Big Blue Sky | JJ Maybank x Male OC

~ 24 ~

A few days later I sat in the courtroom, looking up towards where John B sat, in front of the judge.

"John Booker Routledge," the judge said. "Pursuant to the North Carolina statute section 14, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty."

She banged her gavel as commotion immediately sprouted up. My heart dropped as the words left her mouth, thinking about them killing John B.

"Your Honor, he's seventeen!" JJ yelled, standing up. I stood up immediately after him, putting my hand on his chest, whispering for him to calm down. "He's seventeen! Are you kidding me!"

"JJ," I said, backing him up. "JJ, calm down. Don't make it worse."

"Hey, John B, we're gonna figure it out," he called out to him as we moved to leave.

I watched as Sarah hurried toward the front, trying to get to John B. One of the bailiff's got in the way, but Kie pulled her away first. We all filed out of the courthouse, making our way back outside with everyone else. People all around us made crude comments about John B, believing he deserved it.

"Is this a joke?" Kie said. "Like, are we in hell or...?"

"I should have never come home," Sarah said.

"They're gonna kill him, guys. I know it," JJ said.

"Not helping, J," I responded.

We looked over as we overhead some people apologizing to Ward for what they've been going through.

"Can you please shut up?" Kie snapped, stepping towards them. "Of course you think the system worked, because it was made to protect you and people like you."

I stepped as close to JJ as possible, gripping his hand and forearm. He squeezed my hand as we watched the scene.

"He'll have his day in court," the man replied. "A jury will decide."

"He shouldn't even be in court!" Kie shouted. "You should, cause you're a murderer! You have a lot of nerve showing up to court."

"I know you're upset," Ward said disarmingly as several officers came over to our group. "I understand you're upset, okay?"

"Upset?" Kie retorted.

"I knows he's got you fooled," Ward continued. "He's got you all fooled."

"No, I'm not just upset!" Kie screamed, lunging for Ward. JJ and some of the officers leapt into action, grabbing onto her and pulling her back.

"Show some respect!" Ward snapped.

Shoupe tried to calm us down.

"Why don't you take the Kooks down for a change, Shoupe?" JJ snapped at him.

"You wanna get arrested?" He retorted, but had no time to continue speaking as a voice spoke up and interrupted him.

"I suggest you stop while you're ahead, Officer Shoupe."

We looked over to see my mother stepping down the stairs of the courthouse, her heels clicking. She was wearing a knee-length, tight, black dress. She had a designer purse in her elbow, her phone held tightly in her hand. She walked over to us, the clicks of her heels radiating intimidation.

"Make one more threat towards my son or his friends and your time as interim sheriff will come to an end much sooner than planned," she said calmly, then paused for a beat. "I'll make sure they don't cause anymore trouble. Don't you worry your little head about a thing, Victor. Besides, I'm sure you have plenty of business to attend to. Bringing in a fugitive accused of murder sounds like a lot of paperwork. I'm sure arresting a juvenile would just make the stack taller, wouldn't it?"