The Forgotten Hours(60)
A. Then, um, he—then all of a sudden, he started to put, or he started—we started kissing, and he started to put his finger in my— Q. Let’s slow down. You were kissing? He leaned toward you on the couch, and you began kissing?
A. Yes, that’s correct.
Q. He initiated this? John Gregory did?
A. Yes.
Q. And you didn’t stop him?
A. No.
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Q. Okay. That’s fine. You just have to tell us what happened, bit by bit, so we understand, okay?
A. Um. Okay. Could I have a drink of water, please?
Q. So you were saying he kissed you.
A. That’s right.
Q. What happened then? Did he talk to you?
A. I don’t know.
Q. You don’t know, or you don’t remember?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Okay, continue.
A. One time, he was saying, “Do you like this?” So he asked me if I liked it. And I think he said, “This is how it’s done, gentle.”
Q. What did he mean by that? What was he referring to?
A. I . . . I don’t know.
Q. Okay. And then what happened?
A. After we started kissing, and then, it—he put his fingers in my vagina.
At that word, a flush prickled up Katie’s neck. She could not find her breath, her rhythm; she began counting to herself. Breathe in; breathe out. Slow down and count. It would be okay, she thought. She just had to read the words, and she could make up her mind about what they meant later.
Q. Were you wearing anything? Did you have clothes on?
A. Yes, I was wearing a dress. My clothes had gotten wet, earlier, in the rain.
Q. So you changed into different clothes?
A. Yes, and we got a blanket. Um, he got—there was a blanket, and, um, he covered me with it.
Q. So you were covered, partially, with a blanket. And then what happened? He touched you under your clothes?
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Q. Would you like to have a minute?
THE COURT. Are you okay? Take a deep breath.
THE WITNESS. Yeah.
THE COURT. You can take a break if you like, but we have to get through this.
The WITNESS. Yeah. I am good.
Katie stood up and shucked off her sweater. Her body was on fire and her throat parched. She stumbled around the corridors, avoiding eye contact with anyone, until she found an old-fashioned drinking fountain at the end of a narrow hallway on the ground floor. The water was lukewarm and tasted of metal. She gulped it down and splashed it over her face.
Q. You were wearing a dress, you said. What kind of dress?
A. Like a big T-shirt thing, kind of loose.
Q. So it was flimsy, a light kind of dress? Like you might sleep in?
A. Yes.
Q. And were you wearing underwear?
A. No.
Q. Do you usually wear underwear under your clothes?
A. Yes.
Q. So can you explain—just tell us why you weren’t wearing underwear, that night, when he put his fingers in your vagina.
A. Earlier, we’d gone swimming. In the lake. Um, and then, like, later, when I got out of the water, I was all wet, you know? I didn’t put my underwear back on.
Q. This was not something you planned, or is it something you do often?
A. No, it was because I’d been all wet. But I did—I mean, um, when I was in the TV room—I had clothes on then.
Q. Okay. But he could slip his fingers under your dress. Did you tell him to stop?
A. No.
Q. Was he hurting you?
A. You mean, um—because of his fingers?
Q. Yes, because he was touching you.
A. No, it didn’t hurt.
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THE COURT. Are you all right?
THE WITNESS. Yeah.
THE COURT. Yes, you’re okay, or yes, you need a break?
The WITNESS. Yes, I, I need a break.
Direct Examination Day 2
Q. I want to go back to the part when you were talking about John Gregory touching you.
A. Okay.
Q. Did he speak to you, say anything to you during this time?
A. I think he was afraid Katie would wake up. We were real quiet. Except, um. He asked me did I like it this way.
Q. How did you respond?
A. I don’t know. I’m sorry. Um, I don’t remember.
Q. You don’t have to be sorry.
Katie stopped reading and sucked at the blood in her mouth from where she’d bitten her lip, a bruised crack that radiated pain. The women were talking next door, and she listened for a moment, unable to distinguish their words but comforted by the gentle rhythms of their speech, the meaninglessness of everyday communication. Life was normal, people chatted, people ate; they walked to work and drove cars and wasted time on Facebook. People loved each other and fought and picked their teeth and gave birth.
And what she was reading, that was what people did too.
A. And then, at the end, um, he told me to sit on top of him—and—um— Q. Did you do that? Sit on top of him?
A. Yes.
Q. And then what happened?
A. And then, um, he pulled his pants down, and he took out his penis, and I sat on top of it, and— Q. What happened?
A. His penis went in my vagina.
This was so much worse than she’d expected.