Saving Justice

Chapter Seventeen

Not guilty, but mentally ill―that is the court's final decision regarding Justice's case.

Eleanor sighs in relief, Natalie silently cries, Ronan comforts his wife and daughter, Cole tightens his grip on my waist, and on the other hand, I remain to stare at Justice, who has her head down all throughout.

Justice completely loses her mind. After the harrowing intake screening, she becomes unresponsive whenever people try to talk to her.

When she was taken by the authorities that night, it was like the last string that held her sanity together was finally cut. Her madness exploded.

"Venice, help me! They're taking me away from you! Venice! Venice! No! Please, I want to be with Venice! Don't take me away, please! Venice!"

Her voice, calling for my name, keeps ringing into my ear up until now. Her face, filled with tears from the pain and fears because of the strangers taking her away, is still etched into my mind.

Even though I was so scared of her that night, my heart still ached to see her suffering. I already grew fond of her. It was like I wanted to take her back.

Cole felt that, so he hugged me tight, not letting me give in to my soft-hearted soul.

I thought that scene would be the worst one, but I lost it when we watched her intake screening from the monitors.

With my hands clasped together, I was so focused on the screen, where I could see and hear Justice and the prosecutor.

Justice was staring off into the distance. Both her hands were on the top of the table, and she was playing with her wristwatch.

She was nervous and uncomfortable—no doubt about that. I was already very familiar with her habit.

I bit my lower lip while keeping my eyes on the monitor.

"Justice Sabrina Bryant," the prosecutor, Attorney Murphy, recited her name from the record he was holding. "Do you know why you're here?"

Justice focused her attention on the man in front of her. "N-no..." Her voice trembled. "Where's Venice?" she suddenly asked for me, and my chest tightened up. "Can you please take me to Venice?"

Creases appeared on Atty. Murphy's forehead. He was baffled because of Justice's questions which were out of the topic.

"Venice said she will never leave me again," she told him, and her voice was filled with hope. "She promised me... S-she must be waiting for me now. She will get worried. I need to go home now! I need to go back to Venice!"

"Good Lord..." I heard Eleanor cry.

Natalie was also sobbing hard, watching her closest cousin agonizing while being interrogated.

I bit my lip harder that I could almost taste the metallic flavor of my own blood.

Cole positioned himself behind me. His hands snaked up to my tummy, giving me a back hug. His hold wasn't tight, but it was strong enough to keep me in place and stop me from shaking. His warmth contained me, trying to give me the comfort I needed. It always worked before, but I doubted if it would work now.

"Please, take me to Venice. Please! Please!" Justice continued to beg the prosecutor. "I promise to be a good girl, mister. Just take me to her."

"Who is Venice?" Atty. Murphy calmly asked, even when his bewildered expression was very evident. "Why do you keep on looking for her?"

Like she was searching for answers, Justice kept on looking around her. Her lips were quivering. "S-she is my new b-best friend..." she told Atty. Murphy. "V-Venice is my best friend."

My breath got caught up in my throat.

"I had a best friend before. Her name is Francine... But she left me..." she told her story. "Venice is my new best friend. She said she would not leave me. She promised me."

For a brief moment, I closed my eyes, and I felt my tears immediately stream down my face like they had been waiting for that moment to be set free. I never thought I would cry this much. Whenever I fought with my parents or with Cole, not that it always happened, but I rarely cried. That was the first time I cried so hard that I could feel my heart slowly ripping into pieces. It was beyond anything I could ever imagine.

"Take me to Venice, please..." Justice frustratingly begged Atty. Murphy. "Take me to her. I'll behave. I promise..."

"You want to see her again?" Atty. Murphy started to make a move.

Without hesitation, Justice nodded her head frantically. "Yes! Yes!" she exclaimed. "I want to see her!"

Atty. Murphy nodded his head, too. "I will take you to her."

"Really? When?!"

"If you answer all my questions, I will take you to her," he bribed Justice.

I knew he would take that opportunity to use me against her. I was guilty of that, too. I used the same strategy to get her to sing the truth about her brother's death.

"C-can you promise me that?" Justice was taking the bait once again. "Can you promise me that you will take me to Venice?"

"Of course, I will." Atty. Murphy finally found out how to handle her perfectly. "But only if you also promise me that you'll tell nothing but the truth."

"I will!" Justice was so determined. "I will tell you the truth! I promise! I won't lie!"

"Okay, then..." Atty. Murphy changed his gaze. He looked super intimidating. "Reports said that you hurt Francine Hammington and Venice Sanders physically." His brows furrowed. "Venice... Is she the same Venice you're talking about?"

"I didn't want to hurt her!" She immediately denied the accusation. "I didn't mean to do it. I... I just didn't want her to leave me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"But you hurt her?" His voice sounded so vile. "You even threatened to hurt her again."

Admitting to herself that she really did hurt me, she started crying again. "Yes..." she confessed. "I-I did hurt her..." She wiped her tears with her hands, but it was useless, as new sets of tears kept on falling after. "But I didn't mean to do it... I don't want Venice to get hurt. She's my best friend... I don't want her hurt... I'm sorry..."

Even when Justice showed how emotionally and mentally vulnerable she was, Atty. Murphy did his job sternly. He stared at Justice without a hint of sympathy in his cold eyes.

"I'm sorry..." she still went on and on, apologizing to me. "Please tell her I'm sorry... I don't want Venice to hate me. She might leave me... I don't want that to happen."

"You know what―we wouldn't be here if that's the only thing that you did, Miss Justice." He shifted on his seat and showed Justice the polaroid picture I got, almost torn into pieces. "Do you recognize this man with you in the picture?"

The passionate hatred Justice had for his brother showed in an instant. She stopped tearing up. Her eyes went black and cold. Even with just that stare, I could almost hear her cursing him.

The Justice we were seeing was way too opposite from Justice earlier. It was like a different soul was possessing her. The huge contrast horrified me.

Atty. Murphy raised his brows as he finally got the proper reaction from Justice. "Based on your reaction, I could tell that you can recognize him?"

"Of course." Her voice turned stone cold, and it gave me chills. "He is my brother."

"Do you know that he died in a car accident last September 13, 2019?" Atty. Murphy played with his pen. He was very calm and confident while interrogating Justice. "What do you know about the car accident?"

I already briefed Atty. Murphy about what I knew. Surprisingly, Cole told me that he recorded our call. So when Justice confessed that she did forge the details of the accident, it was all caught on record. Her intentions of killing her brother were also highlighted.

Atty. Murphy was pressing her to capture her confession on footage while under screening. It would serve as the best evidence against her.

"I was with him when the accident happened," Justice nonchalantly told him.

"And what happened?" he asked. "Let me remind you―only if you tell the truth, I will let you meet Venice again."

Justice's eyes pierced on Atty. Murphy. She looked equally intimidating as him, but she released a more dangerous aura. "I killed him..." she casually said, like it was a normal thing to do. "That's what you want me to say, right?"

Atty. Murphy just stared at her. We all held our breaths and remained watching through the screen.

"If you want the truth, that's the truth!" She smirked. "I killed Justin Samuel Bryant. I killed my own brother. I killed him."

Eleanor gasped and almost lost her consciousness. Natalie cried harder.

I could hear Cole whispering curses behind me. He was hurting, too. All the pain he felt turned into anger. I felt it when his grip tightened, but he was still doing his best to contain himself not to hurt me.

"Why did you kill him?" Atty. Murphy asked for her reasons.

"I hate him." Justice's answer was firm and brief.

"You just hate him, so you killed him?" he asked a follow-up question.

"Yes―"

Atty. Murphy slammed the table with his fist. "He is your brother! He has the same blood as you!" His voice thundered. "How can you say that so casually?"

At first, Justice looked at him with an expressionless face, but then she suddenly started laughing. "So what?" she asked him back. "So what if he's my brother?"

He was so bewildered that he only watched Justice with confusion. His lips were far apart from each other.

"I hate him, so I killed him!" Justice shouted and stood up. She couldn't move freely because her hands were handcuffed. "That's it! Very simple! I killed him! I killed my brother!"

As I couldn't take watching Justice destroy herself, even more, I closed my eyes and turned my back around to face Cole. I buried my face against his chest, hoping that everything would finally end already.

I heard Justice start laughing hysterically. "I killed him! I killed Justin!" She kept on laughing that I just wanted to cover my ears. "I killed him! Don't you know how happy I was when he died? Let me tell you―I was so, so, so happy!"

I shook my head, wanting her to stop already. Cole tried to put me into place. He put his hand against my ears, trying to block his cousin's voice.

"He deserved to die!" Her voice was still getting through. "Die! Die! Die!"

In the end, when I was on the verge of breaking down, Cole escorted me out of the room, along with Eleanor and Natalie. We all broke down because of what we witnessed. We were all worried and scared because of Justice that we needed to breathe outside. After making sure that we were fine, Cole went back inside the room with his father to talk to the authorities.

It was long after that we talked with the prosecutor. Attorney Murphy told us that Justice's case would be transferred to the adult criminal court, according to Illinois' criminal law statutes.

•••

Still looking at Justice, who's right in front of us, she slowly lifts her head. Our eyes finally meet again. A tear escapes from her eyes as the corner of her lips rises a bit.

After the intake screening and prosecution, as a professional who values mental health, I worked with the Griffin's family lawyer to appeal an insanity defense for Justice. As much as I want Justice to pay for her crime of killing her own brother, I also want her to be mentally healthy.

Justice underwent a series of mental assessments and diagnoses. It was found out that she was already mentally weak at the time of the alleged crime because of her parents' death. My colleagues, especially Dra. Olsen attested to that. So instead of being convicted as guilty, the court sentenced Justice as not guilty but mentally ill. She also needs to attend treatment programs and counseling for her mental health problem while confined in a residential facility.

My goal is to save Justice from her troubling thoughts from the very start. I want to help her heal―and that won't change. Even though I already know what she did, I will continue helping her. I understand that she did that because she was out of her mind, but I also acknowledge her faults.

I know it may sound like I'm being a hypocrite since I was the one who surrendered her to the cops, but that's the truth. While paying for her crime, I also want her to keep healing because I know it will be the best thing for her.

In the future, when she is finally released from the mental facility, I will still hope for a bright future for her. Once she is free and healed, I know she will do great things because she is intelligent, and I believe in her.

Even after knowing what she did, I still do.