Divisions

Part 4- Chapter 23

Natalia

The first thing I noticed as I got out of the car was that the Cornwall Auditorium looked very different in the afternoon than it did in the evening. I remembered the last time I had been to this auditorium, the press briefing more than a month ago. As I walked through the back door, I could not help but be reminded of a previous version of myself walking through the front door with Mr. Jeffries.

I had been a very different person back then. Back then, I was nervous and excited, now I was disillusioned and indifferent.

As I waited behind the curtain for Mr. Sheldon to lead me to the stage, I could not help but look at the audience.

The thirteen people sitting behind the table, who I assumed where the board members, all sat still, attentively listening to the speeches made by Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Patterson whose backs were facing us.

"...What do you plan to do to the remaining culprits of the murder of Mr. Tobias Sheldon?" the man was asking the two men.

I held my breath as Mr. Patterson answered, and glanced pointedly at Mr. Sheldon, who quelled me with a chilling look. He then turned to look at his family, his face softening a little. I recognized his mother, Mary Sheldon, in the audience. Unlike the rest of the family, her face was set in an unemotional expression, the lips a tight line, as if she was keeping a secret. This was confirmation that she already knew the truth.

"...We should, with no hesitation, impose the death penalty on these murderers...." Mr. Jeffries was then saying, and my heart sank.

I had thought Mr. Sheldon would finally step out, but Mr. Patterson was saying something now and Mr. Sheldon waited for him to speak.

The audience all had mirroring looks of shock on their faces. For the first time that evening, Mary Sheldon had betrayed an expression on her face, disbelief.

"...the real culprits need to be properly dealt with, and the death penalty is the only way this can be done," Mr. Jeffries had concluded his response, and the audience erupted into a loud buzz of frantic chatter. The Sheldon family, however, was still. His wife, Marissa, was inconsolable as his brother, Theodore, rubbed her back, comforting her.

It was at that moment, Mr. Sheldon had received a message, and he nodded in my direction.

This was the big moment.

My heart was pounding as Mr. Sheldon led me out of the curtain.

Mr. Sheldon walked, and I followed, slightly behind him to the third lectern that the first speakers had used in the beginning and, at first, nobody had noticed him, in the wild commotion.

His mother saw him first, her face opening in a blend of shock and comfort. His wife then followed her mother-in-law's path of sight and opened her jaw, not hiding her confusion.

Mr. Sheldon did not need to adjust his mic, one of the men had left it on for him, and he cleared his throat, beginning to speak.

"...Doing this..." he said, and paused for dramatic effect, waiting for the camera to turn to face him.

At that moment, a bright stage light shone on Mr. Sheldon and me, almost blinding me.

The people in the audience spun around, looking to see where the voice had come from and sat in shock once they had seen the speaker.

The only people who looked unfazed were the thirteen board members and Mary Sheldon, his mother.

From where I stood I watched as Mr. Patterson and Mr. Jeffries spun around to look at us, their faces twisting in horror as they realized Mr. Sheldon and I were the ones standing there, addressing the audience.