Page 77 of Love Rewritten

“And what is your relationship with Ms. Cooper?”

Oh, this will surely piss Sam off. “I’m her boyfriend.”

I was right. Sam’s head snaps up so fast that I’m certain he could have given himself whiplash. And then he has his first outburst, which only makes me grin.

“Excuse me? The fuck you are!” he yells, standing from his chair so fast it hits the partition behind him with a hard thud.

The judge sounds annoyed as he speaks. “Mr. Johnson, sit down. Mr. Grant, if you can’t keep your client under control, we will have to suspend the case for now.”

Abby has sunk so low in her chair that I fear she’ll actually disappear. Her eyes are fixed straight ahead. She’s used to his outbursts. And she knows how to handle them. Stay quiet. Get as small as possible. Don’t make any further movements. Nothing that will irritate him more.

Mr. Grant shoots Sam a stern look, making him begrudgingly sit back down as he mumbles something under his breath.

“Apologies, Your Honor.” The judge nods for him to continue his questioning. Sam’s attorney turns and addresses me again. “Mr. Kraus, are you certain that it was my client there with Ms. Cooper that day?”

I nod and say, “Yes, it was Sam.”

“Did you see Mr. Johnson being physically violent to Ms. Cooper on the day in question?”

“Well, no, but he—”

He cuts me off with another question. “And did you see the bat that was found in his vehicle?”

“No, but I wouldn’t—"

“Thank you, no further questions.” He cuts me off again before I can finish my response, and no one motions for me to continue. I look to the judge, who doesn’t do anything besides give my mom the okay to start any follow-up questions.

I’m almost ready to finish my statements without being prompted when my mom rises and gives me a sympathetic look. She looks between me, the judge, and then Abby before returning her gaze to me as if she’s trying to figure out if there’s anything else she can ask. But she sets her palms on the desk and says, “I have no further questions, Your Honor.”

Before I have an outburst like Sam, I force myself to take a breath and clench my jaw shut. They release me back to my seat and I don’t miss the look of disgust Sam gives me as I pass. His death threat from our first fight at the bar might actually mean something from that look. But what’s he going to do at this point? I could take him down faster than he’d be able to blink.

It’s not worth it.Especially not here.

They question Sam, mostly simple yes and no questions. Nothing he says surprises me.

My mom asked him if he deliberately went into the apartment building to find Abby. He said yes. There’s no getting out of that one. Video evidence from the front door shows that he was there. Unfortunately, the footage is barely out of frame to show him grabbing Abby.

Her next question is if he was there to hurt Abby intentionally. He said no, but I expected him to say that. He would never admit that he was there to drag her home even if it was the last thing he did.

What was he going to do with the bat in the car? He says he was at batting practice beforehand, but I’ve never known him to be a baseball fan, especially based on everything Abby has told me. And based on what he was wearing that day, who goes to batting practice in jeans without a helmet in the middle of May?

Nothing piques my interest enough to get me riled up, but I’ll take it. Easy is good. That means nothing crazy is revealed.

It’s not long before the case starts coming to a close, or at least that’s what it feels like. I’ve heard my mom talk about her closed cases plenty, but the amount of legal speak today has really tested my understanding of the court system. I pick up on a few things like circumstantial evidence concerning my testimony, though I’m not entirely sure how that makes sense. Mr. Grant brings up the fact that anything that has happened beyond the initial incident is irrelevant and shouldn’t be included in the record or final decision even though Sam being given a restraining order is a part of this whole case. But the piece that catches me off guard the most is that Sam might get off easy on this because there’s “insufficient evidence” according to Mr. Grant.

Abby barely moves in her chair for the entirety of the case. Only enough to keep herself comfortable, or as much as she can in a situation like this. I want to put a bubble around her. Something to keep things from hurting her. But if I’m being honest, she’s come a long way since we met. She’s sitting in the same room as the asshole who put her in the hospital three months ago. When I said she was strong, I meant it. And I think I need to remind myself of that sometimes, too.

I’m expecting closing statements to be next, but the judge announces something else instead.

“I understand Ms. Cooper has a victim statement she’d like to read.”

Woah. Abby hadn’t mentioned this part to me. She must have talked with my mom separately about doing this. Even from behind her, I can see her body tense up. She hesitates and my mom leans in to say something to her. I can’t hear what it is but Abby nods. She pulls something out of the small bag she brought in.

The copper detailing on the cover of her Castelli notebook reflects off the awful incandescent lighting in the room.

Damn. Now I know why she wouldn’t let me see anything she was writing. She takes a deep breath, and I really want her to look at me so I can give her some reassurance that she’ll be okay, but she never turns around. Not until she’s standing in front of that microphone, notebook pressed open in one hand. She looks up and scans the gallery, looks at me, then what I can only assume is Sam based on the look of both fear and power on her face.

And then the doors to the courtroom open.

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