Defense
“Oh, Supreme Justice Minister, I request you do not try to bring Fox out of my circle.” Luis humorously interjected after a small stare off between Fox and Vanessa. Vanessa stared at Luis and smiled a bit, raising her eyebrows somewhat. “My, it seems the president does indeed value this young man. But it makes me wonder, is it his capabilities as a public servant that will or might help you in the future, or his murdering ones?”
“He is a boy with all. There is no need to tag him as this or that. I believe he’ll do well what he is meant to do.” Luis responded, shaking his head slowly, more like a gesture. Vanessa stayed silent before articulating with an arching eyebrow, “Does the president think he can stay in more than one post at once? That’s something only a decree can declare, but for how long?”
“That’s one matter that I won’t burden the Supreme Justice Minister with. Instead, since we’ve come to speak freely, why don’t we order now that we are all here? It’s an appointment I didn’t want to miss. Though, I’d like to say— however we do something isn’t going to be public knowledge for everyone to put their hand or eye to. That will be left for later, when the people, who hold the true power, decide whether it’s something they want or not.” Luis proactively said.
“That is my fault, let’s eat then. Oh, before we begin, Fox,” Vanessa nodded, surprisingly taken a step back. Although only Fox seemed to feel surprise by it, and Luis kept a resilient face. She expressed, “I want to say that, despite what you might have thought from last night to morning, and even to the second half of the process later on, the Supreme Court Justice does not want to target you. This job often comes with decisions and duties not to be undermined.”
“…” Fox looked at the redhead before staring at Luis. Luis simply looked at him with his chin grasped by his fingers still, legs spread sitting down. Fox looked back at the redhead and nodded, speaking a bit formally. “I understand, Vanessa Valyer is doing her job alone.”
“Good,” Vanessa relaxed her back on the chair, seeming to feel better after hearing his response. She briefly glanced at Luis before asking Fox, “What would you order? What things you like?”
“Meat and oranges,” Fox responded curtly.
… Just slightly more than half an hour after their plates arrived, the trio ate and chatted comfortably. Luis drank a bit of wine, while Fox only took water and a few oranges beside his not-so-thin and large steak. Vanessa got a salad and some mashed potatoes, with Luis also getting a salad, but a warm soup to accompany the salad, not the other way around.
“… I see it difficult that a positive result for this trial will come for you, but it might not be impossible. I’m not sure if you can achieve that, president, National Front’s president,” Vanessa cleaned her mouth and hands with her plate empty. She looked at them one by one, “But I wish good luck for the innocent.”
With that, Vanessa stood up and delicately placed her purse around her shoulder. Then, grabbing a briefcase on the floor beside the table with a crouching motion, she departed. Fox and Luis were left behind, looking at her back as she went into a black vehicle that just arrived.
Afterwards, Fox and Luis looked at each other. Fox finished his glass of water and commented, “Well, I don’t think she is going to be a hidden ally, as I had thought.”
“Fuuu,” Luis blew air out of his mouth with such strength that his lower lip ballooned out. He moved around in his seat for a while before waving his hand a little, throwing more needed fresh air to his face. “If I had just one ally like her, I wouldn’t have been eating shit all these 12 years.”
“…” Fox looked at the President while breathing through his nose and mouth. He had eaten 4 times more than the President and the Supreme Justice Minister added together, and that was only with the steak, ignoring the 4 oranges he wolfed down. They were just that good…
“President?” Fox asked, looking more into the state Luis showed he was afflicted by this meeting. He was sweating now, but relaxed, and like his burdens had all disappeared in one go. This was, without a doubt, a situation that put great stress on the President’s body.
“Eat more, this might be the last chance you have to do so.” The President said that, but Fox felt a bit unwilling to believe it. It seemed a bit drastic. Luis Heartez noticed this and gestured to Fox’s plate before talking to him, “Order something else, this place is good and not as snobbish as you’d hate it. Who knows, even if you’re free still tomorrow, they might change, and you won’t get to eat their known dishes, so dig into something else.”
“Alright,” Fox agreed, at last. Luis nodded and waited 2 minutes in silence before realizing Fox wouldn’t call a waiter, so he did. Fox ordered something else, giving Luis inspiration to say a few more things. “It doesn’t look good for you, Fox. Your now known participation in your assignations, especially with Riverlye, made the public show they’re doubting you.”
“Even the ones who, let’s say, went to the rallies and believed in it, following more into it as I continued the tour?” Fox rubbed his palms on his thighs, feeling comfortable, and asked with barely showing he cared. Luis nodded, “They also doubt.”
“Then Armando has a tough play at hand,” Fox smirked from both corners of his mouth, a little weak overall. Luis shook his head in dismissal, eyes upturned, and chin dancing, before sitting straight and facing Fox. “No matter the outcome, those 13 balls-eaters will grab you from within and pull you behind bars. There’s no different saying in this, they got you the moment they started the investigation.”
“…” Fox kept quiet. The President seemed to know what was happening, and so did the SCJ anticipate the government would know. If anything, it was only Fox who was unaware of what everyone was doing. For the first time, Fox cared about being left out. Of course, this was accompanied by a different thought than being used and someone’s strategic chess piece, which he came to terms when knowing about the President and PSD’s connection.
Fox didn’t feel left out and annoyed because of it, irritated. No, instead, it was the fact he couldn’t catch up. Everyone knew, except for him. Everyone had time to act, while he was busy playing politics. And everyone had their role clear, while Fox could only be exposed, little by little, bit by bit, until he was bare to the nation; to the world.
“It isn’t that hard, it’s just your luck to have such big obstacles when starting. Most just follow others, slowly getting the talks here and there to be known in the big circles of the parliaments and learn things until they start garnering vital experience.” Luis commented, feeling at ease.
Fox listened, feeling like he should. Luis continued after a brief pause, “You can try that, or at least a part of it. Depend off on someone and see how it goes. You have no official studies, but Sona says you can be used, and your cooperation is valuable.”
“Sona? Are her words taken that importantly by you, President?” Fox sincerely inquired, feeling a bit interested in the answer, if he was given it. Luis focused on Fox. Cleaning his hands with a table napkin, he looked at Fox with a slight turn of his head. “Ah, kid. You’re still in that zone. Don’t mistreat or misread the procedures to your person after being investigated.”
“Yes, you are protecting yourself. President, could you just answer my question?” Fox nodded, interrupting as soon as the President paused. Luis looked at Fox and narrowed his eyes before speaking, slowly relaxing them throughout. “You seem very patient about this, ever since I appointed you as my political party’s president, and the situation with the wastage occurred.”
“Yes, my sister’s insights are what I care about. Your relationship with her is meaningless, be it for getting you to grow attached to a building, an idea, a routine for self-satisfaction and understanding with someone to be with… A simulated bond. She, by her own initiative, wanted to take advantage and test it, or else I wouldn’t let her have… such silly thoughts come into true.”
“I don’t understand truly such thoughts, but I trust her. Her capabilities are one thing, but my trust on her person is more important. The only thing that keeps those still around me still around me.” Luis finished with his eyes closed, relaxing. Then, he looked at Fox again.
“I said ‘depend off on someone’, and you would probably speak about that now. So?” Luis offered no more words, clarification, or even an offer with more money. Fox looked at this and saw his next plate coming soon just several meters behind Luis. “Of course I won’t leave the President’s side. Being a spy elsewhere is boring. Never my thing, if there’s no promise of a killing.”
Luis grinned, maybe satisfied or glad. He returned to his serious expression and spoke to Fox almost commandingly, “There are still ways. Even with the looming doom of your freedom and stain to my image, some things can still be worked.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Mn,” Fox appeared to understand, at least in Luis’s eyes. Fox lifted his arms and extended them, grabbing a large plate from a middle-aged fat lady who looked pitiful, trying to be calm when giving Fox his dishes.
Luis lifted his left eyebrows. Fox had a double-order of salad, with another but smaller steak, mashed potatoes, and the same hot soup he asked but with chicken chunks inside. He rolled his eyes and shook his head a bit, but watched Fox eat everything… with the salad earning a bothered face.
“After a hopeful conclusion, you won’t be able to run away from politics.” Luis suddenly spouted, sounding like a warning to Fox. He looked at the President and said nothing, just finishing the ugly salad before starting to wolf the rest.
Noticing something, Luis called another waiter and ordered a little something. Then, a few minutes later, a young maiden blushed, carrying some oranges to Luis, who then pointed at Fox. The young girl brought the oranges to Fox with tears already spilling out, but not out of fear. Once Fox gently took the oranges from her, she hugged his tall figure awkwardly… for quite a bit.
A wide-eyed Fox didn’t know if to thank or curse his President.
***
The next day, a few minutes before 11 PM. In the Supreme Court Justice building.
Fox walked to the guard, the same as before, and walked to the podium after being handcuffed. There was a small difference, however. The courtroom didn’t look the same as before. Beside the podium, on the right and left, there was an extra layer of glass below where the wall was. It had the design of a gate, which anyone could open and close, with a guard on each side.
The 13 seats and podium, and even the stand, were the same. Only those glass gates were different. Once at the podium, Fox looked at the people on his left and blinked, before staring ahead. He then hung his head, like before.
Soon after, Fox heard footsteps, and a couple of minutes later, he heard the noise of people entering the courtroom. Like before, the 13 ministers and their attendants walked into the courtroom, went down the stairs, and headed to their seats, emerging from underground.
When Fox looked at a few faces without moving his head, he noticed something different. Almost everyone had bothered, long faces, with their footsteps ‘wrong’ and their ‘servants’ seeming a little down. A few almost barked some orders at the attendants, who hurriedly sat at the corners of every Supreme Court Minister seat.
This was another difference. Fox looked up earlier than last time, while the Supreme Justice Minister was still writing something, and the courtroom had fallen in silence. Her attendants this time were standing, and they didn’t keep their eyes close or heads a little low, like the rest.
Seeming to notice his stare, Vanessa stopped and lifted her face after a couple jolts from her head. Fox blinked and frowned lightly before bringing his attention away. At least he didn’t hang his head again. And this, too, Vanessa Valyer noticed.
“We will commence this trial’s second half. Might the defense show themselves and carry out their procedure. Any waste of time or fake defense targeted to the accused will be stopped and the trial will follow on.” Vanessa darted her eyes left and right, with calmness, and announced.
“Your Justice, I am Muñoz Estandarte. I will proceed to share a few words that, although this young man is a crim-” Immediately, a person stood up from the right. He spoke quickly and with such ‘care’ and ‘selflessness’ in his voice that it was impossible not to hear… such insufferable, loud voice. But then, right at it to save the day, with Fox frowning at the idiot on his right, Armando Peña stood up for the first time tonight.
“Your Justice, Muñoz Estandarte is not a defender of the accused. He has political reasons to speak of him. I request your Justice to stop this individual.” Armando’s voice was clear and firmer than Muñoz’s. As the latter looked at the former with narrowed, offended eyes, Vanessa moved some folders on her desk and lazily said, “Agreed.”
Armando silently blew air and cocked his head before returning to his seat and to talk to a few people. Vanessa looked up at Fox for fleeting glimpses from time to time, waiting for Armando. At last, Fox’s lawyer pressed the button, “Your Justice, before I begin my free speech, I’d like to convoke certain people to speak for the accused.”
“You may proceed, sigh…” Vanessa frowned, looking at Armando, easing her brows quickly after. She said those words followed by a soft sigh as she finished moving her things and untied a pile of documents. Armando replied politely, “Thank you, your Justice.”
Armando looked back and helped an old lady who seemed almost half-dressed for her coffin. Fox looked at her and smiled a bit, noticed by Vanessa, as the old lady nodded with narrowed eyes at Fox. She even mouthed with a trembling, old lady’s voice, “You boy, you’ve grown. Such a young man now.”
She was helped into the center of the courtroom’s huge booth, taking a couple of minutes just to walk and sit on a chair that a guard from the entrance behind everything carried to the front. Another brought cushions, gaining an eyeful from the one carrying the chair, as it wasn’t supposed to be so lavish for the speaking people.
Another 3 minutes went by, with the old lady waiting for the guards to put the chair and the cushions just right. Armando helped her, taking another minute before, finally, the old lady was at ease and comfortable in the chair.
Vanessa proceeded to take the old lady’s information and reason for her being here. After Vanessa passed a paper sheet through her screen, she looked at the old lady again, “So, ma’am. You were the responsible citizen for housing Phesx Caolia and his then Riverlye associates before conducting a massacre in a religious building.”
“What massacre? What religious?” The old lady responded with a sharp, high pitch. Vanessa tried to speak, but the old lady interrupted her while shaking her head, “I’m talking of the-”
“Chtsté has always been looked for but still ignored by the army. There aren’t nearly enough soldiers nor balls in them to stay in my state for long, hmph.” The old lady commenced, “There was this stupid woman who came to my door and asked me if I could let them put their advertising on my house. It was the biggest and prettiest.”
“Of course I declined, one of my ex-husband’s distant cousin’s had all their children disappear into a convention for recently starting cultists like them. Never heard of them again. It’s been over 40 years. I would have never let those bastards into my sidewalk again! I beat them whenever I could. And guess what, young lass? Since those fools came, people started taking and talking about drugs! Like this is a thousand years ago! What craziness!”
“Oooh, dear… water…” The old lady looked at the glass on Fox’s left, where Armando let the guard check a bottle of water and went into the center. He helped the old lady with the bottle, with her neck weakly moving, taking a tiny sip, one after another. She also took some breaks in between, seemingly tiring her throat just from drinking water.
“That will be enough, thank you, sweetie.” The old lady held Armando’s hands, “You’ll be a great father, I know.”
“How did you know?” Armando was flabbergasted. The old lady told him many sweet advices before the Supreme Justice Minister reminded them, “This court demands the trial to be respected!”
Armando nodded at the old lady before departing. Meanwhile, someone sitting beside Muñoz Estandarte stood up, with someone pressing the button for him, “Your Justice! This is a clear wastage of time! I require you to take this elder off the center!”
Vanessa looked at the person for a brief second before staring at Fox. Then, she stared at the old lady and instructed, “Ma’am, continue your speech. Be swift.”
“Ooh, what repugnant malandro(miscreant)…” The old lady scoffed before resuming. The crowd stifled laughter, keeping the courtroom as demanded. “This young man kindly offered me protection from that church. I gave him and the others some hot chocolate. I had just received goods from the delivery sweetie, whom I sent for more food for my new guests.”
“Oh, he loved it. I gave him 3 or 4 mugs every day. He would go crazy if I didn’t prepare it at the same time from the day before with the flavor of hot chocolate from the kitchen, such good kids…” The old lady went on before Vanessa directly asked, “Ma’am. Were you scared? Did you feel threatened by Phesx Caolia and any of the people with him?”
“No, I did not.” The old lady responded in a casual tone. Vanessa asked one more time, “Did you know he made you accomplice of the slaughter on the other side of the street?”
“Oh, he did not!” The old lady felt insulted a few times over in Fox’s stead. She continued, “This young man did the country a service. Even before saving the lovable vice president, his actions freed my entire community from new dangers and of another criminal lord trying to take over for delirious dreams of ownership. If only they weren’t released by this judicial branch around my country. Hmph!”
“Ma’am, I will conclude your speech. Thank you for your time,” Vanessa nodded and tapped her desk. Armando wasn’t allowed back in, but a guard brought her to the left side and helped her in for him.
A minute later, after helping the tired old lady to her seat, Armando brought a woman to the glass gate and pressed the button, “Your Justice, this will be my second and last spokesperson.”
“You may begin,” Vanessa briefly glanced at Armando and announced. The guards checked the new spokesperson, who was checked by a female guard, and went in. Walking near Fox, she stopped and asked him softly, “How have you been, Fox?”
“Mmn,” Fox exclaimed softly. The person behind him nodded, understanding him better than most, and walked to the same chair, without the cushions this time. She sat and introduced herself with all eyes on her, and her beauty. “My name is Morena. You have seen and heard my information from my patient, albeit limited. I am his therapist and I have dedicated more than 400 hours to my patient, since the incident in Sargonde.”
“I would like to clarify I will welcome any questioning throughout my speaking time, not at the end. No need to confront me with them at the end,” Mona temporarily concluded, properly sitting on the chair. She looked at Fox’s back while the Supreme Court Ministers hushed between each other.
“I will take this questioning within miss Mona’s speaking time,” Vanessa lifted her left hand and announced. The ministers behind her shut down immediately. Some looked at her, and she felt it, so she asked without looking back at them. “Is anyone not in favor of me doing it?”
“Very well, we will begin,” Vanessa looked at Mona, who stared straight into her eyes in return. The Supreme Court Ministers sat properly on their seats, almost on command.
…