Page 140 of Strays
He adjusts his tie. “Then suddenly I got punched. Everything went dark. I woke up in the hospital the next day with a broken face.”
The prosecutor rises and clicks a remote. A screen behind him lights up.
A photo appears showing Luc’s face visibly deformed, one eye swollen nearly shut, the skin around it dark and mottled. His cheekbone is misshapen. The bridge of his nose is crooked, his nostrils crusted with clotted red. A faint gasp ripples through the jury box. One juror leans back slightly.
The prosecutor flips to another photo, closer this time. The injury looks raw, swollen, violently immediate. Purple and red flood his features, the bone displacement clear.
“Mr. Knolson,” the DA says, “can you describe what it felt like waking up like that?”
Luc swallows. “It hurt. A lot. My face was so swollen I could barely see out of one eye. My head was pounding. I remember trying to breathe and tastingblood in my throat. I felt like my whole face was on fire. I didn’t even know what day it was.”
“Were you treated at the hospital?”
“Yes. They said I had a concussion. My nose was broken. There were fractures here—” he gestures vaguely to his cheekbone and his nose “—and the bruising went down into my neck.”
“Did the injuries affect your daily life?”
“It changed everything. I couldn’t drive myself anywhere. Eating was hell, even drinking soup hurt. I had to sleep sitting up because every time I lay down, the pain got worse. I couldn’t sleep for more than an hour at a time. I couldn’t work and missed so many shifts I couldn’t pay my bills. I almost got evicted from my apartment. For weeks, I just felt useless.”
Some jurors are still looking at the photo. One closes their notepad and just stares at Luc. Another scribbles something quickly.
“And do you believe the response to your behavior that night was proportionate?”
Luc looks down, then back up. “No. I don’t think anything I said, drunk or not, justified that.”
The DA clicks the remote again, and the screen goes black. “No further questions.”
Judge Conway turns. “Defense?”
Renner rises. He walks toward the witness stand, stopping a few paces away. “Mr. Knolson, you testified that you said ‘something’ to Doctor Larsen.”
He pauses, then tilts his head slightly. “Just to clarify for the court, was that comment, in fact, ‘I heard nyra pussy juice keeps a man hard for days’?”
Someone on the jury coughs. A woman in the second row frowns deeply. Luc stiffens.
“Objection!” the DA shouts. “Inflammatory!”
“Overruled,” Judge Conway replies quickly. “Answer the question.”
Luc shifts in his seat. “I don’t remember the exact words.”
“But you don’t deny saying something sexual?” Renner presses.
Luc shrugs. “It was a joke.”
“After that, Shane Larsen told you to get out of his house. Why didn't you leave?”
Luc swallows. “I was a little drunk. I didn’t understand he was telling me to leave.”
“But your girlfriend, Kacy, tried to make you leave. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And why did you come back?”
Luc’s eyes flick between Renner, the DA, and the jury. “Like I said, I didn’t understand why Kacy was taking me out. I just wanted to talk to them, so I came back. I never meant to hurt anyone.”
“And why did you go toward Dr. Larsen?”
