Chapter
4 – A Rigged Trial
It’s been a week since we arrested
Edoardo, and it's eerily quiet, with few crimes even happening in the worst
parts of the city. The trial for Edoardo has been expedited to today because of
what he’s done and his association with superhumans. I thought I wouldn’t be
watching it, and yet, I’m watching it with my dad in my parent’s living room as
if we were watching a sports game or show you would watch with your family. My
dad sits in his car with a hand covering his mouth, and his eyes are glued to
the screen with a glossy look to them as if he wants to cry. Meanwhile,
Salvatore is helping our mom in the kitchen, and it’s then that I remember how
much people say the two are alike. With the exception of Salvatore’s white and
black hair and golden eyes, the two look similar, and my mom does have a history
of getting in trouble with the law to get justice for herself and the people
she wants to protect. It was that kind of trouble that caused my mom and dad to
meet.
On the other side of the family, I
look like my dad, with the exception of my eyes being red. My wife and
Salvatore’s wife are talking and helping in the kitchen while the kids are
playing outside. Today is our monthly family dinner, and most of it is the same
as usual except for what is for dinner and what’s on TV. What is usual is my
brother Ignazio not being here. I forgot what reason it was since he gives a
lot of them, and I don’t care anymore to argue with him or press him on it,
especially with what’s going on.
“Dad?” I say and then snap my
fingers. “Dad? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I am. Just lost in thought
and old memories,” my dad admits.
I don’t admit the same is happening
to me, and I am just trying to keep my mind off what Edoardo said. If he plans to
escape prison or the trial he’s in, then he has another thing coming because of
the security around him and the evidence we have against him.
“Are you okay, Renzo? It couldn’t
have been easy taking in your own uncle.”
“I’m fine, dad. I just need time to
let the feeling of it pass away.”
“The feeling doesn’t just pass away
after cases like this. It sticks with you. You must find a way to ignore it,
pray it away, and not let it bother you.”
“I’m trying.”
“I’m sure you can, son. You have
the quietness of St. Joseph, as they call it. It’s a terrifying quiet to some
since you do what’s right without question or hesitation.” Salvatore joins our
dad and me as we watch the trial start and the evidence against Edoardo is
being presented. “I know they’ll bring up anything he said, but did he say
anything special to you in particular?”
“He said I know that this isn’t the
end, but it’s nothing we should worry about. In his diary, he wrote that he
loves us, our family.”
“Hmm. He did and always will.
Edoardo is a compassionate man, perhaps too compassionate because of what it
drove him to do. If he said this isn’t the end, then he’s going to cause more
trouble for us one way or another. Perhaps you should’ve shot him instead of
arresting him.”
Salvatore laughs while I say, “You
know I couldn’t do that. He had no weapon on him and didn’t resist arrest. Why
did you say that?”
“I…I don’t know. Maybe it’s because
I’m old and losing my mind or because I didn’t want to see my best friend, who I
considered a brother, on trial like this.”
Understanding my dad’s feelings, I
don’t say anything else, especially since the evidence against Edoardo is
unable to be presented. They say that the files and maps I found in Edoardo’s
house can be found, so Edoardo’s defense says that this evidence is a
fabrication. Additionally, they say that Edoardo being present in the battle
yesterday was coincidental since he owned the barn he was found in. I look over
to Salvatore, who looks at me with surprise. We then look at our dad, who has
the look of someone who seems unsurprised by this result. There’s disorder in
the court now that the judge struggles to quiet down, but Edoardo standing up
and speaking does shut them up.
“Judge Loeb,” Edoardo says. “I’m
sure that you can pull the evidence against me out of thin air.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking
about. Now, sit down-”
“No, because I’m tired of you and
your corrupt dealings, and unlike my prosecutors, I actually have evidence
against you.”
“You’re the one on trial, Edoardo,
not me. Guards, make him sit down.”
Instead of doing as they say, the
guards simply stand around. So, this is what Edoardo was talking about. I
spring up and call Chief Bernardo, who has been scrambling to find the evidence
we found against Edoardo and is now rushing to the court where he is.
“Please, hand out to the crowd my
evidence against the judge.”
The guards do as Edoardo says and
give them pictures and files they are shocked to see.
“You can’t do this!” Loeb says as
he stands up and is forced to sit down by the guards.
“Not legally, but when has that
stopped you? How about when a human trafficker who was infamous for trading
women to people in high positions of power was presented before you, and you
said he was not guilty because the evidence against him disappeared before his
trial as the evidence against me disappeared? What about this other case where
an officer was stripped of his job for defending himself against criminals who
were hitmen and ended up killing him not long after his trial? Who can forget
the story of a politician you considered a friend who sold out the country he
served to foreign leaders since they paid him well, and yet, his trial was
forever put on hold, and he was exonerated by sketchy evidence?”
“This is all staged and fake!
You’ve always had a bone to pick with me, Edoardo!”
“Because of what you’ve done! Every
criminal that I put away who you were involved with was let go to murder, rape,
or steal again, while every innocent person who I was forced to arrest was put
in jail or ended up dead. Let’s not even get into your personal crimes that
everyone in the court is reading of the sexual kind and plots that got you
rich.”
The court is in more of an uproar
than it was before.
“You won’t get away with this! I’ll
make you pay for humiliating me!”
“Maybe, but you won’t be the one
sentencing me. I know how many friends you have in high places, and they’ll be
getting what’s coming to you. Even now, the evidence against them is being
leaked on the internet, and they’ll face justice like you.”
Edoardo takes a gun out of his
jacket and shoots Judge Loeb three times, twice in the chest and once in the
head. I call Chief Bernardo again, and this time, he says he’s having a hard time
getting into the court building since cops and superhumans are blocking his
entry and that he may need to use force.
“You’ll have to! Edoardo has
already killed Judge Loeb!” I say and wait for the chief’s response. “Chief?
Chief!”
The phone hangs up, and I see that
superhumans have appeared and broken into the courtroom where Edoardo is.
“The time is now to bring down the
institutions that say they protect us but stab us in the back,” Edoardo says. “I’m
starting with the police and then going after the three letter agencies of the
government who are guilty of their own atrocities. If you know what’s good for
you and are a good-natured person in these groups, then you should stand aside
or join me, especially you, Renzo. I know you’re watching this.”
“Bastard,” I say while storming out
of the house and starting to call Alex and Kurtis.
“Renzo!” my dad says from the front
door. “Be careful!”
“I’ll be out there helping you, but
remember, you have to be the one who ends this, brother,” Salvatore says as he
runs past me and into his own car.
Looking back at my parent’s house,
I take a moment to say, “I’ll be back. I promise.”
I then drive off as fast as I can with
the sirens in my personal car blaring. This has to end now, and I don’t care if I
have to kill my own uncle to do it! Now that he’s killed a judge and caused all
this chaos, I have no choice but to.
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