Chapter 32

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The phone rang at 6:15. Jake barely heard it. He had only been sleeping for five hours. He fell back asleep, but a moment later Ellen woke him up.

“Master, it’s Kara DeRizzo. She says she has to talk to you. It’s an emergency.”

That woke Jake up fast. He sat up and took the phone.

“What’s wrong, Kara?”

Jake heard Julie crying in the background. Brian was yelling at Kara to hang up the phone.

“Jake. The police were just here. They arrested Momma.”

“No! Did they say why?”

“They said it was sexual assault.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Did they say who she assaulted?”

“No, they wouldn’t say anything. They told her she was under arrest for sexual assault, read her her rights, and took her away. They told us that someone from Child Protective Services would be by later to take care of us.”

“I’m going to come over. I’ll be there by seven.”

“Brian’s really mad. He says that you can’t come here.”

“I’ll handle Brian. I should be there soon.”

Jake told Ellen what had happened. He hurried through a shower and dressed in slacks and a dress shirt. After reminding his mother to call him hourly starting at eight, he drove to the DeRizzo house.

Brian came to the door when he knocked.

“She’s our mother, and she’s nothing to you. We don’t need or want your help. You get the fuck out of here before I beat the crap out of you.”

“I want him here,” Kara said from behind him. “You get out of his way, or else I’m going to pound on you.”

“Come on, Brian. This is too serious to be messing around,” Jake said, trying to push his way through the door.

Brian pushed hard against Jake’s chest. Jake was tossed against the doorway and his head snapped back against the corner of the doorframe.

Jake was stunned and fell to the ground. He vaguely heard Kara and Julie screaming and felt himself carried into the kitchen. A cool, wet cloth was applied to the back of his head. He forced himself to sit up and look around. Brian was standing apart from them, looking a little scared. Julie was glaring at him. Kara was pressing the cloth to the back of his head.

“Jake, it’s bleeding a lot. You’ll need to go to the hospital. Stitches at the very least.”

Jake stared angrily over at Brian. He pushed into his mind and linked fear to the intention of hurting him.

“Brian, I’ve made enemies before. I’ve learned how to deal with them. To a man, they wish they hadn’t come up against me. You’re very lucky that I love the women in your family because if I didn’t, your life would have just turned miserable, literally.” Jake tried to contain his anger. He failed. “You have got to be the most stupid git in existence. How much money do you have? I mean on you and in the bank?”

“I’ve got a couple of dollars. I get paid on Friday.”

“Will your paycheck be enough to pay the retainer to get your mom an attorney?”

“My dad could pay.”

“Why would he? She’s about to divorce him. It’s in his interest to keep her in jail. You’d be lucky to get grocery money out of him. You’re just too fucking stupid to realize that you and your mom are in big trouble. You, I’d just as soon watch flounder, but I love your mother, and I’m going to see if I can get her out of jail. And I’m going to make sure your sisters are taken care of. You are not man enough to do it. I can make you obey me like a slave if I choose to. Don’t give me a reason because I really, really want to.”

He turned and looked at the girls.

“Kara, you drive. All right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay. I’ve got some resources in the legal community. I’ll get them to find out what happened. Did the police ask anyone any questions?”

Kara shook her head.

“Here’s what we need to do. First, we get my head fixed. Kara, will you drive me to a doc-in-the-box?”

She nodded.

“Julie, I want you and Brain here to come with us. CPS will be here sooner or later. It would be better for them not to find you here.”

“Don’t call me Brain. I’m not coming,” Brian said.

“Listen, Brain, do you want to end up in foster care until this is resolved? You are living in a house without parents. Your mother is accused of a sexual crime. They are going to snatch you up so fast that you won’t realize where you are until you land in a dormitory full of angry, unhappy boys who want to see if you’re as tough as you look”

“I can go to my father’s place.”

“I’d like that myself, but until we know what’s going on, I want us all to stay together. It scares the crap out of me to say it, but I may need your help, worthless as you are.”

“I’m not going.”

“Am I the only boy who doesn’t think with his ego? I mean at least not usually.” Jake linked fear to the intention of disobeying Jake. “Go potty, Brian, and then wait for us by my car.”

Brian left the kitchen and they heard him walk to the bathroom.

“What did you do to him?” Julie asked.

“I’m sorry. I lost my patience with him. It’s just that we need to go, and my head hurts, and I’m not feeling very charitable toward him right now. I did the same thing to him that I did to Jerry Amos but without the anguish. I can undo it later. He’ll go back to the way he was. Are you two ready to go?”

“Let me get my purse,” Kara said.

“You might want to bring something to read. There may be a lot of waiting around today.”

Kara drove them to the same minor emergency center that had fixed Jake up the week before. The doctor stitched the back of his head and removed the old stitches above his forehead. The doctor was concerned that he had lost consciousness and advised Jake to go to the emergency room.

“Can’t do it, doc. We’re dealing with a family emergency right now. If I don’t have a brain hemorrhage then I’ve got things I’ve got to do.”

“Then you need to be watched closely for symptoms of a concussion.”

“Tell my girlfriend what to look for, and she’ll keep watch.”

The doctor walked him out to the waiting room.

“Which one of you is his girlfriend?”

“I am,” Julie and Kara said simultaneously.

“A lucky young man,” he said.

He explained the symptoms to look for and then they were on their way.

Jake called Jerry Amos and said that he needed a criminal lawyer to help a friend’s mother. Jerry asked about the charges and suggested a certain attorney.

“Jerry, would you call him and get him started? Assure him that we’ll make good on his fee. We want to get her out of jail as soon as humanly possible.”

“I can do that. There’s something you can do for me.”

“If I can. Things are a little crazy here.”

“I’ve got a deposition tomorrow morning. It’s a big case with the facts in dispute. Can you sit in? It’s at my office at ten a.m.”

Jake agreed and rang off.

They arrived at the county jail right at eight. Jake’s phone rang. It was his mother. After the second ring, it stopped.

Inside the entrance, they found a deputy seated behind a glass window. Jake explained that they wanted to bail Leanne out. The deputy consulted a computer and told him that bail would not be set until the arraignment. He said he did not know how much but that they should expect at least $10,000 for a second-degree felony, cash or a certified check. The arraignment was scheduled for ten that morning.

Jake took them down the block to the courthouse. He asked them to wait in the reception room of the district attorney’s office and asked the receptionist to let Sarah Trainor know he wanted to talk to her. Sarah bustled out a moment later, smiling to see him.

“What can I do for you, Jake?”

He explained that the mother of a friend had been arrested and he needed to know what was going on. She took him back to her office. After consulting her computer, she turned back to Jake.

“This case will come to my division. It’s a felony sex crime and a juicy one, too.”

“What happened?”

“The complainant claims that the defendant had sex with a 13-year-old boy.”

“Who’s the complainant?”

“One Annie Martin.”

“Can I get a copy of the police report?”

“Of course you can. But nobody can know, Jake. I’ll print out the complaint, too.”

“How can we get her out as soon as possible?”

“Easy. Bring $12,000 to the arraignment. That’s how much Judge Thompson will order for bail unless she’s a flight risk.”

Jake left with the police report and the complaint. He found an empty conference room and told the DeRizzos what he had discovered.

“She’s only sleeping with one 13-year-old boy,” Kara said. “How did they find out?”

“The only people who know,” Jake said, “are your mother, my mother, Jan, and the people in this room.”

“Who did she say made the complaint?” Julie asked.

Jake put the complaint on the conference table.

“Someone named Annie Martin.”

“You stupid son of a bitch!” Kara said softly but with venom.

Brian flinched.

“Who’s that?” Jake asked.

“That’s Alex Martin’s mother. Alex is Brian’s friend.”

“Let me see the complaint, Jake,” Kara said. She scanned it and started reading. “‘I was at home when Brian DeRizzo came over to see my son, Alex. I could see that Brian was upset. He went to my son’s room. A few minutes later I heard him yell that his mother was sleeping with a 13-year-old boy. He quieted down after that. I did not hear him say who the boy was.’”

“Did you tell Alex my name, Brian?”

“Yes.”

“Then the police will be coming to talk to me soon. They’ll also want to talk to you, Brian. What will you tell them?”

“I won’t tell them a thing. I promise.”

“That’s if you can manage to not screw it up like you have everything else since yesterday morning,” Julie said.

“You just ruined her day yesterday, Brian,” Kara said. “But now you’ve managed to ruin her life. And you know what? You’ve just ruined all of ours, too.” Her voice began to rise. “Where do you think they’re going to send us? They’re going to send us to live with Dad. You’ve just fucked all of our lives, you goddamned, stupid asshole.” She was screeching by the time she finished.

She broke down into tears. Jake pulled her into his lap and held her.

Julie looked shell-shocked.

“I can’t go back to him,” she said. She turned to Brian. “I’ll kill myself first. You know I will.”

She lapsed into tears but Jake did not feel the same dismay that he felt from Kara. This was despair, deep and inconsolable. She crumpled down into the chair in which she was sitting and began to wail. He could not read the source of her hopelessness. All he got from her mind was blackness.

“Look what you did to her, Brian. What are you going to tell Mom when she gets out of jail? Why don’t you just rain giant asteroids down on the family? That way you wouldn’t do as much damage.”

Brian had been in anguish as he watched Julie break down. Now he began to cry, too.

Kara, what’s going on? Julie just shut down.

It happened before. She went through a rough patch where she tried to stand up to Dad. By the time it was over, she was deeply depressed. She attempted suicide twice.

Jake had read about the suicide attempts from Julie’s mind when they had once talked about the skeletons in their respective closets. But Julie had never thought about it in Jake’s presence since. Jake cringed at the intensity of the wretchedness he felt in Julie’s mind. He had sworn to never change her without her permission, but this was different. This was an emergency. He would not let her remain like she was.

“Keep him quiet,” Jake said to Kara. “I’ll see what I can do for her.”

He didn’t know how to root out despair, but he thought he could offset it by instilling its opposite. Jake projected hope into her. He started slowly and gradually added more as the minutes went by. He took his time. He had never seen such hopelessness before.

For several minutes there was no effect. He continued to increase the strength of the hope. The first sign he saw that he was making a difference was the return to Julie of some kind of awareness. The bleakness that filled her gave way. But it did not lift her mood. She was too conscious of the things that had gone wrong and could go wrong still. The featureless hopelessness in her mind was replaced by a misery that was populated by all-too-real problems, and Julie broke into wracking sobs.

He pulled her into his lap. He kept the slow increase in hopefulness going. Jake finally began to feel more optimistic. This was conventional fear and grief now. Once it had taken its course, she would be better. After a few more minutes, Jake thought she could reason again and he sent her his thoughts.

Julie, my love, I can make it better. I can make the criminal charges go away and bring your mother home. I can keep you with your mother. I can stop you from spending even a single day with your father.

Jake, I want to believe you. I just can’t face the thought of going to live with my father again. Can you really do those things?

I promise, all of them. Your mom will be home before dinnertime. She will never be convicted of this crime. I may be able to get the charges dismissed before trial. And no matter what happens, I will protect you from your father. I swear that to you. I will never, ever let that happen.

The tears slowed and Jake felt a glimmer of optimism from her.

Julie, we need to get to the bank and get bail money. Do you think you are up to it?

She tried to stop her tears. Soon she was merely snuffling.

“I’m ready, Jake. Let’s go to the bank.”

Jake followed Julie out of the conference room. Kara hit Brian in the chest on the way past.

“Come on, asshole. We’ve got to go fix your screw-up.”

They walked to the bank. Jake’s phone rang twice while he was in line waiting for a teller. It only took a minute to get a cashier’s check cut.

“I’ve been thinking about what to do,” Jake said as they walked back to the jail. “The most important thing is to stop Alex from telling the police what Brian said. That’s assuming that Brian won’t be giving the police evidence of a felony.” He turned and looked at Brian.

“I won’t say anything to the police. I promise.”

“No, you have to talk to the police. You’ve got to give them a story that explains Mrs. Martin’s complaint.”

“How about this,” Kara said. “It wasn’t Mom having sex with someone. It was Brian’s girlfriend cheating on him.”

“What happens if they go ask Beth?” Jake asked. “She’ll deny it.”

“Say the boy was with me, not Mom,” Julie said.

“Two 13-year-olds, one of them Brian’s sister,” Kara said. “That ought to work. It would explain why he was upset, and it’s the kind of story that could easily be twisted to sound like it was Leanne who was involved.”

“I never realized that you two were so devious. I’m impressed,” Jake said, giving Kara and Julie a smile. “We need to hurry. We’ve only got 45 minutes to get to the Martins and then get back for the arraignment.”

They returned to his car. Kara drove them back toward their neighborhood.

“Brian, tell me what happened yesterday morning, starting when you left to go to Alex’s house.”

“I was mad. I went over there, and we went up to Alex’s bedroom. I started venting. I told him what I had seen my mom doing. He thought it was hot, so I got mad at him and went home.”

“Here’s the new story,” Jake said. “You came home and heard noises coming from Julie’s bedroom. You were suspicious and burst in. You found Julie and me in bed. It looked like we were having sex although you couldn’t tell for sure because we were under the covers. You left in a huff. You went to Alex’s house. You told him what you saw Julie and me doing. He thought it was hot, so you got mad at him and went home. Can we all agree on that?”

There were nods all around. Jake’s phone rang.

“This is Stuart Brown for Jake Fielding, please.”

“This is Jake.”

“Jake, Jerry Amos has asked at your behest for me to look into the sexual assault charges filed against Leanne DeRizzo.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m about to head to the courthouse to represent her at the arraignment. Do you know what the facts of the case are?”

“Yes, sir.”

Jake told him the story that they had agreed to.

“So this Mrs. Martin got her knickers in a twist, and told the police the wrong story?”

“That’s what we think happened.”

“If that’s the case, the police and the DA are going to look foolish. They should have taken this case to the grand jury anyway.”

“I’ve got a check for bail money for Mrs. DeRizzo.”

“You do? How much?”

“Twelve thousand dollars, made out to the sheriff.”

“That should do it. I’ll make a bit of a stink at the hearing. The judge should order her released immediately on bail. Will you be at the hearing?”

“Yes, me and all her kids.”

“I’ll meet you at about five before ten in front of the district courtroom.”

They pulled up at the Martins’ house. Jake and Brian knocked on the door. A frowning middle-aged woman answered.

“Brian, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to see Alex anymore.”

“Is this about what you overheard Brian say, Mrs. Martin?” Jake asked.

Jake’s question prompted her to recall the incident. He could just overwrite her memory with the new official story, but Jake thought that it might look fishy if he cleaned things up too much. He overwrote her memory with one in which Brian raved about someone having sex with a 13-year-old. She had thought it was his mother but now she was not sure that she had heard it right. He pricked her conscience so that she would feel obliged to press the DA’s office to make sure that no one was accused over something she might have been mistaken about.

That takes care of her, Jake thought. Now for her son.

Jake compelled her to cooperate with him.

“Ma’am, would you mind if I spoke to Alex. It will only take a minute. We don’t even need to come in.”

“Sure. Of course.”

She called Alex down. He looked uncomfortable.

“Alex, I’m a friend of Brian’s. Do you know what he told you yesterday in your bedroom?”

That brought up the memory for him. Jake overwrote it as well.

“Mrs. Martin, a lot of lives have been disrupted today. You might want to make sure that the DA’s office is clear about what happened yesterday.”