ch. 1
Contrary to what you might think, this is not a love story. This story is really about a judge who is driven crazy by the disloyal women who come to him for revenge for their unfaithfulness.
Due to his distrust of women, Judge Goldsmith has never had a wife. Each week, he sees wives cheat on their husbands, and he always gets angry when one of them gets angry and asks Judge Ackerson to take on their case instead even though it isn’t allowed.
A general rule of thumb is that he always sides with the husband’s viewpoint because of the natural disgust he sees in women. The woman’s view will only prevail if John Holiday, his best friend, appears in court to represent the woman’s viewpoint or if the father appears incapable of caring for his children. Despite his very biased nature, the court of appeals has never removed him from his position.
Goldsmith will always lean towards giving custody of a child to the father whenever a divorce case is being settled, and he prays for the child each time he hears a case just like it.
In the evening, he takes off his suit and looks in the mirror. Old and wrinkly, his skin looks fine, since he is a man of authority. Goldsmith keeps his word, even when he coughs up a lung, but tonight he will sit in the courtroom for the last time due to his failing health.
After finishing his last drink of wine, Goldsmith went to bed and never awoke. They found his half-naked body on his bed where he had choked on his vomit. The old judge never had enough money to save him, however, he drew up many deals with demons while he was still living.
In his work, he sought their assistance. They helped him finish college and get his first job in the courtroom as a judge’s assistant. Judge Goldsmith acknowledged the demons every night whenever he prayed. He began praying to them when he was younger, but it wasn’t because he was religious. He just hated his name, Geraldine.
