White Walls

Still a work in progress I have a outline of the story but finding time to finish the story is a constant struggle.

A plain grey day looms overhead, casting a rather bland lighting on the lively crime scene below. The red and blue sirens spin dully in their plastic cases casting shades of color on the crowd of pale faces surrounding the yellow tape. A still body lays in a shallow pool of blood on the sidewalk in front of a school by the name of Crescent View High School. The masschoat of Crescent View was the black cat, rather fitting for a school seemingly cursed with the worst of luck.

Constant fighting amongst students over petty words exchanged over one’s mother, family, or sexual orientation. Which escalates quickly into schoolyard brawls that last only an average of 25 seconds. And each fight ends with the teacher on duty rushing over to the flailing of body parts and uproar of pubescent voices to break up the incident in question. Yet this last fight had claimed the life of a student. His name was Trey Milrod, was a rather notorious bully at Crescent View. His family was very familiar with the law for having run a small drug ring through a chain of run down laundromat shops. With his father incarcerated, then charged with the distribution and selling of illegal narcotics Tray’s mother soon became abusive and so Trey turned to schoolyard violence to vent his frustrations and emotions.

Yet he could never get a rise out of the class loner Julius Roland. Julius was a silent boy of about 17 years of age. He spoke only when asked to or when it was required. This included but did not alone pertain to answering questions given to him by the teacher, in class readings, and speeches. During which he never seemed to get anything wrong. However his grades were B’s or C’s on average, this may have been caused by his lack of attention in class at times. His mind always seemed to be in some distant place only he could visit.

Julius always sat next to the window in each of his classes looking out onto the scenic views of Seattle, Washington. The constant rain and grey skies fit Julius’ dull and reclusive behaviour rather well or so his classmates thought. Julius never smiled or laughed in class or out of class, when a joke was told he did not react. Rather he just stared for a while or glanced over at the source of laughter, studied the situation, then went back to staring off into space. Many students and teachers alike had tried to make Julius laugh or crack a smile but all had failed. The teachers knew Julius was on a different wavelength entirely with his commanding tone of voice and large vocabulary. Even the way his eyes gleamed with an enlightened glow that would entrance some of his female classmates. Yet when met with Valentine's day cards or confessions of love from girls he simply shrugged or would do nothing at all and walk away. And when chased after or asked for an answer he would always reply with a simply, “I am sorry but I do not harbor the same kind of affections you have, good bye” as he walked away alone at a relaxed pace.

Amongst all the pent up emotions of pubescent youth Julius stood out like a sore thumb for never losing his cold calm composure. He was always eyeing his surroundings with what his classmates called only describe as the “could not give a f**k” facial expression. This made people believe Julius was even more disengaged from others than he already was. And this very facial expression earned him the nickname Bot, for he never understood social edicate or how socialization worked in the first place. Similar to all those movies about a robot that did not understand human emotion, behaviour, and edicate Julius took on this role in day to day life. And so this lead to constant run ins with Trey the school bully.

Yet Julius never cared about what Trey had to say, rather he just wanted to complete his objectives for the day which included punctual arrive to classes, answering any questions the teachers posed to him, finishing classwork and homework if he had the time. Then finally observe other people’s behaviour. For Julius, people watching was one of his favorite hobbies or pastimes. Julius found other human beings intriguing sources of conflict and action with rather strange ways of reacting to outside stimuli. Such examples included: how a conversation may be carried out when a member realizes certain information to be true or false, such as a rumor.

Julius simply did not understand why this was such a big deal. None of the rumors ever influenced him in any major way. At least that is what he concluded after a heated debate he held inside his inner psyche. Speculating on rumours would be a waste of time he concluded. Yet there was always four or five of his peers speaking about a new or old rumor as if it was a matter of life or death. He learned rather soon that some rumors did involve him. But the majority did not. Most of rumors that did revolve him where mainly about his “cold” rejection of a few of his female classmates. This supposedly suggested Julius’ sexual preferences must be of the same sex. While Julius found this rather unimportant he did think to himself that it was amusing that others thought he was homosexual. Julius did have a “liking” for the opposite sex but he ruled that it would be a waste of too much time and energy attempting to procure a potential mate. For his understanding of emotions and social etiquette were clearly lacking. Also he grew quite annoyed whenever a female’s voice rapidly increased in rate or pitch. He thanked whoever created headphones whenever he did not want to listen to the noises of the classroom.

These rumors caused a domino effect, with the gossip chain sending the message down the grapevine it eventually caught wind in Trey Milrod’s earwax infested ears. Like a shark that caught a scent of blood in the water, Tray immediately honed in on Julius. This did not surprise or interest Julius in the slightest rather he predicted or rather expected some event similar to the one before him transpiring. To which his solution was simply, like Trey’s thought processes, just ignore and withhold any reaction or conversation with the brute. Trey soon cracked a few jokes about the rumor he heard calling Julius the rather crude and derogatory name f****t to which Julius paid no heed to. Rather Julius continued to stare out at the empty vast grey skies day-dreaming of the possibilities the future held in store. Which seemed endless for Julius, he could always create theoretical story and timelines for himself. Simulated lives in his mind’s eye.

Then rather sudden slam on his desk startled him from his meditation on the future and brought him back to the present reality. Oh how he hated being abruptly pulled from his imagination. Staring him in the eyes with a enraged glare was Trey, hovering over him like a rabid dog waiting to bite. “Listen to me when I’m talking to you f****t” snarled the smelly brute. “Why?” responded a unaffected Julius “Why should I listen to anything you have to say?” he continued in a complacent tone. “ You clearly have nothing important or meaningful to share or ask me. So why should I listen to you?” Trey was engulfed in a sea of rage within an instant, who did this lonely little homo think he was talking to? Without thinking he swung his arm towards Julius with all the strength and anger he could muster. Julius did not bat an eyelash and swiftly leaned his head backwards watching the “majestic” heavy set boy be carried away by his own momentum. The surprised expression Trey had on his face was almost priceless as he crashed into the desk in front of Julius. See Trey was left handed and Julius saw the punch coming from a mile away. That was how Trey solved most of his problems through violence.

Julius looked around inspecting the faces of the students around him. To his surprise most of the students looked with disbelief at this wild display that had just transpired. Trey lay on the ground in a heap struggling to get up while Julius sat calm and collected without as much as a scratch on him. The bell rang out signalling the end of the day to which Julius readily stood up and walked out the door with no concern on his consciousness whatsoever. He had reached the sidewalk when a howl of pure wrath filled his ears. What Julius saw next actually frightened him a little or so he thought later after reflection on the event. Trey was sprinting at Julius with the clear intent to harm him as much as physically possible. So Julius immediately read this intent and responded in kind. Trey only registered a few thoughts after this moment. The first was a darker flicker behind Julius’ already dark brown eyes and that he had always hated that grey sky overhead before he died.

What happened next was a blur. Julius had watched and studied martial arts for 10 out of the 17 years of his life. Mainly a mixture of Krav maga and Judo. Julius saw the advantage of knowing how to defend oneself and somehow knew that one day he would eventually have use that knowledge in some way shape or form. Julius rather enjoyed the physical strain the training put on his body. This lead Julius to visit his dojo’s and self defense classes 5 days a week and when he finished his homework he would compulsively practice at home for hours every day drilling the movements into his muscle memory. This left Julius fit but not too the point of being noticeable with the clothes he wore. Usually a loose fitting hoodie or long sleeve shirt would hid his physic. But none of Trey’s teachers or peers for that matter knew Julius had made himself into a human weapon of sorts.

So when Trey ran at Julius it was only a reflex to eliminate a threat. Similar to how you blink if something gets in your eyes. Julius did not hesitate or have a second thought. There was only action when Trey swung his meaty left hook aiming for the Julius’ face, he took aim at his own target. Side-stepping to the right, out of harm's’ way and Trey’s wild swing. Julius simultaneously, brought his right palm up connecting with Tray’s chin and swept his right leg and hip in an arc underneath Tray’s legs. This carried the heavy boy up and over him with the momentum from Tray’s dead sprint. Tray floated in mid-air for a few split seconds. This was the moment Trey’s final thoughts previously mentioned transpired. Then shortly after, gravity took over. Tray fell with a sickly splat. To describe this sound it was something similar a pound of raw ground beef slamming onto a kitchen surface mixed with a watermelon splitting.

The back of Trey’s skull had landed directly on the ledge of the curb breaking it like a fragile egg, spilling it’s contents of brain matter out like a red bowl of Jell-o around his neck and shoulders. Julius could only look in disbelief at what had transpired. For the first time that he could remember he actually felt a sense of dread and sorrow. He was transfixed on the spasming body of Tray. He did not hear the screams of the students or the shouts coming from the teacher who dragged him away from his place beside the body. The shouts of a voice calling out for an ambulance and the police. All Julius could do was look into the slowly dimming eyes of Trey, which grew cold and lifeless eyes faster than Julius thought possible. And there Trey would lay with a surprised expression fixed on his face that would be soon covered with a black bag. The police arrived along with the paramedics but it was already beyond too late.

Julius Roland was taken into custody for the murder of Trey Milrod.

The police did a rather harsh interrogation with Julius shouting at him and asking heated questions as to why he had murdered Trey. Repeating it over and over like a chant or spell that only grew louder. Julius toned their voices out, for all he could hear was that sickening crunching noise of Tray’s skull hitting the concrete and the pool of blood that seemed to pour out of his head. One of the officers slammed his fists on the table making Julius jump in his seat. He finally looked up into the officer’s hate filled eyes. “Answer me boy! Make this easier on yourself and everyone involved!” Julius let his eyes fall on the mirrored surface of the metal table. “I want a lawyer, I have the right to an attorney if I am not mistaken”. The officer’s eyes burned white hot fire into Julius as he regathered his shaking hand from the table. “You’re smart kid, but you are going to pay for this” the officer turned his back and walked out of the room. “I just want a lawyer” Julius whispered in distant voice. Being left alone in the interrogation room for what seemed like an eternity but was actually only many a couple of hours made Julius begin to fidget and squirm in his uncomfortable chair. Then finally another person showed up. However this person did not look like someone who was an officer or a lawyer. From his body language Julius knew that this person was either someone of import or just someone with a lot of confidence either of those two did not bode well for him. This stranger most likely posed a threat to his future. The man did not say anything for a while which made Julius even more uncomfortable that he already was making him reposition himself awkwardly in his chair. Julius wondered who this person was and wanted he wanted. If all he wanted to do was look at him shouldn't he have just stayed behind the one way glass? He was to afraid to ask anything because rule number one of being interrogated was to keep your mouth shut and say as little as possible just… what in the world was this man hoping to accomplish by staring at him. Just watching him with the same look he had seen from curious younger children give a particularly interesting insect or small trapped animal. Which was exactly how he felt after sitting underneath these buzzing lights with a hard metal chair digging into his lower thighs. The stranger was dressed in a incredibly nice three piece suit which most likely cost more money then Julius could or would like to imagine. With a black tie, white shirt, and black dress pants and shoes that sparkled and shined a glossy black under the draining lights. He would occasionally move his back and tap the back heel of his right foot against the wall every now and again. It seemed like he was tapping a familiar tune but Julius couldn’t place the melody to the rapid beats of the man’s heel. The man obviously knew the Julius was sizing him up studying every detail of his appearance. Trying to deduce as much information about this confident almost intimidating stranger. The man’s features seemed to be cut from stone, stern, cold and pale. Which formed a look of almost unforgiving judgment that found Julius underneath it’s harsh gaze. It made Julius feel like a specimen under a microscope and those harsh ice blue eyes where the lenses. Finally Julius couldn’t stand the burning of the man’s stare any longer and outright asked him, “ You are not my lawyer so what exactly are you doing here?” to which the man in the suit replied, “ Observing and recording your body language while also trying to make you as uncomfortable as possible”. “Why?” “Consider it a minor pastime that I enjoy” Julius immediately disliked this man more than he previously had. He also formed a very nasty sentence in his mind that would have most likely could have been used against him in a trail. The only question was if he was going to be tried as an Minor or as an Adult. And when was his trial to be held. But instead of adding fuel to the already blazing inferno that had engulfed his “normal” life. He replied to the man in a firm and point driven voice that seemed to almost break into a squeak from his throat. “And why can’t you do that behind the one way glass?” the man raised an eyebrow of surprise. Surprised at how this boy could talk to him in such a tone. “Up close and personal is what I prefer. It gives me a much closer look at the details.” The man’s eyes pierced Julius again almost as if he was looking for the answers to his questions in Julius’ soul. Julius let the silence take its rigid and fragile form again. The silence carried out for what seemed to be an agonizingly long amount of time. When in reality it only lasted for somewhere in the realm of three or four minutes. The man then began to make his way back towards the door and Julius spoke his mind without noticing. “When will my lawyer be here?” “Expect one shortly.”