Everett Johnson

Infelicitous

Its been two days after Will's death. Around 6:00 pm Tuesday evening,Everett told Becky and Marcus that he had to go for a walk. He had become a shadow of himself. The two people he loved most had been taken away from him. Only because they were blacks. Was every other black person in their community going to die too? Or maybe he was next? he questioned himself constantly. Memories of his time with Will flooded his thoughts, and he felt a tear run down his face. His best friend had to die the day before his birthday. Or maybe it was his fault, because Will had said he was going to the protest for his sake.

Everett felt the urge to look behind him. He turned around sharply but saw no one. As he kept walking, he felt someone was following him. He thought to himself, "Is someone following me? Well whoever it is or for whatever reason they're following me, I don't deserve to live anyways so..."

He kept on waking and ignored the feeling of being followed. When he reached a quiet and dark part of the town, Everett felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around suddenly, startled. "Hey kiddo I'm sorry if I startled you but, can I talk to you for a moment" Everett looked at the face and replied, "You were there that night right? What do you want from me? It was the cop from that night. He had acted quite creepy earlier by following Everett like that but he didn't seem to want to cause any harm to the boy. " What do you want from me, please leave me alone" he shouted. "Look, boy you're making it seem like I wanna hurt you but that's not why I'm here. I just wanna talk. I'm sorry for your loss and I don't intend to add to your pain but I think you need to know this". " Know what?" Everett asked.

"Six years ago, that incident. Your mom wasn't drunk and she had no weapon in her car" he said. "You think I don't know that" Everett asked in a loud voice, " I was in the car with her that night remember?". "Just listen to what I have to say OK. I know you're young,but you should fight for your mom and your friend. I don't know how, but maybe in the future, do whatever you can to give them justice.

What happened to them, they didn't deserve it. I'm leaving this place, because I can't live with myself for watching them frame your mother like that. That night, he was going to kill you too if I hadn't stopped him. Jason Gorway, the cop that shot your mom. He told me he enjoyed it. He had no regrets. I never wanted your mom to die. I thought we were just doing our job. "Doing your job?" Everett asked. "Well I had no idea he was going to kill your mom. But I stopped him from killing you?" He answered. "Well if you're really sorry about that night then go and tell the truth. Testify against your friend" "I can't, its been six years and it will be considered as obstruction of justice and that'll go against me so I can't". " Then you're a coward" Everett said to him. "Yes" he replied. "But you're not. So do what you can to gain justice for your mom and friend. Two days ago I was there, Your friend did nothing wrong. he was just running. He posed no danger to the cop that shot him. I saw the look of satisfaction on his face when he did it. James Moore, the cop that shot your friend. I have to go, but do what you can when you get the opportunity to fight for the black community". And with that he left.

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7 years later

Becky's POV

"So what happened to him"

He was out for a walk two days after Will died. I thought he needed to clear his head, so I let him go. Later that night we heard that there was a fire at the Motown Museum. I don't know how he ended up there or why he was there. But fortunately for us, he came out alive. He is the only one who survived that fire. Except that he's been catatonic since then. Its not like you even care. You left them nineteen years ago. And now you're back. For what Clinton? Now get out of my house I said to him. "You can't do this to me Rebecca, I'm his father" he said. Out of anger, I picked up the tea cup and threw it at him. "If you didn't think about being a father to him when he was three, you definitely can't be a father to him now that he's a twenty two year old man" I said before throwing him out of my house. Clinton was Everett's father who left his family nineteen years ago. When he came earlier, I had seen a wedding ring on his finger. Definitely not the one Jacinta had put on him because he escaped without it. I don't know how Everett survived that accident. Its a miracle and I'm grateful for it.

Jessie and Scott come here almost every day to talk to Everett and keep him company. He hasn't gotten any better over the years even though the doctors said there's a sixty percent chance that he'll be able to walk and talk again. I had to go to the cemetery that afternoon to put flowers on Marcus's grave. He died exactly three years ago. He fell off a building and died. He had too much to drink one night. After Will's death and Everett's accident, he was a mess. He had climbed to the top of a building and he fell. So every year I send flowers to his grave. And I make sure to pick some for Jacinta and Will. I hurriedly cleaned up the mess I had made with the content of the tea cup, picked up my bag and headed out, closing the door behind me.