Being a Man for Himself Ch. 02

The judge turned to Henry. "Well, Mr. Cooper. It sounds like she wants to work things out. Are you sure you still want to go through with this?"

"Your honor," said Henry's lawyer for him "We deny any violent acts claimed by Mrs. Cooper. The fact of the matter is, on the night Mrs. Cooper is claiming my client struck her there's no proof he even went home. I have here a record from the train company showing that Mr. Cooper did not ride the train home that night and we can call witnesses who will testify to the fact that Mr. Cooper was seen sleeping in his office."

"Counsel, your client is not on trial for domestic abuse. We are here to discuss the matter of annulling their marriage."

"I understand, your honor, but we would like to stress again that we deny any slander made by Mrs. Cooper on this point."

"So noted counsel." said the judge as Henry's wife began to sob and cry. "Are you ok, Mrs. Cooper? Do you need a break?"

Henry felt like all of this was just theatrics designed to waste his time. When was he going to be given the chance to defend himself on the thing that really mattered? The government was guilty of false imprisonment and theft. When were they going to address that or the fact that the police had just beaten him up for fun?

"Your Honor," said Henry's lawyer; "as to the facts and the law, Mr. Cooper wants children. He has always wanted children. Mrs. Cooper has refused to provide him with children despite Mr. Cooper being very patient on the matter. He has concluded that Mrs. Cooper simply does not want children and as such Mr. Cooper is asking for the marriage to be annulled."

"Is that why he hit her?" asked the judge.

"Your Honor, my client completely denies that ever took place and as for myself, as a survivor of domestic violence I'm offended that Mrs. Cooper would use a false accusation against her husband. In the end she's only making it more difficult for battered women like me to be believed which deters women from coming forward."

"I never denied him children. It just wasn't a good time."

"After seven and a half years and it was never a good time?" pressed the lawyer.

"Mrs. Cooper, do you want to take a break. Are you sure you can continue?"

"I'll be alright, Your Honor."

"May I say something?" asked Henry.

Without addressing him the judge gestured for him to proceed.

"I want children..."

"Since when?" asked his wife.

"Keiko doesn't want to be a mom."

"I never said that."

"And she doesn't think I can be a father."

"A father pays his bills instead of running off with all our money."

"The law gives me the opportunity to get married with someone who does want children with me or for me to adopt. I can't do that ..."

"You can't do anything so you ran away."

"I can't do those things as long as I'm married to her."

"Then you're supposed to file for divorce."

Henry was trying really hard not to be goaded into conversation with her. He knew he was on the right side of the law. He just had to get this judge to do her job right.

"Mr. Cooper, do you have a problem with addressing me as Your Honor?"

"No, ... Your Honor."

"Then if you'd like not to have your accommodations made even worse, I suggest you do so from now on."

Worse? How could they be worse than what they already were? Were they going to put him in a metal box in the sun?

"I understand, ... Your Honor."

"Alright, Mrs. Cooper, you say you aren't denying your husband children. Is that right?"

"If he wants children and that will get my husband back then ... ok."

"There, are you happy with that Mr. Cooper?"

"Your Honor, my client is not happy with that. My client does not believe his wife has any intention of being the mother of his children. She won't even let him speak without interrupting him. Mrs. Cooper has had her chance to give him children, seven years in fact and refused. We pray the court will not delay Mr. Cooper from being able to pursue other options."

"Your Honor," said Henry's wife; "I'll do anything to get my husband back. If he was unhappy he should have said something. If he wants children so badly as to drag me all the way down here then I guess he really wants them but that doesn't explain why he moved out and wouldn't pay our bills. How can I give him children if he won't come home?"

"I'll tell both of you this," said the judge; "I don't believe all of this is about children. There's something else going on here and since neither side is accusing the other of infidelity I'm assuming it's money that's the problem. I keep hearing it come up and Mr. Cooper is awaiting trial for ..." The judge looked down at the file in front of her. "Insider trading. So I will not be granting your request for an annulment today."

"But the law." said Henry.

"Mr. Cooper, this is a court of equity not a court of law. And I warned you about how you're supposed to address me. I'm not granting your request and I'm holding you in contempt."

"Your honor," said Henry's lawyer; "my client meant no disrespect."

"It's already done Mrs. Philips. But if you want your annulment so bad I'll give you the chance to get one. Mrs. Cooper says she's willing to give her husband children if he wants them. So we'll see if he does. I am ordering him released from holding and I'm sentencing him to ninety days home incarceration. During that time he will seek gainful employment and live at the marital home with his wife. He is free to go to work, religious services, and to shop for essentials. I'm ordering he take an anger management class so he's free to go to that as well. Mr. Cooper, while you are at home I expect you to keep your hands to yourself. Do you understand me?"

"Yes ... Your Honor." Henry said the words with as much contempt as he could put into them.

"I understand you usually work a significant amount of overtime. Well, not for the next three months. For the next three months you are to report home to your wife after your normal working hours. I want you in that house and you will fulfill your duty by making yourself sexually available to your wife. We'll find out if it's your wife who doesn't want children or if it's really you. And before the week's out I'm ordering you go to a fertility clinic to make sure Mrs. Cooper isn't wasting her time with you."

Henry could not believe what he was hearing. A judge had just demanded that he be his wife's sex slave.

"Now, Mrs. Cooper, I see you're happy with this outcome."

"I just want my husband back, Your Honor."

"Fine. Here's your chance. You have ninety days to get pregnant. If you fail to be able to get pregnant during that time I will grant your husband's request. If the pregnancy is terminated by any means at any time I will grant your husband's request. I will order a paternity test be conducted after the child is born and if that child is not the biological offspring of Mr. Cooper I will grant his request. I'm also keeping this case here in this court. Neither you nor Mr. Cooper will be able to file for divorce as long as this order is active."

"Thank you, Your Honor." said Henry's wife with a smile.

Henry was stunned. How could things be so broken? All of the traditional government services that everyone relies on in order to have confidence and make decisions were all corrupt. Henry was still shaking his head at this blatant violation of decency when his lawyer led him back to the waiting area for those going back to lock up.

"How can she do that?"

"It's not over. It's just delayed." the lawyer said.

"So, I don't understand. How can I go home if I'm in jail?"

"This court can override the other. That's how?"

"So, I just go home from here?"

"No. The order takes effect tomorrow. So you'll have to sleep in jail tonight and at about 12:05 they'll put you out."

"That's a very specific time."

"The prison wants credit for you being in jail that day so they can get paid for it. They have to keep you at least five minutes for that."

"What happens when my 90 days are up?"

"You'll likely go back to lockup unless you've had a hearing or made bail before then."

"But I can't make bail unless I agree to be robbed. When is my hearing on that, by the way?"

"You don't have one."

"Why?"

"A number of reasons. The prosecution is still gathering evidence against you. Your former boss and your broker are both going to testify against you. Besides that, they couldn't have you appear in court with a broken arm."

"Why not?"

"The official story is that you beat up several police officers and they had no choice but to use force against you to protect themselves and the public."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Listen, be careful with your wife."

"She's not my wife."

"Well, just be careful. I happen to know that she's been to see the prosecution concerning the criminal matter. I don't know what sort of deal she has with them but if even she testifies against you, there's no way you can win."

"I'm not taking that deal."

"It's not even on the table anymore. They think they've got you."

"Then why make me wait?"

"They want us to go to them and beg for another deal."

"No. I just want my trial so this can be over with."

"Well, you might be waiting for some time. If your wife is working with them I expect your entire house is probably bugged. They're going to twist any little thing you say around to support their case against you. It probably wasn't easy for them to convince her to do that for them."

"Please. She'd do anything to hurt me."

"She knows there's a lot of money involved in this. She doesn't want it confiscated. She wants it to be hers."

"You're making her out to be smarter than she is."

"You heard her in there today. She's not stupid. All of this was probably set up ahead of time and your wife played along."

"She's not my wife. She's my enemy."

...

The guy in the cell down the hall from Henry was very happy to get some books. Henry sure wasn't going to take them with him so when the deputies came to get him, he just dropped the books off. They'd probably make their way to the prison library eventually, that is, if this prison even had a library. Henry didn't know if it did or not.

Instead of 12:05 it was more like 12:30 in the morning when they opened the outside gate and Henry left the prison with nothing but the clothes on his back. They had also presented him with a thoroughly destroyed cell phone. There was no chance of getting any data off of that.

Henry didn't even know exactly where the prison was other than it was about an hour's drive away from the court house. Did he have another long walk ahead of him?

No. Outside the gate he found Amy waiting for him. She was standing there next to a car with a pistol holstered to her hip. She was wearing a black tshirt, cargo pants, and army boots. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had a mean expression on her face.

"Hey, Henry." she said.

Henry went up to her and she hugged him briefly.

"Can you just wear a gun like that?"

"Hell yes. And if any of those bastards ever touches you again I'll murder them and their entire family."

"Shit, I believe you. Did you get any of that on video?"

"I got all of it. The PD won't tell me who the cops were and their spinning some bullshit about administrative leave. But if I see them, they better hope they can draw faster than me."

"You're standing outside a prison and you're talking about shooting cops."

"Fuck them. They're nothing but a bunch of pussies who were too chicken shit to sign up for real war. If they want someone to go Rambo on them let them come and fuck with me. I give no quarter."

"You know, at the end of Rambo he goes to prison."

"In the book he dies."

"Book?"

"Yeah. Rambo is based on a book. And in the book he kills half the PD, including that faggot Teasle. And they fucking deserved it, too. I didn't go to war and watch my buddies get shredded by incoming to protect jackasses who break their oath of office." Then she turned her attention to the guard tower. "Yeah I'm talking about you." she yelled out.

"Ok, ok. Calm down."

"We should round up those shit sacks, tattoo their badge numbers to their fucking foreheads and then lock them up with the general pop."

"Anyway, can we go?"

"Get in."

Once they were on the road she continued her ranting. "All this bullshit because the mayor felt threatened by you."

"Mayor?"

"Yeah. He was working on some project or another and your deal made him look bad. But not half as bad as I'll make him look if I can get line of sight to his head."

"Pulchra, could you please stop talking about shooting people."

"Look, we either have rule by law or rule by the sword. If they're going to break the law then the sword is all we have left."

"Well, for now, can we talk about something else? Where are we going?"

"Your apartment, which is now my apartment. Oh, and I got you a new laptop. I knew you'd want one."

"Don't I already have one?"

"It got confiscated as evidence."

"It's encrypted. They'll never get anything out of it."

"They're just being assholes. They were giving your girlfriend a hard time so she packed up and booked it."

"Merissa?"

"They were trying to get her to testify against you. But not her. She's loyal, that one."

"Yeah, I guess she is." Henry said but did note in his mind that he hadn't received any letters from her.

"It also helps that she's pregnant."

"What? Say that again."

"She's not showing yet but the test says she's going to have a baby."

"Oh, wow. I'm going to be a father."

"Just what you wanted."

This was great news. Henry was already working through everything in his mind. If he could hold off on a plea deal or a conviction long enough for the baby to be born, then there was a way to set it up so the child would get everything and Keiko would get nothing even if she were still his wife. Well, he'd still have to die. He wasn't looking forward to that but with his death he'd be giving a huge fuck you to the people who were trying to hurt him.

"So, where did she go?"

"Back home to her parents. You should probably call her in the morning to let her know you're out."

"I need to see her."

"I'll drive you out of town if you want. And when the cops are on our tail I'll ..."

"Yeah, maybe calling is enough for now."

"Wimp."

They drove into downtown and a police cruiser was waiting outside the apartment building. Amy told Henry to get behind her and she approached the front door of the building with her hand on her gun.

A heavy set cop got out of the car and put his hand up in a stop gesture.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"We got nothing to say to you porky." Amy shot back.

"Are you threatening me with that weapon you got there?"

"Yeah. I'm saying if you go for your gun you'll die here tonight. Just try me."

"Look, I didn't come here for this."

"Then hit the road."

"I came to invite Mr. Cooper down to the police station. We want ..."

"Fuck you. He's not going anywhere. You try to take him and I'll turn your fat ass into swiss cheese."

"Nobody's taking anyone. Here. I just want to give him my card. Whenever he's ready to come down and talk to us ..."

"Bullshit. You had him in jail for three months. Why didn't you talk to him then?"

"Ma'am, we don't run the jail. That's the sheriff. Alright? We just want to talk to Mr. Cooper about what happened in that video you showed us. He can come down at his own convenience."

"We'll think about it." she said as she cautiously reached out and snatched the card out of the cop's hand. "Now beat it before my shell shock starts acting up."

"Ok. I hope you two have a good night."

"Once you're gone we just might."

Henry felt very strange when he entered the apartment. Amy had filled it with weapons and other military looking stuff. It looked like she was stocking up for war. The apartment looked familiar but different. It was like he was looking at it for the first time but it was also a place he knew. That was weird.

"So, you showed the cops the video."

"I was trying to get you out of jail."

"Shit, so now they have it."

"I have copies of it everywhere. I sent it out to news agencies but they're only interested if a cop shoots a black guy. So I posted it on the internet. So far they've been trying to block it from getting out to the public but they can't do that forever. I guess they hope you can convince me to take it down."

"They haven't tried to hurt you or anything, have they?"

"No one hurts me. I hurt them."

Henry's body was off its schedule and he didn't know if he wanted to sleep or not. He did know he wanted to clean himself more than he had been able to at the prison. A shower just didn't feel clean enough so he drew a bath and scrubbed every bit of himself three times. When that was over he thought about shaving but of course his sister wouldn't have a mens razor in the place. He'd have to do that later.

He checked out his new computer. Oh yeah, that crap OS was installed on it. He'd change it tomorrow. He was too tired to deal with it that night. He went to the website where he could download the software he wanted to use and got that started. It would be finished in the morning and then he could actually work with it.

"That cop is still out there." his sister said to him.

Really? Why? There was no need to have Henry followed. The cops could just put one of those ankle things on him if they needed to know where he was. But they hadn't done that.

It was a puzzle. Henry used to always be able to know what people would do but all of this illegal and illogical behavior baffled him.

Henry went to the bed. A proper bed. A bed that was long enough. Oh, and it was soft. He eased himself down and let himself appreciate it. Then he couldn't help but smile at the thought that at least for this night, he was sort of free.

Amy started to get into bed with him. "I missed you." he said to her.

She held him and he felt the heat of her body. For three months he'd spent every night wanting exactly this sort of thing. They were together.

She didn't need to convince him. She didn't need to beg. She didn't need to say anything. It was just understood. They were going to fuck.

Henry remembered back to college and the one artsy girl he'd dated for a bit. Sex with her was fun. He didn't know why he was remembering her in that moment. He remembered the pink streak in her hair but he couldn't remember her name. Every time he'd had sex with her it was laughs and giggles and smiling ear to ear. It was slapping her on the ass and her pinching him. It was funny positions that didn't actually feel good to fuck in but were fun to try and make work. It was lighthearted.

But she'd been too lighthearted for Henry. When he'd wanted to take the relationship to the next level she just wasn't feeling it. She didn't see Henry as a real boyfriend, just a nice guy that she got to fuck.

That was all in very stark contrast to Amy. Amy wasn't lighthearted about anything. When his dick went into her pussy, she held his face with both hands and they locked eyes with each other in the darkness. Each push in and out was a deliberate act. Each moment required concentration and effort.

She was the one on his side. She was the one who cared about him. She was the one who was loyal to him. It was him and her against the world. So be it.

Henry started to cum inside of her and she kissed him.

...

In the morning, the thing that Henry noticed the most about being free was the light. The sunlight was so bright that it actually hurt his eyes. He'd gotten used to it but that cell really had been very dark with the light only being dim at best. Most of the light came from that small window at the top of the wall. Amy noticed him squinting and offered him some sunglasses to cope.