The Unfortunate Story of Roddy Mayhem, Julie Steimle [i can read book club TXT] 📗

woman cop who had questioned me in the hospital. I wondered who was at the hospital with Wispy.

When she saw me, she nodded and said, “Don’t worry. Officer Johnson is there, guarding her.” 

 The lawyer peered over at me, his eyes widening when he actually saw me. I guess my appearance was too much for a normal man, as I got the impression that he was near wetting himself.

But Officer Mason chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. “Calm down.”

“Calm down?” He pointed at me. “What is that?”

“Who is that would be a more appropriate question,” Officer Mason said rather dryly.

 The guy just stared at me.

And I remembered, this woman was Jessica—Rick Deacon’s best friend’s girlfriend. No. Fiancée. I remembered the ring. I looked. She was still wearing it. And she was one of those Holy Seven people like Dan the pyromaniac and his pal James. This was going to be interesting.

I could see Piranha eyeing her up.

Mr. Wilderman came in and stepped to the side while another formidable man entered the room. This man had the aura of a gray wolf. His severe amber eyes peered out over the room, taking in us all. And coming with him was elderly sort of man. He looked like a priest. The priest took the main seat. I guessed he was going to be the judge.

“Let it be known that this is a hearing, and not a formal trial,” the priest said as Mr. Wilderman and the wolf man (who had to be Rick’s father) took a seat. “If the accused is found guilty here, this case will be taken to the legal courts and he will be tried there.”

His eyes rested heavily on me. Then they widened, finally taking me in.

Was I already guilty by appearance? I mean, come on. So I had short horns, orange hair, imp olive skin, and orange eyes. Big deal.

Oh, and wings.  But it wasn’t like he could see those.

However, he shook it off and said to the other side, “What is the charge?”

“Sexual assault, your honor,” the lawyer rose and said. “Three accounts of it. One, in which he was caught in the act.”

The priest eyed me over. So did Mr. Wilderman who looked pained, and Mr. Deacon (I assumed) who remained stoic. The teachers had their various reactions. The three who hated me lifted their chins and noses in justification.

“And how does the defendant plea?” the priest turned his eyes to Sgt. Kreiner who was still sitting next to me.

He stood up and said, “Not guilty, your honor.”

I breathed in. It was happening. I looked over to Officer Calamori who was clearly listening in to the entire proceedings. He wasn’t watching me, though. His eyes were raking over the teachers. I wondered why.

Most of the hearing swept over me like an ocean wave—one full of bunch of small rocks, sand, and seaweed. It even tasted salty. I didn’t understand the legal jargon the lawyer was spouting. I didn’t get most of his argument. But he spoke to the judge about the current political climate, scandals, and the #MeToo movement—which on the whole was irrelevant to what I did (or did not do in this case) as world politics did not make a person guilty. When he finally got to the actual accusation, decrying it as ‘the clear result of his toxic upbringing’ and was ‘deplorable’, we finally heard the details I had to refute. He claimed I had been repeatedly harassing Leah Fail and had eventually cornered her and tried to take her clothes off. He said at another time that I had attempted the same with Moyra. Of course he threw on the incident with Lorelei as proof that I was systematically going after these particular girls for what had happened to Wispy.

So, he had been told about Wispy. That surprised me. I peeked to Officer Calamori, waiting to see if he found what he was listening for. So far, no.

When the lawyer concluded his speech, making it clear his clients wanted me locked up permanently, Sgt. Kreiner was allowed to speak on my behalf.

“Your honor,” Sgt. Kreiner said. “This had been a case of more than he said, she said. As a teacher here, I have observed an immediate prejudice against this student and his friends simply for being what they are. Roddy Mayhem, despite his misleading name, is a model student.”

I stared. It blew me away. Me? A model student?

Around then Tom Brown walked through the back wall behind Mr. Wolfman. He tip-toed, then gently whispered into the man’s ear. The man nearly jumped. But when he saw Tom he rolled his eyes and answered back. When Tom saw me, he winked.

“I believe he and his friends have been under attack since their arrival, and all the allegations against him are false.” Sgt. Kreiner saw Tom also. He paused, noticing more eyes looking to him. Tom was peering at Piranha and Spastic, asking Officer Mason why their mouths were taped up. He looked rather put out about it.

As Officer Mason walked over to gently remove the spell tape, shooting the teachers dirty looks for it, Sgt. Kreiner continued, “And we can prove it.”

A hush went over the room.

“Can you?” the lawyer asked, smirking at us, as Sgt. Kreiner was no lawyer. The sergeant wasn’t up for fancy speak.

“Indeed, I can.” Sgt. Kreiner nodded to him. His smile was solid, like a soldier’s fist. It could punch through anything.

“Let’s see it,” the priest said.

“I’d like to call Colonel Jackson as a witness,” Sgt. Kreiner said.

The lawyer smirked, waiting for his chance at cross examination. He had his files right there.

Col. Jackson walked up and took a seat next to the judge. They didn’t go through the whole thing about swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—but the colonel simply said this, “If you look at the accusations, Miss Fail and Miss Nixie claimed Roddy attacked them both during lunch hour and after where he was unaccounted for around the school. But I know for a fact he was with me during that time, as he had discovered Wispy Duchene within that hour and had rescued her. And in the hours after, he was at the hospital with Wispy. He did not return to the school until Officer Joshua Johnson personally escorted him home, taking him directly to Mr. Wilderman’s office.”

“Can you prove he stayed in the hospital?” The lawyer smirked.

“I can.” Officer Mason raised a hand. “I questioned Roddy while he was there, and we put a police watch on both him and Wispy. He was either resting in one room after giving blood, or he was in the room with Wispy, watching over her.”

Piranha looked at me. Tears were in her eyes.

“He never left her side,” Officer Mason said with a firm nod.

Mr. Deacon nodded to her. Then he looked at me. His eyes seemed less severe now.

“What about the last attack, though?” the lawyer demanded. “He was found on top of her.”

“That was my mistake.” Capt. Eifert lifted her voice. She nodded to Sgt. Kreiner. “I came upon him in Leah’s and Lorelei’s room when I heard Leah scream. It looked bad, and I jumped to conclusions. Lorelei would like to attest on his behalf.”

“Objection!” the lawyer raised a hand.

The priest nodded to him.

“That particular girl is an easily influenced empath. She could be easily manipulated into changing her mind and sympathizing with her attacker.”

The priest looked to Capt. Eifert who nodded that was true.

“However,” the captain said, “Once she is separated from those who would influence her, she is herself again. And she begged me to tell you what really happened. You see, she was trying to kill herself, and Roddy stopped her.”

The room swept over with gasps.

“She had been bullied by her roommate Leah, and Moyra and Kendra, to reveal secrets that Wispy had shared with her, and she blamed herself for Wipsy’s attempted suicide.” The captain sighed with a peek to Lorelei who was gazing at me with begging eyes. “She was trying to jump out the window when Roddy came along and pulled her back in.”

“And I would like to testify that Roddy claimed the same thing when he was sent to my office,” Sgt. Kreiner said. He shook his head, gazing at the priest. “I really doubt, with all that Roddy has already been through, that he would at this time allow another suicide at this school.”

Tom Brown nodded in the shadows, gazing at me. He understood. But then, I could tell he never doubted me. In fact, wondered if he was there for the trial at all.

“Can I hear Lorelei’s testimony?” Officer Calamori asked.

For a moment Capt. Eifert looked confused, but upon seeing it was Officer Calamori asking it, she nodded. Then she urged Lorelei to speak, whispering to her it was all right. Matthew was a good, honest man.

Lorelei was shaking as she approached the priest. But Lorelei said, “I am so sorry for what I did. I couldn’t help it. They made me. I—”

“We are not looking for your confession, dear,” the priest said kindly. “Please just tell us what happened between you and Roddy today. And let it be the truth.”

Lorelei nodded her heavy head. But she looked to Piranha rather than me as she said, “I wanted to die for what happened. So I tried to jump out my window. We were six floors up. But Roddy grabbed me and pulled me back in, and he held me so I couldn’t jump again. He said…” she swallowed. “He said ‘Don’t do that. Would Wispy want you to kill yourself?’” She started to cry. “And I felt everything he was feeling. His heart is breaking. You are his only family.”

Piranha colored. She peeked to me with sorrow. But she was still going to go to West End Prep. I could tell. I already knew her reasons.

 “Thank you,” the priest said. He then looked to the lawyer. “Do you wish to cross examine?”

“I still have one charge against the boy,” the lawyer said, rising—clearly knowing he had lost. “He also attacked Kendra with a knife.”

Those who did not know about the hair incident gasped.

“Technically, it was the imps who did it,” I murmured.

Everyone overheard, gasping more.

“Are you saying you are guilty?” the priest said to me.

I rose from my seat. My cheeks colored. But I said, “My apologies. Though I most definitely did not molest those girls, I am guilty of getting Kendra’s hair chopped off.”

Tom erupted in a laugh. It was brief. He had slapped his own hands over his mouth to stifle it.

“I didn’t realize it was dangerous at the time,” I said in my defense. “I was just getting back at her for burning off nearly half of Wispy’s beautiful hair—and setting Piranha’s and my hair on fire. And honestly, if the girl thinks she can dish it but is unwilling to take it, she should not be setting fires to other people’s hair.”

This time Tom nodded, laughing openly. The teachers shot him hard looks

Mr. Wilderman moaned, hand to forehead.

Mr. Deacon rolled his wolfish eyes and rose. He said, “I’ve heard enough. This boy should be released and allowed back into school. However, those three girls—what were their names?”

“Kendra Collins, Leah Fail, and Moyra Nixie,” Capt. Eifert supplied.

Nodding to her with a wolfish smile, the dignified Mr. Deacon said, “Thank you. I want them under suspension. I do believe one of them has family. She can go back to them.”

The lawyer flustered, going white. “That… that can’t happen.” Apparently he knew Kendra was a fire starter. It was possible her family was scared of her. His imps implied as much.

Mr. Deacon gazed gravely on him. “Attending my school is a privilege—not a right.”

His school? But of course. The wolf owned most of the shares. His father had founded it with that Gulinger guy. He would see it that way.

“What about the others?” asked Capt. Eifert plainly. “What can we possibly do about them? Leah and