Unforgiven Past

Chapter Fourteen

I walked into the court room, to sit down in the dock. They had putting shackles around my ankles, and there was a chain that went up to another chain around my waist, at the front of it I was also chained to some handcuffs. I looked over and saw Ben, Mum and Leah sitting there with red eyes, holding each other’s hands. I was glad Ben was there. I needed him to be strong for Lean and Mum when they sent me away.

I was scared, I was worried about what the Judge was going to say. But I had to be strong. I said down in a seat that the police officer pointed too, awaiting Judge Donnelley’s entry. My stomach had butterflies, I felt sick.

“All rise for Your Honourable Judge Donnelly” A court offical said,

I stood up and waited till the Judge sat down, then I sat back down too.

“We meet again Mr Greene. I hope last night wasn’t too much fun for you.” He said sarcastically,

“I didn’t enjoy it one bit your Honour” I said seriously,

“Good.” He said with a grin,

“Please bring Mr Greene to the bench for his sentencing” Judge Donnelly asked the police officer,

I slowly made my way down to the bench, I could only take little steps because of my ankle restraints. I stood there feeling pale, like I was going to faint.

“Now. Mr Greene, your charges are pretty server. The victim, Mr White suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on his brain, several broken bones, and the Doctors are not sure if his vision will ever fully repair Judge Donnelly didn’t sound to impressed, “I have been made aware by your Lawyer that you and Mr White have some ‘bad’ history. Is that correct?” He questioned me, and I nodded my head with tears in my eyes,

“I’m going to give you five minutes Mr Greene” He paused “Five minutes to tell me why you shouldn’t be going to jail over such a seriously violent charge. Do you understand?” Judge Donnelly sounded a lot nicer today,

I nodded my head,

“Yes your Honour” I said,

“Begin.” He said, as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms,

The court room was filled with silence, as I cleared my throat and begun to talk,

“Cameron, Mr White. He is my Mums ex boyfriend, from when I was a child. He wasn’t a very nice guy, he used to hit me, every chance he got with whatever he would find, power cord, kitchen utensils, books. As soon as my mum left for work, he did. When Mum broke up with him, we thought we wouldn’t see him ever again” My voice was cracking, and everyone in the room could hear that I was crying, but I took a breath and continued, “Then, he begun stalking us. He would break into our house, and move things around, and at some point we even heard him in our roof.” I felt like I couldn’t breath, so I stopped for a few seconds, and continued, “Ten years ago, I had a brother. His name was-is Harry. He was the sweetest most kindest, beautiful boy ever. One night while we were in our own home, Cameron snuck into our house through our lounge room window. He had a gun, and he grabbed Harry and sat him on his lap. Harry was scared, he was an innocent child, and he didn’t know what to do. Cameron had the gun dug into Harrys side. Harry was petrified, and he wet himself-” I started to sob “Harry wet himself and it wet Cameron’s lap. Cameron jumped up. Ben-my stepdad tried to save Harry and me, he tried to get the gun, but Cameron pulled the trigger. Harry got hit- he died on our lounge room floor. They tried to save him and they couldn’t. ” I heard others crying in the courtroom, I looked up at Judge Donnelly who was also wiping a tear away from his face. “Judge Donnelly, I hate Cameron, but I had no intentions to hurt him that night, I was walking away. Even though I hated him-but he said something, something that made me snap- He told me ‘not to piss myself’- He was being smart about Harry Judge Donnelly- and I snapped. I started hitting him, and I couldn’t stop. I blacked out, and I lost control of myself. That’s what happened that night. I’m not a violent person. I just- messed up.” I finished talking and sat down at the dock, with my head in my arms I cried.

I don’t think there was a dry eye in the court room. I heard people crying everywhere, there was a lot of people sobbing and sniffing. The courtroom remained quiet for a few minutes before Judge Donnelly spoke.

“Please stand Mr Greene” He asked me,

I stood up and wiped my tears, awaiting my fate was scary.

“I will take into account everything you just said to me Mr Greene. Firstly I would like to clarify, that in this day and age Domestic Violence is not tolerated, either is child abuse-or murder. I can understand how your encounter with Mr White may have set you off, and sent you done a violent path, but its still inexcusable, and wont be tolerated in todays society.” He paused for a second “I hear by sentence you to a Twelve month suspended sentence. You will be required to undergo a mental health assessment, and you will be required to see a councillor regularly. I would also like you to do three months community service. I’m sorry for your family loss Mr Greene.” Judge Donnelly tapped his gavel and the court room broke out in cheers.

People I didn’t even know were cheering with his sentence. I felt relieved, a weight had been lifted off my shoulder’s. I honestly thought I was going to be locked up by the end of today. But I get to go home.

I stood up and gave the Judge a slight nod, to say thank you. A small smirk came over his face. I turned around and ran over to my family, happy that I would be going home with them, and moving forward with my life with Leah. I was free.