dollhouse

four

MAYA

" Now, what is Criminal Defence?" he started the lesson.

Immediately, most hands of the people in the class shot up, knowing the answer and eager to answer it. He looked around, furrowing his eyebrows and using his fingers to scratch his chin as he thought carefully on who to choose. After turning his head from left to right, then right to left a couple of times, he fixed his eyes on a pair.

" Maya!" he called out.

My eyes went wide open again as he called my name. With the teacher placing his attention on me, and only on me, everybody's head was turned to the back, fixing their gaze on me. I looked around, getting uncomfortable from all the stares but got my focus back when Matthews called on me again. Clearing my throat, I stood up.

" A criminal defense lawyer, also known as a defense attorney, is a lawyer specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity," I answered, smoothly.

I sat down once I saw an approving nod and raising of eyebrows from Matthews as he continued taking a few steps away from the students' chairs. He then went on to a few cases about defending the right and wrong criminal. Hearing him contrast the two subjects made me listen attentively, reminding me of my mother, Katy. She defends Kyan, the right criminal when she should defend herself, the wrong criminal, to set herself free.

My thoughts slowly drifted away when Matthews started writing down our assignment on the chalkboard. Using our student instincts, we immediately started writing what he wrote on the board down in our notebooks.

Ways to Defend the Criminal

" Since you all have been studying so hard for the past three and a half years, you all are finally assigned a case," he remarked, making most of the class cheer in excitement while the others just stayed calmed in their seats.

Between Riley and I, guess who did which.

" You guys are assigned Ms. Veronica Evans," he started.

X

In this case, Ms. Veronica was accused of murdering her boyfriend, Mr. Pete Von, who was already married to another woman, Mdm. Jess Von. Why should we put the murder on Ms. Veronica when Mdm. Von could be behind it because of jealousy, and hatred.

I scribbled down every idea I could to defend Veronica in this second-degree murder case. But all that was on my mind was a common defense method. I used my fingers to scratch both sides of my head in frustration, unable to think of other defense methods to keep me on my seat.

" The ones who have poor defence sentences, will be taking a seat away from your desks and on the floor. While the rest of you who have strong defence sentences, will remain in your seats to find what is next for you,"

Matthews' warning before we left class kept ringing in my head, reminding me to find good defence methods. I shifted my eyes to the right, immediately being attracted to the pieces of paper stapled neatly together. Pressing my lips tightly together to make a thin line, I grabbed the stack of information, flipping through every page to find useful information that I might have missed out.

To my luck, a phrase caught my eye, making me smirk and turn my focus to the piece of paper that contained different defence methods. On the bottom of the page was a small space enough for me to include my last defence sentence.

My paper was ruined when my hand moved, making a thin black line across the page. I groaned at the loud banging from across the hallway that made me lose control of my hand. I stood up, ready to scream at Coen for distracting me.

With Kian out of the house, I felt safe with Coen. But something, right now, managed to punch my stomach, making my guts feel sick to open the door, afraid of what I might see. Shrugging it off, I got out anyways, reminding myself that Coen is my brother, and I know my brother well enough to not fear him.

Every step closer to Coen's door, the more afraid I was to be out of my room. I started walking slower and slower until I reached his door. I stood there, hearing him bang his fist against, what I presume, his desk. Slowly, I reached my hand out for the door knob, twisting it open. My heart almost fell out of its place when I saw what was happening in there.

" Coen?" I called out to him, not wanting to believe what was happening.

He turned his chair to face me, puffing out smoke as his red eyes glared at me.

" No," I whined, backing away from him.

I kept on shaking my head, clasping my hand around my mouth not wanting it to be real. But I couldn't. It was happening right behind me as I ran towards my room, away from him.

and your son is
smoking cannabis