Scorpio Love

by S. Tamanaha

  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of both Susan and Johnny and named Gerald Tungsten, his insurance company, Isabel Franklin, and the Abandoned Animal Organization as co-defendants, along with John Does 1-10 and Jane Does 1-10. All Defendants had thirty days to respond to the Complaint. Susan told Isabel that she and the Abandoned Animals Organization should not respond yet. She would give them an extension of time to respond if they wanted one but she planned on calling a meeting as soon as Mr. Tungsten submitted his response to the Complaint which might take care of the entire matter.

  Not long after Gerald Tungsten’s attorneys filed their required response to the Complaint, Susan instructed her attorneys to set up a meeting with all parties. Susan told Johnny that although he was named as a Plaintiff, he wasn’t required to be there but he insisted on it.

  “I want you there with me,” she said, “but you have to promise me that no matter what he says or does, you won’t lose your temper. It’s important.” He agreed, but words weren’t necessary to tell when Scorpios were angry. Their eyes always spoke for them.

  The meeting was held in the offices of her attorney. Isabel and her attorney, Frank Pierce, were present as was a representative of the Abandoned Animal Organization and the organization’s attorney. Gerald Tungsten and the attorney representing his insurance company arrived last. Susan studied Mr. Tungsten carefully. He was a burly man who looked like he drank a little too much and who had the demeanor of someone who was used to getting his way by bullying people.

  Susan waited until everyone was seated before she started speaking. “For those of you who might not know this, I am an attorney in Hawaii. Now, we attorneys all know what usually happens in a personal injury lawsuit. The Plaintiff’s attorneys will sue anybody they can possibly think of who might have any culpability in the incident, particularly those with deep pockets, along with people not yet known just in case they appear in the future. Along the way, right or wrong, many of these defendants end up settling the case against them because they realize that if they’re required to go all the way to trial it’s going to cost them tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees alone.

  “In this particular lawsuit, however, there’s only one defendant who’s responsible for the injuries that I suffered—Gerald Tungsten. So, I’m instructing my attorney to dismiss all other defendants from the lawsuit immediately before they start incurring unnecessary attorneys’ fees and costs.”

  She saw the surprised looks on the faces of Isabel and her attorney and the attorney for the Abandoned Animals Organization. She continued speaking. Her tone was calm but confident and firm.

  “Now, I can just see Mr. Tungsten’s attorney thinking that he’s going to raise all sorts of claims against Ms. Franklin and the AAO and drag them right back in to muddy the waters for the jury. But before you go through all that trouble, let me give you a summary of the case against Mr. Tungsten as it’s going to be presented at a trial.

  “First of all, the jury will never believe that the dog involved in the attack was not the Doberman that resides with Mr. Tungsten. There are at least three eyewitnesses who saw the dog jump over the wall that separates Mr. Tungsten’s property from Ms. Franklin’s property and there isn’t another Doberman in the neighborhood except for a couple of security dogs at a house four blocks away, both of whom could not have escaped since their enclosure has twelve-foot walls. In any case, they are both blonde Dobermans, not black. I see in the answer that was filed by Mr. Tungsten that he has also entered a general denial of ownership of that Doberman. Nevertheless, since the dog is housed, fed, and cared for by Mr. Tungsten, we believe that he meets the definition of an owner under California law and that California’s strict liability statute will apply to him.

  “However, in light of Mr. Tungsten’s denial of ownership, we are also suing Mr. Tungsten for gross negligence as the keeper of the animal. Mr. Tungsten knew that Ms. Franklin and the AAO were having a benefit on her premises on the date in question. He knew this because flyers were distributed to everyone within a five block radius of Ms. Franklin’s home and because there was a sign announcing the event in front of Ms. Franklin’s property the day before and on the day of the event which Mr. Tungsten had to have seen whenever he entered or exited his own driveway. I suppose he could argue that he didn’t see the flyer or the signs, but that would be a little difficult since he called the City and attempted to file a complaint against Ms. Franklin regarding those signs and her event.”

  “So, it was you,” Isabel said accusingly.

  “Complaints are supposed to be anonymous. How the hell did you get this information?” Tungsten demanded.

  “They are anonymous,” Susan said calmly. “Your identity wasn’t disclosed to Ms. Franklin by the complaints office. But the office receiving those calls logs all incoming information since they want to have a record just in case calls are being made by one person for the purpose of harassing a neighbor. We’ve subpoenaed those records so there’s no doubt that the complaint was made by you, which means you knew about the event and saw the sign.

  “Now, Mr. Tungsten knows or should know that the wall separating his property from Ms. Franklin’s property is seven feet tall. He also knows that his Doberman can scale a wall as high as eight feet. He knows this because he’s been teaching his animal to run a canine obstacle course often used by official canine units and part of that course includes the scaling of not one but two eight-foot walls. Mr. Tungsten also knows or should know that his Doberman is a danger to other dogs because he’s had two complaints previously lodged against him about his dog’s aggressive nature. He also knows or should know that his dog is particularly dangerous to any small animal resembling this.”

  She pulled out a furry white object from the bag that she had carried into the room. “This is a ‘rabbit’, a dog racing lure. Mr. Tungsten has been using such a lure to train his Doberman to run the canine course and scale those eight-foot walls. Now, doesn’t this thing look remarkably similar to my Angel—small, white, furry. By the way, on those flyers and sign announcing the event, there was a picture of my Angel so he won’t be able to claim that he wasn’t aware that anything resembling this lure was going to be present at the event.”

  “This is bullshit!” Tungsten exploded angrily. “She’s bluffing.”

  “Gerald—” his attorney tried to cut him off.

  “No, even if I used one of those things for training—and I’m not saying I did—you can’t prove that the one I used looks anything like your dog. Those things come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.”

  She remained calm although her dislike of this man was clear in her eyes. “I don’t bluff, Mr. Tungsten. And I don’t make statements that I can’t prove.” She opened one of the file folders that she had. She pulled out several photos showing him training his dog and in his hand was a white lure. One of the photos even showed his Doberman with the lure clenched in its jaws.

  “These photos were taken just a couple of months ago at the obstacle course. Actually, they are stills taken from a video of you training your dog. It’s a video that you arranged to have taken and that you gave to the owners of the obstacle course just in case they wanted to use it to show other dog owners who were interested in obstacle course training how it’s done. Vanity will get you every time, sir. I also have the affidavit of the person who accepted this video from you containing a statement that the video has never been edited in any way, an affidavit from the investigator we hired stating that he took the video, intact, to a photo lab for viewing and extraction of the stills, and an affidavit from the photo lab technician stating that nothing on the original video was altered in the extraction of those stills.”

  Tungsten was furious but speechless.

  “Sit down Gerald,” his attorney said. “Let’s hear her out.”

  Susan knew then that this attorney would be reasonable. She continued, “Mr. Tungsten knew all this but, rather than leash and contain his dog to prevent any possible intrusion by the a
nimal into the event, he let the dog roam free, failed to supervise it, and that dog then scaled the seven-foot wall separating his property from Ms. Franklin’s property, saw my Angel and me performing, and proceeded to attack us causing me serious physical damage and a lot of pain and suffering, not to mention a great deal of emotional trauma to my dog. By the way, my performance at that event was being recorded and I have that recording as well showing how your dog, without any provocation, commenced that attack. It’s a fairly graphic video that clearly shows how I sustained the wounds I received. These wounds.” She produced copies of the photos that Johnny had taken at the doctor’s office.

  “So, you see how this going, right? You and you alone are responsible for the incident. There’s no way that either Ms. Franklin or the AAO had any knowledge of your dog or the danger that it posed. There’s nothing they could have done to prevent what happened that day. Only you could have prevented it and you didn’t. So, if you try to drag those two defendants back into this lawsuit, I will in fact testify on their behalf and get the judge to dismiss the case against them and, hopefully, assess you their attorneys’ fees and costs. Also, since I’ve already laid out the facts to you here, I will take the position that any action you initiate that is intended to involve Ms. Franklin or the AAO in this lawsuit is frivolous. If the courts in California are anything like the courts in Hawaii, they don’t like frivolous claims being made.

  “Now, my understanding is that California is a pure comparative negligence state. Given the facts, I’m sure that you can see that you have very little chance of escaping a hundred percent liability in this case whether or not you are the actual owner of that animal. And since we have evidence that you attempted to interfere with Ms. Franklin’s event before it took place, I don’t think that it will be too difficult to convince the jury that you in fact encouraged your dog over that wall in order to disrupt the event and that an award for punitive damages is justified.

  “That leaves me with one question to you, Mr. Tungsten, or perhaps I should be addressing your attorney—what’s it worth to you today, right now, to get rid of this lawsuit? What’s it worth because I guarantee you, you will lose this case and if we don’t reach a settlement here today, you can forget about settling this in the future. The only reason that I’m even sitting here discussing a settlement is that there are things I’d rather be doing during the next few months than sitting in a courtroom. But if you don’t care to be reasonable, then I’m prepared to go to trial, as you can see, and I’m confident that once that jury hears all the facts and sees my Angel and that cute little dance routine that she was doing, and sees the vicious attack by your dog, the photos of the injuries that I sustained and the scars I still bear, and hears testimony from those who were at the event, we’re going to get the full amount that’s asked for in the complaint. Also, I’m sure you know that the gentleman sitting next to me is my husband and I’m sure you know who he is. He’ll be testifying at any trial about my injuries as well, and about facts pertaining to his claim.”

  “Right,” Tungsten mumbled with a sneer on his face. “He wants money from me too just because he couldn’t screw you. What a crock.”

  “What the hell did you just say?” Johnny was ready to get to his feet, but Susan placed a hand on his thigh to remind him of his promise.

  “You should ask your attorney to explain to you the full meaning of ‘loss of consortium’,” she said calmly, “but even if it had to do only with that, in light of who my husband is and how women all across America and Europe feel about him, do you seriously think that he won’t prevail in court, especially since we got married just a couple of weeks before that incident? So, why don’t you two talk it over for the next ten minutes or so and decide what you want to do. The other defendants and their attorneys can leave since they won’t be involved any more. We’ll give you some privacy.”

  She stood up then and left the room and everyone, except Gerald Tungsten and his attorney, followed her. Once outside, she turned to Isabel.

  “Isabel, my attorney will send your attorney and the attorney for the AAO the dismissal documents. I’m sorry that we had to name you at all but if we hadn’t, Tungsten and his attorney would have dragged you in anyway. This way, I’ve at least let them know that they’d be foolish to try to involve you.”

  Isabel leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Darling, you’re a real class act and you must have been a hell of an attorney back in Hawaii.”

  Her attorney and the attorney and representative for the Abandoned Animals Organization shook her hand and Johnny’s and left. She turned to her attorney. “Well, they haven’t stormed out yet which is a good sign. So, in about eight minutes, we’re all going in there and we’re going to try to settle this thing to avoid a long and drawn out lawsuit. Do you have any idea what a fair settlement would be for this type of case considering that I’m a woman who still bears the scars of the attack in a city that puts so much emphasis on physical beauty and my husband happens to be this wonderful person right here?”

  “I’ve got some compelling precedents,” he assured her.

  “Good. Whatever the number, I want it all allocable to physical injuries and pain and suffering, no punitives. And the one part that is not negotiable is that he be required to either erect a fence on his property high enough to contain his animal or give the animal up to a behavioral modification center. If I could, I’d make him agree to never own another animal for the rest of his life. He doesn’t deserve one. Excuse me for a couple of minutes. I’ll be right back.”

  She turned and headed down the hall to the water cooler. Johnny walked with her. He found himself in awe of this new side of her that he had just seen.

  “Okay,” she sighed. “Go ahead and say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “That the person that I become when I have to be a lawyer is cold and hard. I don’t like that person sometimes. That’s why even though I wanted you with me, I wasn’t sure whether you should be here. I guarantee you that in that room, they are referring to me as a bitch.”

  Johnny smiled gently. “If it wouldn’t be inappropriate to do it here, I’d kiss you,” he said. “Every time I think I know all about you, you surprise me again and make me so proud. I think that you were firm but fair in there; definitely not bitchy. And you want justice, not just bucks, so I agree with Isabel, you really are a class act.”

  She looked up at him relieved that he felt that way. “I love you, you know that?” she asked. “I think I was afraid that if you saw me like that you’d be a little turned off.”

  “I love you too and you don’t have to worry,” he said smiling. “If anything, seeing you put that jerk in his place was a major turn on.”

  She smiled then. She was grateful that Johnny was so different from most of the other men that she had known.

  “So, do you think he’ll settle?” Johnny asked.

  “If it was just up to him, I doubt it. He’s a stupid, aggressive man who likes having a big aggressive dog just to show everyone how macho he is. And that kind of man doesn’t like being beat by a woman. But his attorney represents the insurance company that’s going to lose all that money and I think I got through to him.”

  “What’s that thing you mentioned that I’m supposed to be testifying about?”

  She smiled a little. “Oh, that’s right. You never read the Complaint. It lists a claim by you for loss of consortium.”

  “What exactly is that anyway?”

  “Your loss from my inability to perform my wifely duties because of my injuries.”

  Johnny grinned. “You’re kidding.”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t always mean just sex but it is mostly that where husbands and wives are concerned. Some lawyers feel that juries aren’t as sympathetic these days but you, being who you are or at least who the public thinks you are, I think the jury would definitely buy it. Anyway, now that they’ve seen you in person, they already know that they’ve lost the votes of a
ny women on the jury.”

  He smiled. “And gay men?”

  She knew that he was referring to the recent invitation that they had received from Damien about a party that he was having to celebrate his thirty-fifth birthday.

  “He is so very taken by you,” she said. “If he was a woman, I think I’d be a little jealous. But he just wants to show you off to his friends, you know.”

  “Okay, we can go. For a little while only. But if anybody grabs me, we’re out of there.”

  She laughed.

  The settlement was for $835,000, with an additional $40,000 awarded to Johnny for his claim. With the lawyer’s fees taken out, which were reduced to twenty percent instead of the usual thirty percent since Susan had done most of the work, her share of the net settlement totaled $660,000. Rather than erect a costly fence, Gerald Tungsten agreed to surrender ownership of the dog to a rescue and rehabilitation center.

  “You did a hell of a job,” Johnny said proudly. “What are you going to do with all that money?”

  “I’m using a large part of it to pay off the mortgage on my sanctuary so I don’t ever have to worry about losing that place. And I’m giving Isabel a small donation for the Abandoned Animals Organization. And the rest, oh about thirty thousand or so, is going into your movie fund. My investment in your dream.”

  “No,” he said firmly, “you’re not going to do that. I made forty thousand off of the lawsuit as it is. What a shock. And I’m making enough money these days for my dream, especially since you’re no spendthrift. You keep that money in your own account for yourself to follow your dream.”

  “I followed my dream,” she said, “to L.A., remember? Twice as a matter of fact.”

  He looked at her and felt so much love. “Come here,” he said, wrapping her in his strong arms securely. “I remember,” he said. I’ll always remember how we met and what you gave up for me.”