Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Gangster

46. Inclusion: The World We Live In

"Markus, did you beat up on a girl?" Markus Green's grandmother asked angrily.
"He's not a girl, Grandma, he's one of them he-she's," the kid cried.
"Wow," Benson said in disbelief.
"Acts like one, wears makeup!" he continued unnecessarily.
  "Why would anyone do that?" the woman asked.
  "That's not the issue!" Benson cried.
  "Just because he don't  look normal don't mean he should be thrown off a bridge, ma'am," Juliana pointed out. "Think about that for a second."
  "The issue is your grandson pushed a kid off a bridge!" Benson agreed, stating the boy in the face.
  "You did what?"
  "I didn't push him off the bridge, Grandma, I swear!" he shouted.
  "Then you better tell them who did," she told him fiercely.
  He looked down reluctantly. "I don't know."
  "Markus. Look at me, and my partner here," Juliana ordered warningly.
  "We know.... that your grandmother did not raise you to lie," Carisi said more softly.
  "It was Darius," conceded.

Benson turned to look at Carisi and Juliana.
  "He's a grade above me."

They all turned to look as Rollins and Fin were bringing in Darius McCrae. Benson and Juliana headed over to them just before Darius's mother had arrived.
  The kid glanced anxiously over at the holding cell full of street perps. "Am I going to jail?"
  "When your mom gets here, we need to talk, but the best thing to do is to tell the truth," Rollins replied.
  "You want a soda, a sandwich, or summ?" Juliana asked.
  "My stomach's not feeling good,"  he answered.
  "Darius?" a woman called.
  "This way, ma'am," Juliana led her over to the detectives and Liv.
  "I'm Sergeant Benson," Liv told her.
  "Ms. McCrae, I'm Detective Tutuola, this is Detective Rollins, and Detective Barba," Fin gestured.
  "I'm sorry, Mom," the boy apologized. "I didn't mean to do anything bad."

Juliana saw true remorse in his eyes, even if what he did was somewhat intentional and extremely stupid. Even then, this kid wasn't a thug, Juliana could definitely tell.
  "What—what do they think you did?" she asked.
  "A teenager was assaulted in Fort Tryon Park and is now in the hospital," Rollins explained.
  The mother glanced down at her son.
  "I didn't mean to hurt him."
  She looked over at Juliana. "Darius is a good kid. He—he takes care of his little sister. He goes to—to church," she said in denial.
  "Okay, well, ma'am, we still just need to talk to him, okay?" Juliana asked her.
  "Big he's only fifteen."
  "Which is why we waited for you," Benson nodded.
  "We needed you to be here while we read him his rights," Juliana explained as she and Liv looked over at Darius McCrae.

He and his mother exchanged worried glances.

****

Juliana watched intently as Fin and Rollins interviewed him. He was no criminal, Juliana knew. She knew exactly what a criminal was like, having been one once. This kid was just someone who got caught up in trying  to act cool and tough; it just went from juvenile to violent to dangerous before anyone knew it.
  Juliana sighed. "Either this kid is a really good actor, or he's just some wannabe who went too far."
  "Still, he pushed someone off a bridge," Carisi pointed out.
  "Yeah, and be should be punished to a certain point, but.... I don't know, Sonny, intent really means a lot to me. People should be punished for what they intended to do, not what they did. That's why manslaughter charges exist," Juliana argued.
"You don't think that's sending out a bad message?" Sonny asked.
  Juliana shook her head. "Not entirely. I know that we can't just let people go around doing things like this to people, especially just because they're transgender or something, but.... I don't know, the law just isn't as ethical as we want it to be, in order for the system to work, which is ironic," she scoffed.
  "Yeah," he agreed. "But I do hope this kid can get something in the middle, ya know?"
  Juliana nodded. "Maybe just some severe assault charges, somewhere in between. Oh God, what if Avery dies?" Juliana asked herself.
  "Oh, Juliana.... come on, that's not likely to happen. We can't talk like that, we're the people that the other people look up to," he murmured. 
  "You're right," Juliana agreed.
  "This kid seems genuinely upset. The other two seem to think it's all a joke," Juliana reported to Benson as she walked past, as they all headed into her office.
  "Yeah, well, the other two didn't push Avery off a bridge. I mean, she could've died!"
  "Bright side, all three confessed, we got the video evidence, we're done," Sonny pointed out.
  "Look, the video is shaky, the kids are underaged. I just don't want anyone claiming that those confessions were coerced," Sergeant Benson reasoned.
  "Then let's see if Avery can make an ID," Juliana Barba suggested.

They both headed out of her office.   
  "You got it," Carisi nodded.

****

Avery was able to make the ID, on all of the boys.
  "Well done, Avery, you did great," Juliana told her as Benson patted her back.
  "They look smaller in there; scared," she observed as she sat back down in her wheelchair.
  "Well, they should be, Avery. They're in trouble," Carisi replied.
  "Did they say why they did this to me?" she asked them.
  "I'm not stupid. I wasn't being cheeky," she continued on.
  "It wasn't anything you did," her mother assured her. "We need to get back to the hospital.
  "Excuse me," Mrs. McCrae called, horrified by the teenager's state. "Are you the Parkers? I'm Darius's mother."
  "Mrs. McCrae, now may not be the best time," Benson told her.
  "Hold on. I want to hear her out," Avery shifted around uncomfortably.
  The woman looked down at her tearfully. "My son is really sorry for hurting you."
  "Did he tell you why he did this to me?" she asked.
  "Avery, let's go," Mrs. Parker said quickly.
  "Just wait a minute," she protested. "Ask him, please," Avery begged Mrs. McCrae, reaching out for her hand.
  "Okay, we need to leave, now," Mr. Parker pulled his daughter away.
  "Come on, this way, folks," Carisi led them away.

The woman stared desperately and sadly at the family as Juliana and Fin showed her where she could sit, sitting beside her.
  "Wait, my son has to spend the night here?"
  "Nah, he's gonna be able to go home," Fin assured her.
  "The desk sergeant's gonna give you a appearance ticket for tomorrow in family court," Juliana explained.
  "I have to work tomorrow," the woman protested desperately. "I'm a home care attendant."
  "Well, you're gonna have to call in sick, you gotta be there," Fin told her.

****

Juliana sat at the table in the break room as Rollins got them both cups of coffee, handing one to her.
  "Those poor parents, right?" Carisi asked, closing the door and coming in.
  "Yeah," Juliana and Rollins both agreed.
  "I can't even imagine something like that happening to my kids," Juliana sighed.
  "You want one?" Rollins asked.
  "Yeah, please," he nodded. "Hey, Barba.... let me ask you something. What.... what makes a boy.... decide to be a girl?" Sonny asked. "I mean, is it that he likes boys, he just doesn't wanna be gay?"
  Rollins nodded, walking toward the table and sitting down, understanding the nature of the question. "Umm....
  "It's a complicated thing, Sonny, but.... it's more about identity, gender identity," Juliana tried explaining.
  "Right, right," Amanda agreed slowly. "There's a difference between gender identity and sexuality, Carisi."
  "Yeah, yeah," he agreed, sipping his coffee. "You know, my parents, they—they think this is all about getting attention."
  "Uh-huh," Rollins nodded understandingly. "You were a fourteen year-old boy once, and would you or.... any other boy you knew, put on a skirt, if it didn't come from a really real place?"
  Carisi scoffed with amusement. "No, not a chance."
  Rollins nodded with a slight smile, leaving the room.
  "You know.... I still don't completely understand the whole gender identity thing. It's all just so new, you know?" he asked.
  Juliana nodded. "Yeah, definitely. Okay, so.... imagine you're a depressed person, for example, and this new therapy method was becoming more and more popular, producing good results. Would you tell people how you felt and go for it?" Juliana asked.
  "Of course," Sonny nodded. "
  "Okay. That make sense?"
  He nodded. "Yeah, thanks. You know, even if I don't always completely understand, or agree.... I'm glad that a lot of people are becoming more open-minded now, and explaining how they feel."
  Juliana sighed. "Carisi, people have kinda been doing that for years and years now, obviously. I know what I'm saying is a little bold and all, but honestly.... this whole transgender movement and everything started with Caitlyn Jenner, who used to be Bruce Jenner. Right?"
  Sonny nodded.
  "Well, the only reason people are actually starting to listen to people's inner and different thoughts, accepting this completely new concept, is because a white man wanted to do it," Juliana pointed out.
  Carisi stared at her. "Damn. Now that I think about that, it's.... probably true."
  Juliana nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, probably. That's the world we live in."
  Carisi shook his head. "I hope my future kids have it easier than this."
  "Don't we all, Carisi?" Juliana murmured.
  "By the way, I never got to ask.... What did you mean when you told Avery that you knew the whole 'freak needs to learn a lesson' look?" Sonny Carisi asked.
  Juliana sighed quietly. "Ever been a black-Hispanic female beat cop? That's like five different targets on your body, in different parts of New York. You kinda get used to that sort of thing after a while."