chapter 103

word count: 1596

the effects of a more than exhausting night began to take their toll on trudy.. she found an empty  corner in the holding cell,, leaned her throbbing head against the cold cement wall and closed her eyes.. she had a lot of thinking to do.. but the ravages of the alcohol,, and the crashing effect of coming off the “tina” that guy from the gay bar had been so proud to introduce her too made thinking all but impossible.. even still,, sleep would not come.. 

‘where do i go from here?’ trudy couldn’t help but ask herself.. no immediate answers would come.. so much had gone on today.. a lot of it in a drunken haze,, but the parts she could remember she was not especially proud of.. in fact as foreign to her character as it may have been,, a bit of shame seemed to be creeping in.. 

for the first time in a long time,, she began to think about her elly.. she had all but forsaken him in favor of gratuitous drink,, and wild unbridled sex with whomever she seemed to be able to get her hands on at the moment.. she knew he deserved better than that,, but she couldn’t quite get her mind around what she could do to make it up to him.. 

she knew he was in the best possible place.. as much as she hated to admit it,, john was a much more fit parent than she could ever hope to be.. and that lisa,, as much as she hated her,, had a much better chance of being a mother to elly,, a real mother,, than she had ever been.. he was better off,, she consoled herself.. 

how on earth had she gotten to this point of seemingly no return?? how could she ever make it right?? her pounding head was filled with questions and no answers.. 

‘tomorrow’ she thought to herself.. she would think about it tomorrow.. 

as she leaned her tousled head against the cold cement wall,, a cascade of tears began to fall.. quite unsure of where they had come from,, she found it impossible to fight them.. it just felt right.. maybe the tears would wash it all away.. maybe she would find some solace in them. some answers.. for the moment, however,, she was just content to allow the tears to fall.. before she knew it,, she was fast asleep on the cold cell block floor,, her head contentedly propped up against the grimy cement wall..

simone looked on with compassion.. sure,, she had more than her share of problems to be dealt with,, but she couldn’t help but feeling that trudy was going to have it even harder than she was.. after all,, she had no chance of release.. she had consigned herself to that fact the moment she was put in the hard plastic seat in the rear of the patrol car.. 

she knew the long arm of the law she had fought so diligently to protect over the course of her many years on the job was gonna come down on her.. and come down hard.. there was no escaping it.. and in her own way,, she was ok with that.. after all,, she was willing to suffer if it meant she had at least tried her best to avenge the death of her beloved brenda.. 

trudy squirmed in her drunken slumber, she muttered something indiscernible, then settled in and continued her tortured sleep.. simone's heart skipped a beat as she looked on at her,, all the pain and anguish of the day had disappeared from her makeup smeared face.. she looked almost angelic as she slept. 

it was too bad she had to meet trudy under these circumstances.. a part of her felt as if she might have really been able to go for her.. she was a very beautiful woman.. it was no wonder the guys flocked around her like they did.. she could only hope some portion of her talk with trudy earlier in the evening would remain with her when she woke.. maybe she would rethink her choice in men.. maybe she would heed her advice and take a little pride in herself before she got involved with yet another man that would serve no other purpose than to drag her further down the road of drunken degradation.. who knows,, maybe she would rethink her attraction to men all together?? 

“too late now.” simone said aloud as she too settled against the cold cement wall of the holding cell and closed her eyes.. “too late now..”

***

“up an attem’ ladies!!!” called out the matron, as she clanged open the holding cell door..

“you all got a date with the magistrate!! on your feet!!”

a disgruntled din rose from the inhabitants of the cell,, many of whom simone noticed as she opened her eyes had been added to the grisly group after she had fallen asleep.. she looked over at trudy who hadn’t stirred.. 

“hey you.” she whispered to trudy. “their calling us.. we gotta go.”

trudy opened one eye.. and then the other.. “go where?” she puzzled,, still not at all sure of even where she was.. 

“they’re taking us all down to go before the magistrate. time to find out exactly what we are being charged with,, and for you,, hopefully to be released..” simone explained in hushed tones..

“released?” trudy asked as she sat up and turned toward simone,, drinking in her surroundings,, as the debacle of the previous day came roaring back to her.. 

“yeah, “ simone started, “i am not really sure what you’re in for,, but i’m betting you will either be released,, or a reasonable bond set.. me?? i’m not gonna be so lucky.”

trudy painstakingly made it to her feet just in time to hear the matron bellow, “move it you two!! let’s go!!”

simone took trudy be the arm and lead her through the cell door and into the bright florescent hallway..

“jesus christ!!” exclaimed trudy. “can ya turn the lights down in here?? my head is about to explode as it is!!!

“keep movin’!!” the matron ordered in no uncertain terms as trudy and simone stumbled past her. “keep movin”!!”

as they entered the somber courtroom, trudy leaned over to simone. “hey, whats your name anyway?”

“beverly. beverly simone.”

“take a seat ladies!! we don’t have all day here!! the docket is full!!” 

together trudy and simone slumped into one of the polished wooden benches.. simone took trudy’s hand in hers.. trudy looked at her as the events of the night before began to replay in her alcohol addled brain.. she remembered the kiss,, and smiled sweetly at simone.. simone returned the smile and squeezed her hand.. surely it was a moment in time neither of them would ever forget.. 

simone’s docket number came up before trudy’s.. trudy looked on with a heavy heart as simone was remanded without bail.. simone looked back at trudy as she was being led away to the holding cell just off the courtroom.. trudy gave her a halfhearted smile,, and a tentative thumbs up.. secretly she wished they had met under different circumstances.. beverly simone had been the first woman in what seemed like forever who had ever even been nice to her.. 

‘maybe we could have been friends..’ trudy thought to herself. ‘who knows,’ she mused as she remembered the feelings of longing she had felt when simone had kissed her, ‘maybe even more than that…’

“hunt!! trudy hunt!!” 

trudy was shaken from her thoughts about simone by hearing her name called out loudly from the bench.. she stood up, ,still a bit shaky on her feet but slowly made her way to the podium in front of the magistrate.

“so we meet again!” the magistrate called out intimidatingly. 

“seems like you just can’t leave well enough alone, hunt.. and if the truth be told,, i am sick and tired of seeing you here.. your total disregard for the law is evident.”

trudy looked down at the floor as the magistrate continued.

“two counts of assault and battery.. two separate counts in the same day? one count of assault on a police officer, make that numerous counts of assault on a police officer.” she continued as she flipped thru the numerous pages that evidently detailed trudy’s escapades of the previous day. 

‘one count of resisting with violence. one count of drunk and disorderly. one count of battery on an inmate.. need i go on?? your total disregard for the leniency of the court in previous matters, paints a rather grim picture ms. hunt.. a grim picture indeed..”

trudy shuffled uncomfortably.. 

“it is my recommendation that you be held without bail until the investigation in to the second incident of assault is completed.. remand!!” the magistrate shouted, as a uniformed officer of the court grabbed trudy’s arm roughly and dragged her off in the direction of the holding cell.. 

as the door slammed behind her,, trudy was overcome with emotion.. she broke into deep heavy sobs and slipped to the floor just inside the door.. 

simone came over and knelt next to her.. 

“it’s gonna be alright.. come on over here and sit by me.. look at the bright side.. at least we’ll have some time to get to know each other better..”

a dazed and confused trudy followed simone’s lead and sat on the cold steel bench beside her.. she buried her head in simone’s accommodating shoulder and wept until she could weep no more.