Page 10 of Into These Eyes
“Eighteen.”
“So, he’ll be sentenced as an adult?” I want to confirm.
Reid blinks at me. “That’s right. Pending a thorough investigation, of course. But, like I said, the evidence is highly incriminating. Trust me when I say this, Jamie. He’ll pay for what he’s done.”
I stare straight into his eyes with fierce determination. “I hope he rots in prison forever.”
He stares back with utter conviction.
My mind races back to last night. I watched her get ready. I watched her lie.
How happy she seemed. Glowing even. And she’d told me not to hold onto grudges when it came to family. To open my heart.
Had she been trying to soften me up for the news that would break our family apart?
Every muscle in my body tenses. I can’t even comprehend Mum cheating on Dad, let alone how I’m supposed to feel aboutit. But therearefeelings welling inside me. Feelings I’ve never dealt with before.
Hate. Anger. Rage.
Those are solid, easily identifiable emotions I can cling to. Focus on.
And I know just where to direct them. Toward a violent thug who took my mother’s life.
As Dad continues to fall apart in my arms, I realise in that moment that it’s me who’ll have to be the strong one. It’s me who’ll have to keep everything together. It’s what Mum would have wanted. Anika’s so little. She needs a mother. Had it only been yesterday I’d been so grateful I don’t have a kid to look after at my age?
And Dad? He’s always been the typical old-school Aussie bloke. I’ve never seen him cook a meal in his life, let alone make a bed, do laundry, or any type of housework. He works his job in construction, comes home and does whatever needs doing around the yard. That’s it. And Mum let him get away with his gender-role beliefs.
The weight of it all comes crashing into my body, threatening to take me to the floor and crush me like a steamroller.
I don’t think I can cope with that much responsibility.
But what does it matter what I think?
A boy called Gavin Lake has stolen the future I was meant to live.
One Year Later
Chapter 6
Gavin
After the Corrective Services officer places me in the side-dock, I glance nervously around the courtroom I’ll soon become accustomed to. For how long, I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s a far more pleasant environment than the remand cell I’m barely surviving in.
This courtroom, and the twelve people seated in the jury box, are my only hope of freedom. Contrary to what my publicly-appointed defence lawyer believes and has repeatedly explained.
He’d shown me the video footage from the camera mounted in the security patrol car. It looks bad. Due to the lack of context. It shows me gripping the knife handle, while—my lawyer pointed out—it looks like I’m strangling her with my other hand. Then I stare up at the headlights in shock. And flee.
The jury won’t see what happened moments before the camera captured me. They won’t see the man in black shouldering into me, nor me rushing to the woman’s aid.
My lawyer also told me the assault on my father will come to light and that Dad will take the stand for the prosecution.
None of it sounds promising, but I hold strong to the belief that the truth will prevail. That’s what court is for, right?
I search the public gallery for my only parent. He’s nowhere to be seen. I don’t know if that’s because he’s not here, or if he’s not allowed in the courtroom. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I haven’t seen or heard from him since that night.
He believes I killed his lover. My lawyer won’t confirm it either way, but I know. After almost a year, I don’t have to be a genius to understand my father’s abandoned me.
I’m here alone, with no one on my side. Not even my court appointed lawyer.
