Mrs. Carbine pulls out three composition books then hands us one individually "Let's try something else," She says, also grabbing a handful of pencils to pass around. "You guys are going to write journal entries about an issue, you have with someone...
Day after day, a new person came on the witness stand, testifying against Skylar. From Ryder's girlfriend, Haley to his football friend, Zachary then Officer Benefield, and Detective Han. The law enforcement explained in detail, what evidence was discovered leading up to an arrest. A large plastic bag labeled EVIDENCE is shown to the court, which contained missing limbs. The family couldn't keep their composure, they sobbed as more evidence came to light.
On August sixth, the last hearing before deliberation. An unexpected person comes to testify in Skylar's defense, Principal Bryan Steinback. "Skylar is one of those students who arrive but doesn't do any work but when he participants in activities he puts in all effort".
"Any disciple issues?" Mrs. Calway asks, she looks back at Skylar and returns her glance to the witness.
"Yes, a couple of fights. Skylar wasn't the aggressor, he never antagonized Ryder. But Ryder often targets Kaizen, he was the perpetrator that escalated things with violence" Steinbeck explains.
"What kind of injuries did Ryder cause to Kaizen?" Mrs. Calway asks, walking around to stretch her legs.
"Burn marks, a black eye, busted lip. The list goes on and on" Steinbeck further explains.
"Why didn't you expel Ryder?" She asks
"Because Alejandro Daniel was the school administrator" He continues "I didn't want to get fired".
Bryan Steinbeck sniffles, he looks at Kaizen from out in the distance. You can see how bad Steinbeck feels about letting one of his students down. "I knew...Ryder had raped Kaizen, in that alley" He says, "I watched the footage...and tried to do the right thing"
"What did Alejandro say when you sent the footage over?" Mrs. Calway asks.
"He told me to delete it, said no one will believe a boy who cried wolf". Once that's said, Kaizen is heard crying in his mother's lap. Ara grabbed her brother's arm, as they escort Kaizen out.
Kaizen doesn't know what's worse. Finding out the principal of your school knew about the pain you endured or the principal just ignored it.
"No more questions," She says, walking back to her seat.
Mr. McKenna stands fixing his tie, when approaching the stand Steinbeck looks at him. McKenna walks over to the television screen, he presses the remote which alerts everyone to watch a troubling video. You can see Kaizen pinned against the stone-cold ground in an alley, while Ryder and a 6'1 boy white boy held Kaizen down- a female with pretty blue hair sat on his face moaning as he is forced to give oral sex. All private areas are covered with a black block, however, the video is straightforward.
Mr. McKenna turns it off, the television went dark. "You failed to protect, Kaizen. You had a choice, do nothing or hand this video to the police. And you...just acted like, it never happened"
"I didn't want to lose my job" Steinbeck tries to justify his actions. "Not again, you know how long it took me to get hired somewhere? Restaurants, businesses, retail. people want to work but don't bother checking applications. You have to wait, apply at a hundred places before someone calls you in for an interview"
More concerned about work than safety, it's difficult to convince Steinbeck he did the wrong thing.
"Tell me this, if that was a woman getting raped by three men. Would you have called the police?" Mr. McKenna asks.
"What are you trying to say?" Steinbeck asks stupidly. Mr. McKenna steps even closer to the stand, and Steinbeck can see the fury in his eyes.
"Let me dumb this down for you, if that was a straight female or man getting raped by three people. Would you have called the cops?" Mr. McKenna yells.
"What no. Sexuality has nothing to do with this!" Steinbeck argues.
"Oh, I think it does" Mr. McKenna walks backward, shaking his head "Because I guarantee if that was a straight male getting assaulted, you would've called the police in a heartbeat".
"No, that's not true"
"Because Kaizen is gay, so you just swept it under the rug"
"NO!"
"If you called the police right then and there, do think Kaizen would have been raped two more times?"
Steinbeck swallows hard, hesitant to answer, he stares at the lawyer blankly.
"No more questions"
A closing argument occurs after these last testimony. First, Mrs. Calway explains to the jury how Skylar was protecting his boyfriend. Eric was repaying Kaizen with a good deed after being a bully for months. And Umang was simply at the wrong place, wrong time. "Yes, they killed Ryder Daniel. And obviously, feel bad about it. Neither of them wanted to hurt anyone, except they had a choice. Let this person continuously rape their friend, and possibly have that friend commit suicide. Or, handle Ryder themselves. If there was no rape, we wouldn't be here. No rape, no murder" Mrs. Calway says "Give these boys a chance".
Next, Mr. McKenna stands to make a final argument. He looks at everybody in the courtroom, saying "A human being is dead. A mother lost her son. Everyone makes mistakes, but it doesn't result in a death sentence. Never should. Just because you made mistakes, doesn't mean you're a bad person. Give Ryder justice"
~♡︎~
|Kaizen's p.o.v|
"What is taking them so long?" an hour into jury deliberation, I sat outside the courtroom next to Ara. I anxiously rock my body, back and forth waiting. Mom looks down at me while my head rested on her shoulder.
"Sometimes it takes longer than expected to make a decision," Ara says.
"What decision are they trying to make?!" I yell, obviously stressed.
"Honey it's-" Mom starts to say.
Suddenly, the door opens with Officer Benefield standing in the doorway. I look at Benefield, expecting him to tell us the verdict but he shakes his head. Though I'm unclear about what that means in this situation, I still feel physically sick. "What? Did they come back? Guilty? Not guilty? What?" I ask quickly, Ara grabs my forearm.
"They couldn't decide," Officer Benefield says, I throw my hands in the air. "The judge is giving them a few more days".
I face Mom, completely speechless as Benefield walks away. These possibilities rewind in my head, guilty. not guilty. guilty.
And now, for the time being, Skylar is free while Umang and Eric await deliberation.
________________________________________
Author's Note: This book has come a long way! THANK YOU SO MUCH for the 400 votes, it means alot. We have three chapters left before the sequel is published. Readers will finally get a backstory on Skylar's life, as I'm sure many of you are interested in.
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