Nervous

Henry turned around and glared at Jude. “This is all your fucking fault, wench! You set me up! I never even met that prostitute.”

Jude started laughing. “Okay, fine. Since you’ve all figured it out already, I confess. I did it and I’m damn proud of it, too. You tried to get help for Jon, which meant trying to get rid of me, and I had to do something to stop you.”

“Is that why you stabbed me?” He got all the way up in Jude’s face. “It was you who stabbed me, wasn’t it?”

An expression of fear came across Jude’s face. It was brief but I saw it. I’m not sure if Meredith and Henry even picked up on it.

Meredith stopped crying and looked from one of them to the other. “Stabbed? Henry, what are you talking about?”

Jude took two steps back from him. “Yeah, what do you mean by that?”

“Don’t get cute with me, you cunt!” Henry started unbuttoning his shirt. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He took his shirt off and pointed to a tiny scar over his shoulder blade. “I’m talking about this.”

Meredith stood up, came over to him, and touched it. “That’s where you accidentally cut yourself with a pocket knife. I remember when you came home with it bandaged up.”

Henry smirked. “That was the story I made up to cover up for who I thought was Jonquinette. Now I know it wasn’t her at all.”

“What are you talking about, Henry?” Meredith prodded.

“I didn’t want the police to file charges against her. I knew that after all the incidents in her past that they’d allowed to slip through, one more might cause them to lock her up in juvenile detention.”

Jude hissed at him. “You’re a lying bastard! I never stabbed you!”

“You showed up at my office one day, stormed in like a hurricane, and started talking crazy. Just like you are now, as a matter of fact. I told you that it was time to get you some help. Your solution was to pick up a letter opener off my desk and stab me in the shoulder with it. I bet you were aiming for my heart but I moved out the way just in time.”

We had definitely reached a crossroads. I remained silent and allowed the situation to play itself out.

Jude grabbed my shoulders and started screaming. “I didn’t do that, Marcella! I didn’t!”

I didn’t respond. I just pushed her away from me. Part of me wanted to embrace her but I needed her to get angry. I had to allow whatever was destined to happen to occur.

Meredith grabbed her chest and looked like she was about to faint. “My baby stabbed someone! Her own daddy! Oh my God!” She fell on her knees and started crying all over again. “This is my fault. I should have listened to you, Henry! We should have gotten her help way back then!”

Jude yanked Meredith back up off the floor by her hair. “Get up, Queen Bitch! He’s lying through his teeth. It never happened. He cut his own ass with a pocket knife, just like he said. He’s just trying to fuck with me for some reason but I won’t tolerate it.” Jude shoved Henry, practically knocking him back onto the chaise lounge and repeated, “I won’t tolerate it!”

“Jude!” I called out to her. “Jude! Look at me!” When she turned to face me, I said, “What if he isn’t lying?”

“But he is lying,” she insisted. “I didn’t stab him and Jonquinette sure as shit didn’t. She wouldn’t have the nerve. Besides, I’ve always been here and I would know if she’d done something like that. Hell, I would’ve been happy about it. I’m telling you, if I’d stabbed the bastard, I would admit it in a heartbeat. In fact, if you have a letter opener, I’ll stab him now. He deserves it for lying on me.”

“Look,” Henry stated angrily. “I’m telling you that Jude stabbed me. It’s all water under the bridge now and I still have no intention of pressing charges but this all needs to come out. I’m sick of lying.”

Something changed on Jude’s face. A calmness came over it. Then that was replaced with fury. “Sick of lying?” She faced Henry. “You’re sick of lying?”

“Yes,” he responded. “The truth needs to come out.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” she said in a voice that I didn’t recognize.

Henry didn’t seem to notice the voice change but Meredith did.

“What happened to your voice?” Meredith asked.

Jude smirked at her but didn’t respond.

“Nothing happened to her voice.” I walked up behind her and whispered in her ear, “Who are you?”

She turned, gave me a smile that was more scary than pleasant, and brushed past me. She sat down in the armchair where I had been sitting and pressed the Stop button on the tape recorder. “We won’t need this anymore.”

I wanted to make a move to turn it back on but decided against it. It was obvious nothing critical would be said as long as it was on.