Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:15:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Macout Mann <macoutmann@yahoo.com> Subject: AGE OF WANTONNESS 19 This is a sexually oriented fantasy set in the future. The author does not condone the activities depicted. He only describes what might occur, given the premises upon which the story is based. Skittish readers should use caution. Minors should move on. Sexual activity is explicitly detailed. Please take time to comment. macoutmann@yahoo.com And please take time to make a contribution to nifty.org. Your generosity keeps this site open and free. AGE OF WANTONNESS by Macout Mann Chapter19 "All rise!" August 4. As before, the courtroom is packed, mostly with Pilgrims. The first group of potential jurors are brought in and the voire dire proceeds with dispatch. The judge excuses one woman who said that there was no one else but her to run her business, and he excuses a man who claimed he doesn't believe rape should be a crime. Spangler preemptively challenges the wife of another attorney. Weston seems to be happy with anyone who appears, but Spangler quizzes each member of the pool about their attitudes toward Pilgrims. They all assure him they have no anti-religious prejudices. Before noon the jury is seated. In his opening argument Weston says that the People will show that defendant Jennings forced Susannah Daemon to have sexual intercourse with him against her will, and that based on that fact alone the jury will find him guilty as charged. (Interestingly, although words like "fuck" have found their way into polite usage, legal terminology retains terms like "sexual intercourse.") Spangler chooses to defer his opening argument until he is ready to put on his case. It is after lunch when Weston calls his first witness, Susannah Daemon. After preliminaries, establishing Susannah's membership in the Pilgrims, Jacob's position in the Pilgrim hierarchy, and their relationship, he asks, "Did you have occasion to meet with the defendant, Jacob Jennings, on the afternoon of July 2?" "Yes." "How did this meeting come about?" "One of his assistants came to get me at work. I was told that he wanted to see me, and I was taken to a townhouse near Pilgrim Headquarters, where I was told to change into a white robe and wait for Brother Jacob. When he arrived he was also dressed in a white robe. He told me I had been selected to become a member of what he called the Society of Mary Magdalene. He said that there was a Gospel According to Mary that showed that the Lord and Mary Magdalene, who was a prostitute, had had sex. And that I was to be initiated. Then he striped and ordered me to strip. I protested. He started to yell. And...then he raped me." "He forced you to have sex with him, and it was totally against your will?" "Yes sir. He grabbed me and tore the robe off me, pushed me down on a sofa. I pushed back, but he was too strong for me. He tried to kiss me, but I turned my head. I tried to roll over, off my back so he couldn't get to me; but he penetrated me and had his way with me. I cried out, but he wouldn't stop until...it was awful. "He said in time I'd love it like Mary did and then he left," she concluded, forcing back tears. "Did he say anything else, before he left?" "Yes. He told me to come to a meeting of the society the next day, but I ran away." "And was anyone else present, when this happened?" "Yes. Sister Jane Cunningham." "Your witness," Weston turns to Spangler. So, Sister Jane would be the eyewitness. Spangler cursed himself for not following his original hunch. Now he would have to wait for her testimony. Approaching Susannah, Spangler asks, "This was your first contact with Brother Jacob Jennings?" "Objection," says Weston. "Prior contact with the defendant is not germaine." "I'll permit the question," says the judge. "I had seen him once before," Susannah answers. "Under what circumstances?" "After a protest I had been separated from the group. It was sometime before I found my way back to Ole Town. I was taken to Brother Jacob. He ordered a medical examination and said that I should pray about anything I had seen." Spangler hesitated, but then asks the question. "And what did the medical examination show?" "Same objection," Weston interjects. "The witness may answer," the judge says. "That I was still a virgin," Susannah says. "And what happened to you after you were separated from the other protesters?" Spangler queries. "Objection," says Weston. "Sustained," the judge orders. Spangler then begins to recap Susannah's testimony on cross examination but is unable to shake her. Weston makes several objections to the defense counsel's more intrusive questions. These were all sustained. Finally Spangler says, "No further questions." "Redirect?" the judge asks. "No, your honor." The witness is excused, then, "We call Dr. Winston Erickson." Dr. Erickson testifies that he examined Susannah and found that she had been roughly used, bruises certainly consistent with rape; but as could be expected, there was no DNA or other forensic evidence, because of the lapse of time. Spangler does not choose to cross examine. "The prosecution calls Dr. Elbert Castle." Dr. Castle is sworn and is asked if he is the Pilgrim Fellowship's physician. "I am one of several doctors that practice in Ole Town and from time to time each of us provides services to the fellowship," he answers. Weston establishes that the doctor was asked by the defendant to examine Susannah Daemon in order to determine whether or not she had had sexual intercourse. "And what were your findings?" Weston concludes. "Her hymen was intact." "Cross examine?" Weston asks. Again Spangler passes. Court is recessed until tomorrow. As he leaves the courthouse, Brother Bryan Jennings is informed that the police have padlocked every retail business in Ole Town as well as barring entrance to Pilgrim Tabernacle. Livid, he rushes to the office of the mayor, who lets him cool his heels for a half hour before seeing him. With the mayor is the city attorney, Randall Bishop. "What's the meaning of your shutting down all our businesses and keeping worshipers out of the church?" he demands. "We're only following the law," Mayor Weatherby answers. "This is the city attorney, Mr. Bishop. He will explain." "It's quite simple, Mr. Jennings. The current law requires houses of worship, which were previously exempt, to pay real estate tax. If the tax is not paid for two years, ownership of the property reverts to the jurisdiction to whom the tax is owed. Your fellowship has not paid as required, and the city has taken possession of your tabernacle. Also, your businesses have not remitted sales tax collections for three months. The law provides that they can be closed, until the arrearage is taken care of; and that's what we have done." "You are tormenting the good people of our fellowship," Jennings responds. "Our businesses don't collect sales taxes. You use the tax money to promote activities that are abhorrent to believers. We can't contribute to godless enterprises. We won't contribute to godless enterprises. The state has no authority over the church." "You are entitled to your opinion, pastor; but as long as you hold to it, as of today you will not operate retail businesses in this city. The tabernacle is now the property of the city and will remain so. You have had ample opportunity to challenge the law in court these past three years." "Of course," the mayor interjects, "we don't oppose your fellowship. You have a perfect right to exist. We just insist that you follow the goddamed law and live in peace with the rest of us." A protracted argument follows. Jennings quotes scripture, the constitution, tradition, but he finds each of his positions muted by the fact that the law and status quo are against him at every turn. Finally, he yields. "All right," he says, "we'll remit the back sales taxes, if you'll permit the stores to reopen; and we'll pay the property taxes, if you'll give us our tabernacle back, and...you must also dismiss the charges against my son." "We must audit the books of all your stores to determine the amount of sales tax owed. If you promise to pay that within ten days after the audit is completed, we'll allow the stores to be opened on a temporary basis tomorrow," the lawyer says. "The charge against your son is a criminal matter over which we have no jurisdiction," he continues. "Dismissal of it is not negotiable. "As far as the tabernacle is concerned... Mr. Mayor?" "By law," the mayor states, "the tabernacle is now the property of the city. But we are reasonable people. If you pay the taxes, and sign an agreement binding your members to stop behaviors, which the city finds objectionable—things like these fucking demonstrations—we will find a way to return the building to your ownership." More argument follows, but finally, Jennings agrees to have the city attorney draft a concordat, which will be reviewed by attorney Spangler before being signed by both parties. He is totally deflated. As soon as Jacob is returned to his cell, Spangler confronts him. "O. K. You have got to tell me the truth," he says. "I am!" Jacob hisses. "You're going to believe that...that whore rather than me?" "It's not a matter of what I believe. Sister Jane is going to testify tomorrow and confirm everything Susannah Daemon said. And the jury's going to believe what they say. That's the reason Jason's been so confident from the beginning. "Now what's the Society of Mary Magdalene?" "There is no Society of Mary Magdalene!" "Look. That girl is no student of church history. There's no way she would have known about the Gospel of Mary, unless you or somebody else conversant with the Gnostic Gospels had told her. And she's so unlikely to have made up that lie about the gospel saying the Lord and Mary had sex...she just couldn't have made it up!" "Well maybe I ought to get myself another lawyer!" "Perhaps you should." Spangler later faces Bryan Jennings across the desk in the pastor's well-appointed study. They first discuss the agreement the pastor has made with the city, and the lawyer says that was probably the best the fellowship could hope for. Then he says, "I'm afraid I must withdraw from Jacob's case." "But why?" It's another blow to Jennings' psyche. "The story that girl told today was ridiculous." "Brother, the story she told has to be true to one degree or another. There is one copy of the Gospel According to Mary in the city that we know of. It's in the headquarters library. There's almost no likelihood of there being another. "I'd say it's almost impossible for Susannah Daemon to have known there was such a book unless she'd been told. Much less for her to make up a lie about it's describing sex between Mary and the Lord. "So...is Jacob protecting someone? Did Sister Jane hatch this whole thing and enlist the Daemon girl to put Jacob behind bars? Or is Jacob guilty? Lord, I don't know. The timeline suggests that the girl was a virgin one day and had been raped a couple of days later. Erickson isn't lying. "Weston is going to put Sister Jane on the stand tomorrow morning and she will confirm everything the Daemon girl has said. The only way I can keep Jacob out of prison is for him to tell me what he's not saying. And he won't answer any of my questions. "So tomorrow I will withdraw from the case. The judge will recess the trial, until a new attorney can be found." "I can't believe you are doing this," the elder Jennings says. "I believe you think my son is guilty. We must pray." Copyright 2012 by Macout Mann. All rights reserved.