She's A King

25.

Taron Mills
Why did I say that?
It wasn't at all what I had planned to say.
I regretted it as soon as the lie fell from my mouth.
I could practically see her heart break.
It broke my heart.
What made it ten times worse was that I couldn't even talk to her about it.
I had paced up and down my room about fifty times.
I desperately wanted to talk to her.
"Taron can you come downstairs please?" Dad asked through my door.

I sighed and walked down the many flights of stairs, and into the meeting room.
"What was that?" Mum asked as I sat down. "She saved you in an alleyway and you didn't think to tell us?"
"You never asked" I shrugged.
"Taron that's a key detail you just missed out. That's what could loose us this case! Money just gone down the drain!"
"Is that all you care about? Money? You just made me loose my girlfriend. That's your fault." I said feeling the tears rising again.
"Oh stop it. She was barely your girlfriend. She doesn't deserve you. Emily on the other hand is a lovely girl" Mum grinned.
"When are you going to get it into your head that Maggie is the one I want! I want her! She's the one I want and the one I care for" I said raising my voice at them both.
"Get over her. After tomorrow she'll be in prison. And you're not dating a felon" mum said and I just shook my head, walking out of the meeting room.

This was all my fault.
If I had never gone on that operation with them, Maggie's father wouldn't be in hospital, she wouldn't be in prison, and she would still be my girlfriend.
I just hoped that her speech tomorrow made the jury see that she was a good girl and didn't deserve to be locked up.

There was a hell of a lot of chatter when we entered the courtroom.
Almost too much chatter.
"Please he seated" someone said as the judge himself sat down.
Two doors opened to the side and Jim walked in followed by Maggie being held upright by Marcus and Blake.
She could barely stand.
Her face was all bloody and bruised.
Her hands shook.
Blake and Marcus held her under the arms and lowered her into her seat.
Gasps sounded out all over the courtroom.
Everyone wanted to know what had happened to her.
Especially me.
I was on the verge of sobbing, running to her and taking her into my arms.
Even my mother looked horrified.
"Order!" The judge yelled as people started to talk louder and louder. "On behalf of Miss King's team I have been asked to read a statement from the prison. 'Yesterday evening at approximately eleven pm, Miss King was a victim of a violent attack from three other inmates. The victims beat her with hands while screaming that she was no better than the rest of them. Miss King did not need to be hospitalised, but it should be noted that Miss King did not react violently back towards the inmates and put up no fight." The judge read and the whole courtroom was silent.

She was a victim.
And she didn't attack back.
Even my parents couldn't argue that that was her fault.

"Miss King, are you able to read your own speech?" The judge asked.
"I am" Maggie said and shakily stood up.
"Can I help?" Marcus said standing.
The judge nodded and Marcus led her to the stand.
She stood there, her hands shaking and tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Miss King you can sit if you need to" the judge said but she shook her head and wiped her tears.
"No. I'm ok"
"Proceed"

"My name is Margaret King. Of course you already know that or why would you be sitting here. I've been in the spotlight since the day I was born. The authorities wanting to know my every move. I'm never violent when it's not needed. But if i have to be violent to protect those I love then I will be violent. But wouldn't everyone? If your child, partner or family member was getting threatened, I'm sure we'd all be violent to protect them. I-i recently thought that someone truly cared about me for who I truly was. He brought out the good in me. And then broke my heart," she paused to wipe away her tears and it pained me to know that she was talking about me.
I put my head in my hands as Maggie continued to talk.
"Having your heart broken is the worst feeling, even worse than getting beaten up in the back of your prison cell. And I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I'm not a danger to society. I'm just a teenage girl that deserves a chance to show society that I use my fighting skills to protect and defend, not because I want to. There's others out there who do want to steal, murder, and beat others just because why not. But I can confidently tell you that that is not what me or my family do. At all. Thank you"

Once Maggie finished I looked over to the jury and saw that some were crying.
Maggie's mother was crying.
I was crying too.
She didn't deserve all of this.
The whole room watched as Maggie was helped back to her chair, crying as she walked.
The closing speeches from both sides were very short. I could see that Mum was struggling to form a valid speech.
Once the jury left the courtroom the people started talking again.
Maggie sat staring at the table in front of her.
Within the next hour it could be decided whether she went to prison or not.
Ruth and Carter rubbed her shoulders gently, not saying a word.
I could tell that we were all waiting with anxiety to see the result.

Margaret King
I had done all I could do.
I had said all I wanted to say.
I just hoped that it would be a quick decision.

After around two hours of waiting in a small holding cell, I was ready to just give up all hope for myself.
"He's really upset you know" Blake sighed leaning on the rotting cell bars.
"Who is?"
"The Mills boy, Taron" he said and the feeling of needing to cry filled my chest.
"I don't care. He was the one that said what he did. No one held a gun to his head and made him say it. That was his own decision and he betrayed me" I explained, forcing myself to hold in the tears that threatened to spill over my eyes.
"They've made a decision" another guard came and told us.
"Here we go" I sighed as Blake unlocked the cell.

As we walked back into the courtroom, there was silence.
My hands shook with nerves as the jury came and took their seats again.
The judge went through the process of asking them if they had come to a unanimous decision, and what the numbers were.
When they said that they had all agreed on one side of the argument my heart dropped.
I knew in my heart that they would have all agreed to keep me locked up.
There would be no way that all of them would have agreed that I wasn't a danger.

"We the jury have agreed unanimously,"
I couldn't hear.
The blood was pumping so hard in my body that I couldn't hear.
Marcus grabbed my hand in his.
I glanced over at Taron to see he was crying, his hands covering his mouth.
His parents sat tall and poised, so much so they didn't look like real people.
"We find the defendant not a danger to society on all counts"