p e n u m b r a (discontinued)

Chapter 6: Katrina's Reminiscence

You can see from the red carpet, the bright paintings, the comfortable sofas and chairs, and the gentle smells, that they try their best to make this room as comfortable as possible. But that's just impossible. As comfortable as this lounge chair is, I feel so restless. Softness and tender tranquility can't rub away the worry that lies in my heart for what is about to come. My lawyer is shuffling around papers on the desk behind me. As impossible as it sounds, I can hear his crestfallen sorrow dripping onto the gentle red carpet. It's as if he softly whispers to himself ......forgive me God..... forgive me God....

I look up from the folded hands that rest on a lap covered by an orange jumpsuit. I look up to see my Nana. She has that same look on her face. She has those tired eyes and a melancholy frown shaping her dry lips. I call out to her in just a small little whisper.

"... nana.." Her face brightens immediately.

"Yes darling?" I struggle to open my mouth. My lips are heavy, it's hard to pull them apart. But with all my might I try.

"....Am... I ..... crazy?" Her head drops just for a few seconds, but then she flashes me a really big smile.

"No. No you're not Kit Kat. You just have a lot of love for a lot of people... I feel sorry for their poor souls for not knowing what that feels like." Those are words that I hold dear to my heart. Those words are the only reason that I made it this far.

Afterwards, my lawyer escorts us to the courtroom along with other penitentiary guards. Nana leaves to sit in the gallery. Together, the two of us sit in the cold defense bench. The stares cover me from all sides of the room. I shiver slightly, but my lawyer covers me with his jacket and holds my hand tightly. I look up at his face, and although he says nothing, I still hear him ...forgive me, God ... forgive me God... forgive me God...

The witnesses approach the bench one by one, and I stay completely still. That is, until he shows up. My heart suddenly lights up like a billion fireworks. He looks as beautiful as ever in his little suit. All the memories starts flowing back like the beautiful streams of consciousness. I beam watching his gaze shift to me and I blow him a sweet kiss. He rolls his eyes but I know that he's just pretending. If anyone knew about us, we could never see each other again of course. He rolls his eyes because he loves me... what other explanation is there? Right? He sits down at the bench and the prosecutor takes his turn.

"Mr. Dominic Carter, just for the record can you tell the court how old you are?" The prosecutor asks my love.

"I am thirty-seven years old."

"Let the record show that the defendant is fourteen years of age. Mr. Carter, can you tell the court what happened on the night of January tenth of two thousand and fourteen?"

"On January tenth, I went out to work that night. My wife and my younger child had went to visit my in laws. The house was empty when I left. When I returned from work, my home was engulfed in flames."

"Mr. Carter what was the result of this catastrophic event." The prosecutor asks, although he looks like he addresses the jury rather his witness.

"My irreplaceable valuables have been destroyed, my insurance has been proven unreliable, and the damage is one point three million dollars worth of repairs that my family can not afford." I slump down in my seat and look down at the ground. My lawyer squeeze my hand a little tighter.

"Do you know who did this to your home?"

"Yes I do. It was Katrina Masterson."

"Do you see her in this court." His eyes shift to me, and my cheeks flush with joy. He's looking at me! He's looking at me!