4) The Court Battle

            The next few days had been the best of Jono’s life. He had been fed three times a day with delicious meals, had a nice bed to sleep in, had a friend, had a new home and had not been beaten by his father. Boris still went to school in the week. Jono was still awaiting trial. It was Sunday morning and Andrea Brown was teaching Jono how to cook bacon and eggs. He wasn’t that bad at it.

            ‘Now that you have been cooking the bacon in this pan,’ said Andrea, ‘You can now add the eggs.’ Jono picked up a egg, still in its shell and began to place it in second frying pan.

            ‘No,’ said Andrea. Jono stopped holding the egg an inch above the pan. ‘You need to crack the shell and remove the egg inside,’ she said patiently. Showing him with another egg by first tapping it lightly against the rim of the pan then holding the two sides and pulling them apart. The egg yolk dropped onto the surface of the pan.

            ‘Don’t worry. You’ll get it,’ said Andrea, looking at Jono. ‘Have a go,’ Jono tried to mimic Andrea. He managed to first crack the egg then release the yolk into the pan next to the other yolk.

            Later as the family were eating Andrea and Jono’s bacon and eggs, they had their normal family discussion. They talked about various different things that had been happening during the week.

            ‘There are rumours going around at school,’ Boris addressed Jono.

            ‘So,’ Jono grunted, he had recently developed quite a distaste for his old school.

            ‘Well, there are lots of bad rumours going around,’ Boris continued despite the warning look shot at him by his mother, ‘But there are also some good rumours.’ Jono looked up in surprise.

Surely people didn’t want me back around, thought Jono.

‘Yeah. A girl named Veronica Frix has been protesting at the school about your expulsion.’ Boris stated, sipping his coffee. Jono almost dropped his knife and fork.

‘Are you serious man?’ he said, his voice one octave to high.

‘There were also people beginning to make death threats to you on YouTube,’ Boris began to inform Jono, ‘Yeah they are being really offensive and stuff-’

‘What are you doing today,’ interjected Steve Brown, seeing Johnno’s hands tense and shake.

‘Dunno,’ said Jono, beginning to relax.

‘Jono, I was thinking that you might like to learn to play music,’ Boris announced. Jono thought about this for a few moments. If he wanted to learn to play an instrument, he couldn’t afford to buy one.

‘Okay,’ said Jono.

‘Come on,’ Boris gestured toward the doorway on the left. Both Jono and Boris raised themselves out of their chairs and took their plates, placing them in the sink.

‘Can you get the mail?’ called Steve Brown.

Jono walked with Boris into the hallway. Jono opened the door and walked out to the mailbox. As Jono walked back he flipped though the letters. Bill, bill, bill, coupon, junk, and a letter for Jonathan Green. With his heart pounding, Jono opened the small white envelope.

As Jono unfolded the letter he read,

 

Dear Mr Green,

Your court date takes place on the 15^th March. It begins at 9:30 am.

Sincerely,

Police Department’s Attorney At Law,

Mr K Johnson

            A feeling of dread fell over Jono, he had forgotten all about the trial. As Jono walked back into the house, Boris was curiously looking at the open letter in Jono’s hand.

            ‘What’s that?’ Boris asked curiously.

            ‘Court date,’ Jono replied.

            Jono walked back through the house and into the kitchen, where he dumped the other envelopes on the table. He handed the letter to Steve Brown wordlessly. As Steve Brown read it he said, ‘We will provide you will a lawyer,’

            ‘Okay,’ Jono replied.

            ‘We need to get you a suit today,’ Andrea Brown stated.

            ‘Okay,’ Jono said nervously.

            So ten minutes later after everyone had dressed, they left to go buy a suit for Jono. The drive to the shopping mall was a tense atmosphere. Jono felt that his morning had turned stressful upon the arrival of the letter. Once they had pulled into the parking lot they were all looking for a good spot. Boris was the first to point out a good park. As Steve parked, everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and opened their doors.

            Once inside the men’s suit shop, Jono saw that even the ties alone were more expensive than all of what he already was wearing put together. Jono tried on different suits until Andrea and Steve believed that they had found the right one. His suit was a plain black trousers and blazer, with white button up shirt, red tie and shiny black leather shoes. They paid for the suit and left with it in a shopping bag.

Once they got home Jono told the Browns’ that he was tired and went up to bed where he lay and watched television for the rest of the day. Later that night Andrea and Steve came home to tell Jono that their lawyer was taking the case and that he has a couple of witnesses to say that he was just protecting Boris.

Jono slept badly that night. He tossed and turned in his sleep as he heard the banging of gavels and the face of a person that he did not know firing a sniper at a bleeding figure that looked disturbingly like an older version of Jono. When morning came he was exhausted, he had to force himself out of bed. As Jono was trying pulling his blazer on, he looked in the mirror. I look stupid, he thought to himself. He tie was in a knotted ball and was all misshapen. Just as Jono was trying to do his hair, Steve came in to see how he was doing.

‘Do you want help with your tie?’ offered Steve.

‘Yeah, thanks,’ replied Jono.

Steve undid Jono’s red tie with difficulty and started to do it up in a perfect looking Winsor Knot. Steve turned Jono around to face the mirror. Jono’s reflection looked back grimly. Steve patted Jono on the shoulder, turned and lead him out of the bedroom. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Andrea came out of the lounge room with Boris and who Jono supposed was the Lawyer.

The Lawyer was the type that you saw in English movies, brutal and expensive. The Lawyer had small expensive glasses, an expensive suit, and the same shoes that Jono saw for seven hundred and fifty dollars in the suit store.

The Lawyer held out his hand to Jono in a pompous fashion. Jono took the Lawyer’s hand and shook it.

‘Well, Jonathan. My name is Larry Gean. Let us get started. We have an hour before we have to be court,’ the Lawyer said quickly. Larry had a strong English accent. Steve Brown lead Jono and Larry into the living room.

‘Tell me what happened in your own words,’ Larry said bored. Jono retold the story of the fight to Larry and he was quiet unless he did not understand something. When Jono was finished he waited as Larry finished writing the last of Jono’s words down in a black leather covered notepad, he flipped it shut.

‘I think that I have all that I need,’ stated Larry as he stood up, ‘I will meet you at the court house at eleven-thirty a.m,’ Larry left Jono sitting on the lounge and Steve showed him out the front door. Jono looked at the wall clock. It was already ten-thirty am.

Whenever you are dreading something, it seems that the clocks and time are set to go at double speed. Jono was being ushered into the 4WD at eleven-fifteen. When Jono and the Browns got to the court house it took longer for everyone to get out of the 4WD than the day before at the shopping mall.

Larry Gean pulled up in a black BMW M5. Larry got out of the car and walked briskly up to Jono and the Browns.

‘Why don’t we go in now?’ offered Larry to Jono and the Browns.

‘Give me a moment,’ said Jono to Larry.

Larry and the Browns walked on ahead inside the court house. Jono looked on after them, dropped into a nearby park bench and sighed. His head held in his hands. As two pairs of feet appeared, Jono looked up.

Standing in front of him were two men in dark suits, black shoes, white shirt, black ties and black sunglasses covering their eyes.

‘Mr Jonathan Green,’ whispered the man on the left as Jono just stared up at them. The man repeated himself, ‘Mr Jonathan Green,’ Still Jono did not answer. Whilst pushing aside the jacket of his suit to reveal a holster containing a gun the other man asked, ‘Do we have to ask you again?’

‘Yes, I’m Jonathan Green,’ Jono said weakly, ‘What do you want?’

Both of the men reached into their jackets and removing two badges, ‘We are agents from the CIA.’ Bewildered Jono just stared at the men.

‘We are here to offer you a favour,’ stated the agent on the right.

‘What kind of favour?’ Jono said suspiciously.

‘Well,’ the Agent on the left hesitated, ‘a favour that would ensure that you are found not-guilty in the hearing. Jono stared at them. ‘If you do not want our offer, we can be almost certain that you will be found guilty by the court, we know your rapsheet isn’t clean,’ said the Agent on the right.

‘Assault, break-and-enter, trespassing, verbal abuse, possession of illicit drugs and chemicals, robbery, assaulting a police officer, and manslaughter. In all of these offences you have served a total of 18 months over two separate sentences. The only thing keeping you from being locked perminately behind bars has been the fact that you have been under the age for the majority of your offences. Now you are less than a few months from being legally able to be trialled as an adult. They now have the power to do so,’ said the agent on the left.

‘Was this a threat?’ wondered Jono. ‘What do I have to do for you?’ asked Jono a little more aggressively than he had intended.

‘No, and nothing Mr Green,’ replied the Agent on the left.

‘Just answer us, or should I say the CIA, when called upon,’ slyly said the Agent on the right.

‘What do I have to lose?’ thought Jono, ‘at the worst all I have to do is answer a call later on.’

‘Okay,’ agreed Jono, ‘Do you need me to sign anything?’

‘No, we have all we need,’ whispered the Agent on the right, smirking.

And as Jono watched the Agents walk away he wondered about that smirk, something about how the Agents smirked just creeped him out.

‘Jono,’ someone called him, ‘hurry up its about to start.’ Jono got up and walked brisk fully towards the entrance of the court house, where Andrea Brown was holding the door open.

* * * * * *

            ‘May the defendant please rise,’ ordered the judge. Jono stood up slowly.

            ‘Here we go,’ thought Jono as panic rose in his mind.

            ‘Despite the previous charges and accusations, we find the defendant, Mr Johnathan Robert Green, Not Guilty on the charges of Assault and Grievous-Bottley-Harm,’ stated the judge, then a single strike of the gavel and it was official. Jono was free. Happiness welled up inside of him.

            Jono kept repeating the words inside of his head, ‘I’m free, I’m free.’ As Jono walked out he was shaking the hands of each and every one of the browns and larry.

            ‘You did it!’ came the excited cry of a girl. And as Jono turned he was hugged around the chest by a flying figure. As he looked down at Veronica Frix he was feeling happiness that he had never felt before.

            ‘Come on,’ said Steve, ‘Let’s go home’. But as Jono and the Browns began to file out of the court house, Jono saw the two Agents in the car park, one in a black SUV and one walking away from the Browns’ 4WD.

            He thought, ‘What if they actually do ask me for a favour in return?’ Jono felt concerned.

Author's Note

(i have been rewriting my book, as i lost pretty much all of my works in a powersurge during a back up, [so my back up got damaged with my original])
I am open to cover designs.

Reviews

[Jock Engelman]

thank you SlightlyOdd

[SlightlyOdd]

Omg that's awesome i can't wait for the next chapter