’em better’n anybody, so’s sometimes they made suggestions. Like, maybe this guy or that guy was havin’ a real sorry day, or his buddies wuzn’t treatin’ him too good, or he seemed sorta moody or depressed.”
“All right. Who brought you and the other female soldiers into these sessions?”
“Didn’t really go like that.”
“Then how did it go?”
“One night, things jus’ . . . well, jus’ kinda happened.”
This endless rephrasing of simple questions was really starting to annoy me. Usually no sane defense attorney places his own client on the witness stand, particularly if he knows or suspects the client has something to hide—guilt, for instance. But I was beginning to theorize that Lydia Eddelston was an exception. I pictured the frustrated prosecutor blowing his own brains out in front of the court. “What kind of things happened?”
“Well . . . one night Danny wuz bringin’ this prisoner back to his cell from interrogation. I wuz there’n so was June. Anyways, this prisoner, ever’body wuz sure he was some kinda bigwig, hotshot insurgent. Them intel folks had interrogated him like ten times and got nowhere—they was pretty worked-up’n all.”
She paused and turned suddenly thoughtful. This was getting interesting and I leaned across the table toward her. “And what happened?”
“I’m . . . well, I’m tryin’ to recall ’xactly how it went down. I remember, he . . . this pris’ner, he saw me’n June, and he got real uptight. Y’know, all tense-like and squirmy. So June, she’s pretty forward’n all, she moved up real close to this guy and she rubbed up agin him. Y’know, jus’ sorta rubbed her titties agin him. Guess the idea jus’ sprung into her head . . . and he started blabberin’ somethin’ . . . and then, next thing you know, she started unbuttonin’ her shirt, and doin’ this bump’n grind. And this guy . . . well he looked like he just got a cattle prod stuffed up his rump. Got all talky and nervous. Real sudden-like.”
“And what happened next?”
“Well, then June, she took her shirt and drawers off, and started doin’ this dance. She was down to her undies, but Danny ’n Mike started singin’ this song, and like a stripper would do, June took off her bra and started movin’ her hips real slow-like, and pinchin’ her boobs and all. And that prisoner, he kept shuttin’ his eyes. But if you looked real close-like, you could tell he was a’peekin’. So June, she says to Danny, ‘Hey, pull down his drawers. Let’s see what he’s got.’ ”
“And did Danny pull down his drawers?”
“No . . . Danny sorta had to think about that for a bit. Then, well . . . then, he said I should maybe do it . . . and . . .”
“And . . . ?”
“I figured it made sense, you know? And . . . really, it wuzn’t no big deal. So I did, and this guy . . . he was . . . well, much as he acted like he wuzn’t payin’ June no mind, that wuz a lie, cuz he had this real huge boner. And he got real embarrassed, and started wailin’ all this stuff, in Iraqi . . . jus’ losin’ it.”
“And then?”
“June took off her underdrawers, and kept dancin’, only now, she was like . . . totally stripped. That Iraqi guy, he jus’ went to pieces, cryin’ and howlin, throwin’ a real tizzy. So Danny, he took the guy outta there, and brought ’im right back to them interrogators. He tole us later, Danny did, that the guy gave up ever’thing. Names of other Hadjis, where some big arsenal was hid . . . like, whatever they asked, he jus’ couldn’t spill fast enough.”
I looked at Katherine, but she was preoccupied with giving our client a supportive look and ignored me. I turned back to Lydia. “And did the intel people understand the nature of the treatment that made him open up?”
“Nature of the treatment?”
“That June had disrobed and sexually taunted the prisoner. That he was psychosexually . . .” I
“All right. Who brought you and the other female soldiers into these sessions?”
“Didn’t really go like that.”
“Then how did it go?”
“One night, things jus’ . . . well, jus’ kinda happened.”
This endless rephrasing of simple questions was really starting to annoy me. Usually no sane defense attorney places his own client on the witness stand, particularly if he knows or suspects the client has something to hide—guilt, for instance. But I was beginning to theorize that Lydia Eddelston was an exception. I pictured the frustrated prosecutor blowing his own brains out in front of the court. “What kind of things happened?”
“Well . . . one night Danny wuz bringin’ this prisoner back to his cell from interrogation. I wuz there’n so was June. Anyways, this prisoner, ever’body wuz sure he was some kinda bigwig, hotshot insurgent. Them intel folks had interrogated him like ten times and got nowhere—they was pretty worked-up’n all.”
She paused and turned suddenly thoughtful. This was getting interesting and I leaned across the table toward her. “And what happened?”
“I’m . . . well, I’m tryin’ to recall ’xactly how it went down. I remember, he . . . this pris’ner, he saw me’n June, and he got real uptight. Y’know, all tense-like and squirmy. So June, she’s pretty forward’n all, she moved up real close to this guy and she rubbed up agin him. Y’know, jus’ sorta rubbed her titties agin him. Guess the idea jus’ sprung into her head . . . and he started blabberin’ somethin’ . . . and then, next thing you know, she started unbuttonin’ her shirt, and doin’ this bump’n grind. And this guy . . . well he looked like he just got a cattle prod stuffed up his rump. Got all talky and nervous. Real sudden-like.”
“And what happened next?”
“Well, then June, she took her shirt and drawers off, and started doin’ this dance. She was down to her undies, but Danny ’n Mike started singin’ this song, and like a stripper would do, June took off her bra and started movin’ her hips real slow-like, and pinchin’ her boobs and all. And that prisoner, he kept shuttin’ his eyes. But if you looked real close-like, you could tell he was a’peekin’. So June, she says to Danny, ‘Hey, pull down his drawers. Let’s see what he’s got.’ ”
“And did Danny pull down his drawers?”
“No . . . Danny sorta had to think about that for a bit. Then, well . . . then, he said I should maybe do it . . . and . . .”
“And . . . ?”
“I figured it made sense, you know? And . . . really, it wuzn’t no big deal. So I did, and this guy . . . he was . . . well, much as he acted like he wuzn’t payin’ June no mind, that wuz a lie, cuz he had this real huge boner. And he got real embarrassed, and started wailin’ all this stuff, in Iraqi . . . jus’ losin’ it.”
“And then?”
“June took off her underdrawers, and kept dancin’, only now, she was like . . . totally stripped. That Iraqi guy, he jus’ went to pieces, cryin’ and howlin, throwin’ a real tizzy. So Danny, he took the guy outta there, and brought ’im right back to them interrogators. He tole us later, Danny did, that the guy gave up ever’thing. Names of other Hadjis, where some big arsenal was hid . . . like, whatever they asked, he jus’ couldn’t spill fast enough.”
I looked at Katherine, but she was preoccupied with giving our client a supportive look and ignored me. I turned back to Lydia. “And did the intel people understand the nature of the treatment that made him open up?”
“Nature of the treatment?”
“That June had disrobed and sexually taunted the prisoner. That he was psychosexually . . .” I
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