A: No.
Q: You didn’t see them, so naturally you couldn’t have said anything like that to them.
A: I wouldn’t have said anything to them in any case.
Q: Well, ‘Good evening’ is only a form of greeting, isn’t it? Nothing provocative about that. Nothing seductive. Why couldn’t you have said, ‘Good evening, boys’?
A: Because I’m not in the habit of talking to strange men.
Q: Especially when they’re invisible, isn’t that so?
A: I don’t understand your question.
Q: Well, you said they weren’t there, didn’t you? That means they were invisible.
A: No, that means they weren’t there.
Q: You only saw them later.
A: Yes.
Q: These same three men.
A: Yes. No. I didn’t see anyone at eight o’clock, I only saw these men when I came back to the car.
Q: At a quarter after ten…
A: Yes.
Q: … or a quarter after eleven, whenever it was.
A: It was a quarter after ten. I’ve already told you…
A: Really, Mr. Aiello.
Q: I’m sorry. Your Honor, but if you’ll allow me…
A: Where are you going?
Q: I am trying to show, Your Honor, that the witness’s account of what happened at what time, or what was said at what time, is confusing at best. And if she’s confused about the basic facts of the…
A: I’m not confused about anything that happened that night. You’re the one who’s trying to confuse the facts!
Q: Your Honor, may I please proceed?
A: Let’s hear where you’re going, Mr. Aiello.
Q: Thank you. Mrs. Leeds, you say these three men were standing outside the back door of the restaurant, smoking under the light back there, when you returned to your car at a quarter after ten.
A: Yes.
Q: You heard them testify earlier, did you not, that they were in the kitchen at that time, washing dishes?
A: I heard them, yes.
Q: One of you must be mistaken, don’t you think?
A: Not me.
Q: You heard them testify, did you not, that the only time they saw you was at eight, when you parked the car?
A: I heard them.
Q: Are they mistaken about that, too?
A: Or lying.
Q: And were they lying when they said you showed a great deal of leg while you were getting out of the car…
A: No one was there when I got out of the car!
Q: And that you said, ‘Good evening, boys.’ Was that a lie? The testimony of all three men to that effect?
A: It was a lie.
Q: Did you hear the testimony of the chef, Mr. Kee Lu, to the effect that these three men were in the kitchen washing dishes at a quarter past ten and could not possibly have been outside smoking at that time?
A: I heard him.
Q: But he must be mistaken, too. Or lying. Or both.
A: If he says they weren’t outside, then he’s lying.
Q: You alone are telling the truth.
A: About that, yes.
Q: But not about anything else?
A: I’m telling the truth about everything.
Q: As, of course, you’ve sworn to do. But you say these others are lying.
A: If they claim…
Q: Everyone’s lying but you, is that it, Mrs. Leeds? But isn’t it possible that you’re confusing what happened at eight o’clock with what happened at a quarter past ten?
A: I wasn’t raped at eight o’clock!
Q: Nor has anyone said you were. But, tell me… were you worried about getting raped when you parked the car?
A: No.
Q: While you were parking the car, you weren’t concerned about the possibility of rape?
A: No, I didn’t even consider that possibility.
Q: Because if you had, you might have parked the car elsewhere, isn’t that so?
A: There weren’t very many spaces left when I got to the mall. Anyway, it’s an expensive car, I was worried it might get damaged. So I parked it away from the other cars.
Q: But if you’d considered the possibility of rape, you might have parked elsewhere, isn’t that so?
A: No, it was only a short walk to the mall.
Q: You weren’t worried about getting raped on your short walk from the car to the mall, were you?
A: No.
Q: Or on your walk back to the car after the mall closed, were you?
A: No.
Q: So, really, Mrs. Leeds, you weren’t worried at all about getting raped there where you’d parked the car, were you?
A: No, I did not expect to be raped.
Q: When you came back to the car, did you expect to be raped then?
A: No.
Q: Even though there were three men standing there behind the restaurant?
A: I knew they worked there.
Q: How did you know that?
A: They looked like kitchen help.
Q: Isn’t it possible that you weren’t afraid of getting raped at a quarter past ten because there was no one there to rape you at that time?
A: Oh, they were there, all right.
Q: But not when you say they were there.
A: Objection!
A: Was that a question, Mr. Aiello?
Q: I’ll rephrase it. Your Honor. What time was it when you claim to have seen these three men?
A: A quarter past ten! How many times do I…?
Q: While they were washing dishes in the restaurant kitchen!
A: No! While they were raping me on the hood of the goddamn…
Q: Objection!
A: Sustained. Please answer the question, Mrs. Leeds.
A: That’s the only time I ever saw them. The only place I ever saw them. While I was being…
Q: No further questions.
But of course there were further questions.
5
She was sitting out by the pool when Matthew arrived at three that afternoon. Green maillot swimsuit to match her eyes, reddish-brown wedge-cut hair catching the late-afternoon sunshine, a green terry band across her forehead, a faint sheen of perspiration on the sloping tops of her breasts above the suit’s bodice. She asked if he’d care for a lemonade. Or something stronger. She herself was having a gin and tonic. He said that sounded good, and she went inside to prepare it for him.