Rehearsal

Part XVI

Eddy sat on the bench. Leaning forward, his hands crossed into each other as if he was praying. His legs were shaking. In a few minutes, his name would be called and then he had to tell the judge and a bunch of other people what has happened on that horrible day. His friends and family had told him that it would be okay to cry but he really hoped that he won't.

Not many musicians of the orchestra had volunteered to come forward. But Eddy wanted these men to be locked away as long as possible even that he now regreded it a little bit because talking about it in front of strangers seemed nearly impossible.

He wished that Brett would be here. But he had refused to come. He was not the same anymore since his memories had come back and Eddy worried about him. Brett had changed into a different person that Eddy didn't recognize. He was not his shy best friend anymore. He attended parties all the time. Stayed out late. Drank a lot of alcohol. Didn't called him to talk. He hadn't touched his violin in a while now and it always took a lot of effort to convince him to make a new video for their TwoSetViolin channel. But every time Eddy wanted to talk about it Brett just blocked him. "I'm fine." Yeah.. as if. Eddy felt like losing his friend and there was nothing he could do about it except being patient and understandable for his situation. But still. This was a day he needed his old best friend and he wasn't here.

"Eddy Chen". He looked up into the eyes of a court guard. "Please come with me." His pulse rose. He took a deep breath and followed the man into the court.
Somebody instructed him how to say the oath, to tell the truth, which he did and was then seated on a chair in the middle of the room. He tried not to look at the defendant but he could feel that the man was starring at him. He felt uncomfortable. He knew somewhere in the audience were his mother and sister but he didn't want to look at them either.

"Mr Chen", said the judge in front of him. She was an elder woman who had a gentle smile on her lips. Eddy guessed it should comfort him, but it didn't work. "You are a violinist in the Brisbane orchestra, is that correct?" Eddy cleared his throat. "Yes. That is correct." - "And you were at the rehearsal on the 20th of February?" - "Yes." Eddy could feel how his hands began sweating. "Please tell us what you remember from that day. " There was a little pause in which Eddy tried to remember how he wanted to begin. But it seemed like he had a blackout. He had gone over this so many times in his head. "Yes. So, we... we were in the middle of rehearsal just 20 minutes after our lunch break.", he began. "When a couple of men entered the hall we were practising in." He then continued by telling how Brett had collected their phones and had been kicked by the man. How they had tied them up and sat them on the floor. He told about how a few hostages were been able to loosen their fetters and had run for the doors.

"Everything went so fast and it was hard to keep my balance with my hands tied together. I stumbled and fell over somebody. It was Mr Reith, our conductor. He had been shot by the hostage leader. I tried..." - "Mr Chen", the defender interrupted him "just for clarification. How did you saw Mr Reith getting shot by Mr Tailor when you were facing the doors. " -" Well... " Eddys pulse rose. That was taking him off guard. "Or do you just assume that Mr Tailor fired the gun?". - "ehm..." Eddy thoughts were raising. What was he supposed to do? "Mr Chen, I want to remind you that you are under oath." Eddy fought his tears. What was happening? Didn't they believe him? Who else could have shot Mr Reith? "Did you saw Mr Tailor fire the gun?" - "No." whispered Eddy. He stared at his hands. He did not dare to move. His fear had made him unable. The judge spoke up. "I know this isn't easy, but please speak a little bit louder, so we can hear you." - "No, I did not see him shot Mr Reith," said Eddy a little bit louder and broke into tears. He just wanted to run out of here. This was nearly as horrifying as the day this all had happened and he cursed himself for volunteering to make a statement. Eddy turned his head to his left side the first time and got a look at the hostage-taker sitting there. He felt sick immediately. There he was. Grinning as if Eddy had just set him free with his statement. "I ...I need a .. minute." stuttered Eddy and stood up from his chair without taking another look at the judge, stumbling out of the courtroom.

When he had left, his legs began running down the hall. At the end of the floor, he rushed into the men's room and vomited in the first toilet there was. His arms were shaking. His view blurry from tears and then he let out a loud scream, he had been holding on since the 20th of February. He screamed until his ears began ringing, he was out of breath and there was no energy left in him.

He sank onto the floor. His face swollen by all the tears. There was no way he would go back into there. He pulled out his phone and dialled Brett's number. He needed his friend now. "Hey, this is Brett's voice mail. You know what to do." His heart sunk. Beep. Eddy hang up. No, he didn't know what to do. He felt alone, miserable and like a failure.