Repress | Spruceworth 3

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

       "Ooh, someone's looking fly," Kenny said as he walked into the bedroom where I was currently putting a tie on. "Going somewhere?"

       "Uh, yeah," I said. "The courthouse."

       Kenny was silent for a bit, and I could tell he didn't look happy. "You're going to Clyde's trial?" he asked.

      "I have to," I said.

      "You don't have to," Kenny said. "Why are you even defending him? He killed four people, and he tried killing me."

       "He technically didn't try killing you," I said.

       "Are you being serious?" Kenny asked. "He shot me! He killed four people! You can't let him off the hook!"

       "I'm not letting him off the hook," I said. "He clearly needs help, and it was proved when he turned himself in after he escaped from prison. My parents refuse to even look at him, so I want to go to show my support."

      Kenny scoffed before walking out of the room. I quickly finished with my tie before following him down the stairs. "I don't get why you want to," Kenny said, knowing that I was following him. "He's a serial killer."

      "He's not in the right mind state," I said. 

      "He still shot me, Calvin," Kenny said, reaching the bottom step and turning to face me. "I could have died."

       "But you didn't," I said.

       "That doesn't make it better!" Kenny said.

       "Does him defending you in prison when the other inmates found out you were gay make things better?" I asked. "They could have done some pretty awful stuff to you, but he made sure that didn't happen because he knows how much you mean to me."

       "Whatever," Kenny said. "Have fun at the trial. In the meantime, I will go hang out with someone who actually cares about me."

       As he made his way to the front door to put his shoes on, I said, "I do care about you, and you know that."

       "Do I know that?" Kenny asked while he put on his shoes. "You know how much the....whole incident scarred me. I can't even watch movies with guns in it because it triggers what happened. And here you are, choosing his side."

      "I'm not choosing anyone's side," Kenny said. "I'm just going to see if Clyde gets the help he needs."

       Kenny didn't say anything else as he walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

      I sighed. Kenny was usually a very understanding person and I hoped he would get why I wanted to go support Clyde but at the same time, I knew why he was mad at me. And I couldn't blame him.

       I didn't even know why I wanted to, after he got one of his friends to try to kill me at school.

       I guessed after seeing how he was after he escaped prison changed how I felt about my brother. 

       I finished getting ready before heading out to the courthouse. When I got there, I took my cell phone out of my pocket and turned it on silent before heading inside. It didn't take long for the bailiff to bring Clyde into the courtroom.

       "Did I miss anything?" someone suddenly asked.

       I looked over to see Josh sitting beside me. "Why are you here?"

       Josh shrugged. "Dunno. I was bored and heard there was a trial today to see if Clyde would be sent to a psychiatric hospital. He is my cousin after all, so might as well see what happens."