ICY

twenty nine.

                             (pls excuse typos)
                                  JETSON

"You ready?" Nunez asked me as I sauntered up to him in the courthouse.

I took a deep breath as I wasn't sure or not, as the case could take a turn for the worst depending on what Ms. Melrose decided to expose.

I had come to terms that I was in deep when it came to Icy, also known as Isis - the woman I had been chasing just to actually catch; And not in the way I expected. Even as I strolled casually into the court room and took my seat behind the D.A, and watched the room fill up all I could think about was her. What was she doing, how was she, and mostly if she was safe.

It wasn't uncommon knowledge that strippers could lead dangerous lives, and while I didn't want to judge her or her career it definitely made it hard to see the future of where we stood. Especially due to the current circumstances, where depending on how the trial went it would determine if she would be the next on the stand.

The court room was still, and with Mrs. Jones now sitting next to her lawyer the trial was ready to began. Again her lawyer presented his witness, Melrose Gonzalez and the nervousness wore on her face.
She glanced at me immediately, and gave me a slight nod and I was hoping no one else saw that. I didn't know what that intended to mean, but a part of me felt like she was the reason Isis knew about my statement including her.

"So, Ms. Gonzalez, how long did you know Solomon Jones" Latimore started, treading lightly.

"Umm, since I was 14. So, five years"

"And in those five years, have you ever known Jones to be violent?"

"No" she answered.

"Really? Because I remember you saying Mr. Jones was abusive, which one is it" Latimore raised his brow.

"Not to me, but he had his picks on who he like to beat on. I wasn't one of them" Melrose shook her head.

"Okay so he was selective with who he decided to abuse, did he have some sort of reason or rhyme to what he did?"

"Umm...well he said that if you were good you were able to keep a little more from your dates. Being good meant no back talk, and...."

Melrose stopped and looked down at her fidgeting hands, and the courtroom waited for her to finish her sentence.

Latimore approached the stand in efforts to regain her attention, "And, what Ms. Gonzalez?"

"And...doing whatever he asked you to" she finished in a low voice.

"Speak up Ms. Gonzalez, the court can't hear you" Latimore instructed her.

"Doing whatever he asked you to" Melrose said in a frustrated tone that was louder than the last.

"So, he sounds pretty abusive to me. Abusive enough to threaten a home full of underage women into doing whatever he wanted them to. Now, to the people of the jury, there is no denying that Mr. Jones was clearly a troubled man, we can all agree up to that degree.

However, who he abused is the key that cracks this case. Mr. Jones was a wonderful husband to his wife, he never yelled at her, hit her, so why would she harbor enough anger to kill him so violently" he went on as he built the momentum to his final statement.

I watched as Melrose's took in all of his words, and I could tell that she was calculating in her head.

"That, seems like a job for the women he put through misery for years and years. Now, we came across names of two suspects last time, and you happen to know them pretty closely don't you Ms. Gonzalez?" Latimore asked with an eyebrow raised.