Short Stories

One Last Time

She grips the porcelain sink, stating up at her barely recognizable reflection. She whispers to herself , "One Last Time"

One last time

That's all it would take. That's all they needed from her. Then she can walk away from this courthouse and never look back. With that thought motivating her, she made her way back to her seat as the brief recess came to and end.

"Alright Miss Joy, would you explain for us one  more time what it was exactly that you saw when you entered your home on the night of October 31st 2017?" The prosecutor asked

One Last Time. She took a moment to breathe, wringing her hands slightly, clearing her voice, she answered in the surest voice she could muster "My father was lying across the kitchen floor. There was a...a pool of blood surrounding his head. Um, and a man holding a bloodied baseball bat."

"Okay, and would you be able to identify who that man was?" The prosecutor asked, not able to fully hide the sadness in his eyes as he asked a question he already knew the answer to.

As expected, she raised her hand palm up to gesture to the man sitting in the defendants seat. Due to the two being remarkably similar most members of the courthouse were not shocked when she said "yes. My brother, Chase Joy."

"And is there any possibility chase was not the killer. Is it possible you had walked in on the scene at an inopportune moment. Say, he had just walked in, seen the base ball bat and picked it up to make sure it was the murder weapon. Is that possible, as the defense claims?" He asked the question just as they had practiced, trying to make the whole process as easy as possible for her.

"No" she swallowed "the-uh-his shirt had blood..." she gestured to her upper body "splattered, all over it. Even his face had some blood on it."

"Okay, and one last question for you Miss Joy, how did he react when you walked in and saw all of this?" He folded his hands behind his back confidently.

"He ran" she deadpanned.

"Thank you" He turned to the judge "that will be all your honor." Then went to sit back down.

The easy parts over. She took a deep breath, feeling her nerves spike again seeing her brothers attorney stand to approach her.

"Miss Joy~" her ex-boyfriend strung out, leaning against the witness box, his dark eyes glinting as he purposefully entered her personal space to make her more uncomfortable and nervous.

She looked to the ceiling sending out a quick prayer to any God that would listen.

Please. Please let my mind think clearly and my words be fluent. She pleaded

"Could you please state your profession for the record?"

The question confused her. Why would that matter.

"Miss Joy?" The judge urged her to answer

"I'm...um...I'm a n-n-n-nurse"

.....Fuck