Betrayal for Kindness

I found a girl passed out on the sidewalk, dead drunk. Being a decent guy, I got her a room at a five-star hotel to keep her safe.
She thanked me by calling the cops and accusing me of rape.
She sobbed on the stand.
I was drunk I woke up in a hotel bed, naked.
You monster, she cried, pointing at me. I dont even know you. How could you do this to me?

I paid an exorbitant amount for bail. The day after I got out, I saw her again. Same situation, passed out drunk on the street.
This time, I walked on by.

1
You bastard! Shes only twenty! Are you even human?!
A middle-aged man, his eyes bloodshot, screamed at me, his voice cracking with rage. If the bailiffs werent holding him back, he would have torn me apart with his bare hands.
Beside him, the girl, Tina, was a portrait of sorrow, her shoulders shaking with sobs as if I were some kind of monster.
Mr. Vance, the opposing counsels voice was like ice, my client, Miss Tina Reed, accuses you of raping her two nights ago in room 708 of the Grand Astoria Hotel. How do you plead?
The comments on the livestream of the trial were a torrent of hate.
Scumbag! Fry him!
Looks so clean-cut in that suit, but hes a total predator.
That poor girl. They need to throw the book at him!
I stood in the defendants box, my mind a complete blank.
I thought back to two nights ago.
I was on my way to meet friends after a work dinner when I saw a girl passed out on the sidewalk. A group of guys who looked like trouble were circling her, whistling, their intentions clear.
I frowned and walked over. What do you think youre doing?
They were younger than me, but Im built solid. They muttered a few curses and shuffled off.
I knelt and gently tapped the girls cheek. Hey, wake up. Where do you live?
The reek of alcohol was overpowering. She was completely unresponsive, just mumbling something incoherent. I looked in her purse for a phone or an ID, but all I found was makeup and a set of keys.
Leaving her there, dead drunk, was just too dangerous.
I sighed, hauled her to her feet, and half-carried her to the nearest decent place, the Grand Astoria.
I got her a room and laid her on the bed. I remembered my first-aid training and made sure to turn her on her side, in case she got sick. The moment I did, she threw up. All over the brand-new Armani suit I was wearing for the first time.
The smell was so foul I almost joined her.
I stripped off the ruined jacket, threw it in the trash, pulled the covers over her, and left. My friends were waiting.
I thought that was the end of it. A small, insignificant act of kindness that had cost me a new suit. Bad luck, nothing more.
The next day, I was in the middle of a crucial project meeting at my firm when two police officers walked right into the boardroom.
Whos Alex Vance?
Every head in the room turned to me.
Were from the city PD. Youre a suspect in a sexual assault case. Please come with us.
In front of my bosses and my entire team, they slapped handcuffs on my wrists. In that moment, I went from the companys rising star to its resident rapist.

2
Mr. Vance, please explain to the court why you would take a complete stranger, a drunk young woman, to a hotel? Tinas lawyer was relentless.
Like I said, I was concerned for her safety, I answered calmly.
Her safety? he sneered. So your kindness was to get her a hotel room?
She was unconscious. I couldnt get an address out of her. A hotel was the safest option at the time.
Tinas father exploded again. Bullshit! You were just using that as an excuse to take advantage of my daughter!
Order! the judge warned, banging his gavel.
The lawyer continued. Hotel security footage shows you entering room 708 with Miss Reed at 11:10 PM and leaving at 11:35 PM. What did you do in that room for twenty-five minutes, Mr. Vance?
I got her settled, dealt with my ruined clothes, and left.
Dealt with your clothes? Or dealt with the evidence of your crime?
Tinas sobs grew louder. When I woke up, I was in the hotel bed. My clothes were off. My head was pounding I couldnt remember anything.
She pointed a trembling finger at me, her eyes filled with a mixture of terror and hatred. I found the room key on the nightstand and had the front desk look up who paid for it. It was him. I dont even know you! Why would you do this to me?!
Her accusation was like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head.
I looked straight at her. Let me ask you, I said, my voice low and steady, do you have a single piece of evidence that I touched you? Any marks on your body? Any physical evidence from the room?
Her lawyer answered for her. My client underwent a full examination. Due to your sophisticated methods, you left no obvious signs of violence! But that does not exonerate you! As for evidence, my client was disoriented. Who knows if you cleaned the scene?
Her father roared, My daughters word is all the proof we need! Shes a good girl! Do you think she would ruin her own reputation to frame you? What kind of monster are you?!
The online vitriol intensified.
Still denying it! What a piece of work.
These smart criminals are the scariest. They know how to cover their tracks.
She has no reason to lie. Believe the victim!
I was trapped. A young womans tears were the most powerful evidence in the world. In the court of public opinion, a thirty-year-old man taking a drunk twenty-year-old to a hotel was guilty by definition. My explanations were useless.
The lawyer pressed on. Mr. Vance, you claim this was an act of kindness. Have you ever performed similar acts of kindness before? Can you produce a single witness to testify to your sterling character?
I was speechless. I was an orphan, raised on the pension benefits of my father, a fallen soldier. Id worked my ass off to get where I was. I didnt have a large circle of friends, and certainly no one I could call to vouch for my moral character on a witness stand.
My silence was taken as an admission of guilt.
The judge looked from me to the weeping girl and called for a recess. We will reconvene next week to examine the prosecutions evidence.
Because I was the son of a war hero and had a clean record, and because my father's old unit stepped in to post an astronomical bail, I was temporarily released. The moment I stepped out of the courthouse, I was swarmed by reporters.
The flashbulbs were blinding.
Tinas father broke through the crowd and punched me square in the jaw. Scumbag! Ill kill you!
I didnt fight back. I couldnt. I was out on bail. If I retaliated, Id be back in a cell with an added assault charge, and tomorrows headlines would read: ACCUSED RAPIST ATTACKS VICTIMS FATHER OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE.

3
My life was in ruins.
The company put me on indefinite leave to handle my personal affairsa polite way of firing me.
In my apartment complex, neighbors would see me and immediately cross the street, their eyes filled with disgust and fear. My landlord called and told me to get out, said I was ruining the buildings reputation and he was getting grief from the other tenants.
I locked myself in my apartment, poring over legal texts. The evidence was all against me, the DA was sharp, and the public had already convicted me. Tinas father had used his media connections to paint me as a monster. Someone had even dug up the fact that my parents were fallen heroes.
Hes spitting on their graves!
They should strip him of his parents honors! He doesnt deserve them!
Human trash.
Those words hurt more than any punch.
I turned off my phone, feeling the walls close in. That night, I went out for a walk, just to breathe.
I found myself at the same intersection as two nights ago. And I froze.
A familiar figure, in the exact same pose, in the exact same spot.
It was Tina.
She was drunk again, passed out on the cold pavement. Her purse was open, lipstick and a compact scattered on the ground. The night air was chilly, and she was wearing nothing but a thin dress.
I stood about thirty feet away, just watching her.
My fists clenched and unclenched.
I saw her fathers twisted face. Her lawyers cold, accusatory eyes. Her own pitiful, tear-streaked performance on the stand.
Help her again? And wait for another accusation when she sobered up? Maybe this time it would be robbery?
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
To hell with kindness.
This world doesnt deserve it.
I pulled out my phone. 10:30 PM.
Then I turned and walked around her, like stepping over a piece of trash that had nothing to do with me.
Behind me, I heard a few low whistles as a group of young men headed in her direction.
I didnt look back.

4
The next morning, the frantic buzzing of my phone woke me. It was my lawyer.
Alex! Its bad! Turn on the news!
I switched on the TV. The local morning news was covering a story.
Tragedy struck last night as a young woman was found deceased on a city street. Police have identified her as twenty-year-old Tina Reed. A preliminary investigation suggests the cause of death was asphyxiation after choking on her own vomit while intoxicated
The screen showed Tinas face, pale and lifeless. Police tape cordoned off the scene.
The anchors voice was filled with sorrow. Sources say Miss Reed had been drinking heavily. If only a kind passerby had noticed her condition and helped her, even by simply turning her head to the side, this tragedy might have been avoided. The death of this young woman is another stark reminder that apathy is the most terrifying disease of our society.
I stared at the screen, my face a blank mask.
A kind passerby? The last kind passerby was being raked over the coals by the entire country and was about to face prison time.
Just as I turned off the TV, my phone rang. It was her fathers number.
I didnt answer. I could imagine the venom, the unhinged accusations he would be screaming into the phone. He would blame me for his daughters death. In his mind, it was all my fault.
Sure enough, within half an hour, the narrative online had shifted.
#RapeVictimDiesAfterOrdeal
The hashtag shot to the top of the trending list. The comments were a baying mob, calling for my head.
Hes a murderer now!
It wasnt just rape, it was manslaughter! He needs the death penalty!
Avenge this poor girl! Make the monster pay!
My face and personal details were plastered all over the internet again. I was now the villain responsible for a young girls death.
My lawyer called again, his voice grim. Alex, this is not good. Public opinion is overwhelmingly against you. Theyre saying you killed her. You need to be prepared for court this afternoon.
Prepared for what? I asked.
Theyre going to use this. The pressure on you will be immense. You
I know, I cut him off.
I hung up, walked into my bedroom, and put on my best suit. I stood in front of the mirror and straightened my tie. The man looking back at me was calm, his eyes cold.
Tina, you tried to ruin me with a lie about your honor. Now youre trying to bury me with your death. You and your self-righteous father have underestimated me.
This game is just getting started.
At 1:30 PM, I was back in the defendants box. The gallery was packed with reporters. Tinas father sat in the front row, dressed in black, his bloodshot eyes fixed on me like a predator.

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