Loophole (a short story)

[Nothing But Net]

The scene is a small courtroom in the South. In most ways it has not changed in 50 years, except for the large atomic-synchronized clock above the bench. One other change was there, but not readily apparent, Judge Sterling G. Mack. If that name reminds you of an 18-wheeler, you have a pretty good idea of how he ran his court. He basically inherited the post from his grandfather Rufus T. Mack, who was by all accounts the most powerful man in the county during the 50's and 60's, and regretted that the State Court of Appeals had overturned more than half of his death sentences.
Rufus's son, and Sterling's father, had died many years before in a tragic accident involving peanut shells.

"Eye for an eye!" Sterling G. Mack was known to shout from his chair, which was ironic because of the blindness in his left eye, the result of a childhood prank. He held long supressed guilt about it. "Why couldn't you put your eye out with a BB gun", his mother would say. "We could sue those Daisy folks, but can't never get at those chinks that made that bottle rocket."

Now a young man sits in his court, charged with statutory rape and terrified. The prosecutor is sure his case is airtight. The accused is 18 years old, the victim is 15. Consensual or not, the verdict must be guilty.

The prosecutor decides to get it over with quick, and puts the young man on the stand first. After the swearing in, his questioning gets right to the point:

"Sir, did you have sex with this person on the date in question?"

"Well, I woke up next to her in my bed, and we didn't have no clothes on, so yeah, I probably did."

"Were you aware that this was an underage girl; that she is only 15?"

"No, I din't ask her age, she seemed older than that. Besides, she was in the bar, so I figgered it was OK"

"So you slept with this person and didn't even know how old she was?"

"Sir, to be honest, I didn't even remember her name. C'mon, did you get a look at her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you get a good, long look at her? I mean, she's a dog!"

"Sir, the physical appearance or the accuser is not at issue here."

"I think it is! She's a dog, ain't she?" At this point the young man is agitated that his defense is offering little resistance. He points accusing at his public defender and says "Make him say she's a dog!"

As if awakened from slumber, the defense attorney gathers himself and tries to make sense of what has been going on around him. He finally pulls himself together and proclaims "Your Honor, the Defense requests a ruling on whether the accuser is or is not a dog."

The courtroom goes quiet for a mere instant, before the prosecutor bellows "Objection! Irrelevant! This is a matter of opinion and not factual." At the turn of that last phrase, his life became complete. He had been wanting to say that in an actual trial instead of in front of the bathroom mirror since law school. Emboldened by this epiphany, he immediately reversed himself , much like when he almost got the huge boulder rolling down the hill but stopped before the last push. He said to himself "I can handle this", then out loud, "Objection withdrawn".

The judge let out an audible sigh of relief, as the prospect of a Santa/No Santa decision was no longer his. Fred Mertz stubbed out his cigar. "Very well, Mr. Prosecutor, is the alleged victim a dog, or not?"

All he has to do is turn around and say "No", and this guy is going down for 20 years. One simple two-letter word, and it's done. No matter what, that's what he's going say. He turns around like he just picked the grand prize door #3, and looks at her. He had seen her before many times, but he really never noticed her.

<i>to be continued...</i>

amusing...

[flippant]

It really is a dog isn't it?

[Nothing But Net]

At this point, it was like a floodgate of images just let loose, the Owlsley kicked in, the glass-packs rumbled. Life had taken a left turn just as the cross traffic was turning right. Listening to Carole King was starting to help. "I want my Mommy" was no longer something to be ashamed of.