A Bullet (Ruby Rose fanfic)

ONE (ISELEN POV)

"... a one-year sentence in a minimum security prison for illegal possession of weapons..."

I don't understand what's happening. I fact, my whole life has turned upside down over the past few weeks and images pass through my mind kind of hazy, in a blur. The last thing I can remember clearly is Adara arriving home crying and telling me how much of a jerk Robert was... I knew I didn't like that arrogant asshole. Later, she told me she was pregnant and, in spite of everything, the baby was great news. She was going to have it and I'd be the godmother if I promised her to teach him how to speak Spanish since he was a toddler... her child would be bilingual and very smart. We ate, laughed and fell asleep on the couch happily.

And then Robert arrived behaving like a hysterical drunken and Adara shot him when he attacked her. Everything seems blurry from that moment on. Apparently, my shocked brain decided that I couldn't allow my friend to go to prison: even if her father, the head of the mob I didn't know yet, could help her she'd spend weeks, months, in a cell, interrogation rooms and courthouses, maybe she'd go to prison after all. I couldn't let that happen, I needed to protect my godson. And that's when pressure started, screams, interrogations that lasted for hours, subtle threatens, lonely days confined to a cell surrounded by petty thieves and drug dealers who looked at me with hostility... I remained firm and didn't change a word of my story, above all when I realized that they were after Adara or her father, either of them. I couldn't let that happen... At some point, I started being aware of the big mess I was in: they didn't believe me when I told them it was self-defence and my public defender was a young lawyer fresh out of college that had no idea of what he was doing. On the contrary, the Jordans had a prestigious law firm and the district attorney winked at them all the time.

I started to get really scared, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't tell the truth and they didn't let me get in touch with Adara. I didn't trust my lawyer to send her a message... I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The whole situation was unreal. My family was very far and they couldn't help me. And suddenly, one day, my useless lawyer vanished and two men and a woman with pit bull faces arrived, wrapped up in expensive perfume and wearing designer suits. They began to present evidences to the court like Robert's boots prints on our door because he kicked it, recordings of threats from Adara's voicemail, medical reports of the injuries on her face, ex-girlfriends testified that he was violent and he'd been reported before, a charge of rape when Robert was very young was revealed and the jury learnt that his family solved it giving money to the victim... Where was all that before? Why didn't my lawyer present those evidences to the court? The attorney chickened out, members of the jury started to smile at me and the judge even winked at me once...

"One year... Well, not half bad compared with the other option. It was impossible for you to get rid of all charges, the judge must give something to the Jordan family so they don't complain anymore, they'll try to appeal the sentence but won't succeed... Or they'll let it be, probably, the whole family reputation has been damaged seriously because of the information about Robert and won't want the media following the case very closely... Everything will be all right, don't worry... You have our phone numbers, call us if you need us..." The lady lawyer is talking to me but I don't understand what she's saying. A year in prison? I've always been a good girl... my mom was crying her eyes out last time I talked to her. I guess she'll feel relieved now, maybe not... I'm feeling dizzy...

"Iselen... Iselen!" I turn around, baffled when I hear a familiar voice. My friend Adara is standing behind me, she smiles happy but looks worried at the same time, there's a middle-aged man next to her, very tall and with white hair, who stares at me very serious and nods. "Iselen... listen..." The beautiful Irish leans over the short wood railing to hug me when she sees the bailiffs getting closer and whispers in my ear. "Find Ruby and stay by her side, play along... When you get to the prison, find Ruby and do as she says." Someone grabs me by my arm and pulls me away from my friend abruptly, there're tracks of tears on her cheeks and I realize that I'm crying too. I feel something cold around my wrists and they shove me in order to force me to walk, dragging me out of the room... When I look down, confused, I see them: handcuffs. What's going on here?