Rising Dawn (Willy Wonka X OC)

An Oompa Loompa for a Lawyer

      I think some people seriously underestimate Will's influence in the world. Because it took only an hour for his web in the city to locate and contact the man that Mr. Salt had on payroll to follow Will around and just wait for him to slip up. Well, there were several men on that list, all of whom were found, but there was only one man who actually saw Will they had to quietly "convince" that he was incredibly drunk that night and it could have been anyone on the streets lugging the dead body along.

     Honestly, the trial only took half an hour. After Mr. Salt's only witness denied ever having seen Will before, their whole argument fell apart. The autopsy on my father verified that it was a gunshot wound that killed him, but I know for a fact that Will doesn't own any guns. Seeing as it's physically impossible for cops to do a full search of the factory - there are literally thousands of hiding places in there - the judge just asked Will's family to testify that they'd never seen a gun in his possession. Then I testified that to my knowledge, Will was in the factory during the time of the murder. Of course, I couldn't say for sure because I was asleep at the time, as was everyone else who might have confirmed Will's whereabouts, but with a serious lack of evidence that he had ever left the factory, they had nothing to get him on.

     The Oompa Loompa that had either volunteered himself or had been selected to fill the position of lawyer didn't even say a word the entire time. He just gave judgemental stares and punctuated the statements of others by pointing at them. In the end, the judge had no choice but to rule Will not guilty.

     Mr. Salt's face was redder than a tomato at having been dismissed as a crazy man for being so vehement that Will commited murder when his own witness denied having seen anything.

     "You psycho! You nearly killed my daughter! Your squirrels threw her down a garbage chute! I'll make you pay for this!" Mr. Salt screams as court orderlies step in to remove him from the room before he has a chance to physically assault Will.

     "Wow. What a riot," Will mutters in that funny tone of his as he wraps warm arms around my shoulders.

      I smile up at him and wrap my arms around his waist, our matching suit jackets making us appear as one being, connected.

     "What's that smile for?" he asks, bringing his lips to the tip of my nose for a brief moment.

     "You won. You're a free man. Maybe not totally innocent...but free," I respond. We laugh together, and for the first time in weeks, I feel whole again.

     The weeks leading up to the court date were hell for me. Because Will was accused of murder, not only was it all over the news, he had to stay in a holding cell the entire time before court to ensure he didn't try to leave the country or hurt anybody else.

     I didn't have to see the news if I didn't want to, it had to be a deliberate decision because there's no regular news source on autoplay in the factory, but I just couldn't resist checking it. The things people were saying and writing about Will were horrible, but I know none of it was true. It was just fear manifesting as hate. When their most beloved chocolatier was charged with murder, no one knew how to react.

     It may not be a big deal now that he's been cleared of all charges. We need to do something to fix Will's public image though.

     As we walk out of the court house, there are dozens of flashes from the cameras of reporters. While they make me instantly tense, I'm glad they chose today to cover their stories because it's just Will and I today. Everyone else in our family testified yesterday, and they didn't have to deal with this.

     The crowds surge together, blocking our path entirely and there's no one to make them move out of our way. The guards aren't responsible for what goes on outside of their jurisdiction which only includes the building at our backs. The only way out is to give the people what they want.