Special Needs

Chapter 69: The Trial, Part 2

Harry took the stand and after he was sworn in, Nathan began his questioning.

"Please state your full name and age for the court."

"Harry Edward Styles. I'm 21."

"When did you turn 21?" Nathan asked.

"February first of this year," Harry answered.

"Did you have a good birthday celebration?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, thank you. It was lovely."

"How many presents did you get?" Nathan asked.

Samuel Klinefeld, the defense attorney, stood and said, "Objection, your honor, how is this relevant?"

Judge answered, "Sustained. Mr. Greenwood, please get to the point." As if the rest of us didn't know where he was going with this. He had said it in his opening statement!

Nathan continued, "How many times did you celebrate your birthdays before this one?"

"I...I don't exactly remember," Harry said. "Maybe one or two. I was very little."

"What about Christmas?" Nathan asked. "Surely you remember getting lots of presents every Christmas."

I could see Klinefeld fidgeting in his seat but he knew what Nathan was doing; he was trying to lay the groundwork for the neglect that Harry had suffered while under Theodore's care.

"A few of my nannies gave me Christmas presents, I think," he answered.

"Did you ever get a Christmas present from Theodore Blake?"

"Not that I can remember," He answered.

Klinefeld stood up and objected again. "Your honor, how is this relevant?" He whined. He literally whined.

Judge Stoneridge answered, "Sustained. Please move on, counselor."

I huffed in frustration. Between whiny-pants Klinefeld and a judge who didn't want to hear testimony about the actual case, I was already frustrated and we were only an hour into the trial. Klinefeld had to know very well why Nathan was asking those questions, but he didn't want the jury to hear it.

Nathan moved on swiftly, as if he hadn't been interrupted at all. "Harry, can you please describe your childhood?"

"I honestly don't...don't remember a lot. It seems kind of blurry. And it all seems the same."

"Can you clarify?" Nathan asked. "What do you mean by it all seems the same?"

Harry was getting flustered and I tried to make eye contact to give him a reassuring glance but he didn't look up. It looked like he was starting to retreat into his childlike shell; I knew he didn't like trying to remember that time in his life because he literally couldn't remember.

Finally, he spoke. "I mean that everything seemed the same. I watched all the same TV shows over and over again. I listened to the same twenty music CD's. I did the same school work over and over again. Until Jules came. The rest is really foggy and I have a hard time remembering much of anything else."

"Do you remember taking a lot of pills?" Nathan questioned.

"Yes, every day at breakfast lunch and dinner, I took a lot of pills."

"Can you tell the people of the court how many?" Nathan wondered.

Harry thought for a long time, doing some mental math. I answered the question in my head before he did. He took 17 pills a day when I first arrived. Harry answered, "Twelve or fifteen maybe. Like three or four at every meal and then some more at bedtime."