Growing Pains

by Andrew Lippert

  “On the grounds of leading the jury.”

  The judge slammed his gavel. “Overruled! Please continue, Mrs. Zimmer.”

  “You see, my husband is retired, and I’ve been a housewife for 40 years. So from the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night, we’re in the living room watching TV. So if the story that Ms. Hyssop is trying to sell us is true, someone would’ve seen Bart and Rihanna in our house that day.”

  Mrs. Zimmer placed her right hand over her heart and then raised her left hand. “Truth be told, they never set foot in our home that day, not once. As a matter of fact, in the years we’ve been neighbours, they’ve never been invited into our home.”

  The whispering in the room grew more intense. A heavy feeling filled the air.

  Mr. Durocher looked around the room for a moment and then got to his feet. “Excuse me, Your Honour!”

  The room quickly fell silent again.

  “I think it would be in the best interest of this case to have a more thorough examination of all the evidence. Including a search of the Hyssop residence.”

  The chatter in the room quickly picked up again. The judge slammed his gavel. “Order! Lets have order!”

  He leaned back in his chair. After a couple of minutes, he put his hands together and leaned forward. “Now, in my many years in this profession, I can tell you all with certainty that what I am seeing here today is a classic case of he said, she said.”

  The judge looked at the Hyssops. “I’m also distraught over the lack of evidence presented before the court.” He looked around the room.

  “Having said that, I find it appropriate to have all the evidence thoroughly re-examined. I’m also approving a thorough search of the Hyssop residence, which includes all computers and hard drives, digital cameras and video cameras and cell phones. We will reconvene in two weeks. And in that time—”

  The judge faced the Hyssops again. “The Hyssops are not authorized to return to their home, effective immediately!”

  Bart Hyssop rushed to his feet and violently slammed the desk. “What? This is bullshit, Judge! Do your goddamned job!”

  The judge slammed his gavel. “Simmer down, Mr. Hyssop! Another outburst like that again and you’ll find yourself in contempt.”

  Bart lowered back into his chair. “I’m truly sorry, Your Honour.”

  After a few moments Mr. Durocher got to his feet again. “Your Honour, what’s to become of Mr. Zimmer for the following two weeks?”

  The judge said, “From everything I’ve gathered today, I don’t think sitting in a jail cell would do Mr. Zimmer any good. I think it would be appropriate to place him under house arrest.”

  The judge slammed his gavel twice. “That’ll be all. I’ll see all of you back here in two weeks.”

  CHAPTER 14

  The next morning, before leaving jail to go home, Seth was fitted with an ankle monitor. That afternoon he went to a little park just behind their house that wasn’t out of the boundaries of his monitor. Joining him was his older brother, Paul, and 6-year-old niece, Sammy. It was a gorgeous day, so Paul decided to pack a little lunch for the three of them and have a picnic. Seth wasn’t really hungry; he just picked at his food.

  “Sammy, if you’re done eating you may go and play. I’ll join you in a minute.”

  Sammy smiled and hopped off the bench to the jungle gym.

  Paul turned to Seth and studied him for a moment. Everything about Seth seemed wrong. His movements were slower, and he radiated sadness. The most disturbing thing was Seth’s eyes—they were empty, lifeless, like doll’s eyes.

  Paul softly exhaled. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Seth didn’t answer for a moment. He didn’t even look up from the table. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “Are you freaking kidding me? We have lots to talk about!”

  Seth remained motionless. “Why,?”

  Paul suddenly became choked up. “Because you’re my little brother and I care about you.”

  Seth never answered. He just kept looking down at the table in silence.

  Paul tried to reign in his overwhelming emotions. “Seth, you’re acting as though you’re guilty. And I don’t believe for one minute that you are!”

  Seth remained quiet for another few moments and softly exhaled. “I didn’t do it, you know.”

  “I know you’re innocent. The Hyssops are a bunch of shit-spewing media sluts, attention whores. Anyone who knows you knows you’re innocent. And if you ever want to talk about anything, I’m here.”

  Seth nodded and smiled warmly. “You should go to Sammy; she’s expecting you to play with her.”

  It was obvious to Paul that Seth wanted some distance, and in a way he couldn’t blame him. Paul slowly rose from the table and headed toward Sammy.

  *

  After a while of wallowing in self-pity, Seth decided to look around the park and observe life, because who knew? For all Seth knew, in another two weeks he could be spending five years behind bars for a heinous crime he didn’t commit.

  Off to one side of the park, Seth noticed a group of five young men ages 19 or 20, not much younger than Seth. They were in a spirited game of soccer, but every now and again this group would stop and stare at Seth or in his general direction.

  At first he didn’t really notice, not until it started happening repeatedly. Then Seth thought it was probably just a coincidence. But after a while, this group of soccer players gradually moved closer to Seth.

  Seth felt uncomfortable and couldn’t help but think something was about to go down. He felt hungry, so he began to eat his lunch and forget about the soccer players.

  The leader of the group was now within 20 feet of Seth, and he signalled his partner to kick the ball to him. When the leader received the ball, he started to do some fancy footwork with it. He then stopped and placed his foot on the ball. He looked around the park for a moment. He took a deep breath and slowly lifted his foot from the ball. He brought his foot back and then, like a slingshot, released it.

  The leader kicked the ball at Seth’s head, and it was a direct hit. Seth fell hard on the ground. He was in a deep fog. His ears rang and his eyes were cloudy. Blood streamed from his nose.

  The leader of the group dashed over and began violently kicking him. “Get out! Get the hell out of this park and away from these poor, innocent, defenceless children you paedophile!” he yelled repeatedly as he kicked Seth hard in the ribcage, on his back and stomach and occasionally in the head.

  Suddenly two other players joined in.

  “Look, Uncle Paul!” Sammy pointed to the ruckus.

  Paul turned, and his jaw dropped at the horrific sight. “Jesus Christ!”

  Paul rushes to Seth’s aid and pushed the kickers to the ground. “All right! All right! What the hell is going on here?”

  The kickers slowly get to their feet.

  “Nothing,” the leader said. “We were just warning this—this sick perverted paedophile that next time we see him in this park, he’s not going to be so goddamn lucky just to have left with a few bumps and scrapes.”

  “Yeah? Well, the last time I looked, asshole, the sign says public park. So unless this is your property, I suggest shutting your stupid mouth and backing the eff up before you suffer brain damage!”

  “Yeah? And who the hell are you to defend this sick-minded pervert?”

  “I’m his older brother, asshole! And family helps family! You just pulverized an innocent man!”

  “Innocent? Not according to the papers!”

  “I don’t care what the paper says!”

  The leader tried to come up with a comeback.

  “And don’t even think about opening your stupid mouth again!” Paul shouted. “Otherwise I’m going to kick the ever-loving shit out of you!”

  The soccer group tur
ned with their tails tucked between their legs and heads drooped. One member grabbed the ball and they exited the park.

  Sammy dashed over to Seth and Paul.

  “Is Uncle Seth okay?” Paul hugged Sammy and placed her at his side and then leaned over to aid Seth.

  “Oh God. Seth, are you all right?”

  Seth was still groggy and in a hell of a lot of pain. He tried to move but quickly lost his breath and collapsed.

  Paul quickly took Seth’s arm.

  “No! No, please, don’t touch me.”

  Paul let go.

  “Let’s just go, all right?” Seth could hardly talk. Every breath he took was excruciatingly painful. “Take Sammy back home and leave me alone!”

  “Are you kidding me? Absolutely not, no way!”

  Seth took a few rapid deep breaths. “Get the hell out of here and leave me!”

  “Seth, for Christ sakes! You’re hurt really bad. You could have internal damage, or worse, internal bleeding!”

  Seth took a few more rapid deep breaths. “Paul, don’t argue, just take Sammy and get the hell out of here!”

  Paul got to his feet. “I’m coming back for you as soon as I get Sammy back to our place.” Paul reluctantly turned around. “Come on, Sammy, lets go.” H e took Sammy’s hand, and they head up the dirt path back home.

  Seth lay on the ground for a moment before attempting to get up. Finally, he slowly tried getting to his feet but collapsed again and began coughing up blood. After a few more tries and some more excruciating pain, he finally made it to his feet. He held the picnic table with one hand for stability then reached into his pant pocket with the other and grabbed a few Kleenex’s for his bleeding nose.

  Seth looked around for a moment and spotted a small wooded area. He slowly limped over to it, every step more painful than the one before. He was feeling many painful sensations at once. It was extraordinarily hard for him to concentrate. He grew increasingly weaker by the second.

  As he inched closer to the wooded area, his ankle monitor began to beep. The closer he got to the area, the more intense the beeping became. After a brutally painful walk, Seth stopped and looked around, spotted a tree stump and painfully fell to his knees.

  He leaned forward and placed his hands on the stump, but the pain was just too unbearable—he passed out.

  Seth woke to the all-too-familiar sounds of a beeping life support system and a pumping oxygen machine. His eyes slowly fluttered open.

  “Ah, good morning, Mr. Zimmer!”

  Seth struggled to find his glasses.

  The nurse walked over to Seth’s bedside, opened the side-table drawer and reached inside. “Looking for these?” She handed him his glasses.

  “Thank you.” Seth put them on. “What happened?”

  “You were attacked in the park and passed out.” She grabbed Seth’s chart from the footboard of the bed. “Two slipped disks in your back, eight broken ribs, a sprained wrist, internal bleeding and of course, massive bruising.” She closed the chart and slipped it back in the holder.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Two days.”

  Seth shook his aching head. “Really?” Seth thought for a moment. “Oh God. My trial! Will I be well enough to continue with it?”

  The nurse finished checking a few machines out of Seth’s field of vision.

  “I’m afraid you won’t be healed completely, Seth. That’s going to take longer than two weeks, but to answer your question, you’ll be in good enough condition to attend.”

  Seth remained in the hospital until a few days before the continuation of his trial.

  CHAPTER 15

  When Seth arrived at the courthouse, he was nervous, and his nervousness quickly turned into fear of the unknown, and fear that today he could have his freedom taken away.

  He knew he was innocent, but if the cards were stacked against him, his life would end. Seth was a business owner. He was making good money. What about the future? Would he be able to just pick up the pieces and continue his business? If not, who would hire him with a record like that hanging over his head?

  And relationships? Forget it. Nobody would date a man who was accused of being a paedophile, even if he was found innocent. Seth tried not to over-think anything and just let the evidence—or lack thereof—speak for itself.

  He entered the packed courtroom, led by a security guard to his seat at the table. The room was ear-piercingly noisy as everyone impatiently awaited the judge.

  The judge’s office door slowly opened. “All rise for the Honourable Judge Arthur Vines!” the bailiff stated loudly.

  The courtroom quickly fell silent, and everyone rose as the judge took a seat.

  “You may all be seated!” The judge shot a quick, stern look at the Hyssops.

  “Before we begin this trial, I want to make one thing very clear. As a judge, it’s not my job to predetermine anyone’s innocence or guilt. I do, however, tend to side in favour of the party who offers the strongest, most reliable evidence. As a judge, it’s my job to make the best decision in pursuit of justice. Now, having said that, lets begin.”

  The judge slammed his gavel. “Two weeks ago I asked for a re-examination of the evidence and a search of the Hyssop residence. Did we find anything?”

  Mr. Durocher quickly got to his feet. “Your Honour, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. In the past two weeks our teams in the field and in the lab have been working tirelessly around the clock. And what they were looking for was to prove my client’s innocence.”

  Mr. Durocher scanned the jurors. “With the new evidence I will present, I know the right decision will be made.”

  He paced the floor. “My client, Mr. Zimmer, has been accused of sexual misconduct in the first degree. But thankfully, because of a thorough, second glance of all evidence, these charges should be dropped.”

  When Seth heard his lawyer tell the room he was innocent, he was ready to sigh in relief, but he stopped himself as he wanted to hear the new findings.

  “The boys in the lab took all Seth’s SD cards from his photography camera and recovered all of the deleted photos and videos.” Mr. Durocher placed his hands behind his back. “Absolutely nothing of a sexual nature or any type of illegal activity was found. Then, the boys took his video camera and recovered thousands of hours of film footage from the hard disk drive, and again, nothing of a pornographic nature or any illegal activity was found.

  “The lab then went on to Seth’s computer files and hard drive, recovering deleted photos, videos, audio clips and website addresses.” Mr. Durocher swiftly turned and looked at Seth. “And what the lab found was shocking. What they found was not only shocking but amazing!”

  Seth didn’t quite know how to interpret the news thus far. He knew he had nothing to worry about, but he worried anyway.

  “What the lab came up with was, well—nothing! Everything from Seth’s SD cards, hard disk drive and computer hard drive was clean. There was absolutely nothing, not a shred or trace of any kind of pornography or the Hyssop children.”

  The judge thought for a moment. “What about the photos of the Hyssop children?”

  Mr. Durocher looked at the judge. “Interesting question, Your Honour. The first place the investigators went was to the Zimmer home, and I will now confirm what Mrs. Zimmer explained to the court two weeks ago.”

  He cleared his throat. “Seth’s bedroom does indeed have white walls, faded and dirty from age. And his bed is queen size, not a single as depicted in the photos.”

  The two projection screens slowly descend.

  “If everyone would take a look at the screens, in a moment we’ll show you the photos again.”

  The projectors switched on and the two images slowly appeared.

  Mr. Durocher continued. “My client, the defendant, Seth Zimmer, is being accused of child pornograp
hy,” Mr. Durocher pointed at the screens. “These photos cannot be found anywhere. Not on any hard drive or SD card or memory stick owned by my client. Ladies and gentlemen, please carefully study these photos.”

  He stepped out of the way of the screens. After an ample amount of time, he continued. “Notice anything different or out of place? Well, I don’t know about you, but the powder blue walls sure stick out like a sore thumb, unless I’m colour blind. And look at the size of the bed—clearly a single bed.”

  The room again fills with noise, and the judge slammed his gavel. “Order! Let’s simmer down, please!” The room immediately quieted. “And what of the findings from the Hyssop residence?”

  “I was just coming to that, Your Honour.” Mr. Durocher took a deep breath. “Not only did the investigators find piles of illegal weapons and drugs in the Hyssop home, but upon sweeping their digital cameras and computers, they found more than 50 unaltered naked photos of the Hyssop children.”

  The room exploded with talk. The judge raised an eyebrow as he stared sternly and disgustedly at the Hyssop parents.

  Mr. Durocher continued. “With all this new and compelling evidence brought to light, I think it pretty much speaks for itself. I respectfully request all charges against Mr. Seth Zimmer be dismissed. Thank you, Your Honour.” He walked over to Seth and took a seat.

  Seth stared at Durocher for a moment and finally leaned in. “That’s it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know, but aren’t you missing a bunch of words?”

  “No, we have them exactly where we want them. Please don’t worry.”

  The judge was quiet.

  Mr. Petrillo slowly rose to his feet. “Excuse me, Your Honour.”

  The judge looked down at the Hyssops’ lawyer.

  “You haven’t allowed me to speak yet.”

  “That is correct, Mr. Petrillo. I believe the jury has heard enough to make a final decision. We will now recess until a verdict has been reached.” The judge slammed down his gavel.

  “All dismissed until further notice,” the bailiff said.