Barclay Davis - Angela, Frida Speaks

Art by Scopedog

 The custody trial for Angela continues.

Archie Sanders had taken the stand. He told the court that he had met Frida when she was working as a stripper at some gentlemen's club, which was a surprise to everyone, including Max. He then produced photos of Frida engaged in sex with her college roommate, Catherine Walsh, in the hopes of convincing the very conservative judge Ezekiel Stone that Frida was a person of very dubious and questionable behavior, thus handing custody of their daughter Angela to him.

But thanks to Victor's cleverness and resourcefulness, they were able to gain recorded proof that the reason Archie wanted full custody of Angela was so that he'd be married and in legal possession of a child of his own before he turned 30, or else his family will cut him out of their lives without a cent. But because Victor gained that evidence illegally, by breaking into Archie's place, they couldn't present the evidence in court. So Frida's lawyer, Izzy Feinberg, had to get Archie to slip up and admit that it was indeed the reason. And, during cross examination, Izzy succeeded in getting Archie to say it.

But now, it's Frida's turn to take the stand and give her side of the story.

***

Judge Stone calls on Frida to take the stand. After being sworn in, Frida sits in the docket for Izzy to talk to her.

"Could you please give the court your name?" Izzy asks Frida.

"My name is Frida Birgit Olsen." she says.

"Can you give the court a brief description of yourself, Ms Olsen?" Izzy asks of her.

"Well..." Frida said. "I'm a high school math teacher, working at Danforth High School since the beginning of September. I'm the only child of my family. My father died when I was five, after I was playing backyard tag with him. My own mother neglected me after that, blaming me for my father's death. My situation at home got so bad that I was taken from my mother and put in a foster home, where I got the love and support needed.

"After high school, I went to college to become a teacher. But in order to cover for my expenses at a teacher's college, I took on a part time job serving drinks at a club called Ecstacy."

"Wasn't that a well know strippers club?" Izzy asked of Frida.

"Yes, it was." Frida said. "But I was hired to serve drinks, not to take my clothes off in front of strangers."

"So how did you end up becoming a stripper?" Izzy asks Frida.

Frida explained "Well, one night, the manager came up to me and told me that a lot of customers were asking about me, and why I'm not performing. He said I could make a fortune performing on stage. But I really had no interest in stripping, until I noticed some of the money the ladies were pulling in a night. So, because I needed the money for school, I decided to go for it. Reluctantly."

"How were you as a dancer?" Izzy asked.

"I think I did well." Frida said. "I knew how to dance, so it was easy for me to perform."

"Were you comfortable in that job?" Izzy asked.

"No. I can't say I was." Frida answered. "Everytime I stripped down nude, I lost a bit of myself. What's worse was going out to perform private dances for the customers."

"You mean lap dancing?" Izzy asked.

"...Yes." Frida said in a disgusted tone. "Sometimes the men I performed for were gentlemen and kept their hands to themselves. But more often than not, they felt entitled to do whatever they wanted with me. I hated it. I felt violated! But I was making good money, so I put up with it."

Then, Izzy asked Frida "When did you start seeing Mr. Sanders?" 

"A couple of months after I started stripping." Frida said. "He was with a party of about a half dozen other guys. They were loud and making a scene in the club. Archie had called me over, because he wanted to speak with me, so I obliged. Archie was a real charmer that night. He was telling me how beautiful I was, and that someone like me should be seen in public with someone like him. We then went to the back, and I gave him a few lap dances."

"How did he behave?" Izzy asked Frida.

"He was well behaved, for the most part. There were times when he put his hands on me where they weren't supposed to, I let him know about it and he obliged. Afterwards, he wanted to go out with me. I was rather reluctant at first, because I heard stories about him. But I gave in and went out with him."

"How was he, when he started dating?" Izzy asked.

"He was a gentleman, at first." Frida said. "Giving me flowers on our first date. Taking me to the finest restaurants and clubs. At that point, I thought the rumors about him were false.

"But as we kept on dating, I noticed some odd behavior in him. As if I was somehow his possession to do what he liked to me. He started telling me what to do, how to think, what to order off the menu. He's also known to spout off racist, sexist, homophobic remarks around people, as if it was no big deal to him. One time, he was pushing around this smaller person around in order to get him to do what he wanted of him. I went up to Archie and asked him if all that was necessary. He responded by holding his arm in the air as if he was about to backhand me in my face, and told me to 'shut up bitch, before I smack you!'"

"That doesn't sound like a gentleman to me!" Izzy said.

"OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR!" Tyrone said. "Counsel has clearly decided to opinionize my client!"

"Sustained!" Judge Stone said. "Just keep asking your client questions, counsel." he told Izzy, who didn't mind that.

Izzy then asked Frida, "Did he look alright, to you, Ms Olsen?"

Frida continued talking. "No he didn't! It was then, I started thinking about my relationship with Archie. I decided one night to tell him we were through dating."

"How did he take it?" Izzy asked.

"Not very well." Frida said. "He started whining and crying not to break up with me. And, me being a gullible fool, I fell for it. We made love that night."

"And then what?" Izzy asked.

Frida answered, "A couple of weeks later I missed my period. I went to the gynecologist to find out what was wrong. They told me I was pregnant."

Izzy asked, "And was Archie Sanders the one who conceived you?"

Frida answered "Yes."

"How did he take the news when you told him?" Izzy asked.

"Badly!" Frida said. "He got furious and accused me of trapping him. I told him I wanted to break up with him, but he was crying like a little baby not to do that. He then reacted by backhanding me across the face. At that point, I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. When I started to leave, he grabbed a hold of my arm, hard. I reacted by kicking him in the groin. I then ran as fast as I could into my car and drove off!"

"And how were you, after you left him?" Izzy asked.

"I was scared and fearful." Frida responded. "I didn't know what to do, or where to turn to."

"Did Mr. Sanders offer you any support, during your pregnancy?" Izzy asked.

"No, he didn't!" Frida said. "I only talked to him once, during my pregnancy, and he wanted me to get an abortion."

"Were you willing to go along with that?" Izzy asked.

After a brief pause, Frida said "Well...the thought did cross my mind. But I really didn't want to go through with it. Archie was furious, vowing not to pay a dime for his own child. But that's OK. I really wanted nothing to do with him after that!"

"Must have been quite scary for you, having to raise a child on your own." Izzy said.

"It was!" Frida said. "But I was able to turn to my foster parents, Marie and Gerald Webster for help in my delivery and by raising her while I was studying to become a teacher. I don't know what I would have done without them."

"Did you try reaching out to Mr. Sanders, for financial support?"

"I tried, but I couldn't get through to him." Frida said. "It felt like he was trying to avoid me."

"Did you ever see Mr. Sanders, after you conceived Angela?" Izzy asked.

After a brief pause, Frida said "The only time I saw Archie was running into him at the Broadview Harvest Festival. It was there he was attacking the way I was raising my daughter. We started arguing, and he grabbed Angela's stuffed rabbit, and he flung it far and away. Angela was badly crying, and Archie threatened to give her something to cry about."

"So what happened next?" Izzy continued.

"Well..." Frida said, "Max came over and started confronting Archie."

"Max?" Izzy said.

"Yes." Frida said. "Max Edwards. He's a friend of mine and a fellow teacher at Danforth."

"What did Max do?" Izzy asked.

Frida said "Max went up to Archie and got into his face about his behavior towards Angela and I. Archie didn't take Max seriously, but when Max went and grabbed a hold of him, Archie punched him to the ground. Max got up and tried to go after him again, but Archie grabbed his wrist and was twisting it until Max was on his knees. I tried to stop him from hurting Max, but Archie slapped my face with the back of his hand. He started laughing at that. Then, he turned to look at Max, who punched Archie in his face...but it did nothing to Archie. He then punched Max hard, sending him flying to the ground!" Max looked a bit embarrassed by that, while Archie had a smug, satisfied look on his face.

"And then what?" Izzy asked.

Frida continued. "As Max was lying on the ground, Archie went charging after him. But before he could get at him, someone got between him and Max. It was a mutual friend of ours, Paul Legare. Paul wasn't going to let Archie get at Max. Archie tried to sucker punch Paul, but he blocked it, and threw a punch at Archie. Archie then tried going after Paul, but Paul kept punching him, whenever Archie made a move. In the end, Paul beat him up so badly, he wanted nothing to do with us. But before he left, he told me that things weren't over between us and that things change for a reason."

"Is that when you started getting concerned for your daughter?" Izzy asked.

"Yes." was all Frida said.

Izzy then asks Frida, "Ms. Olsen, can you tell the court what happened the day Angela was taken from you?"

"It was an early Friday afternoon." Frida said. "I wasn't teaching a class, when I was summoned to the main office for something important. When I got to the desk, they handed me the phone. Marie was on the other end, telling me Archie had taken Angela away from her. Without thinking, I ran out the building and drove away in my car. I went to Marie and Gerald's place, where they told me everything. I was losing it, then and there. I then went over to Archie's place to confront him about it."

Frida continued. "When I got to Archie's, I started banging on his door and screaming at him to let me see him. He opened the door, and immediately told me, in no uncertain terms, to get lost. I told him I wanted my daughter back, and that he had no right to take her. He then shows me a piece of paper which states he has sole custody of Angela. And that I should get lost before he has the police on me. I wasn't having any of that, and kept on persisting that I see her. After a moment, he went up to me and told me he could make arrangements to see her...provided I perform oral service all over his groin."

"How did you react to that request?" Izzy asked her.

"Well..." Frida said. "I didn't say much, at first, because I was taken aback by that request. But then, I approached him with a sly look on my face...and then, I punched him in his groin!" There were some chuckles from Frida's side, when they heard that. Frida continued. "As Archie was bent over in pain, I kept screaming at him, calling him every name in the book.

"...then........he punched me in the mouth!"

There were some gasps when Frida said that. She continued. "I went flying to the ground. My mouth was smeared with blood and lipstick. I looked up at Archie, who had the ugliest of looks on his face. He growled at me and said to me 'You get the fuck out of here now! Before I have you physically wiped off, for good!!!' He then went back inside and slammed the door behind him.

"After that, I lost it!" Frida said. "I drove around crying my eyes out, not knowing what to do next."

Izzy then said. "Thank you, Ms. Olsen. No further questions, your honor." And then turned to head back to his seat.

As Izzy was doing that, Archie caught a glimpse of Max, Victor, and the Gang, giving him some very angry looks his way, with Victor snapping his claws at Archie, wanting to do the worst to him.

Archie was taken aback by that. But he just turned his head away from them and decided they were all losers.

Coming up: Barclay Davis - Angela, Frida Gets Cross Examined