Chapter One

Reed sat impatiently on the hard bench, the uncomfortable wooden surface digging into his skin.

This has got to be the worst day of his life because he never saw himself in a courtroom, with harassment and rape charges lobbied against him.

His lawyer, Mr Ralph McLauren was on the other side of the bench in a casual button-down shirt and pants.

When he first saw Ralph walk in, all my hopes sank. Was this the lawyer that would get him out of this?

Not to sound rude but he didn't have much faith in the man.

Suddenly, there was movement at the 

back of the room and Reed turned to look.

That fucker.

His boss, Walker Rhomes walked in with a smug smile on his face, closely followed by his lawyer who when compared to Reed's, dressed sharply in an expensive-looking suit.

His hopes dropped even further, but I refused to be cowed.

When Walker sat down on the plaintiff's seat, Reed leaned over a bit so he could hiss to him. “How wicked can you possibly be, showing how brazen you are? You're the one who harassed that young lady, and you're suing me for your own failed initiative?!”

Walker of course ignores my accusation, pointedly staring at his watch.

Asshole.

“Mr Reed, please do not disrupt the court.” The bailiff warned and he swung his eyes up in surprise.

You have got to be kidding me! He thought, angrily reclining back in his seat.

Reed tried to act all chill but there was a question burning in my brain, so he asked Mr Ralph.

“Hey, uh, do you think she'd show up?” He emphasized the ‘she’ so Ralph would know who was talking about. “What if they had bought her off?”

Ralph placed a hand on his shoulder. “She'll show up, don't worry.”

Meanwhile, during our discussion, Walker's lawyer had already walked up to seek permission to start. It was granted because he started to talk…

“Good day, Your Honor, I would like to launch into the defense of my client, Mr. Walker Rhomes.” The man's tone was clear, crisp, and calculative. “The accuser, Mr Reed Blackwater, assaulted Mr Walker all because Mr Walker was trying to stop him from further harassing a female employee. Also, Mr Reed who has been a long-time employee of the car wash is familiar with the blind spots of the surveillance cameras and he invited the victim over to one of those blind spots with a Post-it note.”

Reed clenched his jaw and fists in anger upon hearing that because he knew they were all lies.

There was no such thing as a Post-it note from him.

It was all a carefully plotted ruse to make him take the fall for that vindictive snake, Walker!

But Walker's lawyer was good because he went further, breaking it all down.

“My client, Your Honor, is a man of passion and justice. His dedication to eradicating unfit people in society is a thing to applaud, and Mr Reed has always been a highly temperamental person, quick to anger so it's not far-fetched that he might be up to something nefarious when Mr Walker saw him cajoling the lady to the blindspot, so out of a concerned mind, Mr Walker followed.

Indeed. He snorted.

“Unfortunately, Mr Reed wasn't happy and attacked Mr Walker in a rage, beating him up before the young lady escaped and called the cops.” Walker's lawyer finished with a flourish.

Reed thought that was all but to his surprise, witnesses came up the stage…namely, his colleagues at work.

Mike, the car wash guy, climbed up first and after being asked some questions by Walker's lawyer, revealed that sometimes Reed got aggressive and temperamental during work hours.

He didn't lie but Reed only got a bit antagonistic due to his post-war PTSD.

Also, Mike proved that Walker took the lady with him through the surveillance video they watched. 

The lady was walking willingly with him to the blindspot site but Reed knew it was only because Walker had harassed her so many times, she was tired of fighting back plus the incentives Walker dropped to help her children out…she didn't have a choice.

The last CCTV camera captured Reed roaring into the Warehouse 3 before he punched and pushed Walker to the ground, beating the shit out of him.

The evidence was pretty contradictory but Reed wasn't really worried, already assured by Ralph that the lady would testify against Walker and we would come out victorious.

The last witness walked in and it was none other than Joyce wearing a simple, flowery summer dress and sandals with her long, brown hair swept to the top of her head, revealing her slim, slender neck.

She walked up the stage where she was read her rights before Walker's lawyer peppered her with questions.

Reed noticed something was up, Joyce fidgeting and glancing towards his direction. Even Ralph seemed to move further away.

He tuned in, in time to catch the big reveal.

“So Miss Joyce Palmer, did Mr Reed harass you sexually or not?”

A tense couple of seconds passed by with everyone else holding their breaths, waiting for the verdict.

“Yes, he did,” Joyce answered, quietly, looking down at her hands.

The entire hall broke into chaos as bystanders started to shout and clamor; meanwhile, Reed felt like he was drowning, water rushing into his ears.

He heard shooting to his left and saw Walker smiling smugly, exchanging hugs with his lawyer and that set him off.

He tried to grab Walker, hurling curse words his way but he didn't get far as the bailiffs held him down.

At that moment, everything became clear to him.

The judge, Joyce, and even Ralph had all been bought off.

He never even stood a chance.

The judge brought the court to order, reading out his sentence but he sat there numbly, resigned to his fate. “Mr. Reed Blackwater has hereby been sentenced to a one-year jail term on the charge of harassment, possible rape and assault.”

Shock raced through his body.

Reed was dumbfounded , he never expected this to be the outcome.

It dawned on him that neither his wife nor mother were there to support him, making him realize he was truly alone,

Just him…against the world.