together. They didn't sleep together because he was afraid of Martha.
After nine months, two of Martha's friends came to stay with her for a while. Mary Thomason was 45, 5'2" and pretty for her age. She was a redhead, and Stoney thought she might have a temper. Barbara Jones was 48, and a little chunky 160 pounds. She was average height and had blonde hair that Stoney was sure wasn't her real hair color. These were the ladies Martha traveled with, and they were planning another trip.
Martha came to him one day and stopped him while he was working. "Stoney, my friends, and I are going on a trip. We are traveling to a mountain lodge in Wyoming. We have a lot of luggage. I would like you to drive to the lodge and bring our luggage to us. It is a two-day drive, and we will meet you there. You will stay with us during our stay and drive our stuff back. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma-am. When do I leave?" A trip to Wyoming would be a nice change.
