Second Chance

Chapter 23

"So, as we know Mr. Blok went to a party, got drunk, and stole a car." Jen started, although not very well in my defence, but I expected that. "He and Mr. Sumit drove to that clearing and started shooting off fireworks. One of the fireworks went rogue, and it hit Mr. Sumit, killing him. That does not mean that Mr. Blok intended for the firework to hit him. It could have been a complete accident."

Of course it was a complete accident! I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Also, the firework didn't hit Riley. He covered me from the explosion. He protected me and saved my life, which I totally did not deserve.

"If it was an accident, why did Mr. Blok put Mr. Sumit in danger in the first place? They could have enjoyed the party, not drank, and stayed safe. Instead, Mr. Blok had the audacity to pull Mr. Sumit into a very dangerous situation." The lady with the short blonde hair countered, standing up as well.

"Mr. Blok put both himself and Mr. Sumit in that situation. It was not intended to go that far." Jen amended.

"Yet he willingly made the situation worse by strapping dynamite to an already extremely explosive object." The blonde lady pointed out.

"Mr. Blok was under the influence of alcohol at the time. He was not aware of the consequences." Jen reminded.

"He was also drinking underage, which is a felony as well. It also appears that he has done this several times prior to this incident, with a fake ID." The blonde lady picked up a plastic bag from the table and held it up for everyone to see, which had my fake ID card in it. I obviously didn't have my phone or wallet with me, so they must have found the card hidden in my wallet. She turned to glare at me, and added. "It seems as though Mr. Blok had more than one illegal item on him during the incident."

The argument ended shortly after that, and we were allowed a fifteen minute break while Jake was getting ready for his testimony. I was sure this was not going to go well, and just to rub salt into the wound, Jen said quietly beside me. "There is a lot of evidence against you, Justin. I'm a good lawyer, but I'm not sure I'm that good."

I gave her a dry look. "You're not even trying to defend me. You hate me, remember?"

"I'm not supposed to like any of my clients." Jen said sharply. "That would be biased, and I could lose my job."

I didn't say anything back, I just looked up at Jake, who was standing in that testimonial booth thing beside the judge. He looked back at me and scowled, probably because he was pissed at me that I wrecked his truck.

A few minutes later, we continued on, and it was Jake's turn to speak. "I invited Justin and Riley to my party, but didn't see them much." Yeah, because you were drunk out of your mind like everyone else. Although, he has a stupid safety net for that because he's eighteen, so he's allowed to drink. Lucky fucker. "Later on, after the party, I went into the garage to check on my truck, and it was gone. I had the keys with me, and there was broken glass on the ground, meaning Justin and Riley broke into my truck and stole it. As far as I know, neither of them can drive."

He's talking about Riley as if he was still alive. It's not like he cares at all that Riley is dead, but he probably wished it was me, just like everyone else here, including me. If Riley was in my position right now, he probably would get out of this unscathed. The only thing that would be on his record would be selling illegal drugs, which he did not even do, and robbery of a vehicle, which was not him either. They might have even dropped the charge of getting me killed, and written it off as an accidental death.

After Jake's testimony, it was my turn again, except this time I would be explaining my reasoning behind everything that happened and why I didn't mean to kill Riley, and that it was all an accident. As I stood in the booth, however, I got really nervous with all these eyes on me. The judgemental, suspicious, hate filled eyes.

I took a deep breath, and started my speech. "Riley Sumit was my best friend. My brother. I loved him more than anyone else I have ever met. I would never intentionally hurt him, and I regret pulling him into my problems, but we had a strong and beautiful friendship. I do not regret our bond that we formed over the many years of knowing each other, but I do regret all the trouble I caused for him. I did not mean for any of it to happen. It was all an accident, and if he were here with us today, he would say the exact same thing."

The courtroom was silent as I walked back to my seat, except for the quiet murmurs of the jury coming to a decision. Finally, the judge looked at them and said. "Have we come to a decision?"

My heart thudded in my chest as one of the jury members stood up. "We have not, your honour." He said, and my heart sank. "We have to review the evidence and reconvene at a later time."