Chapter Thirty-Three

THE FIRST SECTION:
“Take the boy to his parents,” ordered the constable.

The guard led William to the rear cells and placed him in the same cell as his mother before bringing his father into the same cell so they all could be together before the trial. It was the first time that they had seen each other since William was removed to the front for closer watching. The three cuddled together and held each other firmly in their arms. It seemed like years to William, and he was struck by the brutal change of facial features that each of his parents now wore. His father’s face was disfigured on the right side and was bruised so badly that his face turned purple. His mother had an elongated bump on the left side of her temple that forced her left eye to remain closed. None of them spoke a word to each other as the evening darkened the cell.
FOR FULL TEXT CLICK READ MORE BELOW

William fell asleep and at one point began dreaming of living in a big house with his parents and his sisters. The house had a large back yard with well groomed gardens and a fountain in the center. Beyond the gardens, at the end of the finely trimmed lawn was a small stream. William had tied several sticks together to form a raft with Lewis, and the two raced their vehicles downstream to a small waterfall where the rafts would tumble over and sink under the force of the falling water. A thick forest rested on the opposite side of the stream from the lawn, and he smiled knowing that he could hide from his sisters there and scare them when they dared trouncing through leaves and sticks. Elizabeth, whom he had nearly forgotten, suddenly appeared in a pretty, yellow dress. She teased the two boys but despite their embarrassment, they ran with her through the lawn playing all the games that they could think of. If they were lucky and the sun was bearing down on them with an extra effort that day, they could sneak off to a deep pool at the upper end of the stream and splash around until the sun set. The house and the yard was not unlike the one where they were caught sneaking on, and with that thought William jumped awake at the vision of the young woman’s face as she pulled her purse away. He looked around him to see where he was, to see if the dream was true. Disappointment filled his heart at the scenery that welcomed him. It saddened him to know that he was finally with his parents again, in their arms and comfortable, and all the while it was because of his foolish games and dares. He never wanted the woman to die. In fact, he never wanted the woman to know he was there.

William tried to cry but only his heart felt so saddened. He eyes mysteriously failed to leak any tears and his throat refused to choke up the way it normally did when he cried. William wonder if this is what it was like being a man. He tried to think back if his father had ever cried and he could not remember any moment at all. Even the day his father was dragged into the room, and he saw him covered in blood, he never heard a single sob thrust from his chest. He had seen his mother cry before, but even then it was rare. She certainly had tears running down her face that day, but the last time he had seen her cry before then was just before a period three years ago when they almost had nothing to eat for about a month. Neither was crying now either. In fact, they were both sleeping heavily.

William struggled to get up from his parents’ embrace and walked around the dark cell. He could hear the rats scurrying around the room but he found that he did not care about them. One even raced past his leg and he barely jumped when it did. He started to sing a little song that popped into his head. It was not a real song as the words and tune did not exist before his imagination sparked them. But it comforted him in the darkness.

Playing with friends in the street
Kicking the dirt with my feet
Sitting all day in the sun
I've never had so much fun

It took him a while to piece together the words, often stumbling over the rhyme and words, but once he figured it out he sang the same words over and over until he tired again. When he became sick of his song, he walked back over to his parents and cuddled up to them again and went back to sleep.

It was early the next morning when the guards came in and banged on the cell door. William barely had time to open his eyes when he felt himself being dragged across the room. He yelled for help until he realized that his parents were also being dragged out of the cell. In the shock of being suddenly woken up, he struggled to find his footing and the guard made him pay for not walking properly by constantly tugging at his arm.

“Get up boy,” he threatened William. “Stand up straight so I don’t have to drag you.”

William saw that his parents were also struggling to walk. The guards were simply moving to quickly for any of them to find their balance. They were dragged outside in front of an enormous crowd of hissing bystanders. Rotten vegetables pelted their bodies and the celled carriage they were forced into. Once inside, William’s parents held him in between them and tried to shield him from the angry faces that cried insults through the bars. The carriage rattled through the noisy streets and it almost seemed as though everyone was out just to see them carted to the courthouse. When they finally arrived at the courthouse, they were again showered with hisses and odd objects. The guards made little effort to move them inside quickly enough to avoid the attacks; instead it seemed like they held them outside just to watch the crowd wild with violence.

Once inside the courthouse they were positioned in a cell off to the side. The crowd was less volatile inside, but William could help feeling the piercing eyes of everyone inside. They waited in silence, barely looking at each other for over an hour before the judge and the lawyers came in. Whatever insults were being thrown his way at that time were quickly quieted to the voices of two men standing opposite each other, one near the cell. Both were talking to the judge behind the elevated desk. The trial had begun.