Page 90 of With Wine Comes War

I closed my eyes trying to will away the negativity. I had no idea what they were laughing at and my recent interactions with CPD’s not so finest has left a bad taste in my mouth. Two deep breaths later and I was able to open my eyes and concentrate on the person in front of me at the desk.

“Hi, I’m Roman King and this is Alex Kennedy. We have an appointment with DA Martin and Detective Lewis for a deposition.” Roman took the initiative to introduce us, knowing how hard this was going to be for me and any other time I may have condemned such an action but today I welcomed it and was grateful.

The officer nodded and punched our names into the computer to pull up our appointment as he pointed to a bench next to the desk. “Please have a seat and I’ll let them know you’re here.”

I managed to grumble out a thank you and Roman guided us over to the bench with his arm possessively placed around me, not letting go of me after we sat down. He leaned in placing a kiss on my temple and whispered, “I’m right here baby, it’s going to be fine, I promise.” How can he promise that? He has no idea what’s going to happen, not here and not in the courtroom. I know he means well, but this is out of his control, but hopefully within a realm of control that I can convey in other terms at a, to be determined, date.

“Thank you for being here with me. I truly love you for that.” I melted into him taking a deep breath of his scent to calm and soothe my broken soul. Oh, how I wish he knew how much I needed him for that, but I don’t even want to admit that to myself most of the time. The thought of needing someone so desperately is scary as hell and it makes me want to run away with the same desperation.

“Mr. King, Ms. Kennedy? Come with me please.” The officer took us into a room with a big mirror and a long table with chairs all around us. It looked like an interrogation room, and I felt a sense of dread wondering if this was the room they brought Tanner to after he attacked me. The officer left us alone after asking if we would like anything to drink. We both declined and I sat staring at my hands, wringing relentlessly in my lap.

Roman wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I shrugged him off when I heard the door handle jiggle, and my guard went up. He nodded, knowingly, pulling his arm away then rested them both on the table clasping his hands in front of him. I needed some space to get my mind wrapped around what I really wanted to do. Do I tell the officers or my attorneys about my plan or do I keep it all to myself and carry this burden on my own? It’s heavy and it’s consuming, and I don’t know if I can do it alone but it’s something that has to be done and the one person that can’t know and would try to stop me with everything he had, is Roman.

“Alex, Roman. Good to see you both.” Matt reached out his hand keeping the whole thing professional. Jack as well, followed by the DA and the Detective.

“Alex, the first thing we are going to do is put the two of you in different rooms. Is there anyone in particular you would feel more comfortable doing the interview with?” DA Martin asked. I didn’t know what to expect but I guess it was to make sure no one tainted the story or the evidence having us in separate rooms and not having Roman in the room would help me make my decision about telling someone what I was up to.

“I’d like Matt and Detective Lewis if that’s ok?” Jack always tried to bring the temperature of the room down and Matt would be more likely to let me get it all out. I’ve known both of them since collegeand being like brothers to me, I knew which of my own brothers I felt more comfortable talking to as well.

“Ok, Roman, DA Martin and Jack will be interviewing you, so if you’d please follow them so we can get started.” Matt gestured with his hand to the door and Roman looked at me a little apprehensive but nodded and followed them out of the room without complaint. I smiled at him as he turned to look at me before he left the room, but I could tell it never hit my eyes, and he didn’t reciprocate a smile in return.

“Alex, this is a deposition, and we want to hear again what happened, as much as you can remember, but we also need to prep you for the courtroom. It’s coming up fast and we need to be prepared. We have to know what we’re dealing with going in there. I know you enough to know that if they push the right buttons, you’re going to lose your shit, and we can’t have that.” This is why I chose Matt over Jack. He doesn’t hold back and says it like it is, no beating around the bush. Maybe I will be able to tell the officer and Matt my seriously deranged plan floating around nonstop in my head. In fact, the closer we get to the court date the more concrete the plan becomes and the more palatable it seems.

“I’m ready for whatever you need.” I said, wondering if I honestly meant that or if I’m running on some sort of autopilot and only saying what I think everyone wants to hear.

“Ms. Kennedy, could you please tell us what you remember about that night.” Detective Lewis asked. My mind started to scramble as it tried to go back to the worst memories it’s ever had to experience, never wanting to actually go back there again. The thought of drinking a glass of wine to suppress them was battling for supremacy and my hands started to tremble. I clenched them into fits, releasing them a couple of times before I could get the urges under control. I tooka deep breath closing my eyes, opening them when I felt ready and monotonously reliving the events of that night the best I could, which wasn’t much since the drugs took most of the memories from me. At the end of my rendition of that night I let out a long exhale, feeling much better, like I’d be safe telling my plan to the two of them. Just as I was about to let them in on my secret, Matt asked a question so formal and cold I wasn’t really sure what he was doing, so I hesitated long enough to rethink that decision.

“Ms. Kennedy. What were you really drinking that night?” Excuse me? What? Really drinking? I said I was drinking water, what the fuck is he doing?

“Water, I already told you that.” I snapped.

“I don’t need any more than a straight answer Alex. When I ask you a question, I don’t want you to give me anymore than a yes or no or a one-word answer to the best of your ability, alright? No explanations.” What is he talking about?

“Now, let’s try this again. Are you sure you didn’t have one drink, not even one at your house for happy hour?”

“No…I specifically…” Matt cut me off with the sharpest tongue I’ve ever heard him use.

“I thought I just said do not answer anything other than yes or no.” My eyes went wide, and I nodded feeling a tightness in my chest trying to figure out if he’s ever spoken to me like this before and if so, did he really mean it or was he kidding.

“Who made your drink?” I thought about how to answer this with as little words as possible, scanning my memory for who actually made the drink for me, and did I notice since it was only water.

“Umm, I don’t know…” Matt looked to the detective and back at me.

“What do you mean, you don’t know? Didn’t you order it from someone?” Is this part of the questions he wants me to be vague about or is this something he really needs to know. I cautiously gave a more informative answer.

“The barback handed it to me, I didn’t actually see who made it. It was just water, I wasn’t too concerned with how it was made, I guess.” Tears started welling in my eyes as I realized it didn’t matter what my drink was, someone wanted to hurt me, and they did it with water. I looked at Matt who was looking to the detective, and she was writing notes in her notebook that she always had with her.

“What are you writing, is that important?”

“It’s fine, it’s just information that we didn’t have before. Let’s continue.”

“Ms. Kennedy. What were you doing that you didn’t notice who made your drink?”

“What do you mean? I just told you I didn’t think water needed eyes on it.” However, clearly it did, and I felt a tear glide down my cheek.

“Alex, just answer the question, do not ask questions back.”

“Then let me know when we’re pretending to be in court and when you’re asking me a legit question, damn it.” Matt snapped his head up and glared at me as the detective reached over and calmed him with a hand on his forearm.

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