A Tortured Soul

Chapter 26

Court was scheduled for nine a.m. the following morning. Justin was already up waiting for his escort to the court room. Juvenile hall was located in the back end of the court house so they waited until ten minutes before he had to be there before they escorted him. Jack, May, JT, and Tatiana were there waiting for Justin's case to be called along with Jaz and her parents. Although the kid that Justin beat up wasn't present, his mother was and she was not to happy about it. 'Great, I have to deal with another angry mom because she don't know how to teach her kid how to have respect for others.' Justin thought to himself. He leaned back in his chair and stared directly at the woman. She wasn't sure which child was the one that beat her kid up since she had never seen him before and there were five kids including Justin sitting in the stands.

One by one the cases were called and resolved, two of the kids were friends and were caught stealing $150 worth of merchandise from a clothing store, one was caught trespassing on private property trying to steal a car, and one was caught busting windows in his own house. Justin's case was the last one called. They had never dealt with him before because he skipped out on his previous two court dates. "Young man, I don't believe we have met. Let me introduce myself. I am Judge Manning, and as long as you get in trouble before you turn eighteen I am the one you are going to have to deal with." She began. "before we begin this current case, I would like to go over your previous two cases." She continued. Justin stood at the microphone leaning against the guard rail behind him with his arms crossed staring blankly at the Judge. Her hair was pulled tightly to the back of her head in a neat ponytail that made Justin wonder how it wasn't giving her a headache, and there was a big mole on the side of her neck he couldn't take his eyes off of. "Justin, why did you miss your first court date?"

"Because my parents are stupid."

"That isn't very nice."

"Who said I was trying to be nice?"

"Look Mr. Attitude, before we get to far let me inform you, I do not tolerate that in here so leave it where you found it. Now, The first time you were brought in was for fighting, the second time was for stealing, and this time is for fighting. At least you made it to court though, I can say that."

Justin looked down at his hands and began picking the dirt from under his nails allowing his mind to drift. He didn't care about the consequences, he didn't care what the judge had to say, and he didn't care about the kid's mother's opinion on the matter. He was standing up for his friend, he did what was right in his mind and no one was going to change his thoughts. "You were released to your parents the first time. Where are they? Justin's parents if you are here stand up please." The Judge said. Jack and May stood up. "We aren't his parents but we are caring for him." Jack said. "Are you the ones that picked him up?"

"No your honor, we don't know where his parents are."

"So, you are his legal guardians?

"Not legally, but we can change that."

"Well, that is a different matter. For now, Justin, this is your third time here and second fighting offence. You will be here for the time you should have spent your second trip in, which is three months, plus additional ten months for your little Houdini act, you know, your escape and disappear stunt, and since this is your second fighting offence you will have an additional five months for that. Looks like you will be with us for a while." The judge said as she slammed his case file closed. "Your Honor! This is a mistake he was defending my daughter!" Jaz's dad stood and yelled. "Excuse me?" She said quickly. "The child Justin beat up shoved my daughter off her skateboard and caused her to get a big gash on the back of her head, she was rushed to the hospital and had to have five staples. I have pictures. Justin was standing up for her, I don't think this is fair."

"Fair or not sir, I appreciate your concern for this child and I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, but my judgement is final." The Judge stood and walked out of the room leaving the room stunned with disbelief. "Can we visit with Justin for just a minute before you take him please?" May asked the security guard. "I'm afraid not ma'am, his visiting hours will be every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m." He said grabbing Justin's arm and pulling him through the door and back to his room where he will remain a young prisoner for eighteen months.