"I was floating in the pool ring," the little girl says, sniffling, her eyes full of tears. The tears are bogus; she's staring fearfully at her mother, and I seethe with anger. Clearly the bitter old cunt threatened her with something, and I wish fervently I could get up and punch her in her smug jaw.
"And then what happened?" Mr Elder asks. He's a good prosecutor, but he's not ruthless like my barrister, Mr Horne.
Mr Horne is glaring at his back; they've got bad blood between them for many and multiple reasons, and I surmise I'm not the only one wanting to get up and punch someone in the jaw.
The girl - Olivia - makes trembling answer. "He was swimming underwater, and the next thing I know, he was touching me between my legs. It felt horrible, and all I could do was sit in the ring, and hope he'd stop."
"Did he?" Mr Elder asks gently.
Olivia shakes her head. "N-no," she says, her voice a near whisper. "He kept touching and rubbing, and I felt a tingling sensation in my legs. I tried to call out for help, but he pulled me underwater, and then kissed me on the mouth. I wanted to get away, b-but then he... he turned me around and put his finger in my private place!"
A gasp of shock resonates through the courtroom, and I shake my head in disgust. That's not what happened at all; she'd been a willing participant in our little underwater tryst. Clearly her mother had framed it in a way that made it into a thing of horror rather than a thing of beauty.
"Were you able to get away eventually?" Mr Elder asks, looking like he wanted to throw up.
Olivia nods. "But it took forever," she says. "I had no air in my lungs when he pulled me under, and he didn't want to let me up! I tried screaming, but all I did was swallow water. I choked and coughed, and my throat hurt terribly, but he kept on with his... thing, until I felt my whole body explode. I-I don't remember anything after that, not until I woke up by the side of the pool. He was bent over me, saying how silly it was of me to scream underwater, and all I could was lay there and cry. He kissed me again and told me to stop being foolish, and that next time, to take a deep breath before I went underwater again."
I clench my fists in rage under the desk. The girl was making me out to be a gaslighting asshole! She gives me a terrified, wide-eyed look, and the entire courtoom glares daggers at me. I glare back at them, sick with fury and disappointment. She had run out of air, but I'd got her back to the surface, and we'd laughed about it afterwards. But, as children do, when they retell a story, they embellish it, and clearly Myrtle had run with it. 8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglIqktuPCf
Mr Elder nods. "I have no further questions," he says. 8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjsYSW64o1
Mr Horne gets up, but I can no longer listen, and I force my hands to unclench. It's not Olivia's fault; her mother put her up to this twisted tale, and I pray for the session to end so I can run to the men's and be rackingly sick. Not from guilt - God no! - rather from the horrible feeling of betrayal and disappointment now pooling in the pit of my stomach. 8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGzqhWe285
Not a single one of these children will ever allow themselves to be near me. And as Olivia steps down, I know it's now not entirely the parents' doing that have turned them against me. I'd shared beautiful things with them, but their parents had ruined those things, and now each child was going to live with that enforced trauma. They'd never talk about those experiences with fondness; instead, they'd see me as a monster. 8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMYH0zuNQK
But a monster was far from what I was. I was just a man, blessed - or cursed - with infinite loving towards children. 8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6M26RWrWf
How the hell was that so wrong?
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