NEW KID

Prologue

Laura Doneghy
Wednesday, 6th January, 1982

The whirring of fans above Laura's head muffled the whispers, murmurs and coughs from the crowd behind her. The frequent squeaking of wooden chairs and shuffling feet added to the noise.

Her heart pounded quickly ever so often that it was no longer unusual, the knots in her stomach wouldn't let up-drinking and eating had become a Herculean task, her clothes felt as heavy as brick on her skin. She felt empty-she has been laid bare and dissected, like a specimen in the laboratory, before the court, the audience cheering and booing every step of the way. Her eyes were dry now-she had no more tears to shed.

She was still in disbelief, the whole incident played over and over in her head like a broken record tape.

'What went wrong? It makes no sense at all. I was a fool, I should have seen this coming, but how? How could this have happened?' She thought everytime. She bowed her head, it felt heavy on her neck.

Mr. Galvin reached out and grasped her left shoulder bringing her back to the present, back to the courtroom. She raised her head slowly, gave Mr. Galvin a glance before scanning the room.

Laura sat beside Mr. Galvin-her counsel at the prosecution table; the defence table was a few meters away to her right and on it sat Herbert White-the monster. Both tables were positioned facing the Judge's bench with the court clerk stationed beside the bench; and on the other side of the bench sat the jury.

Behind Laura sat the gallery of spectators and amongst them were her sisters and parents-who probably might be the only people in the courtroom that felt her plight.

Her eyes met Herbert's and she withdrew her gaze, as quickly as one would their finger from a hot stove. After a moment she glanced back at him, and he was staring unblinking at her, his face blank as a sheet of paper, his eyes sunken and emotionless. She felt a jolt of cold run down her spine, her heart pounded faster, she felt dizzy for a second, and for the first time in a long time, she felt a Singular distinguishable emotion-hate, an overwhelming amount of it.

"Mr. Galvin", the Judge called from the bench, drawing Laura's attention.

"Your Honour", Mr Galvin called back.

"The court is ready to hear your closing statement now", The Judge stated.

"Thank you, your Honour", Galvin replied, letting go of her shoulder as he stood up and walked up to the podium.

The whispers and murmurs died down, and one last squeak of a chair introduced the courtroom to a deathly silence.

"Ahem", Mr. Galvin cleared his throat, took a deep breath and turned to give Laura an apologetic look-the one he always seems to give her.

"Good afternoon once again your honour, and members of the jury", he began in earnest, "Ms Laura Doneghy, a seventeen year old student of Milford Secondary School, has indeed been put through an ordeal, a horrible one. Members of the jury, I want you to try and imagine the emotional and psychological toll that must have had on Laura and the Doneghys. She's just a kid, she didn't deserve any of this", Mr. Galvin stops to adjust his neck tie, the court still and quiet as a graveyard bar the whirring of the ceiling fans.

"This heinous crime committed against Laura was not perpetrated by a stranger! Oh no! It was her own classmate, her own close friend, Mr. Herbert White.

Here is an undisputable fact; Mr. Herbert White committed those crimes, no doubt about that. Now, the defence is trying to spin another story to exonerate Mr. White of said crime, making claims that are hearsay at best, with no concrete evidence backing them.

Justice must be done, if not we undermine everything that Laura has been through, we trivialize it, like it was just a petty crime.
The punishment must fit the crime, otherwise, we risk such animosity occurring again, we risk trivializing a heinous crime.

Here is another undisputable fact; members of the jury, today you have the power to punish the wicked and mete out justice, please use that power judiciously and let justice be done.

Thank you", Mr. Galvin concluded and walked back to his seat.