For several days, it seemed, June had an almost constant tension headache. She was fairly sure it was close to driving her over the edge.
The usual Ferris Bueller seemed to have vanished from the boy she saw each day. Not a trace of mischief or excitement was visible in his dark eyes. Granted they didn't have much opportunity to do anything worthy of excitement. The routine was inadvertent, and it worked for them. Get up, go to the trial, come back to the hotel, try to eat something, sleep.
They had all noticeably lost weight since The Incident.
The trial went back and forth. On the defendant's side, they had two almost witnesses, who could argue the time span between the shot being fired and finding Cameron and Cornelius. On the prosecution, they had a history of abuse and pent up rage that could easily lead to a son killing his father, or so it seemed.
The defendant's main problem was the accused's silence. For all Holbrooke Marsh knew, the boy was guilty. It didn't change the fact that he could be found innocent, but if you're guilty and pleading not guilty, the odds were already against you. A crime like this, if it was actually a crime, Marsh deduced, would have been a crime of passion, done in a stressful moment. It would not have been a well planned murder, where the murderer had made sure he would not be caught. It was simply spur of the moment, gun in his hands, anger boiling over.
In terms of Cameron's condition, nothing had changed. He appeared to be lost, in some other world, only going through the motions in reality.
"This happened once before." Ferris told June one evening. "Not quite as long, of course. Afterwards, he said he was meditating, watching himself from above, reevaluating. Maybe that's what he's doing now."
June raised her eyebrows, said nothing.
This is all insane. She thought, sometimes several times a day. How many seventeen year olds are involved in a murder trial? It would be exciting, if it were anyone but her, if she heard someone else was in a murder trial.
It was on the third day that the tables were turned.
The prosecution made their closing statement, after bringing in all matter of witnesses, from Regina Frye (sniffling, she simply repeated in a shaky voice, "my son is innocent!"), to Cameron's teachers at school, who reported "he was a quiet and reserved boy, who seemed to be absent a lot." The lawyer, Frances Digby, even brought proof of a midnight 911 call made four years before, in which Cameron had tried to tell the operator that his mother was being injured. It was later reported that a patrolman arrived at the Frye residence to find "no evidence of abuse." Digby argued that this was a clear example of the building tension between father and son, long before it dissolved into murder. It was clear of Digby's tactic—though it may incriminate the rather powerful (but very dead) father, it gave the son a direct motive, and though he may have had good reason, it was still murder.
Marsh had considered this strategy, pleading that it was self defense on Cameron's part. But the family had made it clear they wanted him proven completely innocent.
Digby turned to the jury, a self satisfied expression playing across his features as he prepared to give his final statement against Cameron Frye.
"As you can see, it's clear that the father-son relations in the Frye family are, at best, tense. From the evidence I have presented, I think it is perfectly obvious that violence was an action resorted to more than once in the household itself, and could have easily boiled over into murder. Thank you." Digby smiled at the jury, and took his seat.
Marsh realized quickly that this case had ended. Digby had presented a good case, the odds were on his side. Marsh knew that this last statement may make or break his entire cause. It may dictate the futures of the three youth he sat next to.
He rose to his feet, chin held high.
June watched Marsh rise, very aware of the significance of the next few seconds. She glanced behind her, saw Sloane, Jeannie, and Roz seated a few rows back. Its about three in the afternoon, school ended half an hour before.
Marsh addressed the jury. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Digby has painted my client as a boy possessed to murder his own father. In my opinion, only one who is mentally insane would be capable of such a thing, no matter what the circumstances, or the context.
"Every person who has been called to the stand in this case had said similar things, that, though Cameron Frye clearly was having troubles at home, he was never the type of man that would resort to violence, even against a father who would. It is because of this that I believe, and urge you to aswell, that Cameron R. Frye is innocent of his charges, that a regretful Cornelius Frye arrived that day to deliver his final will and take his own life, in what he believed to be an act compensation for his own actions against his family." Marsh took his first complete breath since beginning this three day trial. "Thank you."
A whoop was heard from the meager audience. June looked back to see Sloane grinning, a slight smile on Jeannie's face. June had to hand it to Marsh, the man knew how to give a convincing statement. She just hoped it would be enough.
m m m
The jury had just begun to deliberate when the judge called it a day.
As always, the three teenagers found a small table in the hotel's restaurant, and ate as little as possible, in silence. But today it was different. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel, or maybe it was the crushing blackness at the end of the tunnel, depending on the outcome.
m m m
It took another day for the jury to make their decision.
June's fingernails were nearly chewed off, the suspense was so nerve racking. At any given moment her thoughts were just a string of bewildered swear words.
When the jury emerged from the backroom, June sucked in a breath that she did not let out. She sat between Cameron and Ferris, a white knuckle grip on one of their hands. Holbrooke Marsh was biting his lip. Frances Digby smiled coolly. From behind her, Sloane looked close to tears, and Jeannie had a fierce expression on her face, mirrored by Roz.
All of the jury returned to their seats, except for one, the foreman. She had a notepad in her hands, reading glasses residing on her nose. She cleared her throat and began to read.
"After intense deliberation, the jury finds the defendants, Ferris Daniel Bueller and June Cecilia Larimer, innocent of assisting voluntary manslaughter.
"In the case of Cameron Reginald Frye, we find him innocent of voluntary manslaughter against Cornelius Frye, and accept the ruling of suicide." The foreman took her seat again, a slight smile on her face.
June's mind went blank.
Her eyes opened wide, she could feel her pulse in her eye lashes, her fingernails, her shoulder blades, every part of her felt as though it was going into shock. She let the breath out she didn't realize she was holding and blinked repeatedly. It did nothing to clear her mind.
She was innocent. They were all innocent.
She hadn't realized it, but she had been preparing for the worst. She had unconsciously assumed that there was no way they'd win this, and she'd started to plan her future around her prison sentence.
June looked behind her. Sloane was crying tears of joy, and hugging Jeannie, who seemed to be tolerating it, for now. Melrose was crying too, with Jerry trying to comfort her. Regina Frye was smiling, an expression June had yet to see on the woman's face until this moment.
Ferris had risen to his feet, having recovered from the preliminary shock, to be found grinning ear to ear.
m m m
The court was dismissed, for the final time, that day.
The defendants didn't leave immediately, though.
June hugged both of her parents joyously, finally recovering from her own stupor. She was hugged by Tom and Katie, too, and even Regina gave her a weak hug. Sloane and Ferris were making out, with Jeannie looking slight nauseated a few feet away.
June met Roz in the middle of the room, and they hugged quickly.
"I feel like we haven't talked in forever." Roz told her. "So much has happened."
June nodded. She'd neglected her friend, ever since the day she'd driven over to Cameron's house, and this whole mess had begun.
"I'm sorry. But things happened so fast..."
"Jesus, girl! I'm not mad at you. This whole thing was fucking insane. I'm just saying we should catch up soon, once you're back in school."
June smiled, relieved. "Ok."
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update, but her you go. We're nearing the end. Please review! :)