“Was he your father when he hired six men to rape you?”

“That hasn’t been proven yet.”

“And it never will be without your testimony.”

“That’s circular logic,” I say. “You’re saying I must testify against him because he is guilty, but then you say he can’t be proven guilty unless I testify against him. You can’t have it both ways.”

“But that’s the thing, Ms. Lurie. I think you already know he’s guilty. Everyone in this room knows he’s guilty. Even the defence team knows he’s guilty. You were there. You saw how he reacted. Was he surprised and horrified when those men broke into his house? Was he shattered when they assaulted you? Did he plead with them to stop? Did he do anything—anything at all—to try to stop them?”

“He was in fear of his life.”

“Really? Is that how he seemed to you? Afraid?”

“He rushed at them and they stopped.”

“They stopped because a single, unarmed man rushed at them?”

I nod.

“Then answer me this,” she says. “When you heard he’d been arrested for conspiracy to commit sexual assault, were you surprised?”

“Surprised? Of course I was.”

“Or did everything seem to click into place at that moment? All your unanswered questions, your lingering doubts? Did everything begin to make sense for the first time since your assault?”

“No. That didn’t happen.”

“I don’t believe you. You have that look in your eye. The one that says you know the man in your life is guilty, but you’re choosing to protect him anyway. You’re the enabler that every abusive man needs in order to keep on doing what he does.”

I don’t like this woman. She is rude and meddlesome. She makes me want to do the exact opposite of what she says.

I get to my feet.

“I want you all to leave now. The defence lawyers are drawing up an affidavit for me to sign this afternoon. You can subpoena me if you like, but the answers I give won’t help your case.”

The advocates start speaking, but Itumeleng rolls over them.

“You’re not helping your own case by living in denial,” she says. “You need to get over whatever Stockholm syndrome you’ve got going on in your head. Wake up and smell the patriarchy. You won’t heal until you do.”

I point to the door. “Leave. Now.”

The men are displeased by the disruption Itumeleng has caused. I can imagine the scene in the car on the way back to the office. They will berate her for speaking up and blame her for my lack of co-operation. She may even lose her place on their work-experience programme.

Good.

CHAPTER 17

IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
(WESTERN CAPE DIVISION)

CASE NUMBER: 05/201901

In the matter between:

THE STATE

and

DAVID LURIE

AFFIDAVIT

I, the undersigned

LUCY LURIE