Juvenile Detention

By: Rick Masters
(© 2015-2016 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

masters@tickiestories.us

Chapter 41
The Lawyer

The next morning Josh waited until half past six and then came out of his room and went straight to the kitchen to see if he could help Esther get the breakfast ready. Esther allowed him to help, pointing out the right cupboards when he needed to get something out.

Karl was the first to come in. After greeting Josh he sat down at his place at the breakfast table and helped himself to a slice of toast and some coffee. Esther told Josh to sit down and start on his breakfast or the two men in her life would guzzle it all even though she had made extra. Josh grinned at her while Karl raised his eyebrows and shook his head in mock mystification. Esther then sat opposite Josh, leaving the space opposite Karl for Simon.

Simon came into the room and went straight to his mother and gave her a light peck on the cheek. "Morning, mum. Morning, dad. Morning, jailbird."

Karl was about to give Simon a lecture when he noticed that Josh and Simon were smiling at each other. "Morning, Simon. Sleep well?" Josh asked.

"Better than I might have, thank you." Simon moved to his place at the table and sat down, reaching for the cereal and the milk at the same time.

Karl looked at Esther, who just shrugged her shoulders. They both shook their heads, which got Josh grinning, but nothing more was said. All four at the table concentrated on eating their breakfast. Soon Simon excused himself and said his good byes, this time calling Josh by his given name, and he was out the door to get to his bus on time.

As soon as he heard the door close Karl said, "I think I have missed something here."

"Simon and I had a little chat last night, and I think he sees me a bit differently now."

Josh spent the rest of the day helping Esther with the housework, learning where things were kept and what Esther expected with chores. He made sure that he did some of each of the family's allotted chores. That evening Josh was uneasy; he knew he was due to see the lawyer the next day, and he didn't know what to expect. As a result he was a bit subdued and excused himself to go and stay in his room, where he could work through his thoughts and concerns. Even so he did not sleep well that night and was feeling a little worse for wear when he woke up the next morning. Esther ran him into town, showed him where the lawyer's office was, and arranged to meet him again in the Costa coffee bar an hour later, when she reckoned she would have finished her shopping and he should be through with the lawyer.

Rather nervously the usually confident Josh approached the receptionist's desk in the lawyer's office and explained who he was.

"Good morning, Mr. Tolmers. Mr. Groggen is expecting you. I will just see if he is free." She pressed a button on the intercom and spoke to Mr. Groggen through her headset. After listening for a few seconds she smiled at Josh. "Mr. Groggen will be a few minutes. Please take a seat over there, and he will come for you as soon as he can." The receptionist pointed towards a small waiting area the opposite side of the room.

"Thank you," Josh said as he turned and moved over to sit on one of the expensive looking leather armchairs. He looked through the pile of magazines there but did not find anything that looked remotely appealing, so he bided his time looking around the room he was in. Everything he looked at spoke money; Josh was not surprised the lawyer could take on a pro-bono case but wondered why he would.

Josh only waited a few minutes before a man came out to greet him. Josh estimated that he was probably in his thirties and definitely well off, judging by his suit. "You must be Joshua?" He held out a hand in greeting.

"Ah, yes. Mr. Groggen?"

"David will do fine thanks, Joshua. Come through to my office." David Groggen led Joshua down an expensively carpeted passage to his office, which had his name and the word "Partner" on the door in gold leaf. "Please take a seat. This is my secretary, Lisa Merriweather. Would you like any tea or coffee?"

"No, thank you."

With the pleasantries over, David got right down to business. "When Karl came to speak to me about your case I jumped at the opportunity. I have felt for a long time that that prat who called himself your defence lawyer is only in the game for the money. I have had some dealings with him in the past and have not liked him for several years. Dozen Affald is nothing but a lazy and rubbish lawyer who should be disbarred. That judge too is not much and it will be good to see him knocked down a notch or too. Judge Devlin brings shame on his Irish heritage and really is unfortunate. There are also the police details who conveniently failed to check your claims of not being a part of the group they arrested, who will also be brought to book, but with them it will be by the Police Complaints Committee.

"You have made some friends in high places, and the lawyer from the CPS who interviewed you when you were attacked has pulled some big strings. As a result Vincent Lee will be leading the prosecution against both Affald and Devlin, and I will support him by doing what needs to be done from this side. Then he will support me in the civil case we are going to bring against the state for wrongful imprisonment, negligence and dereliction of duties, and subsequent damages arising out of the attack you suffered. The first part of the case against the judge and lawyer will be criminal trials, and the second part where we claim damages and get you a hefty amount of money will be a civil case. I realise that is a lot to take in in one go, but it will come through to you as we go along.

"Karl has already done some pretty good investigation on your behalf. Today I just need you to tell me your story up to the point of being sentenced, in as much detail as you can remember. I need you to be sure that you are only telling me facts. If you can't remember something like a person's name, then you must tell me that you don't remember but still give me what facts concerning that name you do remember. Lisa is a very good secretary and will keep up no matter how fast you speak, so don't let that bother you. I am going to let you speak without interruption the first time through, and then I might have some questions as we pick up on some of the details I will need to build your case. The thing to remember is that we already have the proof of your innocence, and I will reveal some of the evidence to you today. I must ask, however, that you do not share that knowledge with anyone, not even Karl, until it is presented at the trials. This way we will get your name exonerated and those two pieces of crap hopefully locked away for a spell if not a long time. Finally, please do not feel embarrassed to describe anything in front of Lisa. I promise you that she is very discreet, and what you say in this office will not go any further except where it is needed for the trial, and certainly Lisa will not divulge anything to anyone. Do you have any questions before we start on your statement?"

"I don't think so as far as this first statement goes, but if you want me to talk about the conditions at the Academy I am not willing for some things to come into the court's knowledge. I will explain them to you two but they go no further."

"Yes, well I know that there are certain activities, shall we say, that are allowed which a lot of people would look down on, and I don't believe that unless you feel you were forced into any of those you need divulge them to us even. As far as the damages claims go, we will be looking at the loss of your time and opportunities while incarcerated and also the pain and torment you suffered from the attack, which you would never have been subjected to had all concerned done their duty properly. I am willing to reveal that some of this investigation has come at the instigation of certain prison officers who believed your story and tried to do something to help you, if you would like that."

"Yes I would like that very much. Those guys were very good to me and the other inmates."

"Fine, I will work that into the presentation then. Now take a short while to go over the facts in your head, and when you are ready we will begin recording an official statement. I will warn and caution you before you start to keep this statement legal and binding in the courts."

Josh was left alone in his thoughts for about a quarter of an hour and then he said he was ready. It took him about ten minutes to tell his story up to the time of the sentencing, and as he spoke Lisa took down his words verbatim while David made notes. At the end of his statement, David asked him questions to clarify points and then Lisa went off to type it all up. While she was doing that David chatted to Josh off the record about his time at the Academy.

With her experience and skill it did not take Lisa long to type up Josh's statement and she brought it to him to read and sign in quintuplet form. David explained that one copy would be used by Vincent in the criminal case against Judge Devlin and Lawyer Affald. One copy would be used by him in his presentation for the civil case claiming damages. A third copy would be sent to the Police Complaints Commission to assist them in their investigation into the police role in Josh's case. And the other two copies would be offered to the defence in the criminal and civil cases. After he had signed the copies Lisa photocopied one for Josh to keep for himself.

Josh left the lawyer's office and headed off down the street towards the coffee house to meet up with Esther. It was about a five minute walk, and Josh remembered exactly where it was. This was Josh's first time to walk the streets of his home town since he had been arrested, so he took his time, looking at the shop windows to see what had or had not changed. As he passed a woman's clothing shop he quickened his pace slightly, as this held little interest for him.

He had not got many paces past the shop when he heard a voice he instantly recognised.

"Josh, is that really you?" the voice said from behind him. Josh pretended not to hear, unsure how he wanted to respond.

"Joshua Tolmers." The voice called out louder and Josh decided he could not ignore it. He turned around and looked at the source of the voice but said nothing and kept a bland expression on his face.

"Oh baby, it is you. I've missed you so much."

"So much that you have not tried to contact me in six months?"

"I couldn't ... I didn't know what to do."

"You mean you wouldn't in case your lover boy would not fuck you anymore."

"Joshua, that is no way to talk to your mother!"

"Mother, is that what you call yourself? How can you? Mothers care for their children. Mothers are there to help their children when they need it. Where were you? The only flesh and blood I had. Where were you when the police were charging me with something I did not do? Where were you when I was standing in the dock being sentenced for a crime I did not commit? Where were you when I was lying in the hospital in pain? Where were you when my time inside was up? Don't tell me you are my mother. I have no mother or father. The only man who was a father to me is dead and buried and even then you were not there for me." As Josh spoke his voice had gotten higher and louder, attracting a small crowd. Without giving his mother an opportunity to respond, Josh turned back onto his path towards the café, leaving his mother standing there with her mouth hanging open.

By the time he got to the coffee shop his emotions were getting the better of him, and as he found Esther sitting at a table waiting for him the dam burst and tears ran down his cheeks as he silently cried. Esther jumped up and moved towards him pulling him into a hug as she wrapped her arms around Josh and almost forced his head down onto her shoulder. After a few minutes of holding him Esther said, "I don't think now is a good time for a coffee. Let's get you home and then we can see what is to be done."

Josh just nodded his head, too upset to talk. He let Esther lead him to the car, and they drove home in total silence, except for the odd gulps of air and sniffles from Josh as he tried to get his emotions back under control.

Once home Esther led him to the lounge and told him to sit while she got some coffee ready. She put a shot of brandy into Josh's cup and carried the coffee through to the lounge, where Josh had at least managed to blow his nose and prevent further sniffling. Handing Josh his coffee Esther warned him that there was something a bit stronger in it than just the coffee. "If you want to talk about it, I can listen. It might help to talk it out, but that is up to you." She sat down next to Josh and put a comforting hand on his knee.

Josh took a large sip of his coffee and followed that with a huge intake of air as he gasped with the bite of the brandy. Realising what he had just done, he smiled an embarrassed smile and then took a smaller sip of the coffee. He sat in silence for a few more sips of coffee, and as the brandy calmed his nerves he started to talk.

"I saw my mother ... I tried to ignore her at first, but then she scolded me ... told me not to talk to my mother like I had ... I know I was rude to her ... but then I told her because she was not there when I needed her and had not tried, she was not my mother ... What have I done?"

Esther put her arm around Josh's shoulders and said, "You have let your mother see the pain she has caused you. Maybe you could have done it in a gentler way, but it had to come out some time, and right now you are the one who needs the help and comfort you have been denied by those who should have been there for you. One day you might be able to call her mother again, but you need time for those wounds to heal a bit first. Right now they are still raw and bleeding. You might even find that you need to have some counselling to help you heal those wounds, but let's just take one day at a time. Today has been a stressful day, because you have had to revisit those events that ended the life you knew. So drink up your coffee and then try and have a sleep. The brandy will help with that, and remember both Karl and I are here for you."

To be continued...
 

Posted: 07/29/16