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The names of the persons concerned have been changed to preserve anonymity, to Daisy & Donald Duck and friends.

So i was quite resolved to work through Halloween weekend and ignore everyone else enjoying my favorite time of year. I did some make up for my friend and i was content with at least having contributed.

My dear friend Daisy has been going through a break up with her long time guy. She and i bonded a bit since the summer, since we were two friends`s in a similar situation. We went out for beers and vented and counseled each other… whatever. We both had guys who had a Dr Jeckyll Mr Hyde complex.

However… her situation is a bit extreme. Her guy is an Irish immigrant known as Donald. He had a work visa that expired in April this year. So technically, he`s been here working illegally since then. I`ve gotten to know the 2 of them over the last 3 years and we got along great. So when Daisy started sharing some of the issues she`d been having, i was very surprised.

Donald has a drinking problem. And his drinking was what cause his Mr Hyde to come out. Unlike my own guy, who just became a bit of an ass i can`t communicate with, Donald became abusive and even violent in some cases. About 2 months ago, they resolved to end the relationship for good. Daisy was to continue living with until she could move out on Dec 1st. One month ago, Daisy showed up with a tiny old bruise on her neck, and her wrist in a cast. She told me in private that Donald had been smashed a few days ago, and attempted to strangle her (hence the bruised neck) which caused her to punch him in the head in defense and break a bone in her wrist in the process.

Now, Daisy, much like myself, is a woman of strong character. I have faith in her to handle situations of the sort on her own, and not become a victim, despite her petite physique. Seeing Donald in social situations conduct himself properly ashamed and humbled only reaffirmed my feelings.

But the next time we sat down for a beer, it became apparent Daisy was starting to wear very thin on the surface. It seemed these violent outbursts were more frequent than i had been led to believe. She decided to spend her nights elsewhere for most of last week rather than to deal with Donald. I can only be supportive, i offered my couch if she needed it. But when she called for a favor on Sunday evening, it wasn`t for a place to sleep.

“Can you do me a huge favor” she asked in a very embarrassed voice ” Can you go bail Donald out of Jail?”

It turns out that friday night, after going out to a Halloween party, she decided to go home and sleep in her own bed. Donald came home near 6am from his own celebrating, very inebriated. She told me he`d attacked her while she was sleeping, and that her parents had called the police when they found out.

Sunday his friend Goofy tried to bail him out, but he was not permitted to for several reasons, and since Donald would have to stay with him while Daisy packed her things up and moved out, the judge felt that 2 blocks away was not safe enough a distance.

So i agreed to go bail out Donald, understanding that i would be responsible to call the Police if he showed signs of breaching the restraining order, and making sure he made his court date. Another friend of his, Mickey, was to come with me as another potential Surety (Civil Jailer) Goofy insisted on coming with us, clearly upset by his “buddy being in jail”, making it clear he felt Daisy was somehow at fault for this, and taking the time to smoke a joint before walking into the Courthouse. What a fucking tool.

I finished work at 3 am and got to sleep for about 3 hours before i had to get up to go to the Courthouse. They conducted a criminal background check on myself and Mickey to make sure we qualified as potential sureties. Once we were cleared, an officer escorted Donald into the courtroom, handcuffed, and sat him down in a closed off bench off to the side of the judge. The bailiff stated the charges (3 counts of assault, and possession of narcotics)

The prosecution then pulled out a bright red sheet of paper, and read from it a summery of the victim`s (Daisy) statement to the police.

Saturday morning the accused got home and found the victim sleeping in bed. He got up on top of her and woke her up rather roughly. She struggled and yelled at him to get off and leave. He didn`t like that, so he threw up on the wall, where she hit her head. Seeing he wasn`t going to listen to her, she grabbed her phone to call the police. He took it from her and threw it out the window, saying if the cops came, he`d plant drugs in her things so she would be arrested. He threw her to the floor, where he pinned her down with his forearm to her neck. He eventually got tired of this i assume, because he tossed her out on the street in her pajamas. She found her phone in the garden and called her parents to come pick her up. Donald agreed to let her back in to grab some clothes, but then physically blocked her from leaving the apartment.Her parents took her home for the remainder of the morning.

Her parents called the police. They came to take Daisy`s statement where she worked, in the afternoon, then decided to go “pick him up”. Neither Daisy or her parents are pressing charges for the assault, but since the cops found 1.5 grams of cocaine on him at the time of arrest, they sent him off to jail.

So i was a bit… well bothered by the severity of the charges. Obviously. Donald had seemingly cracked under the large loads of stress he had been under, combine that with alcohol and substance abuse, and he`s turned into a violent fuckhead. I felt the two nights he`d spent in jail were well deserved, and that he needed to seek help for his physical dependencies and emotional distress.

They called Mickey and i to the stand, and we were questioned by both the defense and prosecution. After some time, it was agreed that Donald would be released to Mickey who was selected as surety, under a $5000 bail which was to be paid if the conditions for release were broken (one of which was a restraining order, thank fuck) They escorted Donald out of the court room and told us to go sign papers for his release.  He never once made eye contact with me.

By noon, everything was signed, we were told where to go to await his release.

4 hours later, we are informed that Immigration has reversed the decision to release Donald out on bail, and that he would be put through a criminal hearing on Wednesday.

I went home, very tired and very angry, and late for the plans i`d made to go out. I didn`t much feel like celebrating Halloween anymore, but i made an effort and went anyways, for a couple of hours.

So that was my Monday at the Courthouse.

Fuck it.