It was Saturday.
I've been getting calls all morning by everyone, Ahmed, My dad and just a bunch of people I didn't know. How they got my number, I can never guess. It's crazy, that today is she going to determine weather or not my case is legit and if Brandon is going to spend his time in prison.
I didn't answer many of these calls because I simply just didn't know what to say. I had a lot of supportive and reassuring messages from Ahmed telling me how he's going to be there the whole time, watching, hoping and wishing I don't fuck up.
I had a lawyer hired last week, and she's been super nice to me lately. All she old me to do is tell the story sos he can defend me the best way possible. I heard Brandon has the best lawyer in town to defend him. But if I really think of it, there's no way that Brandon can win this case. Like no way. He's guilty in every single way.
I had my vagina examined by some doctor who knows when people get raped or whatever. Yeah, he said it's true. That I was raped and that my body kind of just gives that vibe. How he knows that, I don't know. But he sees the signs and that is going to help me a whole lot in court today.
Also, I signed Avery up for a witness. I'm probably making the biggest mistake in my life but honestly, no one else is willing to be a witness the way she does.
I decided that no matter how special this day is to me, I'm just going to dress casually. The same shit I wear on the daily. I decided to settle on some kind of beanie on my head and a regular tee shirt with some sneakers. What was I supposed to wear, a skirt? Please.
I left Fatima's house early today, and they all noticed as well. They fed me some breakfast before wishing me the best of luck and saying they were going to watch the court on tv.
I mean, they call that supportive so whatever.
I walked in the court building and holy shit the cameras.
If I thought the cameras were crazy at Harper High, I take it back. Paparazzi are so much worse. There were people from every corner, flashing cameras at me and asking me to look at them.
I was frozen because what the fuck. I'm just trying to walk into court but I have a bunch of adults looking for a real fight in front of my face.
Like gosh.
"Emerald look over here honey!"
"Emerald over here!"
"Did you really get raped in a school?"
"How do you feel?"
"Are you confident you're going to win this case?"
"Brandon Blake has Terence Bouquet defending him. If you hadn't known, he's one of the best lawyers in town!"
"What do you think is going to happen in there?"
"Emerald look here!"
I punched this lady's camera. She was showing that camera so up my chin that I had to push it away. When I got a good look at her face, it was the same lady that interviewed my dad.
Ugh.
"I'll fuck you up." I said to her, pointing my middle finger at all their cameras, "I didn't ask for this bullshit. Move, I'm just trying to go to court."
After confronting that same lady, I made my way to the court room. I noticed everyone was silent since then and that really just proved a point. Sometimes you got to be aggressive with people for them to finally listen to you.
When I walked in the court room, the first thing I noticed was the silence. The court room was full to say the least. People were sitting down comfortably. I saw a couple of signs up. I saw the judge and I saw my lawyer standing up.
What? Everyone seems to be looking at me.
When I walked to the left front side of the court, my lawyer leaned in and whispered in my ear, "You're late."
Oh.
I dusted my pants and decided to sit down.
The judge looked at me from the high chair she's sitting on, eyeing me up and down while fixing her glasses, "Late gives you the wrong impression."
In order to win this shit, I have to be respectful.
I bowed my head, "Apologies, your honour."
The judge nodded her head at me as if to tell me it's alright before waving at her security guard, "Call Brandon Blake to enter."
My heart started to beat fast. The sound of his name and the fact that right now he's about to show his face here was giving me anxiety. My hands started to sweat. I'm not usually the kind of be scared, but I felt extremely scared. Who knows, maybe if I see him I'll probably loose it.
"Psst." Someone whispered behind me.
I don't know if I'm dreaming or anything so I shrugged it off thinking it was my bad habit of hallucinating.
"Pssst." I heard again.
I turned my head behind me only to be welcomed by a familiar face, leaning in from two rows behind me. He was smiling widely but also in a reassuring smile, he winked "Its going to be okay."
Ahmed.
It's like he knew I was nervous, hearing the name of the man who basically stole everything that made me special.
I smiled back at him, but it was a sad smile. He noticed that and honestly, I wished Ahmed was standing beside me, holding my hand. I kind of need him right next to me.
Ahmed hardly ever seen me scared before. I'm almost never threatened until today. He's not used to that.
When I looked on the other side, I saw my dad staring right at me. He nodded his head. He didn't smile but the simple nod made me feel okay. Made me feel like my dad was on my side no matter what.
And you know, no matter how fucking crazy he can be, he's still my dad. And I know one thing is that he cares about me and he loved me when no one else did.
I nodded back at my dad, mouthing 'I love you.'
He accidentally let a smile take over his expressions and mouthed it back, 'I love you too.'
Brandon walked in, his hands cuffed and I a familiar jail orange jumpsuit. He looked like a mess to say the least. The cop held him tightly around the shoulders, pushing him towards his seat.
And then he made eye contact with me.
Brandon stared dead in to my eyes. He looked mad, angry and a mixture of fucking pissed and fucking exhausted. He looked like when he gets the chance, he'll rip my soul out my body.
And then he smirked, his yellow teeth showing.
I shivered, Shit.
That's when the hearing started. At first it was just simple introductions, from Lawyer to lawyer.
My lawyer was first.
"Imagine being a seventeen year old, going to school and being bullied. Everyday, being harassed by people and insulted. Imagine people taking continuous pictures of you, violating your personal space. Sounds terrible right? Well that's Emerald Green for you all." She walked around the room, looking at the jury, speaking to the audience about my life. "Her fierce and defending personality is what keeps her going in the school. Although Harper High took everything from her, they didn't take one thing special from her. They didn't take her virginity."
I stared at my lawyer like she grew ten heads but she ignored me. She's making me sound like a fucking wreck.
"That night she got raped was a night that ruined the one thing she had that the school couldn't take away from her. She was wrong when Brandon Blake, raped her. Took advantage of her body without consent. We are here today, to give this student—" she points at me, "Her Justice. We are here today to discuss the punishments of this young man, Brandon Blake—" She points to him, "And its unfortunate that this case needs to be discussed."
My lawyer came back and sat next to me. I glared at her from her description of me and she shrugged rolling her eyes, "You do whatever you can so you can get the jury in their feelings."
Then it was Brandon's lawyer's turn.
"You pulled out some interesting points here, Nicole." He spoke to my lawyer directly, "Unfortunately, from the information that I have received from my client, there is no way Emerald Green could have connections to Brandon Blake. It is clear that Emerald Green is a student from Harper and Brandon Blake is a college student in Thorn-cliff. Two different students in two different cities. We can obviously confirm that this incident had occurred in a Emerald's high school, but the question here, is how?"
Oh, he was good. But he was also so fucking wrong.
"There is no proof of it being Brandon. There is only proof in Emerald's body. We need facts here in this court today. I am very sorry to hear about the incident that happened to Ms. Green, but the accusations here are clearly false and today, we are here to discuss that." The lawyer then spoke loudly into his mic, "Bring out the first Witness."
Brandon's friend walked through those doors. He was a brunette, one of the boys who shoved their small dick in my mouth. I wasn't scared of this guy though. Even if he basically made my mouth taste like dick for days, he still didn't bother me as much.
I was scared of the kind of information that this witness can bring despite the fact that he's friends with Brandon. Obviously, he's going to tell the story in a different way, making Brandon seem innocent.
At this point, I honestly just hope that Avery can brin good answers.
Brandon's friend, walked up the stadium, before he was asked to put his hand on the bible, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
Brandon's friend nodded his head, "I swear."
Then the hearing began.
My lawyer was first to stand up and walk over to the witness, questioning him.
"Fred Gibson. You're...Brandon's best friend correct?"
He nodded, "Yes."
"And that means that he probably tells you everything. Shares his experiences with you, speaks to you about whatever he's done. Correct?"
"Yes."
"Then how do you say, he knows Emerald Green?" She walked around, glancing at the jury here and there, "How does he know her? And how do you know her?"
Fred, Brandon's friend took a small look at Brandon from the corner before gulping, "We don't know her."
My lawyer smiled, an evil one. Damn, she's good.
"Really?" Nicole walked over to her desk next to me and grabbed a file, "Then how do you explain this?" She pulled out a photo and showed it to him.
Fred glanced st the photo out in front of him before cussing, "Fuck."
"Mr. Gibson, do you recognize this photo?"
I wanted to see the picture. What was it and what the fuck did it have to do with me?
"Yes." He muttered looking down.
"Describe the photo put in front of you please."
Fred pulled his glasses a little bit further up his nose before taking a deep breath, "It's a picture taken from the security cameras near Starbucks."
My lawyer smirked, "And what exactly is happening in the photo?"
Fred sighed loudly, "I don't want to—"
"What exactly," she walked over to him, taking dangerous steps towards Fred, his expressions fading, "Is in the photo, Mr. Gibson?"
I felt my inner me smiling deeply. There's no way that I'm going to loose this case. The truth is being put out there. Before I didn't like the idea of the world knowing what's going on with me but right now, I feel glad.
Fred picked up the paper from the table in front of him, "It's a picture of us, our group of friends."
"What is Brandon doing in this photo?"
"He's—" Fred cleared his throat. You can tell he didn't want to do this, "He's holding a knife to Emerald's throat."
The crowd gasped, even me. How the fuck did my lawyer get these photos from Starbucks? Oh god. I think it was when I told her about the time when I first met him, Brandon at Starbucks.
My lawyer picked up the photo and put it under a projector, "This is a clear photo of Brandon Blake, holding a knife to Emerald's throat. This is the start of when they had their first encounter. No further questions."