by Hite, Nicole
“You and me both,” he responded.
“You’ve got this. Don’t doubt yourself. You are an amazing attorney, and sexy as fuck in that pinstripe suit. I can’t wait to see it on my floor once you kick my father’s ass,” he said swatting my ass. Damn he’s hot.
Taking our seats, I mouthed, “I love you” to him as he mouthed it back with adoration.
“All rise. Court is now in session. The honorable Judge Abernathy presiding,” announced the bailiff.
“You may be seated. Good morning, ladies and gentleman. We are all here for case number 112908; W&W Developments verses Earl T. Mason. Are both parties present?” asked the Judge.
Standing, “The prosecution is present, Your Honor,” Shep’s attorney announced. Pushing my chair back, I stood.
“The defense is present, Your Honor,” I responded with pride.
“Will the clerk swear in the jury?”
Watching the clerk approach the jury box, I noticed a lot of familiar faces that longed for justice.
“Do each of you swear you will fairly try this case before the court, that you will return a true verdict according to the evidence and the instructions of the court, so help you, God?
Please say, “I do," the clerk said raising his right hand. Waiting for the jury, “I do”.
“You may be seated,” Judge Abernathy requested.
“The prosecution, W&W Developments, may now state their case,” Judge Abernathy reported taking off his glasses, pointed them in Shep Wilson’s direction.
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Shep’s attorney responded smugly.
“My client, W&W Developments is prosecuting the defendant, Earl T. Mason for trespassing, and failing to vacate the premises of land that is no longer his, but my client’s, Shepley Wilson. My client wishes to begin development on a shopping mall immediately.
“Today, I will present legal documentation stating Mr. Wilson has full custody of the land and will file an additional motion for emotional duress he has experienced,” he continued. That son of a bitch. He’s trying to take us for all we’re worth. Murmurs were heard around the room as I stood to make my statement.
“The defendant, Earl T. Mason, may now state their case,” Judge Abernathy said looking all together unamused. Everyone knew Judge Abernathy was a crooked Judge. Judge Abernathy plays golf with Shep every Sunday when what he should be doing is going to church. He was well known for taking the occasional, “under the table” bribes from time to time. I guess that’s how Paisley always seemed to get out of DUI. This was going to be difficult, but I had faith, my friends, and Colt by my side to give me strength.
“Your Honor, the defendant, Earl T. Mason, is ruling to dismiss these allegations of emotional distress, as well as prove to the jury he is innocent of all charges. I will also argue that the land does not belong to W&W Developments, but the rightful owners, Ms. Birdy Mason, and Mr. Colton Tyler Wilson,” I said with a grin looking towards the prosecutions bench. Gasps and loud murmurs filled the courtroom.
“Order,” Judge Abernathy said slamming down his gavel on the podium as I continued.
“I also request the prosecution give my client, Earl T. Mason a personal and public apology,” I said looking directly at Shep in disgust.
“Fat chance that’ll ever happen,” he stated.
Pounding the gavel, “Mr. Wilson, you are a member of this court and I will not allow outburst like that. One more outburst and I’ll be forced to hold you in contempt of court. Do we have an understanding?”
Feeling my first sense of victory, I seated myself and drew in a deep breath. Round 1 goes to Carrington. Ding. Ding.
“Will the D.A. call the first witness to the stand,” Judge Abernathy stated looking down at his paperwork pointing aimlessly into the crowd of spectators.
“The prosecution would like to call its first witness Earl Mason to the stand.”
Seeing my father rise from his seat like a common criminal made my blood boil.
“Mr. Mason, please stand and raise your right hand. Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” the clerk requested.
“I do,” my father recited like a trained monkey.
“Please state your name for the court,” the clerk requested. “Earl T. Mason.”
“Thank you. You may be seated.” Seeing my father nervous upset me. He was a good man and didn’t deserve this.
“Earl. May I call you Earl?” Shep’s attorney asked.
“Actually, I prefer Mr. Mason, thank you.” He said with sarcasm and spunk. There’s my Daddy! Go get em!
“Right, Mr. Mason. On May, 10th you received a letter in the mail from my client, W&W Developments, correct?” he probed.
“I believe that’s correct.”
“What did that letter say?” Shep’s attorney pushed.
“I couldn’t say for sure,” my father responded honestly. Pulling out a document from his notebook, Shep’s attorney laid it out on the bench for my father to read.
“Can you read this letter out loud to the court room?” he said looking at the jury with a smug face.
“It has come to the attention of W&W Developments; you are residing on a property that is not legally your own. You have sixty days to reach an agreement with W&W Developments or be forced to vacate the property resulting in a court hearing,” my father resisted.
“Do you recall this letter, Mr. Mason,” he poked at my father.
“I do. I threw it in the trash. I’ve been paying on my property for over forty years,” my father replied.
“But you stopped making those payments a while ago? Correct?” he pushed.
“I did not intentionally stop paying the mortgage payments. I fell behind because I was paying my wife’s medical bills before the hospital sent me to collections,” he admitted ashamedly.
“Are you aware that my client has legal documentation and blueprints from Corbin Wilson, my client’s father, validating the property lines are legally his property?” Shep’s attorney asked.
“I know of these documents, but I had not seen them until today.”
Displaying the blown up documents of the property lines and will drafted forty years ago, I couldn’t help but get fired up at the allegations Shep was insisting. He thought he was so smart. He had never met a New York Attorney though. Watching the Jury’s faces I could see they were worried about my defense; however I wasn’t.
“The prosecution rests, Your Honor.”
“Does the defense have any questions for the witness?” Judge Abernathy asked finally making eye contact with me.
“Yes, Your Honor,” I said approaching my father, not before giving Colt a confident smile.
“Mr. Mason…” I started.
“You may call me Earl,” my father said with a chuckle. I couldn’t help but laugh on the inside myself.
“Right, Earl, before seeing these documents, had you made any attempts at contacting the prosecution, W&W Developments?” I asked looking Shep in the eyes.
“Of course. I reached out and wanted to make arrangements to pay my portion, and possibly work out some sort of agreement so we could keep the farm.”
“And, at that time were you granted permission to speak with anyone regarding this information?” I continued to stare down Shep.
“No, they kept telling me Mr. Wilson was busy,” Dad insisted.
“And when you went to Avery City Bank, did you ask to speak with a branch manager, Kiki Parker, in regards to the mortgage payments? The same payments you had been paying for forty years under the assumption that this was, indeed, your property?” I continued laying daggers into Shepley.
“That’s correct. I was told there was nothing that could be done at this point. They said I couldn’t even apply for a loan.”
“No further questions your honor.” Round 2 goes to Carrington. Ding. Ding.
“Your Honor, the defense would like to call Wynonna Wilson to the stand,” I spoke up not before m
aking notes in my folder.
“Ms. Wilson, that is a beautiful broach,” I said trying to stir the pot a little.
“Thank you. Ms. Parker gave it to me as a birthday present,” she said unwillingly admitting to her close relationship with Paisley’s mother.
“So, you would say you have a close relationship with Ms. Kiki Parker?” I asked.
“You could say that.”
“But you’re not that close? Are you? If you were, you would have known that your husband was having an affair with Kiki Parker, and had given her that broach as a present. Talk about re-gifting,” I said chuckling with the courtroom.
“He just told me he was working out a deal with the bank….” She began.
“What sort of deal Ms. Wilson, and remember you are under oath.” I said knowing I had her so heated she would throw Shepley and Kiki under the bus in a heartbeat.
“Shep said he was working with Kiki on finalizing the development loan, but I knew he was lying. He was spending too much time there. I guess I should have known he was having an affair with her. Shep knew about the property lines for a long time which is how he convinced Kiki to draft the “loan papers,” stating Earl owned the home. Every month they collected money off Earl’s mortgage payments when there wasn’t a loan to begin with. They split the money, and no one was the wiser until Shep got greedy. When Earl stopped making payments on the house, that’s when Shep decided to push the development deal. By doing this, he put a spotlight on himself. I think Shep just thought that no one in this town would challenge him on the issue. Corbin thought Shep was doing the right thing at first when he “sold” the house to Earl, when he did no such thing. Just before Corbin died, he found out what Shep was doing. He wasn’t an ignorant man. The unfortunate thing is, he passed away before he could do anything about it himself,” Wynonna finished with tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry Earl,” she sobbed.
“So you admit you were aware that Shep and Kiki were extorting money from Mr. Mason but said nothing?” I asked about to nail this bitch in the face.
“Yes,” she said in disgust.
“That’ll be all, Your Honor.”
Sitting back on the defense bench, Colt leaned over, “How did you know about the affair?”
“Paisley may be smart, but she is awfully materialistic. I saw her wearing the pendant years ago. She must have stolen it from her Mama that night. I figured it out, but wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Seeing the broach, confirmed my suspicions. Sorry to throw her under the bus like that,” I said leaning against the spectator bench.
“No sweat off my back. That’s their problem. I want no part of them anymore,” he gave me an encouraging smile.
“You are doing amazingly out there! That authoritative attitude is sexy as hell. You have me hot over here watching you work that ass across the floor,” he said leaning in to give me a kiss.
“You love this fine ass,” I chuckled sitting back in my chair waiting to see if Shep’s attorney was going to question Ms. Wilson.
“Will the prosecution be questioning the witness?” asked Abernathy.
Looking flustered Shep’s attorney rifled through papers on his desk, “No, Your Honor.”
“Your Honor, the defense would like to call Attorney, Joseph Banks, to the stand.” Looking shocked Shep was not prepared for this witness.
“Hello, Mr. Banks, I said approaching the bench. You’ve been the Wilson family attorney for over forty years, is that correct?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s correct. I’ve been handling their affairs since Shep was a little boy,” he said smiling.
“So, you were extremely close to Corbin Wilson, correct?
“Of course.”
“And you drafted his will forty years ago, correct?” I asked smiling to the Jury.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You were fired a couple months ago, after Corbin passed away, is that right?”
“I’m afraid so. Mr. Shepley said I was getting “too old” to represent the family anymore.”
“Interesting. Seems odd how he fired you just after Corbin passed away. Seems awfully strange, doesn’t it?” I asked.
“I thought so myself. I think Mr. Shepley had ulterior motives for my termination though,” he said.
“Mr. Banks, when was the last time Corbin Wilson revised his will?” I asked.
“Objection!” Shep’s attorney yelled. Bingo! I had gotten under Shep’s skin. He knew I was on to him.
“Overruled. You may continue, Ms. Mason,” Abernathy stated.
“Mr. Corbin came in about three months before he died to revise his will,” he divulged.
“That’s funny because the documents Mr. Wilson is saying is the current will, is over forty years old,” I started looking Shep straight in the eye.
“Oh, no, no, Ms. Carrington. He specifically came in to change his will. He came in saying he found out what Shep was doing and needed to make sure he would receive nothing after he passed. I keep all my records locked away in a safe. I gave a copy to Mr. Colton yesterday to look over, especially since he was such an enormous part in the will,” he said smiling at Colton.
“So, is it your assumption that Mr. Shepley fired you because he knew Mr. Corbin had revised his will cutting him out of everything?” I asked with confidence.
“I have no doubt. Mr. Corbin loved Colton he would never leave him out of the will.” I couldn’t help but get a little misty at the omission. Feeling flustered again, Shep’s attorney had nothing. “Would the prosecution like to question the witness?” Judge Abernathy said annoyed.
“Ugh, no, sir,” he said on shaky breath. The jury shook their heads and looked disgusted at Shep and his side of the bench. Round three goes to, Carrington. Let’s put this baby to bed!
“Your Honor, I’d like to call my last witness to the stand; Colton Wilson,” I said with pride. Watching Colt rise to walk to the bench. He was mouthwatering the way he moved.
“Hello, Mr. Wilson, I said almost seductively.
“Hello, Ms. Mason.”
“Would you mind doing me a favor,” I ask with the sweetest smile.
“Anything,” he smiled grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Would you mind reading this letter that your grandfather, Corbin Wilson, wrote in correlation with his will?” I asked with sympathy in my voice.
“Yes,” he said taking the note.
Dear Colton –
I’m sorry I am not here to see you grow my son. I had planned to stick around and annoy you for another twenty years, but twenty additional years, I did not have. I just wanted to let you know how deeply proud I am of you and the man you’ve become. You have a deep soul that can only be a gift from God and kissed by the angels. I blame myself for the tortured relationship you have with your father. Perhaps if I had loved him more as a child he wouldn’t have grown into the sad man he is today. I was very hard on your father partly because I was mad and angry at myself. When I was your age, I fell in love with the love of my life. I loved your grandmother dearly, but she wasn’t my first love. My first love was Ms. Birdy Mason. We were destined to be together, and your great granddaddy Wilson forbade me to marry her. I resented him for making me marry your grandmother at first, and I resented him even more when we were told to start a family to carry on the name. I took out that anger on your father and pushed him away. As a result, he acted the same way towards you. That is something I can never take back or apologize enough for. The only thing I can change is the future going forward.
Colton, I know you will respect my wishes and follow through with my last will. I trust you more than I trust anyone in this family. I would like you to give the Mason family farm back to Ms. Birdy Mason. I had originally bought this land and Mr. Johnson’s farm for her and me. I had wanted to get married and raise our children there. When I married, she married as well, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her I still owned it. When Mr. Earl Mason came around and purchased the land, I was extremely happy the hous
e would go to Birdy. Your father isn’t a good man, Colton. When I found out your father was extorting money from Mr. Mason, I decided to draft this new will. This is not how I wanted Birdy to live. Birdy and her family did not deserve this. They are good people. I hope by now you have come to realize that.
With that said, I would like you to have the Johnson farm. I know how much you loved the lake as a child, and I enjoyed our Sunday morning fishing trips. It is a very personal property to me, and I know you will take care of it the way you take care of everything you care about. I am also leaving in your care, my entire estate to do with as you will. Sell it. Give it away, whatever you like. All I ask is that you give half to Birdy.