The Innocent Man

Chapter 5

"Oh good lord above, Miss Kate, you're better than this." She rose slowly as I dropped the ax in my hand, letting out a groan as my fist collided with her husband's face. I pulled Miss Kate into a hug, stroking her hair gently as I held her close, "It's gonna be okay, Miss Kate, I'll get you out of this." She pushed me away gently, turning to her husband as she did so.

Her eyes glazed over as her tears dried, streaks left in her otherwise perfect makeup, "Oh, I know I'll be alright... I can't quite say the same for him." Her hands wrapped around the handle of the ax as she hoisted it over her head and, with a heavy sigh, brought the weapon down into his face with everything she had in her. Her face remained emotionless as the sickening crack of bones breaking was replaced by heavy breathing. She struggled to remove the ax from the man's face as his arms seemed to move before my eyes. She freed the ax and repeated the process once more, plunging the ax deep into his chest with a series of pops and cracks even more sickening than the first. She drew in a sharp breath as the realization struck. She tugged on the ax, her hands shaking as she murmured, "No, no, no, no. What have I done? Oh god, what have I done?"

I put my hands on her shoulders for a moment, exhaling slowly, "Miss Kate..." I let my voice trail off as she shrugged my hands away, collapsing beside her husband. I turned away from her, the sound of the ax settling to the floor accompanied her sobbing as I made my way back to the little girl in the shed. I squatted beside her, pinching her hair between my thumb and forefinger. Sirens drew closer as I glanced up, making eye contact with my daughter.

"Daddy?" Her voice cascaded to me, not seeming to lose any volume despite her being so far away, "Daddy, is that you?"

"Yes, baby, I'm right here." I drew closer to her, reaching out for her as she began to turn away.

"Come get me!" She ran off, giggling as she seemed to phase through trees and bushes along her way.

A gasp could be heard around the courtroom as Miss Kate lowered her head, avoiding eye contact as her shoulders slumped and quivered. "She wasn't moving and her face was mangled," I clenched my fists tight as I gritted my teeth, glaring at the back of the room and biting back tears. "I held her in my arms, that was how I got her blood on me. Then I heard Miss Kate yelling obscenities, her husband too. I couldn't make out quite what they were saying but in that moment I swore to myself I would protect Miss Kate even though I couldn't protect my Alice. I kicked the back door in and I saw him trying to hurt Miss Kate so I hit him, I hit him hard."

My lawyer looked at me with painful serenity behind his eyes as Donnahue flipped through his notes frantically, "Mr Deaux, I, um, I'd like to know," a glint of hope flashed behind his creepy grin, "I'd like to know exactly how it escalated from a measly punch to an ax."

Miss Kate finally looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes as she pleaded silently from across the courtroom, I drew in a labored breath, "It's quite simple, Miss Kate was hurt, she needs help. She..." that same look of fear washed over her face as her body seemed to give way to the grief she had been only pretending to feel, "I mean, I took the ax and finished the job."

Donnahue smiled gravely as he turned to face my lawyer who was holding his head in his hands, all trace of triumph fading from view as Donnahue declared, "No further questions."
Mr Jones rose, "Mr Deaux, have you left anything out?"

"No, I believe that was everything," I made eye contact with Miss Kate, her eyes growing wider by the minute, her hand clasped over her mouth as the rest of the courtroom fell strangely silent.
"Mr Deaux, would you say that you had acted out of self defense?"

"I," I scanned his face, the silent plea became deafening in those few words, "Yes, Mr Jones, I'd say I was acting in self defense."

His shoulders relaxed a bit and his eyes held a worrisome amount of concern, but his voice never wavered, "I only have this last question, if there was any way to have prevented the outcome, any way at all, would you have taken that path instead?"

I replayed the question in my head, "of course," my eyes widened, " I would never have done that if I thought there was any other option, but she was..." my eyes found hers again as hope flashed behind them, "I mean, I would have taken any other option I could have."

"No further questions," Mr Jones lowered himself back into his chair, sighing quietly as he pinched his brows, his shoulders relaxing completely. Miss Kate did nothing to clean the tears from her face, they ripped through her makeup, cracking the porcelain finish she hand crafted. The noise in the courtroom faded around me as her lips hung pursed slightly open, her hand shaking inches from her neck, blood slowly dripping from her wrist.

Her words were lost before they reached my ears but her lips read the two words I never wanted to hear, "Thank you."

The pounding of the gavel snapped me back to reality as the armed guard that had been eyeing me through the entire trial led me out of the room. "When do we get the results?" I asked as Mr Jones caught up with us.

"As soon as the jury reaches a verdict, could be a couple hours, could be days, but I'll try to keep you in the loop. Just sit tight, you did good today, Johnn." Mr Jones offered a weak smile and a pat on the shoulder, the most human I've ever seen him. "I'm sorry you had to relive seeing your daughter like that." My mouth hung open for a second, tears threatening to show, I bit down, hard, and nodded solemnly before looking straight forward.

"All I had to do was tell my truth," I glanced over at him one last time before being led to my holding cell, "you did all the hard work, thank you for always believing in me until the very end."