Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Twelve Angry People ❯ Once around the table ( Chapter 2 )

CHAPTER TWO

 

Yolei and Ken were casually holding hands, and smiling at each other. “Uh, guys… do you mind?” Izzy asked in frustration.

 

“Oh, sorry…” Yolei said. “It's just that, this habit of Ken and I holding hands, it helps me think better.”

 

Izzy couldn't object to that as much. “Well, now, Davis maybe if you tell us why you're disagreeing with us. Maybe we can help you figure where you're mixed up.”

 

“Well I have an idea…” Yolei said, “Now I haven't given this much thought, but the way I see it it's up to the rest of us to show Davis that he's wrong and we're right. You know if we each took a turn to say our pieces?”

 

Izzy agreed to that. “Okay then, uh… let's go once around the table each.” He said, “Uh… Mimi, I guess you're up first.”

 

Mimi stuttered for a moment, “Well… uh, gee…” she paused. “Well… it's hard to figure out exactly how I should say this; I just think he's guilty. I mean I thought it was obvious from the start, and no one proved otherwise.”

 

“Nobody has to prove otherwise…” said Davis. “From what I known and seen, the burden of proof is supposed to be on the prosecution. The defendant never even has to open his mouth, that's constitutional.”

 

Mimi admitted that Davis was right about that, “But… all I'm saying is, I personally just think he's guilty. Somebody saw him do it, right? And that's all I've got…”

 

Seeing as how she had nothing else to say, TK decided to go ahead and take his turn. “Okay… now I don't want anyone to think I'm being mean, or I'm trying to pick a fight, I just want to talk about facts.”

 

He pulled out his wallet where he kept a note of the facts he jotted down during the trial. “Now listen to this…” he replied. “The old-man who lived next-door from the apartment where the killing took place…”

 

“At ten minutes after midnight on the night of the murder he swore he heard loud noises, it sounded like a fight between the boy, the father, and the Digimon… and he heard the kid yell out “I'm going to kill you both” and a second later he heard a gunshot, then he ran to the door and saw the kid rushing for the stairs. He called the police, and they came just in time to see the Digimon with a bullet wound before he vaporized, and the father dead from a heart attack.”

 

“Now… these are fact. You can't refuse facts, this guy is guilty. Now I'm just as compassionate as anyone else here. I know he's only seventeen… but it doesn't really matter. He still has to pay for what he did.”

 

A lot of the others nodded their heads in agreement with TK's facts. To them, if someone intended to do the deed, they ought to be punished. “Are you finished, TK?” Izzy asked.

 

“Yeah I'm done…” TK answered. “It's your turn Joe.”

 

Joe nodded his head, “Well from what I've heard, it seems obvious, to me anyway, the boy's entire story was a phony.” he explained. “He claimed that he was at the movies during the time of the killing and yet later on he couldn't remember the movies he saw, or who starred in them. Nobody even saw him go in or out of the theater.”

 

Matt continued to rub his nose; he coughed once and then said. “Well hey, what about that woman across the street? If she can't prove he's guilty, nothing can.”

 

Ken nodded in agreement. “Yeah… she was the one who actually saw the murder committed.” he said.

 

Izzy tried to convince the guys to wait their turn, and go in order as planned. “No, no… I want to say this.” Matt said, and he continued to go on about how the woman, during the night of the killing was lying in bed unable to sleep because it was so hot. “Now… she looks outside the window across the monorail-lines, and she sees the kid shoot his dad's Digimon at 12:10.”

 

“Across the monorail-tracks, through the windows of a passing monorail…” Davis pointed out.

 

Matt pointed with his finger. “Yeah… but this monorail had no passengers on it. It was just being moved downtown and the lights were out… and in court it was proven that at night when the lights are out, you can look through the windows of the monorail and see what's happening on the other side. Now what have you got to say about that?”

 

Davis looked Matt in the eyes, “Here's what I have to say…” he said. “You don't believe the boy's story… then why do you believe the woman's? She's one of THEM too isn't she?”

 

Matt's features changed, and his lips curled into a sneer. “Touché…!” he sneered. “Wise-guy…”

 

Matt took his seat, and then it was Kari's turn to say her piece about the case. Only, Kari really didn't want to say anything bad or things like that. “Well… can I pass?” she asked.

 

“Well… if you want to…” Izzy said. “Uh… you might as well go ahead, Sora.”

 

Sora wasn't sure almost. “Oh. Uh… well I don't really know too much more about this.” she said. “It's just that I was starting to be convinced earlier in the case. I was just trying to look for a motive, because without one the case doesn't really make sense now, does it? Well, the way I see it… the testimony presented by all those witness in the apartments from the kid's place, they all heard the argument around 8 pm and all that other stuff as well.”

 

Davis nodded his head, “Right and they also heard the father hit his son twice, and they didn't know what the argument was about. They did know that they saw the kid run angry out of the house. What does that prove to you?”

 

Sora shrugged her shoulders, “It doesn't prove anything. It's all just part of what went on.”

 

Davis was still not convinced. He couldn't see any motive there, even the attorneys said the same thing during the trial and it too wasn't a strong enough motive. “Don't you see… that kid's been beat up so many times in his life, that violence is pretty much all he knows. I mean....I don't get how two slaps in the face could provoke him to commit murder.”

 

“Well it may have been two too many.” said Joe. “Everyone has a breaking point, and their liable to snap. That's a psychological fact of how the human mind works.”

 

Davis was silent, for he realized that Joe was right about that. Even he himself had breaking points that would make him want to do crazy things.

 

Sora finished her turn and it moved onward to Tai. He thought it over for a moment, “I don't know… everything's already been said.” he explained as he wiped his sweating brow and opened his suit. “I mean we could talk here forever, and it wouldn't change a thing.”

 

“Look at this kid… this isn't even his first offence, he's a got a record. He was in children's court when he was ten for throwing a rock at the teacher. He went to reforming school when he was fifteen because he stole a car. He got arrested for mugging, and twice for knife-fighting. He even disturbed the peace, and shoplifted. Man, this is one fine boy.”

 

“Well can you blame him…?” Davis asked. “Ever since he was little his own father beat up cruelly, he used his fists, and even had his Digimon attack the boy.”

 

“Yeah…? Well so would I.” replied Tai. “I mean a kid as evil as that…”

 

“It's these kids and the way they act now these days.” TK said. He got up from his chair and paced round the room. “I remember when our parents were still together, Dad would tell Matt and me about the stories of him and our grandfather. He always said he used to call his father “Sir”

 

Davis thought that was really weird, having to call your father “Sir” “Maybe that would explain why your dad lost his temper so much.” He said.

 

TK and Matt gave him a straight look. “No… that's not it.” TK said. “Grandpa was really tough on our dad.” He pulled an old family picture that was taken before his parents divorce, and his grandfather was in it too.

 

“When Dad was nine he ran away from a fight. Grandpa said when he saw it he was so embarrassed that he nearly made himself sick. He said, “I'm going to make a man out of you if I have to beat you up trying.” Well… he made a man out of him, and that's what lead to Dad losing his nerves and what made the divorce.”

 

“Man… I hate evil!”

 

Everyone could understand how TK felt, but they didn't know why he was referring to his hatred of evil having anything to do with the divorce. “I think we're missing the point…” Joe said, breaking he silence. “We're here to decide if this boy is guilty or not. Not to go into the reasons why he grew up the way he did. We can't help that anymore than anyone else. He was born in a slum, and the way I see it slums are criminal breeding grounds. I believe, and so all of you, that all children from these types of background are potential menaces.”

 

Matt blew his nose, and then said. “Right-on to that… The kids who crawl out of those dumps; nothing but waste… I don't want anything to do with them or those who get involved.”

 

Kari cut in by saying. “Now hold on just a minute. Some of the kids I teach at school live in slum lives. They've played in backyards filled with garbage… and I still teach them, so maybe you think I'm no good either.”

 

“Hey, hey… easy Kari.” said Matt.

 

“He didn't mean anything personal…” added Izzy.

 

Kari was convinced that what Matt had said was personal. “When you insult the kids I teach, you insult me too, and I hate people who say things like that about other people!”

 

“Hey, take it easy, Kari.” Yolei said. “They were trying to pick at you. You don't have to be so sensitive.”

 

Izzy sighed and rubbed his sweaty face in frustration. “Look can we quit the arguing now?” he asked irritably. “Okay… Davis it's your turn. What have you got to say?”

 

“Me…?” Davis asked. “Well I wasn't really expecting a turn. I thought you guys were trying to convince me.”

 

“Well what difference does it make…?” protested Matt. “You're the one keeping us here. You should start talking.”

 

Once again, Izzy tried to convince Matt to stick to the plan and go in order. “Oh, stop being a kid will you?”

 

Izzy felt insulted. “What do you me “a kid”?”

 

“What do think I mean? K-I-D, kid…”

 

Izzy stood up from his seat with his hands by his hips. “Hey! I'm just trying to keep things organized here. What? You got something wrong with that?” he asked deeply. “Here, why don't you take over? See what you think of it.”

 

“Awe, come on… don't get all worked up over this, will you?” replied Matt.

 

“No, no… don't tell me what to do. Here, you want my seat, take it.”

 

Yolei got up and tried to calm Izzy down. “Here, come on now, take it easy. We're only wasting time.”

 

“Wasting time?” Izzy said to here. “Oh, well then maybe you' like to take the role. Come one sit down.”

 

“No, no… you're doing okay Izzy. We don't need a change.” replied Yolei. Izzy finally calmed down and took his seat.

 

Davis decided to take the turn given to him in hopes that it would break up the arguing. “Well… I only know as much as you guys do, and you all seem to think the boy is guilty, and maybe he is.”

 

“Well I listened to all the evidence built up, for the six days we sat in court. Everyone seemed to feel positive about what was presented there, but I began to realize that maybe the defense-council wasn't looking at all the facts and evidence properly enough. I mean there could've been loads of thing left out.”

 

Matt chuckled at such a silly statement. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe they didn't ask all those things is because they already know the answer, and they don't even need to bother…?”

 

Davis nodded his head, “But did you ever stop to think that it's possible for some lawyers to be plain stupid?”

 

“He does have a point.” Cody said. “If I want be an attorney I can't let the little details go by. Every little bit counts.”

 

“That's right…” Davis replied. “Why if I were on trial for my life, I'd ask for a lawyer who would tear all the witnesses to shreds until every single detail, even the littlest things were exposed. Just look at the witnesses in the case. The old man, and the woman across the street, they could be wrong about what they witnessed during the killing.”

 

“What do you mean, “They could be wrong”?” Yolei asked. “What's the point of having witnesses at all if they're wrong about what they claim to see? They stood there in court under oath.”

 

“Could they be wrong…?” Davis asked again.

 

Yolei thought it over for a moment, “Well no I don't think so.”

 

“No… you know so.” replied Davis. “They're still only people, and people can make mistakes.”

 

Yolei deiced to just go back to her seat. Davis was right… people were capable of making mistakes. Still… he wasn't up to changing his vote, neither was anybody else. Perhaps it was time to try looking at more of the evidence a little closer…!