Chapter 23 Preparing for closing arguments

The night descends on the town accompanied by strong freezing winds forcing everyone to hide from the cold inside. Wally is driving around dressed in warm clothes, gloves and wool hat protecting his frozen ears. He looks at the page in his hand with Abraham's statement to the police about his whereabouts on Saturday night and where he drove around trying to locate his missing son. Wally arrives at some of the places Abraham visited with Abraham and Isaac's pictures in his hand. He asks people if they recognize Abraham. It is becoming apparent that Abraham did visit the places he described and tried to find his son. After a while Mickey arrives at the central bus station and sees the city inspector that hangs around constantly now standing next to a group of homeless trying to help them. Wally touches his back and he turns around surprised and suspiciously shakes Wally's hand.

"Hi. My name is Wally and I'm a deputy from …I would like to talk to you about a particular issue! Who are you?"

"Hello officer Wally! My name is Gary Fin and I am the city inspector responsible for this area!"

Wally pulls out Abraham's picture and shows it to Gary who doesn’t know what he wants from him.

"Do you recognize the man in the picture? Have you met him before?"

He looks at the picture and tries to remember unsuccessfully. He returns the picture back to Wall.

"I'm sorry officer Wally, I don’t remember him…are you sure I know him?? Maybe you're mistaken?"

"You should know him, Gary! This is Abraham, Isaac's father, the boy who was killed by the singing pervert… remember?"

A light bulb goes off in Gary's head and he jumps up excited.

"Oh…now I remember him…this Abraham guy! He was here, Saturday night, the day his kid disappeared!! The poor guy asked me if I saw his son hanging around. He was sure he would find him safe and sound that night and bring him home! What a tragedy! He looking for his son and at the same time his son was probably murdered but you know what's weird about the whole thing? The father was so sure of himself, letting everyone know he was going to find his son alive but …but his eyes were dead! As if he already knew his son was dead! It was like watching a dead man walking…like looking at death staring back at you"

Wally puts the picture back into his coat pocket and pats the inspector's shoulder.

"Thank you Gary! This was an interesting conversation! Watch out for yourself and these guys!"

Wally enters his car, lights a cigarette and starts driving off. A few meters later he stops turns his body towards the group of children surrounding Gary and looks at them silently. Somewhere else, Abraham is sitting with his friends, Mike Helen and a few others in a bar getting drunk. He orders drinks for him and his friends who try to get him to stop drinking unsuccessfully. Mike looks at his friends helplessly as they stare at Abraham. He stares at Abraham and tries to stop him from acting like an idiot.

"Don’t you think you've had enough to drink?"

He grabs Abraham's arm forcefully.

"You're really overdoing it!!"

Abraham waves Mikes hand off violently and snaps at him in rage

"Don’t tell me what to do…you loser!! You remind me of Michelle and Eve…pests that they are…trying to ruin my life"

He sips from the bottle and spills some of the drink on his face and clothes…

"I happy that the trial is going to be over tomorrow that means that that monster Joshua is finished...and if you don’t like it Mike …you can go to hell…I'll do what I want and I'll drink as much as I want!"

Mike doesn’t answer. He waves his hand in dismissal and hits on one of the waitresses. Mickey is finishing making love to the girl that was picked on in the bar. She falls asleep peacefully and Mickey lights himself a cigarette and feels a sad sense of nervousness. He glances at the girl and picks up his mobile dialing it. Wally's wife picks up the phone

"Is that you Wally? Are you with Mickey?"

Mickey looks at the phone like an idiot wondering about the strange question.

"Hi. This is Mickey! What's up? Wally is not with me and I take it he's not home either…where is he?"

"Hi Mickey! I'm OK. I was sure Wally was with you…the nut told me he was working late…I thought he was with you, working on that damn case! Now I'm beginning to worry!"

She starts weeping

"Wally is getting more and more obsessed with this murder case…he keeps saying he's looking for something…and he's distancing himself from me and the kids, from life! I'm scared by his insanity! When will this be over? I want him to let it go!"

"You're right! Something strange is going over him"

Says Mickey.

"Tell me truthfully, has your relationship been OK until this case? Or were you having problems and he's latching on to this case to get away from you…what's happening?"

"No, we've never had problems until this case started! Wally has always been great with me and the kids but now he's angry, obsessive and moody. He doesn’t care what happens with me and the kids"

"I understand. But don’t worry. This is going to be over very soon. I'm sure Wally will be back to himself soon. In any case, I promise you I'll talk to him. I'll do what I can to help you…I love you both! Bye sweetie"

"Goodbye Mickey. And thank you for trying to help us…you're a true friend"

She says in a broken tone of voice and hangs up. Mickey is still holding the phone; he glances at the young woman again and thinks

"I should call Wally now and see what he's up to"

He starts dialing when the girls' sexy smile captures his eyes and he smiles back at her

"Mickey…why don’t you put the phone down for a while and come over here…I wants to taste you again…are you up for it?"

Mickey throws the phone down on the floor in disinterest. He clings on to her body and starts making out with her. He forgets about Wally and the conversation with his wife. At the prestigious prosecution offices sit Anita McCoy and Jack Jones and their assistants. The board room looks like a train station with people coming in and out with briefs, verdicts and legal material that can help them write the closing speech. A printed paper coming out of the printer is being handed reverently to Anita McCoy and she reads it longingly and excitedly while everyone stands still hoping this will be the one. Her face cloud and anger. She rips the paper and flings it everywhere screaming.

"That's not it!! I will not go to court and make a fool out of myself!! The defense will kill us…we are not leaving here without a great closing speech…if I don’t rip the defendant to shreds…I'll rip you to shreds!! Start working parasites…who's the idiot that hired you all?"

The room is buzzing again. The all hurry to do her bidding… again. She sighs in despair.

"Who's the idiot that hired them? I would kick him out to hell…give him a death verdict"

Jack Jones says in embarrassment

"I'm sorry…but you hired them…you, Ms. McCoy!"

"You don't have to remind me of that…I know I'm the greatest one of all but every once in awhile even I make mistakes"

He starts to smirk and laugh but her threatening look shuts him up! On the other side of town, José sits on a chair by a small camp fire he lit to escape the chill of the night seeping into his body. He holds a near empty vodka bottle in one hand as he burps enjoyably…but his eyes are focused on the bracelet that is usually on his arm. He now holds it in his shaking fingers and it looks as though he is getting ready to throw it into the reddish flames…suddenly he starts hallucinating that he is the sweet hobbit from "lord of the rings" again only this time it’s the lord of the bracelet's and the bracelet in his hand is a symbol of darkness and evil that must be cast into the flames.

"I have to get rid of this thing…this bracelet is cursed and anyone who wears it is cursed and doomed!! I'll throw it into the fire"

His fingers holding the bracelet move slowly towards the flames as his hand freezes and he whispers

"I won't throw it into the fire…the bracelet is mine and will remain mine…I am its true owners…and I don’t care if it has a dark secret…and what that secret is"

José sips from the bottle again and puts the bracelet on his arm again quickly as if demons were after him. He gets up and starts dancing and singing around the fire…weirdly and ceremoniously as he mumbles nonsense. David Stein sits in his home office in his little apartment smoking nonstop and throwing the stub away into the full ashtray. He drinks water from one of the bottles on the floor by his side. On the desk are several drafts of the closing speech along with verdicts and law books. He writes a few sentences on a page, stops writing and mumbles

"Joshua…Joshua…I am the only one that can save you and I am going to write a hell of a speech…I have to succeed".

Eve wakes up in her bedroom. She peeks at the pillow beside her and wonders

"Where are you Gideon? I was sure you were snoring like a pig next to me…but if you're not here…where the hell are you??"

She gets up silently and puts on a long robe. She walks out of the room like a prowling lion. Gideon is sitting in the living room talking to his good friend Ben without knowing Eve has now woken up and is listening to the conversation. Gideon whispers

"Hey, Ben…how is you? Yes, thank god Eve is asleep now and I have some peace and quiet…what about you? What are you doing?"

"I'm just sitting home…I would rather go out partying but I have the kids and my ex is currently doing the partying"

"Really…tough luck…I want to party too but Eve is out like a log"

He laughs meanly

"When she wakes up, we'll party…my luck is finally turning and that little creep Isaac can no longer annoy me. Thank god the little psycho can never bother anyone again and now Eve can start investing in me…finally Isaac is gone from our lives and we can all have it easy now"

Gideon bursts out laughing as Eve is shocked and hurt and can't believe her ears. She moves quickly. Gideon who hears a rustle from the shadows freezes. He hangs up quickly in shame and embarrassment and prefers to leave the house until he can calm down and pull himself together. Wally's wife peeks into the children's rooms and sighs in relief as she finds them sleeping soundly. She hears the key turning in the lock on the door and she stands still as the door is opened silently. Wally walks in and walks into the kitchen. He takes a beer bottle from the fridge and returns to the living room turning on the video with a tape of Abraham and Eve playing in it. He lights a cigarette and notices his wife walking into the living room looking at him sadly.

"Nice of you to remember that you have a home to come to!! Not that it helps me or the kids! Don’t we exist?"

Wally doesn’t seem to hear her and doesn’t know what she's talking about. He looks at her

"I'm sorry, but I can't let go of this case…I didn’t think it would hurt you or the kids…I'm sorry"

She was prepared to start yelling and pour her rage and humiliation at him but when she notices that she and the kids are not his main concern right now she decided to retreat! She looks at him soundlessly as he continues to obsess over the tape playing in the VCR. She shuts the door to the living room painfully and quietly walks into the children's room. She is unaware that Wally has followed her. She lies down in the large double bed between the children and hugs them. Wally takes another look and prefers to leave the room rather than watch her tears falling down. With a heavy heart he returns to the living room. He puts an unmarked tape in the machine and presses play. To his surprise he sees a shot of Abraham, Michelle, Eve and Gideon on candid camera probably shot by Isaac without their knowledge. The video clearly shows the harsh and intolerable relationship between the two couples who clearly can't stand each other. The sound in the back ground is of Isaac's crying who probably lost his faith in human kind…the video shows the two couples facing each other threateningly. Eve leans forwards in rage and snaps at Abraham

"I don’t want to hear your excuses and lies!! You are an evil, sadistic person"

"And you are an ugly whore who wants nothing more than my money without justification turning you idiot son against me"

Michelle and Abraham turn around and start walking off as Eve spits at them barbarically. Abraham turns around and swings his arm at her. He keeps walking off with Michelle. The last of the patrons leave the bar where Abraham and his friends were at. His friends have already left while Abraham stayed and continued to get disgustingly drunk. The bar owner yells to his bouncer

"Jimmy…gets the idiot lying on the table out of here!!We're closing"

Jimmy walks up to Abraham snoring like a pig and his filthy face is on the table laden with beer cans, cigarette butts and an empty vodka bottle. The bar owner sits by the cash register counting the money. Jimmy shakes Abraham violently and slaps him.

"Get up you idiot. We're closing…go home"

He slaps him again

"Get up and get the hell out!"

Abraham barely manages to move and even less to open his blood shot eyes. He realizes that the anonymous hand of Jimmy the bouncer holding him roughly and throwing him far and beyond the door. He is lying on the filthy road like a mop!! Joshua sits in his cell at jail. His face is gloomy

"Everyone is idiots! Crazy bastards!! The prosecution is trying to kill me…the defense is an idiot, the judge is a lousy pathetic joke and the media are a gathering of low life vampires waiting for my end"

He slings the half full coffee cup at the wall in front of him and lies on the thin mattress weeping! Eve sits in the garden of her home and smokes. She thinks about the things she heard Gideon say. She continues to smoke as she hears the noise Gideon makes when he comes back and opens the Iron Gate leading to the garden. He walks behind her and whispers in an obnoxiously sweet tone

"Are you coming to bed, Eve? I feel like it…what do you say?"

"You can keep dreaming, you lousy piece of trash!!"

Gideon retreats in shock

"You know I heard your phone conversation the other day! What do you have to say about that? You ran off like a coward, didn’t you?"

Gideon says in a frightened voice

"You're wrong Eve! Maybe you didn’t hear me right?? Maybe…maybe… you know I always sign your praises honey…maybe you only heard part of the conversation?? Maybe you didn’t understand"

"Get out Gideon…go far, far away from me and be careful…I wish you would just disappear from this earth…I wish I wasn’t having your baby…but the baby isn’t at fault…I feel sorry for her"

Gideon watches her silently. He waves his hand as if wanting to say something important but turns around and disappears without looking back! Eve stops crying and looks at the stars above and continues to smoke, as her lips whisper a silent incoherent prayer!