Karma (Wattpad Exclusive)

35. The Last Witness

"Please come to the stand and talk," Mr. Herbert said. I obeyed and went to the stand. I took the chain from my neck and twisted it. The little pen drive nose came out, and I handed it to Mr. Martin. He handed it to the tech guy, and the video was screened for everyone to watch. The whispers got louder, and Leek watched the video in terror. As Leek was seen pulling the trigger at Dylan and Marcel, Mr. Einstein sprung up. "You fucking bastard, I'm going to kill you!!" he yelled and pounced on Leek. He grabbed his shirt and shook him. "How dare you! What did they do to you?" My father caught him and pulled him back. His wife grabbed his hand and made him sit. He gave Leek a death glare while he held her in his arms as she cried.

   "Ms. Woods, how did you get this video?" Mr. Jefferson asked.

   "I was going to Thompson's house to give him some evidence I found about Rosabella when I found them dead. Marcel still had life in him, so I took him to Mr. Martin's clinic." I gestured to Martin, and he continued, "Marcel was brought in a very critical condition. I taught he wouldn't survive. He has been unconscious for the past two weeks. It was a miracle when I saw him open his eyes yesterday. To my surprised he hadn't gotten amnesia."

   "Our son is alive!" the Einsteins exclaimed in joy, and Herbert hit the gavel.

   I continued, "So yeah Marcel gave me that device which he recorded what had happened to them."

   "Why didn't you call the cops?" Jefferson cross questioned.

   "My phone was switched off and all I could think of was saving Marcel."

   "But why didn't you go to the police?" he pushed.

   "Because someone in the department was crappy enough to let Mr. Leek out of jail. Pretend like nothing happened and arrest a poor, innocent man. So, which means going to the cops meant digging my own grave. I'm not so stupid to do that Mr. Jefferson," I spoke with sarcasm dripping from my voice.

   Jefferson came to say something else when my dad cut in, "Mr. Jefferson, that is enough. The video is clear proof that your client is guilty. Stop trying to prove him good or I'll see that you get arrested too." Jefferson nodded and went back to his seat. "So Ms. Woods, what was the proof that you wanted to give Mr. Thompson?" my dad asked.

   I handed him print outs from Rosabella's diary. "These are print outs from Rosabella's diary," I said as I handed each of the judge a stack of sheets. "This is the original. I have the papers folded," I said and gave my father the book. To be honest, my heart didn't want to part with it. But I had to. "As you can see, Rosie writes about kissing a girl which was me. A harmless kiss. But then her step-sister took out pictures and sent it to the entire school, which somehow landed in the principal's hand. In the name of counseling, Mr. Leek here tried to grope her chest. Finding Rosie not co-operating called her stepmother and suggested on sending Rosie away. Now read carefully. It was Mr. Leek who made the suggestion and Mrs. Davis was totally in for it cause she wanted to get rid of Rosie."

   Bella stared at me in disgust, and I smirked, knowing soon she will be counting bars. "Following that are some pages showing the ill-treatment Rosie went through because of her stepmother and finally the last paper was her last words before she died."

   "C'mon this child is clearly lying. Why are you telling this now? Why didn't you tell this all two months ago?" Jefferson snapped. "This is all made up."

   "Because Mr. Leek threatened all of us to keep quiet. If not, he have would suspended us and knowing what happened to Rosie, I didn't want the same for me," I explained. "As for the diary, you can ask Mr. Davis if it was hers or not. He was well aware of most of the incidents too."

   "Us? So, like the entire class? But Ms. Fern or Hart said the opposite. Why would Mr. Leek specifically blackmail you?" Jefferson cross questioned.

   I looked at Ila and begged her to say something, but she didn't. But then a voice shouted, "He did!" it was Mia Hart. Her parents hissed and tried silencing her, but she stood still. My father called her to the stand and as she walked towards it, someone grabbed her hand. It was Ila. Hand in hand, they came to the stand, and I stepped out.

   "They made us lie," Mia cried. "Mr. Bulcock came to our class and told to lie that Jerry wasn't a very smart student. Mr. Leek also personally approached my family to silence me because they knew he was my best friend. Mr. Thompson tried meeting me privately. I kept walking, and he grabbed my hand to stop me. Someone took a photo of this and Mr. Leek used this to try and silence Mr. Thompson. He even told my family that if needed I would have to confess that Thompson tried assaulting me, which he didn't." She pointed at Mr. Leek, who looked pale and yelled, "This man! This man is the cause for everything. I had to keep shut because he said he will kill me. I'm done hiding. Mr. Thompson was a nice man. He and Jerry deserve justice."

   Next Ila went on the tell what she knew. Then the Harts were called to the stand, followed by Mrs. Fern, all speaking in favor of their children's words. Then Mr. Davis and Bella were questioned. Mr. Davis substantiated my words with what he knew and told the council all the lies Bella fed him. Bella tried denying it, but my father caught her on the point, which shocked me that he knew so much. While all this happened, Jefferson sat down, not speaking a word. Leek didn't rebel either. The council then told everybody to wait outside. Only the five of them, along with both the lawyers, stayed inside.

   I walked outside and saw Leek being dragged by the cops. His eyes fell on me and he suddenly darted. "You fucking bitch! How dare you-" he raised his hand to hit me, but someone grabbed it. I looked at Mr. Einstein, who stared at Leek with such hatred. The cops ran and handcuffed him. I smirked as I watched him being taken away.

   "Thank you so much, Ruth," Mr. Einstein said and grabbed my hand. Mrs. Einstein pulled me into a hug as she cooed, "What a young, brave girl you are. Your parents must be so proud of you. While all the other girls stayed silent, you voiced out. Thank you. Thank you so much for saving my son."

   "Dylan and Marcel mean a lot to me," I replied as she pulled away. "Dylan was like my brother." I whispered. She hugged me once again and kissed my head, "Dylan must be so proud of you."

   I looked around and saw Allison. I ran up to her, and she clung onto me. "My mother spoke!" she exclaimed. I looked at her mother and she hugged me, too. "Thank you for taking care of my Allison."

   Then Allison and I went to a side where we could talk, and I asked, "What is my dad doing here?"

   "Uhm about that I might have been in contact with him and got him to take up the case."

   "What!"

   "Please don't be mad at me. You saw how good he is. He did it for you, Ruth. He was very hesitant at first, but when I told him you'll be the key witness, he agreed. For you."

   I said nothing and just nodded. It was hard to process how my dad was okay with me gay or how he even agreed in the first place. I was deep in thoughts when someone tugged my hand.

   "C'mon. They are calling us back inside," Allison said and pulled my hand.