1 About the Trial

Darian clocked out at 9:30 and sent his dad a text, "I'll be home in 30, did you cook or eat?" Then he sat in a back booth of the diner he worked at to wait for a reply, but one never came. So he got up and walked through the kitchen to leave out of the back door, on the way he walked past Sean. Sean is a funny looking irish cook who came to the US for a fresh start (somehow ending up in Charleston). Now he's the head cook here and one of Darian's best friends on the job, so naturally Darian said goodbye.

The sound of Darian's voice startled him a bit then he said "Thought you were gone already little dude."Darian hated being called little but he put up with it because Sean didn't mean it in a condescending way.

"I was waiting on a text from my Dad so i knew if I needed to grab some food on the way." As he said this he let is eyes trail to the right a bit, and Sean knew what that meant.

Sean raised one eyebrow, "No answer, You know you have a place to stay if you want one right?"

With a sigh Darian said "I know and thank you, but my dad isn't that bad off. He still goes to work and keeps plenty of money to pay the bills and go grocery shopping for the following 2 weeks after he gets paid."

Sean nodded " Well the offer is always on the table if you need it."

"Thank's again." They waved and Darian walked out the back door. By the time he got to his car and got in he was fighting back tears. Most of the time Damian just tried to avoid thinking about his Dad and the things they had been going through for the past 9 months. Mainly to avoid the exact thing that was happening at this very moment, he was having an emotional breakdown. This was the first time he cried since his mom's funeral 9 months ago, it was about that that time that his home life started to change. His mom and dad were basically soul mates, so when she died he took it the hardest. It was killing him slowly but still faster than the alcohol would.

The way depression had started affecting his dad slowly got worse, and it doesn't show signs of getting any better. Everyday he got up and went to work, and then as soon as he got home he started drinking. Usually passing out around 8 o'clock. Everyday that was all he did, no matter if it was a weekend or a holiday. It was bad, but Darian couldn't leave him, he was determined to take care of him just like his dad had taken care of him for the past 17 years. After about 5 minutes of crying he got himself together, and drove home. He got home and the door was locked, which relieved a little of the worry in his mind.

When he got in the house he checked on his dad, as expected Damian found him asleep on the recliner. Darian's grandmother had taken his little brother and sister about a month ago and when he called her to ask her why, she told him it was because she had to do something to get his father back on his feet. Then she asked if he would come too, but Darian said no. He couldnt leave his father, he wouldn't leave his father at a time like this. Directly after they got off the phone he texted Sam. She was his best friend and he needed her right now more than ever. "Can you come over? Things have gotten worse and I need to talk to someone."

She responded almost immediately "I'm otw, have you eaten yet?"

"No not yet, I'm not entirely sure I want to." He shouldn't be surprised at how fast she could formulate a sentence and then type it out and send it as fast as she did but he always was. Even when she was busy it never took her more than a minute or two to get back to him with a well thought out or witty response.

"Well cook something, it always makes you feel better. At Least enough for me because Dealing with emotions makes hungrier than you could ever imagine." this made him chuckle because it was true, whenever any emotions were shown around Sam she was hungry.

"I'll make enough for both of us, it's been a while since I ate with the leading lady." Darian then grinned like an idiot, mostly because she hated being called "the leading lady".

"If you weren't my best friend I would take that personally."Just then he heard a knock at the door. He checked the peephole and it was Sheriff Lewis, and Darian couldn't help but wonder why. He opened the door, and invited him in.

"My dads passed out on the recliner, so you can say what you need to say to me, otherwise you can come back tomorrow morning before my father leaves." When he said that he paid attention to the look on the sheriffs face, but as always he couldn't tell anything.

"We found him, the trial is friday." Darian had no idea what he was talking about, so he asked him to explain further. "The man who killed your mother, we found him."

"So what, do I need to do?" He was joyful that they caught the guy, but it didn't change the fact that his dad was drinking himself to a slow painful death or that his mother was now dead.

Sheriff Lewis looked like he just took a bullet to the chest for a split second then spoke, "You've had to grow up almost too much in these past months, this man basically took away your childhood. He took away about half of your father's world leaving him with just you kids. We have concrete evidence that is gonna make the jury deem him guilty, but I think you guys should testify."

"I'll talk to my Dad about him testifying, but he's already gone through so much. Speaking for my brother and sister, no. they are too young to be in a courtroom staring their mother's killer in the eyes." Darian almost lost it to the thought of his little sibling breaking into tears describing what life is like without their mommy. "I, on the other hand am not missing the chance to put this man away for the longest time possible, I'll sooner die than see this guy walk out of jail for shooting my mother point blank in cold blood. He could have taken the money and ran. He didn't though, he shot her in the face and then left. The worst part is she didn't die right away, she crawled 4 feet and bled out. It's unforgivable."

When Darian looked up at the sheriff he seemed to have seen a ghost, the look on his face resembled that of the one he gave Darian the night his mother died. "If your testimony is anything like that on friday, he may never get out of jail." just then there was a knock on the door, and it opened directly after (definitely Sam this time).

"Hi-ah Sheriff Piggy!" The sheriff is Sam's uncle, and the main reason she never got into any trouble in this little town. Well besides that speeding ticket she got a few months back.

"Hello Samantha." He looked at Darian then proceeded "When you get the time to speak with your father, preferably when he's sober, call me with the answers. I'll have the D.A. prep you." After that he left, and closed the door behind him

"Your uncle thinks there is something going on between the two of us." Darian said with a sly grin.

"Is that what he was here for?!" Her eyes were as wide as they could possibly be at that point

Darian was starting to cook and although he was paying attention he never looked up "No, they caught the guy that shot mom." He was being very outwardly nonchalant about the whole situation, but inside a fire was burning. Lady justice was finally taking action for the tipping of the scales that took place 9 months ago. As he cooked they talked about the trial, what he was gonna say, and how they thought Darian's dad would react. After about 20 minutes the waffles, bacon, and eggs were all done; so they ate. Sam barely stopped to breath unless she was taking a drink of the tea she made herself.