Chapter 38: The Lost Cause
Todd Jacobson sat on the bed in his prison cell. Everything seemed hopeless, he thought to himself. It was now only a matter of time before his life would be over. He shared his cell with Jay, a three hundred pound, six foot four body builder covered in tattoos. Jay had thirty-two previous convictions. Three of them were for murder. He was due to be released in two weeks for good behaviour. Todd was accused of being an alien. The sentence was death by lethal injection.
If at night Jay wanted the light left on, Todd would leave the light on. If he wanted to sing out loud at a time when Todd was feeling tired, Todd didn’t object. He didn’t want to be number four on the list even if his own future looked bleak.
“Do you know any stories Todd?” Jay asked him one night.
“Not really,” Todd replied.
“I’d like to hear a bedtime story,” he said shaking Todd’s bunk bed.
“Ok, Ok,” Todd replied as he desperately wracked his brain for some inspiration.
“There once was the story of a young elf name Elfin..”
“I don’t like elves. I want something else,” Jay replied as he rattled the upper bunk bed once more.
“There once was a magical kingdom of fairies…”
“I hate fairies.”
“What do you like Jay?” Todd replied in an effort to be helpful.
“I don’t like fairies and I don’t like elves,” Jay responded angrily. “Think of something.”
“There once was a story of two young brothers. They were both strong, athletic and clever. As they grew up they were both keen rivals and good friends. One time they heard of a castle full of gold that was guarded by a fire breathing dragon.”
“I don’t like dragons.”
“One time they heard of a castle full of gold that was guarded by three angry giants,” the reformed alcoholic began again.
“You’re rubbish,” the mound of muscle informed him. “I want to go to bed. That’s the last time I ask you for a story.”
Todd didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or worry about the next time Jay asked him for a story.
The following day Todd was informed that he had a visitor. When he arrived at the meeting room he could see that it was Melanie Chowdar the young Lawyer that had tried to help him.
She was well dressed in a white blouse, blue jacket and skirt. Her hair which was lighter in colour than normal was neatly brushed back. The young woman wore light makeup and had painted her finger nails. This was no place for her, Todd thought to himself.
“Hi Todd. How are you,” she asked.
“I don’t want your help anymore. I was told that I am to be injected in four weeks if I don’t appeal. I’ve heard that for people who do appeal there is a zero percent success rate. If you’ve come to help there is no point. Please go home.”
Melanie could see that Todd was reacting in this way because he knew that if she helped him she would suffer a similar fate.
“Why did you leave Todd?” Melanie asked without flinching.
“I told you that I didn’t want your help,” the prisoner responded in as cold a manner as he could muster. “That’s the reason I left.”
“A woman came to me and said that you had been helping out at the homeless shelter. Is that true?”
“That was Avica. She exaggerates. I told her not to contact you. You are a good woman but this is more trouble than it is worth.”
“I’m sorry Todd that this had to happen to you,” Melanie responded with a hint of compassion.
“I don’t want your pity. It wouldn’t do either of us any good,” he said before climbing out of his chair. “Thank you and goodbye.”
Todd knew that he had to be as unfriendly as he could be. He respected Melanie as much as he respected anyone in the entire world. I’m doing it for her sake more than anything else, he thought to himself.
Melanie knew it wouldn’t be easy to try and persuade Todd to defend himself. Nobody had ever challenged a changeling conviction successfully, but Melanie kept telling herself that maybe there was a first time for everything. History had taught her that and she wasn’t about to give up so easily.
Melanie Chowdar sat in the Conference room at a long table opposite Mr Beauchamp, Mr Reilly and Mr Walters. Mr Baddock was absent but even so, Melanie felt extremely nervous.
“Ms Chowdar,” Mr Beauchamp addressed the young lawyer, “Mr Walters has informed us that you want to represent a vagrant accused of being a changeling. Is that correct?”
Melanie didn’t like Mr Beauchamp’s choice of words or his insensitive manner, but she knew that she had to humour him.
“Well yes,” she responded.
The experienced lawyer took a brief moment to pause before continuing. “We cannot under any circumstances recommend this. You know we do not represent any changelings, especially a vagrant. It doesn’t conform with our policies and you should know that. What are you thinking exactly?”
“And what happens if I insist?” Melanie asked. She could have let the matter slide but with each passing day she became more and more passionate about helping Todd. She was proud of his achievements. She had stuck her neck out for him and he had repaid her in spades. This was the reason I became a lawyer, she told herself – to protect the innocent and fight for justice. That and the money.
“Then, Ms Chowdar we would have to let you go,” Mr Beauchamp stated frankly. “The reputation of the firm otherwise would be irreversibly damaged.”
“We represent clients with reputations to uphold,” Mr Reilly concurred.
“And money,” Melanie suggested.
“Well, we are not a charity, Ms Chowdar,” the Mr Beauchamp replied.
“But he is innocent, Mr Beauchamp,” the young employee insisted.
“You know very well, that that has no bearing on whether or not we represent candidates,” Mr Beauchamp replied, unmoved.
“Don’t you have hearts? Can’t you see what is happening to this country?” Melanie asked in a frustrated manner. “Don’t you think it’s wrong? Don’t you think it is time that someone makes a stand against the Government, against everything that is wrong with this country.”
Melanie didn’t expect her bosses to listen to her, but she felt she owed it to herself and Todd to try as hard as she could to win them over.
“If we had hearts like you Miss Chowdar we wouldn’t be where we are today. It is not for us to make political statements. We’ll leave that to the radicals who protest on the streets. It’s time for you to decide Miss Chowdar. Are you with us or are you not. Are you one of us or are you a radical?”
“I am neither Mr Beauchamp. I decided I wanted to be a lawyer to make a difference. I was raised on ideals, on lawyers who defended innocent clients because they cared.”
“You’ve been watching too much television,” the senior partner declared. “That is not how the real world works. Lawyers don’t make political statements. We work hard but we also get paid. Somehow we have to pay for the 12.9 cups of coffee you consume every morning as well as the 17.3 reams of paper you go through every week. There are plenty of bills to be paid for Miss Chowdar and looking after vagrants isn’t one of them.”
“I think you are living in a bubble Mr Beauchamp,” the young woman declared emotionally. “I believe there are lots of lawyers out there like me who chase the innocent client rather than the fast buck and I would rather stand with them than remain in a firm full of people with hearts full of stone.”
As Melanie spoke, she looked at each of her superiors. Most of the time they avoided eye contact and were completely unmoved. It came across that they saw this case as a poisoned chalice and would have nothing whatsoever to do with it. There wasn’t the slightest hint of empathy towards Todd Jacobson.
“Very well, Miss Chowdar,” Mr Beauchamp replied, “you know where the door is.”
Melanie stood up apprehensively. Part of her didn’t want to destroy her career because of a rush of blood to the head but part of her wanted to desperately follow her heart. It seemed like a long trek back to the door and she made it apprehensively. This chapter of her life was now over.
When Melanie Chowdar arrived home to her apartment she couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself. She no longer had a job and had barely enough money to last two further months. She lay on her bed resting and wondering what she could possibly do. The minutes slipped by quite quickly.
At 5:45 Max entered the apartment. He was early. Melanie’s heart sank. She didn’t want to face him. “Melanie!” he called out several times. Eventually she answered. He entered her room as she sat upright on her bed and staring away from him in the direction of the wall.
“I received a phone call from Mr Beauchamp. He told me that you walked out. Is it true?”
Melanie had been dreading this. She expected an argument. She hated conflict of any kind but did not want to back down.
“Why does Mr Beauchamp have your number?” she asked.
“Melanie don’t be silly,” he replied as he came around to stand in front of her. “You need that job. It must be a misunderstanding of some kind. I’m sure they’ll give it back to you if you ask them.”
“Max, I can’t go back. I never liked them anyway,” she said in a despondent tone. “They’re too stuffy and old fashioned. I can’t bear it.”
“Mr Beauchamp told me that it was because of a vagrant and a drunkard that you walked out. Don’t be so damn foolish. He’s not worth it. You risk your neck to save his and he’ll let you down again and again.”
Part of Melanie didn’t want to be around Max any longer. Only a short while ago she thought he was perfect but now she didn’t want him to be right. There was something that she did not like about him but it wasn’t something she could articulate clearly. He was always critical of Todd but then many others would probably take the same dim view.
“I never could understand those bottles in the apartment the day he left,” Melanie replied. “You planted them there didn’t you?” Melanie was going out a limb, partly because she didn’t want to go back and partly because Max had always been hard on Todd. She didn’t really believe it. Attack is the best form of defence she told herself.
“What are you saying?” he asked
“Todd has been sober for months. He didn’t drink a drop. You did what you could to convince me he fell off the wagon. You planted the drink in his apartment. You did.”
Max paused for a moment. Now he believed that she believed it. “What if I did?” he asked aloud. “I’ve told you all along he’s no good. It’s only a matter of time.”
Melanie felt deeply let down. This was the first serious flaw she had noticed in Max that she could point to, the entire time she knew him. She knew he had been critical of her attempts to help Todd before but she had put it down to him looking out for her interests. Setting Todd up and lying about it was incredibly nasty and she would never see Max in the same light again.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Max left the room and went to the front door. Melanie did not want to speak to anybody right now. She was emotional and found it hard to stop tears coming from her eyes.
Melanie could hear the sound of her fiance inviting guests into the apartment.
“Look darling, your parents are here,” Max announced.
Melanie could not help but feel that Max was doing everything he could to persuade her to come round to his point of view. A short while ago she would have seen this as well intentioned but now she thought he was being manipulative, sly and cynical. At this moment she did not want to be around him.
“Hello, Melanie,” her parents said in unison as they stood at the doorway to her bedroom.
Melanie looked away.
“Is something the matter, darling?” Sherrie asked. Melanie didn’t respond
“Melanie just told me that she packed in her job over that drunkard she took in off the street,” Max replied.
“Todd, the guy who brought drink back to the apartment?” Sherrie asked.
“Please, I don’t want to talk to anyone right now,” Melanie declared in a despondent tone with tears in her eyes. “As far as I’m concerned myself and Max are finished and I’m not going back to that job.”
“Melanie,” Howard interrupted, “try to see some sense. Don’t throw your life away. Max has always done right by you and you did well to get your job. You worked hard for it. All this for a drunkard just like your Father. You do realise that if you associate with this guy you may as well be like him. In the eyes of the law only changelings look out for changelings. This is serious you don’t want to get involved.”
Melanie had always been black and white when it came to right and wrong. It was the very reason she had become a lawyer. Until now she thought her stepfather was without flaw. Now she realised that even those who seemed perfect were really shades of grey underneath. Someone like her biological father who she had seen as a villain growing up now seemed closer to white in her mind than Howard was. The lesson that Howard and Sherrie and Max seemed to be conveying to her was to look out for number one. The lives of people like Todd did not matter.
Melanie was still looking away. “I don’t want to talk to any of you right now. Max can pack his bags.”
“Don’t worry Max,” Howard addressed him as he patted him on the back, “she’ll come round.”
The three of them left the room. Melanie could just about hear them talking as they did so. Perhaps Max could have persuaded her to “come round” if only she hadn’t discovered how fake he really was. Even she had doubts about her actions. There was always the possibility that Todd was going to let her down after doing so much for him. The irony was that Todd had exceeded her expectations and it was Max who had disappointed her. Todd ended up in prison and Max was seen as the man who could do no wrong by her parents. Something seemed horribly wrong with this world from her point of view.