Chapter 6

Sam's POV

Bang bang bang!

I jerk awake when I hear someone hitting the door. Rouasha shifts in his sleep from my sudden movement so I carefully climb out of bed and downstairs.

The person at the door knocks on the door again right before I open it.

"Hello?" I say as I open the door.

"Is Rouasha here?" The man at the door asks.

"May I know who's asking?"

"I'm a police officer and I'm here to take Rouasha to court."

"What? Why?"

"Because he murdered his family and we need to figure out what we are gonna do with him. Did he not tell you?"

"No, he told me. I know what happened. I just overheard what you guys were asking him earlier."

"What kind of environment was he raised in?" He asks me.

"From what I know he was ignored, hated, and neglected all his life. Even in school he had nobody. He just wanted attention, to actually be noticed. True he went the wrong way about but he was never properly taught. I bet his parents never even talked to him. He just needs love."

"What do you think would happen if you end up neglecting him? Would he not hesitate to kill you?"

"I am willing to take that risk. And I know I won't neglect him. I love him. I know what it's like to live with a deaf person, my mom is deaf. I'll teach him sign language so we can communicate better."

"How can you be so sure they aren't going to give him the death penalty? He's murdered 10 people."

"Did he really kill that many people?"

"Yes."

"Oh god."

"Can you please go get him? He has a court session scheduled in 3 hours."

"Yes, of course." I run up the stairs knowing this is gonna upset him again.

I open the door to his room and I see him lying awake on the bed. I walk over to him and he looks over when he notices me.

"You may not want to hear this, but someone's here to take you to court." I tell him and his eyes widen in fear.

'Ok' He signs. He gets up out of bed and walks out of the room then down the stairs. His face was lacking any emotion as he does so.

Rouasha's POV

This is it.

Am I gonna die?

Or a life sentence in jail?

Juvie?

A mental institute?

I don't know.

I keep my face blank as I walk down the stairs and the man at the door comes into view.

"Rouasha?" He asks. I nod. "Your court session is today so you're gonna have to come with me." He looks away from me and says, "You can come too." I look behind me and Sam is walking down the stairs.

"I will come." Sam says after he comes to stand next to me. I smile in gratitude. This is a time I need someone the most.

'Thank you' I mouth to him.

"Let's go." The man says after I look back at him.

I nod slowly and Sam holds onto my hand as we walk to the car.

Sam and I get in the back while the man sits behind the wheel. I cuddle against Sam as he pulls out of the driveway. The fear finally setting in.

Sam has his arms holding me tight against his chest and I have my face buried in his shirt. I can feel Sam rubbing my back and I really hoped I could hear so I could hear his soothing voice. But I realized if I wasn't deaf and mute, I wouldn't be in this situation. I would be at home with a loving family. Meaning I never would have met Sam. So if we get through this I would look back at what happened and thank what happened. Yes I regret what I did. But, it was what I did that allowed me to meet him. And I think I love him. No. I know I love him.

Eventually my eyelids droop and before I know it, I fall asleep.

Sam's POV

After a few minutes I feel Rouasha relax and I realize he fell asleep. I feel so bad for him. He's had to go through so much pain and sadness his entire life. But I also thank what happened to him because if it didn't, we probably would have never met.

I'm hoping they don't send him to jail or anything, cause I know that will just tear him apart. He'll most likely commit suicide or something feeling like there's nothing good for him in life.

"We're here." The man suddenly says pulling me out of my thoughts.

"O-ok." I say. I nudge Rouasha awake and he wakes up rubbing his eyes. "We're here." I tell him when he looks at me. He nods and sits up.

I take off my seat belt and he does the same. We climb out of the car and look at the big building in front of us. Rouasha hides his face in my shirt again and he shakes a bit from fear probably. I wrap an arm around him and we follow the man into the building.

(A/N: I know pretty much nothing on how the court system works and I'm too lazy to look it up so this next part is just gonna be my made up court system lol)

The man leads us inside and he talks to the guys stationed at the big doors leading to the court room. They nod and slowly opens the doors to reveal the court and we walk in.

Rouasha's POV

We walk into the court room and I am freaked out right now. I mean, I don't want to die, I don't want to go to jail, and I don't want to be here either. I just want to be back at Sam's house cuddling with him on the couch or something.

We walk to the front of the room and I sit down at one of the tables. Sam sits down next to me keeping me close. I feel safe in his arms, that just maybe everything will be ok.

I wonder, how am I gonna keep track of what everybody says? I don't know sign language so that won't help. Sam gets out my iPad and he types, 'I'll try to type down what everybody says ok?' I nod at him in response.

'Judge: So Rouasha can't hear or speak right?' Sam types down.

'Some man: No he can't.'

'Judge: Does he know sign language?'

'Some man: No.'

'Judge: Then how will he know what's going on?'

Sam looks up and says, "I'll tell him."

'Judge: How?' Sam types.

Sam holds up my iPad. "I will try to type everything down that you guys say so he can keep up. He can read lips, but it's hard to know who's speaking in a place like this where the person can be turned away from him or there's more than one person speaking."

'Judge: Ok, that'll be fine then.'

"Thank you."

'Judge: Ok, so now that we got that problem out of the way. I will now address why we are here. Rouasha has murdered every single one of his family members. He says it's because they all hated him. He's 15 years old and we will try him as an adult' No that doesn't sound good. 'Does anybody here want to defend him?'

"I will." Sam says. He stands up and walks around the table. He makes sure he's facing me so I know what he's saying. "I am fully aware of what Rouasha did, but he didn't know any better. His parents were disappointed when they found out he was deaf, and when they found out he had no voice, that just made it worse. He probably grew up never receiving love from them. They never turned his way when he needed something. They couldn't communicate with him, but they also didn't even try. The rest of his relatives were the same. They didn't see him as a person. And when he came out that he was gay, his family lost all affection for him if they even had any. But they never disowned him cause they didn't want to deal with the paperwork.

"And since they never communicated with him, he never learned what a child is supposed to learn. Stuff like right and wrong, how to treat others, stuff like that. He grew up completely alone. And because of that, he thought the best way to deal with it, was to kill them. He did it but never killed his parents. Along the way his grandma actually shows him love and affection. She loved him like he was her own son. But sadly, she died of cancer. That just killed whatever was left of him. He broke down and finally killed his parents.

"He ran away that day to the forest. Where I met him. He was sitting down against a tree silently crying. I didn't know what happened at that time but I knew he really needed someone. I took him home with me and I convinced him I wasn't going to hurt him. I realize after hearing about his past, that he just needs love. He just need to be noticed. He needs to feel like someone actually cares for him, that he actually belongs. Slowly, I-I fell in love with him. I don't care what he did in the past. I know he truly regrets his actions. It wasn't his fault it happened. It's his family's fault.

"So please, don't kill him or punish him too harshly. If you let him stay with me, I'll give him what he desperately needs, love. If you kill him I think I would just die also. So please everybody, have a heart." After he finished there wasn't a single dry eye in the court room. Except the judge. Uh-oh. Sam sits back down next to me.

'Judge: Now Sam, that was a very touching story. But, you just pleaded guilty for him. Sorry but he can't leave this court room without some sort of punishment.' I notice Sam tense up. 'Now, I will let them discuss what we will do with him.'

"They're just talking now, I can't really hear what they're saying." Sam says to me. I nod. He hugs me tightly and I hug him back. I'm so scared for what's gonna happen.