Chapter 16
Thursday night before the hearing on Eliana’s temporary support and custody orders, Kurt came home late.
“Kurt, I was getting worried. My sister has her hearing tomorrow. What did you find out about this Stockton creep?”
“I’m sorry, but it took a while. And there’s no good news.”
“Damn it. How bad?”
Kurt explained and then Angela called Elaina.
* * *
“Sorry, Kurt just got home. This Stockton guy is bad news.”
“Bad news?”
“Really bad. He’s a womanizer. And it’s a well-known secret around the San Bernardino courthouse.”
“It’s not me then?”
“No. Sorry I called you silly.”
“I have been too often.”
“Your instincts were right this time. Kurt says there’s a tight San Bernardino good-old-boys’ club of letch divorce lawyers who all look the other way.”
“What am I going to do? He has all my money!”
“Just watch yourself. Say ‘no’ if he tries something again.”
“God. This is disgusting.”
“No kidding, but get the work out of him. He has to do it. You paid him.”
“But he said he used it up!”
“I told Kurt that and he says it doesn’t matter. That guy is your attorney of record and unless the judge lets him withdraw he has to keep working for you.”
“Really?’
“Yes. It’s the law.”
“Good. Thank Kurt for me. He’s so nice.”
“I will and I’m sorry I can’t come tomorrow. The client is flying in.” Angela would have taken another day off work—begrudgingly—but she couldn’t.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Just knee the asshole in the nuts.” Angela laughed.
Eliana didn’t. “I don’t want to go.”
“No choice, little sis. You’re not gonna get your money back and you can’t lose custody of the boys. Kurt says once that temporary custody and support order is done the judge usually rubber-stamps it for the permanent.”
“Good. I mean I hope that’s good.”
“Come over for dinner when William has the kids. You can talk to Kurt face-to-face.”
“He won’t mind?”
“Of course not.” Angela saw Kurt roll his eyes, but she ignored him because this was over her head. “I gotta go.”
* * *
On Friday morning early, Eliana went to the assigned courtroom, Department S-49. Her case was posted on the court calendar. She waited alone on a wooden bench nearby.
Gradually, casually dressed people gathered, paired with their male and female suited lawyers. The group was ready to do battle—voices hissing, glares boring into their divorcing counterparts, and the weak weeping—both men and women.
Gary arrived as the bailiff opened the courtroom door. He ushered Eliana in, touching the waist of her tailored navy blue dress. She stepped quickly away, repulsed. As they sat in the third row, Gary stared at her crossed legs. Eliana uncrossed them and then covered them with her purse.
The court clerk gave instructions on the court’s procedures and the court ordered mediation if visitation was at issue.
William and his lawyer came late and crawled over those already seated. The bailiff scowled, but the pair was obtuse. William’s L.A. attorney was a clone of William—fit, handsome, both dressed in gray suits.
Eliana’s case was called and sent to mediation, along with the cases of three other couples who also had visitation issues.
* * *
In the elevator, the group rode in a silent vacuum of tension. When it stopped, William stepped out and held the door open.
William whispered as Eliana passed, “Eliana, let’s talk about this.”
Gary stepped between them. “Don’t talk to my client.”
At that moment, Eliana wanted to run to William’s arms. She needed him. But he was no longer hers, and she still didn’t understand why. Tears filled her eyes. Gary put his arm around her shoulders and marshaled her into the mediation room. She hated his hands on her but did nothing.
The room had a large central area with tables and chairs where the couples and their attorneys stood. Each of the mediators had their assigned combatants exchange additional documentation. After conferencing with the attorneys, the mediator sent the parties to separate, smaller rooms to confer.
* * *
In the room, William and Eliana’s attorneys exchanged their work product—asserting absurd, greedy positions. They were performing for their clients, sparing and jabbing like boxers waiting for the bell to ring to retreat to their respective corners.
William and Eliana sat at the end of the table unnoticed.
William whispered, “Are you sure you don’t want to talk, Eliana?”
“I don’t know. Can we?”
“Yeah. Who cares what those guys want?”
“Are you coming home? That’s all I want to know.”
William turned away. “I can’t.”
“What does that mean? You can do whatever you want. I love you and the boys miss—”
She stopped. She knew they didn’t miss him because they got to see him regularly and loved their time with him and that woman. Eliana was the only one who missed being in a family. She was the odd one out.
William looked down and said, “I … she’s pregnant.”
“What?” The body blow from his words left Eliana breathless and hollow.
They sat, facing each other—now intimate strangers. Before either of them spoke, the attorneys walked over.
“We have to wait for the mediator.” William’s attorney sat next to him.
“Come on, Eliana.” Gary led her down a short hall to a different room. “We can talk in there.”
“But—”
“He’s trying to screw you and the boys.”
“What?”
The final card had been dealt. The game was over. The girlfriend was pregnant and he cared more about that than his real family—than her.
* * *
Eliana was numb as Gary led her to another small room. He shut the door behind them and locked it.
“Sit down,” Gary ordered.
Eliana complied, in a daze.
“More bad news. Read it.”
Eliana was reeling from the new she had already gotten. How could there be anything worse?
She took the document entitled William Thurston Declaration. She read it, and her face surged red with anger. Gary leered at her bare legs, his face inflamed with desire as his mind licked her body.
William didn’t mention his marriage vows, his promises, their love. There was no bold print announcing his desertion, his girlfriend’s pregnancy, or their shacking up. There was just a degrading litany of her unbalanced behavior and mistreatment of their sons with quotes from them. It was William’s move for full custody and financial freedom. She would have supervised visitation once a week if he got his way.
“These are all lies.” Eliana stood and yelled in Gary’s face.
“He’s playing dirty.”
“I’m not crazy. Once a week … supervised?”
“He’s going to take your kids.” Gary watched her fear and hate climaxing and felt his own climax starting.
“I’m telling him he’s a liar.” Eliana headed for the door.
“Quiet down, honey.” Gary blocked her march and held her shoulders. “I’ll tear him apart in court in front of the judge for you.”
“Promise?”
“Oh, yeah baby. I promise. For you, anything.”
Gary flung her back against the wall and Eliana lost her breath. He pinned her body, pressing his full weight against it.
“I’ll do anything for you, but you’re going to have to do something for me, honey pot.”
“Honey … what?” Eliana struggled.
“No noise or I’m not going in that courtroom.” His stale liquor breath crept over
her cheeks and then his wet lips clamped over hers and suctioned her tongue out.
Eliana felt his erection jamming into her stomach. His huge body flattened her against the wall, his hips grinding under his paunchy belly. She was trapped and muted.
“I bet you are so frustrated right now, if I put you on top you could last for hours,” Gary muttered through his salivating mouth.
Eliana whimpered as Gary probed under her dress and between her legs. He slammed his hand over her mouth. She winced as the back of her head hit the wall.
“Quiet now. If you want me in that hearing, get down on your knees before the mediator knocks on that door. Then, I’ll go to the hearing and get you your custody and money. Shake your head yes.”
She did.
Gary unzipped his pants with one hand and released his bulging erection.
“Get down there.” He grabbed the back of her hair with his hand that smelled of man stench and pushed her down, whimpering.
“Quiet, bitch, and get down on those pretty little knees.” Gary leered at her.
Eliana felt the hard linoleum floor crunch against her knees and his painful grip on her hair as he searched for her mouth.
“No. Stop. Please.”
“That’s it, honey. Now just open wide for daddy.”
She felt his smelly cock on her cheek. She gagged.
“Suck it, you little whore.”
When he took his hands off her shoulders to get his cock into her mouth, Eliana struggled.
“Yeah, baby.” Gary relaxed his grip when his erection felt her soft lips.
That was the moment. Eliana sprung, grabbed her purse, and raced to the door. She struggled to unlock it while he rushed to zip his pants.
“Keep away from me.” Tears spilled down Eliana’s cheeks as she turned to look into his eyes—evil, calculating, and cold. “Keep away, you fat, disgusting pig.”
This can’t be justice, she thought as the lock slid open and she ran down the hall.
* * *
Eliana made it to her car, locked it, and convulsively sobbed.
“Bastard,” she screamed.
Her hands were shaking so hard she couldn’t even speed dial her sister. Gary’s smell still emitted from every inch of her. She gagged and cleaned her face and hair with the wipes she kept in the car for the boys’ sticky hands.
She sat there at least twenty minutes, determined to go back in and tell the judge or have Gary arrested, or tell William. He should help her, but there was his declaration. He had moved on. His secretary had sealed the deal with her womb.
Reality hit Eliana. She was alone now in the world with three sons—or maybe without them. All she had was her sister and her weak, loving mother.
As Eliana settled down in the fall coolness, she saw sprinkles gather on her windshield. Then, through the water spotted windshield she saw William and his attorney come out of the courthouse. It was quick—too quick for a hearing.
William hurried through the drizzle to his girlfriend’s car. Then, Eliana saw Gary coming down the courthouse steps.
With hands still shaking, Eliana fumbled to start her car. She backed out and left.
She left the support and visitation issues at the courthouse unfinished.
* * *
Gary had continued the hearing because his client was too upset to go forward. Of course, he didn’t state on the record why she was too upset, and the judge didn’t ask. Women were always upset in his courtroom. The judge had lunch plans anyway. Clearing his calendar was all he cared about.
William’s attorney didn’t oppose the continuance because it was to William’s advantage to show how unbalanced Eliana was.
The matter was continued for thirty days. With luck, Skip’s murder trial would be finished by then. No matter. Gary would get what he wanted before the next hearing. Eliana would have no choice, just like all the others.
* * *
Back in his office, Gary caressed Eliana’s file with his fingers and then threw it on the credenza—the back burner.
She’ll come crawling back in a week or so, he thought. She’s out of money. She’s mine.
Gary sat at his desk and picked up the newspaper. The headline read “Alleged Wife Killer Goes to Trial.”
“Alleged,” Gary thought. “Those bozos don’t even know what the word alleged means. A half-baked newspaper lawyer, charging the big corporate bucks, tells them to do something and they jump.”
Gary smiled as he read the biased article condemning Skip.
“My money is on the bitch A.D.A. Ortega.” He tossed the newspaper in the trash. “Skip’s dead meat.”
⌘
Copyrighted Material
Chapter 17
Skip’s trial started the first week in December, the Monday after Thanksgiving. Everyone but Skip was still in a festive mood from the holiday set aside for celebrating excessive food, too much booze, and an overdose of opinionated relatives.
A.D.A. Ortega, a virago on wife-killers, got an unexpected break. The two murder trials and a simple car theft case ahead of her began but quickly ended with plea bargains—once in the courtroom most criminal defendant’s, once brave on the street, lost their bravado and got jury-shy.
The A.D.A. then went to the front of the line having giving a short trial estimate of three days. The estimate allowed her to fit in easily to the trail calendar. Although the estimate was of arguable veracity, Skip’s green Public Defender Finley did not challenge her estimate.
* * *
Jury selection was too abbreviated for the gravity of the charge and its consequences.
The trial judge was the Honorable Frances Lilly, a long-time veteran of the San Bernardino Superior Court bench. She pushed the selection along because she had plans for an escape to her second home near Lake Arrowhead the next weekend.
The A.D.A. knew how to pick them. And, Public defender Finley had only a few questions for the prospective jurors simply because he was inexperienced. A.D.A. Ortega was happy with Finley’s inexperience and mistakes. She was also happy with the jury she had honed with her preemptive strikes and excusals for cause.
The jury was empaneled in under two hours.
* * *
Detective Gonzalez had worked with A.D.A. Ortega to put together a tight case. Ortega’s witnesses were neighbors: several who had heard Kim and Skip fights, and one who had seen Skip beat Kim. The A.A.A. also called several of Skip’s own cousins who witnessed argument and one sister who had not only witnessed their arguments, but saw Kim’s bruises on more than one occasion.
However, A.D.A. Ortega’s trump card was one particular cousin of Skip’s, Jeffrey McGinnis. He was a tattooed, bald middle-aged lonely auto mechanic. He loved to talk about anything to anyone who would listen and embellished to get an audience. When Ortega called McGinnis to the stand, he looked at Skip helplessly. The chat he’d had with Detective Gonzalez had not been a seemingly casual chat but riddled with trickery.
McGinnis was sworn in.
“Mr. McGinnis, I am Assistant District Attorney Monica Ortega. Would you please tell the jury your relationship to the defendant, Skip Duran?”
“He’s my Aunt Esther’s only son.”
“Your first cousin.”
“Yeah.”
“Where were you the evening of July 14 of this year?”
“Over at their house. Skip and Kim’s.”
“Why were you there?”
“Visiting. Having pizza and beer. Trying to help out … calm things down.”
“What do you mean ‘help out’ and ‘calm things down?’”
“Skip had told me Kim was getting a divorce and going for full custody.”
“When did he tell you that?”
“After she kicked him out, he never shut up about it.”
“When was that?”
“A month before … about a month.”
“To clarify. A month before that night?”
“Yeah.”
“How were you goi
ng to ‘help out’ that particular night?”
“Skip wanted me to help make Kim take him back.”
Finley bestirred himself. “Objection, hearsay, your Honor.”
“Offered to show it was said, not for the truth, your Honor.”
“Overruled, Mr. Finley. Continue.”
“What did Skip ask you to do?”
“Get Kim to stop. You know, the divorce and everything.”
“What happened that night?”
Finley jumped up. “Objection, your Honor, overly broad. Calls for a narrative.”
“Sustained. Rephrase, Ms. Ortega.”
“Fine. Did you hear what Mr. Duran said to Mrs. Duran at any time that evening, and vice-versa?”
“I sure did. The whole neighborhood did.”
“Move to strike the last sentence as speculative and prejudicial, your Honor.”
“Sustained, Mr. Finley. Jurors, you will disregard the second sentence of Mr. McGinnis’s testimony.”
The jurors enjoyed the mini-flurry and the Judge’s ruling and admonition had just planted McGinnis’s statement even more firmly in their minds.
“Did Mr. Duran make any statements to Mrs. Duran as to what he would do if she took their sons away from him?”
McGinnis shifted in his seat. He glanced at Skip and then at the judge.
“Do I have to answer that?”
Judge Lilly’s eyes narrowed as she said, “Yes, Mr. McGinnis, you do.”
“Um, yeah, I think so …”
“I remind you that you are under oath, Mr. McGinnis. Was that a yes?”
“Yes.”
“What did Mr. Duran say to Mrs. Duran on that subject?”
“Objection, hearsay, your Honor.” Finley leaped to his feet as he squeaked out his objection.
Ortega smiled. “May we approach the bench, your Honor?”
“Yes, counsel. Mr. Finley, come forward.”
At the sidebar, Ms. Ortega spoke first.
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