Fragile

Chapter Fifteen: The Verdict

May 8

Katniss had never seen her mother so discombobulated. Nor had she seen Madge the same way. It was her birthday. She should've been at home with Peeta, getting ready for their date for her eighteenth birthday, but no. Here they were, in a courtroom for Gale's trial.

Peeta stood next to her as the judge entered the room. Madge was on his other side, leaning onto him for support. She had been a mess ever since they were told what Gale had done.

She slapped him when she saw him in handcuffs, tears running down her face. "Why did you lie to me?!" She screeched, Peeta holding her back. "You told me you didn't do it! You lied to me!" She sobbed.

Gale hadn't said anything. His mother sobbed as well as she was in Prim's arms. Katniss was trying to process it all. Gale had killed Matt. They wouldn't know officially how until the court trial. She honestly wasn't as surprised as she thought she would've been. He pulled off the, "None of us did it, so don't worry" act perfectly. Too perfectly. She had suspected it, especially at dinner. His eyes were filled with so much hatred and rage that she couldn't doubt he was going to kill him. She knew it, but she had known nothing prior to it actually happening.

Gale gave their mother a sad look, and she refused to look at him as she continued to sob in Prim's arms. It was like a portrayal of earlier. Her mother giving her a desperate look, Katniss sobbing in Prim's arms and refusing to interact with anyone but her, only it was Gale giving the desperate look and her mother sobbing in Prim's arms this time.

Everyone was seated once the judge sat down as well. The trial went by slowly, Gale's lawyer being called to the stand multiple times and Matt's family having a lawyer as well. They seemed even more devastated than my mother, Katniss thought to herself.

By the time the fourth hour had occurred, Prim was close to falling asleep, her head on Katniss' shoulder. Katniss just wanted to go home at this point. She was tired of hearing Gale's lawyer try to make up excuses retaining to the fact that Gale didn't do it. It was obvious, and Gale even told the story himself.

He had gone out to get the peanut butter like he stated. On his way, he apparently plotted a way to kill Matt. At the store, he picked up the peanut butter as well as some gloves, garbage bags, duct tape, and a hammer. The cashier didn't think much of it when he bought the items. Once he had everything, he went to Matt's apartment complex where he sat in the parking lot for about twenty minutes, contemplating if he should really do this or not. He went with it. Before getting out of the car, he duct taped the garbage bags onto his shoes so that he couldn't leave any footprints, and he put on the gloves so there would be no fingerprints. He then grabbed the hammer and went on his way to murder Matt. When the neighbor heard Katniss's name, that was because Matt had said, "I didn't mean to hurt Katniss as much as I did." and those were his last words before Gale obliterated him with the hammer.

The way Gale had described it was much more brutal though. He spoke about the dents he left on his head from cracking his skull, he talked about the sick cracks he heard as he continued to swing the hammer relentlessly. He sounded much like a cold-blooded killer, and as much as both their mother and Madge would try to deny it, he was a murderer.

The jury was excused to go make a decision and Gale was escorted out for that short time. Prim looked up at Katniss.

"What do you think he'll get?" She asked her quietly. Katniss shrugged.

"I don't know," she murmured. "I just hope whatever he gets allows him visits; for Madge's sake, you know?" She replied.

Prim nodded. "Yeah, there's no telling how she's feeling. I mean, she's pregnant. That must be hard; your baby's father going to jail for no telling how long. He may not even get to see his baby."