“Stop this. Now.”
“Cab it is.” She shrugged. “I wish you the best of luck with your testimony. And I hope you treat the next girl you find nicely from the beginning so she won’t have to love and leave you alone in the end.”
“Give me a chance to talk, Aubrey…”
“We have nothing more to discuss.” She opened the door. “Please do not follow me, Andrew. You can’t trust me and I can’t trust you, so I don’t want anything to do with this anymore and I need you to finally respect that.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but she spoke first.
“Goodbye Andrew, Liam,” she said, “whatever the hell your name is.”
“Aubrey…”
The door slammed shut and I knew it was pointless to go after her in that moment.
She was gone.
Swear (v.):
To declare under oath that one will tell the truth.
Andrew
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?” The judge said to me a few mornings later.
I said nothing, the sudden departure of Aubrey still fresh on my mind.
“Mr. Hamilton, I asked you a question.” The judge chided.
“I apologize,” I said. “I do swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me God.”
“We may proceed.”
The defense lawyer stood up and cleared his throat. “Mr. Hamilton, your legal name was formerly Liam Henderson, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Could you please tell the court how you know my client, Kevin Hart?”
“We were once partners at Henderson & Hart.”
“Partners and best friends, correct?”
I looked over at an expressionless Kevin. He was dressed in a grey suit, still incapable of wearing a matching tie.
“Yes,” I said to the lawyer. “Once upon a time.”
“Is it true that you got into an altercation with him at a bar six and a half years ago?”
“Define altercation.”
He picked up a sheet of paper. “Did you walk into a bar and punch him? Leaving him with a broken jaw and a fractured ribcage?”
“He was f**king my wife.”
The jurors gasped and the judge banged his gavel.
“Mr. Hamilton…” The judge spoke sternly. “That type of language is not allowed in my courtroom. Please answer the question.”