Dark Moonlighting by Scott Haworth

in your story. What happened between the time
you were driving home and the time you woke up in your bed?”
    “I…” Sam began embarrassed. “I don’t rightly
know. I’ve had these blackout spells since I was a kid. Sometimes I
can’t remember what happens.”
    “I see,” I said. “Can I speak to
Richard?”
    “What?” Sam asked in puzzlement.
    “Sam, I would like to speak to Richard.”
    “Mr. W-W-Whittier I d-d-don’t k-k-know
w-w-w,”
    “Let me speak to Richard you pathetic piece
of shit!” I suddenly screamed at Sam.
    “Objection,” Kelley yelled as he leapt to his
feet, finally snapping out of his funk. “He’s badgering the
witness.”
    “He’s badgering his own witness,” Judge Yoest
said confounded. “Still though… it’s hardly appropriate.”
    “Your Honor, if I could just have a little
leeway I think you’ll see—”
    “What do you want asshole?” Richard
interrupted me.
    I turned towards the stand and saw “Richard”
staring back at me from behind Sam’s eyes. Richard was the polar
opposite of Sam’s sheepish schoolboy persona. Through earlier work
with my client’s alternate personality, I found that Richard was
confident and aggressive. Now it was time for us to show the jury
the sharp contrast.
    “Hello Richard,” I said, adopting a more
combative tone. “Perhaps you can shed some light on what happened
to your father that night.”
    “Wasn’t my father,” Richard corrected. “But I
straight up murdered that bitch.”
    There was a collective gasp and fury of
conversation from the gallery. This time Judge Yoest did have to
bang her gavel and call for order.
    “He was a pervert,” Richard stated
matter-of-factly. “He used to touch Sammy’s junk and make Sammy
touch his junk. Happened all the time when he was a kid. That was
around the time when me and Sammy first became friends. So I
stabbed that fool and dumped his body in the woods. Good riddance,”
he added as he leaned back in his chair.
    “What a startling confession,” I stated for
the jury.
    “Man, I don’t give a shit,” Richard said with
a wave of his hand. “Wasn’t the first little bitch I popped.
Probably won’t be the last neither.”
    “Can I speak to Sam again?” I asked.
    “Yeah, sure,” Richard answered
dismissively.
    Richard threw his head down, shook violently
for a moment and then swung his head back towards me. The
transition was instantaneous. The doe-eyed schoolboy stared at me
for a moment before frantically scanning the courtroom.
    “W-w-where I am? What happened?” Sam
asked.
    “It’s okay Sammy. You blacked out for a
second there,” I reassured him.
    “Sammy?” Sam questioned. “Ain’t nobody called
me Sammy since I was a b-b-boy. I didn’t do nothin’ bad when I was
away did I? I sure w-w-would hate to be a bother to you fine
folks.”
    “Sam,” I started in an all-knowing voice.
“You didn’t do nothing bad. No further questions, Your Honor.”
    For the sake of the jury, I pretended to
shake off the strange incident as I made my way back to the defense
table. Another wave of conversation filled the gallery, forcing
Judge Yoest to bang her gavel again and warn that any more
disruptions would not be tolerated. Christina, looking very
puzzled, leaned over to me during the brief respite.
    “That was it?” she questioned.
    “That’s all I needed,” I confirmed.
    Michael Kelley stood up from the
prosecution’s table and paced around for about a minute. When he
was done with the theatrics, he moved to the left of the stand so
that he was within inches of Sam and looking towards the jury.
    “That was some performance,” Kelley
complimented my client. “I know I sure was impressed. I’d be pretty
sympathetic to your condition if I thought you were sincere.”
    “Objection,” I interrupted. “I don’t hear any
question.”
    “Sustained,” Judge Yoest said.
    “Fine,” Kelley said in exasperation. “Mr.
Norton, when were you first diagnosed with