Kyle's POV
"Good morning, Kyle." I hear Karen greet me as I walk down the stairs, she's sitting on the couch with my mother and Ike.
The years have been kind to sweet Karen, her beige brown hair has grown out to shoulder length and with proper plumbing and food, she looks very healthy now. She's slightly taller than girls her age, making her and Ike's height difference a little more obvious.
"Hey Karen, when did you come over?" I smile as I greet my brother's girlfriend.
"A little while ago" She replies before getting cut off by a phone call. She exits the room to talk to Kenny who decided to call her.
I'm surprised since he texted me before saying that he was planning meet Bebe again after Charlie convinced him to at least hear her out. I've been on Kenny's side on that argument but I can't deny that he should listen to her apology, since Kenny was miserable after he found out about the abortion.
Karen soon comes back into the room and hands me the phone, saying that Kenny wants to talk to me. After some expected shouting from keeping Ike and Karen's relationship a secret from him, we say our goodbyes and hang out.
"Kenny said he had to go, he's arranged a meeting with Bebe." I explain as I hand Karen her phone.
"He's going to see that blonde slut again?"
"Charlie convinced him to at least hear her out, I think she's right. Kenny needs closure from this."
"Right, Charlie's the transgender girl he's dating." She sighs blankly. "He gave me crap for not telling him about dating Ike but I'm kept in the dark about his life too. I wish he'd tell me things."
"You know he means well, he doesn't want you to worry."
"Like I don't know my own brother, still doesn't make him any less of a hypocrite."
I leave for Denver immediately after brunch. It was nice to spend some time with my family and Karen but with what happened last night, I don't really want to be around my mom for a while. As I enter the outskirts of Denver, I start mentally preparing myself for the questions about Karen's life I know Kenny will ask about.
I've watched Karen grow up the same way Kenny has with Ike after Stan moved away and they've been welcomed into our homes many times, usually when their parents are drunk and/or high off their asses again. Those… weren't good times for them, I'm glad Karen has a place of her own now. She looks so much happier now that she and Kenny have moved out of their awful home, part of me thinks it's because of Ike who's sharing the same expression throughout brunch. I just hope Ike doesn't 'visit' too often.
Like seeing love like theirs, and Butters and Charlotte's that keep me wishing I could find love like that too. Would I find it with Stan?
I turn off the engine of my car after I park outside our house and my head jerks upwards at the sudden realization. My little brother might actually get laid before I even get my first boyfriend… Wow Kyle Broflovski, you are pathetic.
I groan at the realization. Thankfully no one's come out and noticed my humiliation, I can wallow in my self-misery at peace. After what feels like a millennia, I take my bags into the house, completely disregarding anyone who might be home right now as I slam the front door shut.
Turns out someone is home. Tweek shows up, looking a little relieved as he spots me. "Oh thank god, I think someone broke in."
"Hey Tweek, is it just you here?" I ask as I drop my bags at the front door.
"Yeah, Kenny will be soon but I don't know what about Stan." I wince at little as Tweek says his name. I don't really know how I should act around Stan after what he said before I left.
"I don't care when he comes back." I cross my arms, trying to not to show how tense I feel
Tweek seems to notice but not care, "Kyle, are you free today?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I want to go talk to that jerk that threaten me before."
Well that caught me off guard. "Jake? What the heck would you talk to that fucking douche?!"
"Look, I wanna ask Sue out but ever since that day you and Sue saved me. I've been thinking about he might do if I even try to make a move. I want to see if we can talk it out." Tweek explains calmly, leaving me to gawk a little at his naivety.
"You know the answer. What if it's as predictable as we expect it to be?" I decide to ask him straightforwardly. If he wants to go through with this I need to make sure he knows what he's doing.
"If he really wants a fight, I'd be happy to show him how deceiving I can be." He responds with a hint of smug confidence in his tone. I'll be honest, I rarely ever see this side of Tweek and I'm happy to encourage his confidence, I just hope it's the right move.
Just then, the door opens and the voice of the other blond in our group chimes throughout the living room, "Hey boys, what'cha talking about?"
"Tweek here wants to find the son of a bitch that sent those guys after us and have a little heart-to-heart with him." I recount in a sarcastically monotone voice.
Kenny's eyes widen in disbelief as he turns to Tweek, "You're kidding, right?"
"To save your breath and questions; yes, he knows it's probably futile to end it peacefully and if push comes to shove, Tweek's ready to kick some ass." I once again answer for Tweek with a little pride at the end. Regardless of how this'll turn out, I'm proud of Tweek for taking action.
"Alright then." Kenny smiles proudly as he pats Tweek on the back, "You got guts, Tweekers. That girl must really be worth fighting for."
"You'd do the same if it was Charlie." He said.
Kenny nods, "True that. So where are we gonna go to find the douche?"
"Jake works with Sue at BC Live, so my best guess is the Communications building."
With that, we all hop into my car and begin driving to campus. The silence doesn't last long after Kenny notices a missing fourth member in our group and he speaks up about it. "Hey Kyle, you know where Stan went?"
"No, I just got back a while ago." I reply flatly, "Why should I know where that blockhead went?"
"Are you still mad at him for kissing you?" Tweek asks.
"I'm not mad, just frustrated." I groan, I really wish I could've avoided this entire conversation. "I can't piece together why'd just kiss me like that."
"… Because he likes you?" Kenny answers like he's stating the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah, no shit. I got that part. But having feelings for someone is one thing, why did he just kiss me? What did he think was gonna happen? That I'd kiss back and fall hopelessly in love with him?" I roll my eyes as I say cynically, "Yeah right, if the world was that simple, it'd be a fucking Disney flick."
"No, it's because he's Stan." Kenny corrects me. "He's always been a pretty straightforward guy. He doesn't really think things through before taking the dive." Both a curse and a blessing, in my opinion.
Thankfully we arrive at the Communications building and they drop the topic, Tweek takes us through the building. He walks around it like he'd even know where any crack on the wall is, I guess Sue's been making him deliver here a lot, not that he's complaining.
We soon find Jake in the Green room, with two other guys that I recognize as the two bastards that threatened us a while I go, the ones I kicked their asses. "The fuck? What's that nutjob doing here?" One of them jumps up and snarls at us.
"Call your lapdogs off, Winters." I step in, "We're not here for a fight, Tweek just wants to talk."
Jake stands up with a cunning smile and start talking in an eloquent way I never expected from him, "Quite the crowd for someone who just wants to talk. Plus, I expect a little more courtesy towards my friends."
Kenny follows my lead and defends Tweek, "Cut the shit, you-"
"It's fine, guys." Tweek cuts us off before stepping forward to talk to Jake, "Fine, we'll step forward and let's just talk. Just the two of us."
"Ok then." Jake follows suit with a cocky aura around him, "So what do you want? After all I did, you'd be the last person I thought I'd see today."
"Believe me, the feeling's mutual." Tweek replies with a bitter undertone, "I want you to stop forcing Sue to date you."
"You know just as well as I do. You can't force Sue Andrews to do anything against her own will, either she submits or you move on." Jake shrugs, "I don't really feel like quitting on her now."
"I don't get it. From what I've seen, you don't even like Sue that much and you've got girls throwing themselves onto you. Why latch onto her?"
"I'll be honest with you. I'm a pretty greedy man, I want everything you can think of, money and women, power and sex, status and glory. I demand the finer things in life and of course, I crave what I can't have." He answers with a smirk, "I don't know if she ever told you, but she had this huge crush on me 2 years ago. She acted like a little school girl that found out what love was, but she wasn't good enough so I turned her down. Now she's a complete beauty with the authority to boot, she's perfect. I've got a head-start, all I need to do is rekindle those feelings and she'll be mine." He says in a confident manner that makes my skin crawl and my blood boil, if I was in Tweek's position I woulda already decked the guy.
"If you're so sure you've got it in the bag, why send threats towards Tweek?" Kenny suddenly challenges him.
"Kenny, please. I got this." Tweek said before turning to Jake and demands, "I do want to know that, so answer the question, Jake."
"Like I said before, rumors going around that you're looking to go after my poppet and there's nothing I hate more than losing, especially to a nervous wreck like you."
"So this is just a game to you?" Tweek makes a face of disgust, "You're sick."
"If it's a game you want, I'll gladly comply." Jake once again changes into a calm cunning demeanor, "How about this, we play a little game between us? Whoever gets Sue will have to stay out of the picture, no more confrontations, no more threats."
"How'd we know you'd keep your end of the deal anyways?" Tweek asks warningly, shocking both me and Kenny.
"You're not seriously considering this?" I ask him softly as I pull him aside.
"I may be greedy but I'm a man of my word. After all, I never did anything to you after I promised that to her." Jake reassures us. I can't deny that but damn do I wanna punch that smug ass grin off his face.
"Look guys, I know he's been bugging the crap outta Sue and this could be the solution." Tweek whispers hopefully, I could see why he's considering this.
"What's Sue gonna think if she finds out you did this?" Kenny retorts with a serious look on his face
"I'm sure she'll understand. I'm doing this for her." Tweek stays silent for a moment before answering softly, more to himself than to Kenny I think, as he looks Jake in the eyes and shakes his hand, "OK, Jake. You've got a deal."
After our meeting with Jake, we leave to get some dinner before going home. All throughout the dinner, Kenny and Tweek have been arguing. Tweek believes he's made the best choice there but Kenny's saying he's making the wrong call. I don't know, I feel bad for brushing off Tweek like that but I have enough on my plate right now. I still don't know what I'm gonna say to Stan when we get home. I don't even know if I should talk to him.
"Hey Kyle, Stan should be in his room. Why don't go you knock on his door and get him to eat dinner?" Kenny makes the decision for me as he goes down into his room. "Remember Kyle, it's three knocks." He turns to me and wink before walking down the stairs in a fit of laughter.
I roll my eyes for probably the twentieth time as I walk the stairs to Stan's door, Kenny's words start ringing in my head again as I raise my hand to knock on the wooden barrier. Instead I decide to just call for him, "Stan?"
No response.
"Stan, open the door." I try again.
Still, no response.
I begin to grow impatient and just keep slamming my fist onto the door. After what feels like an hour, I finally hear the door unlock and Stan's face appears through the door, looking exhausted and disheveled. "So… three means you accept my confession, so what does trying to smash through my door mean?" He whines.
I reel in the shock of seeing Stan like this, he's black and blue all over and I see a few patches of dried blood on his face and clothes, "Holy shit, Stan are you bleeding?!"
"Huh?" He seems to waken up a little more to register what I said and notices the blood on his clothes. "Oh it's dried up by now."
Hearing him mention it so nonchalantly just escalates my distress, "What the fuck happened?"
"Got into a little fight. I was on my way back when I saw Z and his stepbrother. He was about to beat Z up before I stepped in." He just shrugs it off again like it's nothing! Damn it, why am I acting more anxious about it than he is?
"Jesus dude. We need to get you cleaned up." I take a good look at him now to take note of what I need, nothing looks broken so hopefully all I'll need is a first kid kit. "There should be some supplies in my room, go wait in the bathroom." I instruct him as I head to my room.
Luckily for him, all medical students are required to know basic first aid so I have a ton of bandages and disinfection for practice. I take my supply box from under my bed and head to his room where Stan is sitting on the edge of the bathtub.
He already has his shirt off and it would take a lot of effort not to pay attention to that fact if it weren't for the other wounds. A bruised rib, cuts on his upper arm and back probably from glass by the looks of it.
Just how bad was that fight?
"Damn, looks like you got the short end of the stick." I mutter as I pour some disinfection onto a gauze dressing, "Look at all these bruises."
He hisses a little as the gauze cleans the wound but he recovers quickly and smirks with a cocky tone, "Psh, you shoulda seen the stepbrother then. I bet even his own mom would've a hard time recognizing him."
"Stan, why did you even throw yourself into that fight anyway?" I sigh as I move onto the wounds on his back, "You should've just called the police and let them handle it."
"Kyle, when have the police helped us with anything?"
"Your point of references is officer Barbrady from when we were kids." I state matter-of-factly as I bandage up the cuts on his arms. "We're not in South Park anymore. The adults can help us."
"Don't you get it, Kyle? Everyone just talks down to us like we don't know what we're talking about, I mentioned to you guys about Shelly and how she beat me up, what did you do? You guys called me a pussy for not fighting back. When I told you about Z and how much his stepbrother hurts him, what did you do? Nothing, I bet you don't even remember that I said that."
Ouch… As much as it hurts, he's right. I remember Stan telling me about the shit Shelly did to him since we were seven. I was a dumb kid and I didn't know how to react to that, if I could go back and change one thing, I would've taken him more seriously and helped him.
But that's the past, I can't let it cloud my judgement. "Even so, you can't just dive headfirst into-"
He grabs my hand, startling me and cutting me off from what I wanted to say, "Kyle, you know what it's like to feel alone and left behind. Z needed my help. He was alone, and scared. He needed someone to help him, I guess I saw a part of myself and I wanted to do everything I could to stop Z from going down my path and dealing with everything I have to now. The last thing I want is for anyone to end up like me, a cynical alcoholic who seeing nothing but shit in the world, someone who's so fucking useless to the people around him. I can't stop and watch when I can obviously do something about it. " He confesses as he looks at me with sad blank eyes.
Seeing him like his makes my chest ache, I can't stay mad at him for that, "I'm sure Z is grateful." I reassure him before telling him in a soft but stern tone, "Just remember you're human too, so don't push yourself too hard. Z wouldn't want you getting hurt for him."
None of us say a word after that, allowing me to focus on patching Stan up and think about what Stan had said. I never realized how strong his connection is to this Z kid, I don't know much about this kid but all I know is that he sometimes drinks with Stan and that he's got family issues to deal with but yet Stan has willingly thrown himself into the line of fire to protect him. That does sound like Stan, doing everything he can to help the ones he cares about. The scar on my abdomen is all the proof I need for that fact.
What bothers me is that he called himself useless, he doesn't truly think that of himself, right?
I bandage up the last of his wounds and let out a breath of relief, "Done, it's a good thing none of them are too deep or serious otherwise we'd have to take you to a hospital."
"Thank god for that then." Stan smiles as he gets up and moves his aching shoulders.
"Oh yeah, there's some food downstairs for you if you've haven't had dinner yet." I tell him as I pack up my supplies and walk out of his bathroom.
"Thanks dude, I'm starving." He replies as he puts on a clean shirt on.
We part ways as I enter my room. I think back to the thought I had as I trace the scar on my side, the scar from my kidney transplant. Stan does think the world of me; I'm important to him. That's why he'd trick Cartman into giving me his kidney, I obviously mean a lot to him and I know he means a lot to me too. I've been thinking about Stan's love confession to me and yet I never come up with any answer, because I've been running away from the biggest question of all. It's not whether it's fair or how good of a boyfriend I can be, it's whether or not I share his feelings and whether being together would make the two of us happy.
So that's the only question on my mind now, would it make Stan happy? … Kyle you fucking idiot, of course having your crush love you back would make you happy.
Then, what are my feelings towards Stan? Well, I know I like him well enough as a friend and he means a lot to me. I felt so lost when I realized Stan wasn't coming back to South Park, it was soul crushing to be around places like Stark's pond without him. I've haven't felt more at ease after Stan re-entered my life again. I don't really know what that means, all I know is that I don't want to be away from him again. I don't want to lose him again.
Now the big question, would being with Stan make me happy?...
Today is an important day for all of us, but especially for Charlie. It's been about a month since her family was arrested and today we're all going to court to testify and watch the judge deem those sick bastards guilty. We arrive at the courthouse on time, meeting up with Dr. Nixon and their attorney, Mr. Hughes.
Kenny is holding Charlie close, who's practically shaking with nerves right now, "I almost can't believe this is happening. If everything goes right, I'll finally be free from them."
"Don't worry about it, princess." Kenny comforts her with a kiss on her temple, "The evidence on our side is overwhelming, they won't win this time."
Dr. Nixon approaches me after talking to the officer, "Hello Kyle, I haven't really talked to you since that day we met outside the hospital."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I was just mad then." I scratch the back of my neck in embarrassment at our last interaction.
"Trust me, I'd be way angrier than you were." She chuckles at my flushed face, causing me to laugh a little too. She calms down a little before continuing, "I heard from Charlie that you're studying psychiatry too."
"Yeah, I'm looking to start my medical degree by next fall."
"Well, I'd be happy to help you out, you can come to me with any questions you have and I can teach you some stuff you'd need to know on the job." She offers, "Think of it as an unofficial apprenticeship."
I feel my eyes widen in excitement and disbelief, "Are you serious? That'd be awesome."
"You're a good kid, Kyle. I'd be happy to help." She smiles before tensing up slightly, "Speaking of Charlie, Kyle, did anything happen during that trip to Hawaii? Charlie hasn't really been lively ever since then."
Hearing that Charlie might not be well makes my excitement drop too. I've noticed some signs but nothing that happened there should cause a depression though, all I can really think about is that stupid argument Charlie had with Wendy and Butter's episode, "No, but I've noticed it too. I can't tell for sure though."
Our conversation gets cut short as everyone is asked to enter the courtroom. "Alright, let's go and close this case for good."
Everyone is seated accordingly with us sitting behind Mr. Hughes and the defense attorney, Mr. Solf, on the other side. According to Hughes, Solf is a pretty ruthless attorney and a difficult adversary. Thankfully, his words shouldn't even compete with the evidences on our side.
"The court is now in session to trial the case of Isaac Baxton, also known as Charlotte, versus the accused: Scott, James, and Daniel Baxton. The three stand accused in case C-137 with at least three counts of child abuse violations. The three defendants are the father, uncle and brother of the victims respectively who have been allegedly abusing the victim for almost a year before she escaped from her home."
The trial is going as smoothly as I hope it would, the pictures they've taken of Charlie's body and scars are more than enough to make our guts churn. Kenny had to look away to stop himself from tearing as he holds her closer, it looks like that's enough to shock the judge and jury. But what confuses me is that Mr. Solf doesn't seem to be doing much about it, not even any damage control. What's he playing here?
"The prosecution would like to call the victim to the stand." With that, Charlie walks up to the stand, a little shaken but I can tell she's putting up a strong face.
"Please give us your recount of the alleged abuse. How did it start?" Mr. Hughes asks.
Charlie takes in a deep breath before starting, "I found out that I like wearing girl's clothes so I started wearing them in secret, usually whenever I was stressed or unhappy. With that simple change, Isaac became Isabelle and soon I found myself happier as Isabelle. I was more confident and I became reluctant at times to go back as Isaac. It began to feel like a chore, like I was putting on a mask for the world. But one day, Danny came into my room and ripped that mask right off me. They found the makeup and dresses and they've been abusing me since. They believed that I wasn't in my mind so they isolated me from my friends, keeping me under close watch; and they've hit me to try to correct me." She chokes on a sob before recomposing herself, "Those scars in the picture were from what's left from those 5 months I spent with them before I escaped them the second time. I wouldn't even be alive right now if it weren't for my friends." She finishes with a small smile.
"Could you state the ways they've physically abused you?"
"They kept me locked in the basement, usually one of them would come in and beat me until I was black and blue. They've used weapons like belts, knives and bats."
"The prosecution has no more questions, your honor." Mr. Hughes concludes as he sits back down.
"Very well, the defense may begin his cross examination." The judge declares and Mr. Solf stands up with a smirk on his face. I don't like it, it's like the one Jake had when we confronted him last week.
"Victim, please state your name once again, to the court." Mr. Solf asks in a calm but slightly sinister tone.
Charlie narrows her eyes but complies, "My name is Charlot-"
"Your legal name, please." He cuts her off to specify.
I feel my rage burning after I realize what he's doing, I can see Kenny's eyes turn darker as he makes the same realization. "Isaac. Isaac Lorne Baxton." She answers flatly with her jaw clenched, looking like its taking every ounce of her strength to say each syllable.
"Isaac, let me ask you. Do you resent your family?" He continues prodding, insisting on using her old name.
"For hurting me and constantly forcing their ways onto my life?" She responds sarcastically, "Yeah, I think I have the right to be a little angry with them."
"Then why didn't this happen sooner?"
"Excuse me?"
"You had the evident and reasoning by your side, yet for the past 5 months you didn't do anything to our client until recently. You could've pressed charges after you escaped the first time."
Mr. Hughes immediately steps in to stop his relentless questioning, "I object, your honor. This has nothing to do with the case."
"Your honor, I'm trying to prove a point." Mr. Solf explains himself, "Regardless of the case, the victim is only a teenager. Teenagers are easily swayed and influenced. My clients, although they used the wrong method, do have their child's best interest at heart. The victim may just be an overzealous teenager, he may not know what he wants and my client only wishes not to let his child's future be dictated by a rash decision he made when he was 16."
Goddammit, I can't stand to hear the bullshit he's spitting out right now. He's not trying to clear her family's name, he's trying to make it sound like it's her fault. "The prosecution should not use the age of the victim to dismiss her trauma and emotions." Hughes said as he stands his ground.
The judge takes our side as he declares, "Objection approved, the defense may not use the victim's age to sway the jury."
Mr. Solf is visually displeased but he complies and said, "Very well, I would like to call one of the defendant to the stand."
The man he calls is Charlie's dad, the one responsible for all the scars on her body. The one who made her cry herself to sleep. He shares a lot of physical traits with her, mainly her black hair but unlikely Charlie's sweet chocolate eyes, his eyes were icy blue. Cold and soulless as he looks towards us. I notice Kenny's fist turn white from clenching them so hard, watching him take those strides to that stand is probably making him wish it's Mysterion here instead, right now beating the shit outta him for what that bastard did to his 'princess'.
"Defendant, state your name and your relations to the victim to the court." Mr. Solf walks up to him and requests.
"I am Scott Baxton, I'm the father of the victim." He answers in a low, authoritative voice.
"Could you give us your side of the case?"
"When Danny showed me the dress Isaac was hiding in his room, I couldn't comprehend it. My own son was wearing women's clothing." He grimaces in disgust, "I figured he was confused so I stepped in to try and rectify it. While I will admit that my methods are more aggressive compared to others, I did it to protect my boys."
"So you were doing it to protect your child?" Mr. Solf continues asking.
It makes me sick to witness what's happening now, it's just they're acting on a script they've created themselves. Watching Scott try to gain any form of sympathy is revolting, especially with what he's saying. He's making himself into some misunderstood guardian, well tough-fucking-shit, parents who care for their kids wouldn't even think about giving them scars.
"It might not seem like it, but Isaac can be a pretty stubborn kid. He was so convinced that he should be a girl that talking wouldn't snap him out of it. I wouldn't care if it was another kid on the street but he's my boy."
Mr. Solf gives a conniving smile as he faces the judge, "I have no more questions, your honor."
This prompts Mr. Hughes to take his turn for questioning, "Defendant, let me ask you. Do you truly believed that abusing your child like that would've helped him?"
"If I did nothing, he'd continue to let himself get brainwashed into believing that this is OK." Scott answers so sincerely that I seriously wonder if that was what he really believed.
"Why wouldn't it be OK? Your child only wishes for you to accept her for who she really is."
"Ha, let me ask you this then." Scott turns to ask him, "If your kid one day came to you saying they got addicted to Heroin and asked you for some money to continue buying more, would you let them?"
"Comparing your transgender child to a Heroin addict is hardly reasonable." Mr. Hughes responds flatly and methodically, emphasizing how ridiculous it sounds.
"But it's part of who they are, shouldn't they be accepted for it?"
"One of them is illegal and one of them is nothing more than someone being themselves, you cannot make that assumption." Mr Hughes ends it with his arms crossed, he turns to the judge and jury and announces, "I would like to call one of our witnesses."
"Witness, please state your name and relation to the victim."
"My name is Kyle Broflovski and Charlotte is one of my closest friends." I state.
"How do you know the victim?"
"We met on the top of an apartment building on November 10th, she was about to commit suicide after feeling abandoned by her friends and family. I managed to talk her out of it and she was sent to the hospital."
"Do you know about the abuse she suffered from the three accused?"
"Yes, during Charlotte's time at the hospital we talked a lot and she shared parts of her life with me. I even saw Danny rush into her room to beat her up before security dragged him out." I feel my face drop at the memory, I wish I could've done more then, "When I found out that her family took her away from the hospital, I freaked out; and I was so happy when she showed up alive."
After Mr Hughes has finished his questions, I internally brace myself for whatever Mr. Solf has planned. This guy is willing to turn an obvious case of abuse into misunderstood love and I will not give him the satisfication of twisting my words to his favor.
He walks up to the stand with that slimy look in his eye, makes me wanna puke, "Witness, may I ask why you didn't call the police when the victim first appeared at your doorstep?"
"She didn't want to deal with people after she just escaped, and she wanted to move on with her life and put all of it behind her." I answer without hesitation or a single glance at him.
"So you believed letting the victim stay in a house full of men was a good idea?"
"I'm disgusted that you'd even think we'd hurt her after what she's been through." I spit angrily "No, of course not. She's our friend."
"What about your friend, Kenny McCormick?" He asks.
I was taken back a little by his question before careful answering, "What about Kenny? He loves her, he wouldn't ever hurt her."
He scoffs at me before turning to the jury, "The victim has stated that she has lived with the witnesses for a while before moving in with her aunt, and they have stayed close friends since." He pauses and smirks, "But can you say that she's happier now?"
I basically jump up from my seat and yell, "What are you, stupid? Of course she is."
"We'll see about that. Your honor, I would like to ask another witness to join the stand." He says as Dr. Nixon is summoned to the stands, "Witness, state your name, your profession and your relation to the victim."
"My name is Francisca Riza Nixon, I'm a psychiatrist working in a hospital in Boulder. Charlotte is my niece."
"According to Mr. Broflovski, the victim is supposed better now since the escape but the psychoanalysis reports say otherwise." He says as he hands over two document folders to the clerk, who passes it to the judge, "Your honor, these two documents are the psychiatric reports for the victim from two various timeframes. The first one is from the day the victim was admitted to the hospital, November 10th; the second one is from two weeks ago." He explains, "The reports clearly indicate that the victim has shown a strong spike of anxiety and depression after living with Dr. Nixon; if the victim is as happy as the witness is claiming, shouldn't the levels of depression drop rather than increase?"
My jaw drops as I hear what he's saying. That can't be true, he's making that up! Is he saying that Charlie's been more depressed now than she has been with her family?
"That's not fair!" Charlie stands up and objects, tears forming around her eyes and spilling down her cheeks, "You can't say I'm not happier because of some fucking report!"
"Order!" The judge's voice echoes the courtroom along with the sound of his mallet.
Kenny grabs her hand, getting her attention. "Princess, calm down." He says in a calming manner that stop Charlie's outburst as she slumps back down onto her seat.
"It's not fair Kenny." I hear her mutter into Kenny's embrace, "What does it matter to them if I've fucking happy or not? They hurt me, they've scarred me. That should be more than enough of a reason."
The rest of the trial goes by like a blur, not that any of us are paying attention after Charlie's outburst. Kenny has been doing nothing but rubbing her shoulders comfortingly and peppering her forehead with light, loving kisses. It hurts to see her like this. I turn to look at Stan and Sue, who look just as confused and helpless as me. We focus again on the trial as both sides finish their closing statements.
"With the sufficient amount of evidence and testimonies from the prosecution, the court finds the three defendants guilty on all charges. The three will be held under custody and sentenced to 10 years of incarceration, a hefty fine will be charged to cover the victim's fees and medical bills. This court is adjourned."
We watch as Charlie's family gets led away by the guards, Charlie cries in relief and we all give her a hug to show support. The trial is over. They're gonna be locked behind bars where they can't hurt her anymore. But something tells me this isn't the end to her nightmare yet.
A/N: Holy shit, I really bit off more than I can chew for this chapter. The trial case took forever since there weren't really a lot of references online to go off on and it turned a lot longer than I planned for it to be. Don't worry though, just because her family's in jail doesn't mean Charlie's story is over. Next time, we get Kyle's answer to Stan's confession.
OK, first of all. I didn't mean to take this long to post this chapter. Most of it came down to a small case of writer's block and real life getting in the way. I do a lot of research to hopefully get as much facts right as possible so hopefully you guys understand that. I also do research for subtle hints and sometimes I just love putting in little Easter eggs and references from other media sources that I love, usually as titles of the chapters or names c:
Also I realize that the time frame for this chapter can be pretty weird so let me explain, Kyle's visit to South Park happened the day before Kenny's meeting with Bebe, this scene with Kyle, Kenny and Tweek happens doing the same day as Kenny's meeting. Stan is visiting his mom during then so that's why he wasn't at the house until they arrived back and Kyle found him injured from the fight. The trial scene happens a week after that.
There isn't really much to say this time other than thank you all for being so patient. My schedule may be a little haywire but hopefully I can work things out soon.
Anyways, as always feel free to check out the drama this story is based on, "It's Okay That's Love" by SBS. Please let me know what you think, reviews and comments make my day.
Take care, Loves.