He Hits You? Suck It Up So I Locked Them in With My Abusive Husband novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: Statements

The courtroom was full an hour before the judge came in.

Half the church sat in the pews on the left, in their Sunday clothes.

Half of Conway's dealership staff sat on the right, in their work shirts.

The seventy-odd people behind them had come because the story had been on the evening news for three nights.

Conway sat at the defense table in a charcoal suit with his hands folded.

The monitor was gone, and a deputy stood two paces behind his chair.

He did not turn around.

I sat on the prosecutor's side with Nate on my right and Lucy on my left.

My statement was folded in my lap, two pages in my own handwriting.

The judge asked whether the defendant understood what he was pleading to.

"I do, Your Honor," Conway said.

His voice was perfectly clear.

"Guilty on all counts," his lawyer said, and the courtroom exhaled.

"Then we'll hear from the people harmed," the judge said. "Mrs. Slocumb. Whenever you're ready."

I stood.

My knees held.

I walked to the front of the room, and I turned and faced the people in the pews.

Then I turned my head and looked at Conway.

It was the first time in two weeks that he had to look back.

"My name is Jean Ellison," I said. "I took my maiden name back on Monday."

A murmur ran along the benches.

"For four years I was told he did it because he drank. I believed that because every person I loved said it."

I looked at the paper in my hand, and then I put it on the rail.

"He did not drink. He decided. He chose the spot on my body, and he chose the night, and he chose which of you would be in the room when he apologized."

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