Law of Attraction by Allison Leotta Read Free Book Online Page A

is. Some men just want to get in your pants and then that’s it, they done. D’marco want to be in my life. He want to take care of me and the kids. I am not gonna stop that.”
    Anna was brimming with frustration. She had to excuse herself and step out of the little room to clear her head. She walked to the back door of the courthouse and stepped out onto the concrete patio. It was early May, and she inhaled the scent of damp earth as she paced, oblivious to the smokers standing under the eaves.
    Sometimes, Anna let a case be dismissed if a victim asked her to drop the charges. She considered doing that here. Laprea wanted it. Some people argued that it was paternalistic to pursue a case againstthe victim’s own wishes. Anna didn’t want to override Laprea’s decision; it was important for the woman to feel that she had some control over her own life.
    A memory flashed, unwanted. Anna saw her mother’s face, the fear in her eyes when her father came home after another night at the bar. Alcohol seeped from his pores. Anna and Jody crouched under the table as their father held his belt, the one with the big pewter buckle, looped in a leather coil.
    Anna shook off the image.
    Laprea’s children were four years old. Soon they would start internalizing their father’s violence—and be more likely to replicate it. Dameka would be at risk of becoming an abused woman; D’montrae would be more likely to become an abuser. Anna wished someone had made her mother testify against her father back when Anna was four. Back when it could’ve made a difference.
    She wasn’t dismissing this case. She needed to protect Laprea, even if Laprea didn’t want her protection at the moment. Anna believed she knew what was best for her, better than Laprea did herself.
    Anna returned to the room where Laprea and her mother sat in stony silence. She crouched by Laprea’s chair.
    “I’m sorry,” Anna told Laprea softly, “but I’m going to have to call you to the stand. I hate this part of my job, making someone do something they don’t want to. But I saw what he did to you. I can’t let this case be dismissed.”
    Laprea nodded in resignation. They would both do what they believed was right. But it wouldn’t turn out as either of them intended.

6
    M s. Curtis, please call your first witness,” the judge said.
    They had already gone through opening statements, which were always short in a bench trial. In misdemeanor cases, where a judge decided the defendant’s guilt, there was no place for the big speeches of a jury trial. Anna had just laid out the basic facts and charges: D’marco was charged with assault and threats for the post–Valentine’s Day attack, and contempt of court for telephoning Laprea from jail. Nick reserved his opening statement, choosing not to tip his hand yet.
    “The government calls Laprea Johnson,” Anna said. Grace sat at the prosecution table next to Anna. She was on the record as cocounsel, but she was really just there for moral support. She smiled encouragingly at her friend.
    Laprea climbed to the witness chair, raised her right hand, and swore to tell the truth. Anna led Laprea through the preliminary questions. Yes, Laprea knew a man named D’marco Davis. He was the father of her four-year-old twins. They had been seeing each other romantically, on and off, for the last five years. Yes, she saw Mr. Davis in the courtroom. Yes, she could identify him: there he was, sitting in the orange jumpsuit next to his lawyer. Laprea looked right at D’marco as she was asked to point him out. They smiled at each other across the courtroom. Anna should have known what would come next.
    “Ms. Johnson, did something unusual happen between you and Mr. Davis on the morning after Valentine’s Day this year?”
    “Yes, it did.”
    “Please describe what happened.”
    Laprea paused for a few seconds before answering. She looked down at the microphone in front of her. D’marco stared at her intently. Nick was